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my-rewrite-academia · 3 months ago

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Week 15 (Internships - Part 2)

Mount Lady

Izuku leaves in the early morning to get to Toyama from Musutafu, where Mount Lady is located. He goes in his casual clothing, with his hero costume in his backpack. As he waits on the train, he messages the class group chat, which Shouto finally joined before the Internships started. It's just over two hours to get there, so he has a lot of time.

While many of his classmates respond, he notices that Tenya is online but doesn't respond to anything, even when he usually would. Such as Denki or Mina jokingly saying they'd do something dangerous, or the banter between others. Tenya would usually reprimand Denki or Mina, or step in if he thought someone was going too far with their banter. He doesn't.

Izuku messages him, asking if he's okay. He gets no response. Ochako and Izuku text each other about it, as she is also ghosted by him. In the end, they can't do anything but worry about Tenya's state of mind, as Ochako arrives in Chiba and Izuku waits to arrive in Toyama.

Two hours pass, and Izuku leaves the train. Mount Lady, during her twelve months of being active, never really associated with any hero agency, though she isn't an independent hero, like Miruko is. She often collaborates with other heroes, and gets along well with them, from what she's shown in interviews and in the public eye. That being said, it isn't really surprising that she has Izuku show up to, not an establishment or a dojo, but to her living quarters - a modest house with two bedrooms and two floors.

He knocks, waits, knocks again, waits, and it's on the third knock that the door is finally answered. Mount Lady opens the door, curses under her breath, having forgotten that today was the day of the internships, and invites an honestly somewhat confused Izuku inside. She's also not wearing her costume, dressed in pyjamas. It's a bit concerning.

Mount Lady yawns, asking Izuku to make her some tea. Still confused and, well, underwhelmed, Izuku makes the tea almost mindlessly, wondering if this is some sort of test. He gives the tea, sits down, and waits. As he does, he looks around.

Her house is a mess. No other way to put it. Laundry is thrown all over the place, a small stack of plates in the sink and on the table, rubbish all over the floor and around the full bin. The shoe shelf by the entrance is a mess, and there's muddy footprints on the floorboards. Mount Lady herself is a mess, her eyes baggy, hair all over the place, and he's pretty sure he can see bruises underneath her clothes.

It's a mess. Plain and simple.

After minutes pass of nothing but Mount Lady sipping tea, Izuku finally asks, "Why did you request me?"

Mount Lady shrugs. "I felt like it."

"Not many people would request the quirkless kid on a whim, regardless of placement."

"They haven't seen you in proper action," she shoots back, smiling behind her cup. Izuku jumps. She reveals that she still remembers him from the Sludge Villain incident. Despite how she scolded him back then, she was grateful all the same that he pointed out such an obvious flaw in her battle tactics. Even if he didn't mean to, he made her realise that she was relying on her quirk way too much, just by telling her to shrink down. "You're smart. Makes me wonder what else you could make me realise."

Izuku is not-so-quietly freaking out about this. That he made such an impact on a hero he met just once. Plus, he's not that smart. He's just weird, and notices all those small details. It's not being smart, it's just being a creep. He says as much and Mount Lady sighs, before tapping the top of his head with her cup.

"You calling me an idiot?"

"N-No! I would never–"

"'Cause it would have taken me a lot longer to realise that I didn't need to rely on my quirk to fight." Izuku pauses. Mount Lady continues, "Your self-confidence is shit, kid. You gotta work on that." Izuku falls quiet again, head bowing down. He knows. He knows he isn't exactly confident, even if he has his moments. But it isn't as easy as telling himself he's worth it.

Mount Lady knows this too, and instead changes the topic. She acknowledges this is a pretty awkward setting, then introduces herself. Mount Lady; her real name is Takeyama Yuu. She isn't exactly sure how internships really work, but she'll start by taking Izuku out patrolling with her, finding a spare set of communicators for Izuku. It's an earphone. A tap to the earphone opens the line, another tap closes it. Izuku wears it, and follows Mount Lady out.

The patrol is more bland than Izuku thought it would be. The first hour has them doing little-to-nothing, apart from interacting with a few fans. Selfies are taken, and Izuku avoids saying his hero name for the most part. The first crime is two hours in, and they come across a guy who snatches a purse.

Mount Lady rushes after him, while Izuku really only tags along for observation. The guy has a smoke quirk, (we'll call him 'Smokey'), and Izuku notices how he can't control the direction of the smoke, and the smoke makes many civilians cough. The closer they get to Smokey, the more affected they are, some even falling to the ground.

He opens the comms and tells Mount Lady this, theorising that disturbing the windflow will disrupt Smokey's quirk. Mount Lady hesitates for a moment, but ultimately takes his advice, growing somewhat bigger and using her now-enlarged hands to fan the smoke away. She then tells Izuku to get a hit on Smokey while she gets rid of the smoke.

Izuku, flustered and excited, does as told, rushing in faster and slamming his sheathe into Smokey's gut. Mount Lady uses the chance to jump in and deliver the final hit, rendering Smokey unconscious. They wait for the police to arrive, Mount Lady greeting fans and Izuku trying to hide away from the attention.

After everything is cleared up, Smokey is arrested, and the purse is returned, Mount Lady and Izuku manage to escape the crowd and find refuge in a fast food place, where they spend about twenty minutes on break, before returning to patrolling around. Mount Lady explains that interns can only join in battle if their 'teacher', so to speak, is present and has given permission.

They stop three other minor crimes, and the patrol is over after six hours and a short, twenty minute break every two hours.

They return to Mount Lady's house, and they're both exhausted. Izuku's legs hurt after all that walking, and his muscles ache from the four short chase-fights they'd been in. Mount Lady gives Izuku permission to crash on her couch, tells him to grab anything from the fridge if he's hungry, and goes to her room to take a nap before her night patrol.

Izuku wants to take her up on that offer, but the couch is as messy as everything else. He thinks about how tiring just one patrol was, and how there was another patrol to come later on. To his research, Mount Lady doesn't take days-off. Maybe she'll skip morning or night patrol, but she's busy doing other things, such as interviews, marketing, ads, photoshoots.

As he sits on the couch, taking in the dirty house around him, he thinks about how naive he is. He's always known that heroics wasn't an easy career, but he never really thought about how it would affect his private life, aside from being recognised in public. He's never thought about how hard it would be to take care of yourself and your home with how tiring just a mostly-uneventful patrol is.

Messages ping on his phone – from his friends, probably. But he keeps staring at the mess around him, thinking about how Mount Lady lives like this because she can't bring herself to be any cleaner, thinking about how tired he is and how tired she must be, and he thinks about how he wants to be a hero to help and save people.

So, he goes to Mount Lady's closet, finds cleaning supplies, and decides that he can forgo a nap if it means he can help her.

Mount Lady wakes up three hours later, around six in the afternoon, to a clean house and a passed-out Izuku on her couch. It's the first time her house has been clean in months. The sight alone nearly makes her cry, but she stomps it down, and instead decides that she'll treat the kid with her very own, (pretty decent), cooking.

To Hosu!

Night patrol came with two more crimes than in the morning. Mount Lady explains that crimes happen more during the night, and it's also when Underground Heroes tend to work the most. Limelight Heroes work the night too, but mostly in the busy areas and without any subtlety.

Day two comes around. Morning patrol for Mount Lady and Izuku goes pretty much the same as the previous morning patrol. They run across a few crimes, Izuku gives his analysis and advice, and Mount Lady deals with the threat. Once again, Izuku manages to keep his hero name a secret, especially as people are far more invested in Mount Lady than a kid they've never seen before.

Back in her home, Mount Lady and Izuku take a short nap, and Izuku wakes up first. With nothing much to do, he pays back Mount Lady by cooking a small meal, with the TV on in the background. As he cooks, he hears the NEWS speak of Stain.

Stain, true to his title, always leaves his mark, branding the heroes he targets with two, intersecting blades. More often than not, he leaves his victims alive. The first time, anyway. After a few months, the heroes he brands either retire, admit to a big scandal, or they're killed. The method of death always ends up being blood loss, via sharp weapons. Though, there have been cases in which they die from blunt trauma or shock. Either way, each of his victims have two gashes on their torso, like an ×.

As the NEWS plays, Mount Lady wakes up after smelling the food cooking, and walks in as Izuku begins to mutter, hands moving unconsciously as he cooks. He mumbles about Stain's patterns, how he tends to mark or kill three heroes per prefecture, then moves onto the next one, again and again, until he circles back around to kill or confirm his victim's actions. In Hosu, he's only marked two. There's a high likelihood he'll return to claim two other victims, or to kill one. And, if he recalls correctly, the hero Native had been marked by Stain three months ago, and he patrols in Hosu.

Mount Lady approaches Izuku from behind and interrupts his mumbling with, "Then, I know where we're patrolling tonight!"

Izuku shrieks and nearly turns around to hit her, but she easily catches his arm. She smiles, leans in, and says, "While we're on the train, you should tell me more about your Stain theories."

"T-Train?"

"Yup! We're going to Hosu!"

"… Huh!?"

Conflicting Ideologies

As in canon, Stain is brought to the League. He's stalking Native when it happens, thinking to himself about how it's heroes like him that bring a bad name to heroism. As he watches Native leave his agency, a purple portal appears beneath him, and he lands in the bar.

His first instinct is to attack. Kurogiri attempts to protect Tomura, but Stain notices the metal brace and figures out there's a body underneath the purple fog. Aiming for the arm, Stain manages to cut Kurogiri and paralyses him in an instant. Tomura lunges out, and Stain dodges his arm, stabbing his shoulder with his katana and pinning Tomura to the ground, paralysing him for good measure.

"Why did you bring me here?" Stain asks, and Tomura snickers despite how his shoulder hurts.

"I want you to join us, Stain," he says, with much difficulty considering he's mostly paralysed. He says that he also wants to kill heroes, that they were the ones to break into U.A., and he wants Stain to join their cause.

In response, Stain asks what the cause is. Tomura repeats himself, confused, because he just said it, didn't he? But Stain only pushes his sword in more, ignoring how Kurogiri calls out for Tomura. "You misunderstand and underestimate my goal. I do not wish to kill heroes. I wish to rid heroism of the corruption it holds. If killing those fakes is what it takes, then that is what I'll do. So, I ask you once more. What is your cause, Shigaraki Tomura?"

Tomura's eyes are wide, crazed. "I want to destroy what I hate. The hero system that hurts people like me. The earnest heroism that makes me sick." He grins. "I want to kill All Might."

Stain reacts instantly, grabbing a knife and pointing the tip at Tomura's neck. "Then, we shall never see eye-to-eye. All Might is one of the only true heroes in this wretched society!" He pushes the blade into Tomura's neck, making him hiss. Kurogiri calls out to him. As Stain begins to carve, the symbol many corrupt heroes wear or wore, Tomura's hand comes up, grabbing Stain's knife and decaying it.

He can move.

Stain is taken back, realising that Tomura must be a type O, and is taken aback once more when Tomura grabs his wrist. Stain reacts quickly enough, ripping his arm out of his grip, pulling his katana out of Tomura's shoulder, and backs away, prepared to fight.

But, Tomura grabs onto his bleeding shoulder, and only tells Kurogiri to send Stain back. Stain tells Tomura that his cause is pathetic and ultimately worthless, spotting images of Izuku and All Might on the bar table, before Kurogiri finally regains his mobility and sends Stain away. Back to Native's agency. Stain moves, intent on finding Native once more.

In the bar, Tomura asks 'Sensei' if his toys are ready. They are.

Hero Killer: Stain

Tenya goes to Manual's agency. Manual knows, okay? He knows that Stain always targets three people before moving on, and he's only gotten two people. One of which was Ingenium, Tenya's older brother. It's not a reach at all to recognise that Tenya chose him, out of many, because he's based in Hosu. He tells Tenya that revenge clouds judgement, and it will only harm him in the long run. Faced by this, Tenya agrees, but his eyes tell a different story, full of rage. And Manual can't save a person who doesn't want to be saved, so he can only keep an eye on him.

They patrol, morning turning to night. As the sky turns dark, several things happen at once.

Fire erupts to the East, people screaming as they evacuate. Large, hulking monsters drop from purple portals, at several locations. Heroes in the area rush to fight off the threat. Endeavour, too, is there, and Shouto is with him. Using his fire. Finally, Tenya disappears.

On the train to Hosu, where Mount Lady and Izuku are, a flying beast appears, breaking through the train. Mount Lady reacts instantly, tackling the beast out and growing to fight it. Izuku recognises it as a Noumu – different from the one in the USJ, but terrifying all the same. He has no idea if it has the same quirks as the USJ Noumu, but he lists them off to Mount Lady anyway, leaping out of the train as it comes to a stop, using whatever he can to scale down safely.

Izuku realises that Tenya's gone after Stain. He needs help, and Izuku decides he will be Tenya's help, but not before telling Mount Lady to go for the exposed brain.

In the centre, Izuku arrives, just as Manual appears, yelling out for 'Iida'. It takes a moment. Maybe two.

He pieces it together: Tenya's odd silence, his cold, angry eyes, his odd choice of internship, his attitude, his behaviour. It was something he didn't want to think about, but with Tenya's suspicious absence, he can't avoid it any longer. Tenya's after Stain. And Izuku won't let him go through this alone.

He turns around, scaling to the rooftops for a better view, mind rushing, calculating Stain's patterns, where the heroes branded or killed were found, comparing it to a mental map of Hosu's streets. There are only three streets as narrow as the ones his previous victims were found, and two of them are by the big fight – something Stain would avoid due to the attention and people there. Location found. Now, he can only hope he gets there in time.

A few minutes prior, Tenya came to the same conclusion, having spent the past week researching Stain's patterns thoroughly. With his speed quirk and the distraction provided by the Noumu's, Tenya finds Stain with a relative amount of ease.

Rage floods his being. Tensei's neck flashes, that brand searing into his mind, and he hates, hates, hates. It's not a career-ending injury. Tensei can recover and return to heroism. But, the fact alone that he was targeted did more than enough. Ever since it got to the public, people everywhere have been talking about it. About how Ingenium must have done something bad to deserve Stain's attention. People are already calling Tensei a corrupt hero, that he probably deserved being attacked, that it was only a matter of when.

Tensei can still perform as a hero. But the damage has been done. People are calling him a fake. All because Stain targeted him. Branded him. That damage can never be undone.

It is with this rage that Tenya finds Stain, seeing him and only him. He rushes in, kicking at Stain, only for Stain to slash at him with his katana, knocking Tenya's helmet off. Stain tells him to get lost, as he's not after a child wearing a suit.

Tenya's rage grows, realising Stain doesn't even see him as a threat. He glares up at him, and Stain recognises the anger in his eyes, warning Tenya that, in certain scenarios, even children will become his target.

Pushing himself up, Tenya glowers at him, teeth grinding. "Listen up…! I am the little brother of a hero you targeted. A hero who did no wrong! He cannot be here to take you down, so I shall take revenge for him! Do not ever forget this name: Ingenium! For it is the name of the hero who will take you down!"

Stain looks at him, twisting his head. "I see… Die."

Tenya rushes in once more, aiming for Stain's head with a powered kick. Stain easily twists out of the way, regarding such a fatal move as unbefitting of a hero. Tenya yells at him to shut up and try to punch him, only for Stain to cut his forearm, but Tenya, simply reacting to the pain of being cut, accidentally hits Stain's hand, making the blade fly away.

While inconvenient, Stain is unbothered, simply grabbing another blade and rushing once more. But, Tenya has experience with a talented blade wielder, and is able to dodge many more of his slashes, though it comes close many times, his armour taking the brunt of many slices, scratching and chipping away at it.

Eventually, Stain is able to get a hit in, sending Tenya to the ground. He brings the blade to his tongue, and Tenya is paralysed. With a foot on Tenya's head, Stain begins to lecture Tenya, asking him if he even questioned why he targeted Tensei. Tenya merely states that there is no reason.

Stain laughs, "You must be ignorant, or as corrupt as your fake brother."

"Shut your mouth!" Tenya snaps. "My brother is a splendid hero! He did nothing to deserve such cruelty! I'll kill you!"

"Save him first." For the first time, Tenya notices Native, shoulder bleeding sluggishly. Stain glares down at him. "That's the problem with you fakes. So egotistical, you can't even do your job and save people. No, you put yourself first. At the end of the day, you only care for yourself." Stain raises his blade over Tenya's neck. "I'll get rid of you now. Perhaps your death will do good for your revolting brother."

Tenya shakes, eyes flooding with tears. "Shut up! No matter what you say…! You'll always be a rotten criminal who hurt my brother!"

Stain swings down.

Izuku's heart is thumping wildly, eyes darting all around the place, trying to find the alley as fast as he can, nearly falling off the rooftops in his flurry. He can't let Tenya do this, fall into a darker path or march to his death. He can't. He can't, he can't, he–

He spots a glint.

Safety be damned, he jumps down, using the narrow space to get down with relative safety. Stain raises his katana above Tenya's neck, and Izuku lands, katana out, knocking against Stain's blade. His ankles and knees sting from such a feat, but he manages to get Stain's katana away from Tenya's neck.

Stain reacts, slashing at Izuku, only for him to block it. Izuku kicks out, sending Stain away and keeping his katana trained on him. Behind him, Tenya yells, "Mi– Kyou!? What are you doing here!?"

Izuku smiles. "What does it look like? I'm here to save you!"

Stain cocks his head. "Such a nice statement. Unfortunately, it is my duty to kill these men and purge the world of fake heroes. If you get in my way… naturally, the weak will be culled."

Izuku shivers. Tenya calls out to him once more, telling him to just run away, as he's paralysed by Stain's quirk. At first, Izuku figures he could grab Tenya and run, but he spots Native and realises he can't leave with two people, especially with Tenya's heavy armour.

He holds his katana in one hand, pointing it towards Stain and angling his body away, hiding his hand as he pulls his phone out and sends his location to the group chat. "I want to be a hero, I-ngenium. You can't expect me to abandon you now!"

"No! This has nothing to do with you!"

"And!?" Izuku pockets his phone once more, holding his katana with both hands once more. "So what if it has nothing to do with me? I'm not a hero yet, but I could never be one if I stayed out, just because I'm not part of whatever this is!" He levels his katana towards Stain, his grin wobbly but a grin nonetheless. "If I get hurt because I decided to save you, then that's fine by me!"

And Stain?

Stain grins.

The battle starts, Izuku matching Stain's blade with his own, straining against the shocking amount of strength in Stain's swing. Tenya lays on the floor, only able to watch as Izuku and Stain fight. Frustratingly, he notices that Izuku's a better match for Stain, possibly due to their matching weapon choices. Their swords clang together, metal scratching upon metal. Unlike the Sports Festival, Izuku's blade is not blunted.

But, as skilled as Izuku is, Stain has far more experience. It takes only a few seconds, less than a minute, for Stain to get the upper hand. Izuku slashes up, and Stain ducks down, moving his katana and slicing it against Izuku's abdomen. It doesn't go too deep, but it's enough to draw some blood, and Izuku falls to the ground, paralysed. As he falls, he notices Stain bring his sword away from his tongue, and realises it's not from being cut, but from him licking blood.

Stain marches over to Tenya, stating that there are dozens, hundreds of fakes in hero society, and it is rare to see anyone who isn't just talk. He will allow Izuku to live, as there is worth in doing so. However, for Native and Tenya, they shall be culled tonight. Stain raises his blade above Tenya once more, Izuku screaming for him to stop, to no avail.

As Tenya shuts his eyes, a blast of fire erupts towards Stain.

Shouto had been with Endeavour. There was only one reason why he chose to intern with his father. As horrid of a person he is, a worse father, Endeavour was a good and efficient hero. The best to learn how to use his fire from. He will never like Endeavour, never love him, but he can't deny his expertise.

Ever since the Sports Festival, since Izuku saved him, he's been paying closer attention to his classmates. He notices how Izuku still flinches at contact, how Ochako's tone is a bit too-sweet sometimes, how Momo portrays confidence but folds at challenges, how Yuuga rarely if ever speaks of himself. He notices how angry and cold Tenya's eyes are. How Tenya looked just as Shouto did before Izuku's interference.

He knows without asking that Tenya is suffering, and his silence only makes it worse. He knows that Tenya needs saving.

He goes to Hosu with Endeavour, and it becomes rampant with three Noumu's. For a moment, he's scared, remembering how strong the Noumu was in the USJ. But, Endeavour superheats one, and it falls dead. Its weakness is fire, he realises. In the same moment, he also realises that, if he used his fire in the USJ, Aizawa, Mic, and Izuku could have been spared so much pain.

Before he can really delve into that, his phone pings. The group chat he finally joined the week before. Izuku sends only his location. It takes a moment, before he realises it's in Hosu, where he is, and he turns. He finds a hero, telling them the location Izuku sent to him and requesting immediate back-up. Then he chases after Izuku, praying he'd get there in time.

And he does. Just as Stain tries to kill Tenya, he shoots his flames out at him, forcing Stain to back-up, then creating a platform of ice, catching Tenya, Izuku, and Native, sliding them all behind him, narrowing the street even further in the process. Izuku warns Shouto that Stain ingests blood to paralyse people, and Shouto decides that he can fight long-range. At least, so long as Stain doesn't figure out how to shatter his ice like Izuku did.

At that moment, Stain throws a knife, cutting Shouto's arm and drawing blood. He then throws his katana up, distracting Shouto momentarily, and Stain comes in, trying to lick the blood. Shouto sets his side on fire, making Stain back-up once more.

They're woefully outmatched. But they can't back down now. As Shouto fights, relying mostly on his quirk, Izuku's hand twitches, and he realises he can get up. Stain gets the drop on Shouto, and Izuku leaps in, arm blade released as he blocks Stain's katana, then kicks him away. Izuku then theorises that he can move either because Stain's quirk lessens the more people he paralyses, or a difference in blood types.

Stain confirms that it's blood type, though knowing so doesn't do much. Izuku asks Shouto to provide long-range back-up while he fights upfront, tapping his communicator and asking for back-up from Mount Lady. Tenya, once again, begs them to leave, only for Shouto to yell at him that they can't. They will save Tenya, Native, and themselves. If Tenya really wants them to go away, then he should stand up and make them.

"Look closely at the hero you want to be!"

Tenya hates. He hates a lot. He hates that he's so weak, hates that he can only watch as his friends put their lives on the line for him. He hates that Tensei's career has been so thoroughly damaged, and he can't do anything about it. He hates that he's the reason his friends may die.

Izuku battles Stain up-close, switching his style to more offensive than defensive. Shouto provides ample long-range back-up, sending wave after wave of fire and ice. Stain isn't so phased, managing to dodge Shouto's attacks while keeping Izuku away.

Then Stain manages to cut Izuku's arm, and he's down once more. As soon as Izuku goes down, he charges at Shouto and his katana is so close to slicing his arm clean-off and–

Tenya moves. A recipro burst, his foot slamming against Stain's katana at the side, snapping it cleanly in half. Mobility regained, he apologises to Shouto and Izuku once more, then states that he'll make up for his wrongdoings by making sure they come out alive.

Stain rejects this idea, believing that it takes far more for one to rid themselves of their corruption. Izuku, on the floor, puts it together. Why Stain brands his victims and returns within three months. He gives them a chance. A chance to come clean about their corruption and to show palpable change. That's why many of his victims either lose their careers, confess to their wrongdoings and change, or they stay silent and are thus killed.

Shouto rebukes Stain too, as it took one stubborn kid to change his entire worldview, and change for the better.

In Izuku's comm, Mount Lady finally responds, telling him she's on her way with back-up. Izuku relays this information, and Stain moves faster and stronger. Tenya takes a throwing knife to his arm for Shouto, and Shouto sends a sharp pillar of ice at Stain, who cuts it but is forced back.

Tenya hates himself thoroughly at the moment, but he'll hate himself more if he allowed his friends to come to harm and he did nothing. He asks Shouto to cool down his engines, just as Izuku regains mobility. Stain rushes, and they all notice how frantic he seems.

But, of course, he's frantic. He failed to kill Native, failed to kill Tenya. It's a three-v-one scenario, and he knows there are heroes on their way. He has to hurry.

Izuku pushes himself up, arm bleeding sluggishly, and it hurts to hold his katana, but he has to push himself. If he stops now, then they may not leave alive. He jumps from wall to wall, scaling up.

Shouto readies his fire, building a platform of ice for Tenya at the same moment. His arm hurts too, but it's nothing right now.

Tenya's engines burst, and he uses Shouto's platform to fly up. Stain swings down at him, but Izuku drops down at him, cutting into Stain's wrists. Tenya kicks right into Stain's ribs. Shouto fires, searing Stain's face.

The three of them drop down, and Shouto readies himself once more, Izuku and Tenya shooting to their feet and–

Stain is down. Unconscious.

They nearly collapse from the relief.

They find some rope in a garbage bin, tying Stain up with it. Native remarks on how useless he was the entire fight; more of a liability than anything. He decides that he never wants to go through with that again, and he'll turn himself into the police along with Stain.

Tenya asks Native why Stain marked him and tried to kill him, and Native confesses that he's been protecting a drug ring. He didn't want to let go of the money or his career, which was his undoing. Stain was right about him.

Izuku, Shouto, and Tenya are all affronted by this, but Native has said that he'll turn himself in for his crimes, so there's nothing they can do.

As they leave the alley, Mount Lady, Manual, and Endeavour's sidekicks arrive. Manual scolds Tenya for leaving him, while Mount Lady frets over Izuku. She holds him up, trying to check for all his injuries, accidentally opening the cut on his torso further. As she apologises for doing so, a claw comes down, wrapping over Izuku and taking him away.

Mount Lady thought she had finished it – its brain was bleeding from her punch, after all, some of the blood flying from it and landing on her cheek. She begins to grow in order to chase after it, only for a tongue to lick the blood off her cheek, paralysing the Noumu.

Stain leaps, his wrists screaming in pain as he both grabs Izuku and stabs the Noumu in the brain. It falls, and Izuku is free, though underneath Stain's foot.

"The fakes who call themselves heroes… And the criminals who aimlessly throw their power around… They are all my targets, who shall be culled. All of this… is for a just world!" Izuku struggles under his foot, trying to get away from him. Stain's mask falls, his eyes wide with wrath.

Endeavour comes around the corner, searching for the flying Noumu. He sees Stain, and grins, knowing that this will contribute to his fame.

Stain's eyes widen further, bloodlust rising at the sight of him. "ENDEAVOUR!"

Everyone. I mean, everyone, freezes, trembling for Stain's fearsome rage.

"Another fake! Someone… Someone must stain themselves in his blood. The word 'hero' must be restored!" He steps forward, and Endeavour steps back. "COME! JUST TRY IT! YOU FAKES! THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN KILL ME IS ALL MIGHT!"

And nobody moves, less it's to fall on their asses. Stain, alone, stands strong, demanding that these fakes dare try to take him down.

Upon a rooftop, Tomura watches, wondering what the hell Stain was doing. He sighs and, as he does, Stain turns. To his direction. Tomura shivers, scratching his neck.

Before he knows it, Stain is scaling up walls, and he's suddenly in front of Tomura, knife branded. He tries to cut Tomura's neck, only to fall flat with his injured wrists. "Hear me now, Shigaraki Tomura!" he yells, gaining the attention of the shock-still heroes on the ground. "Your cause is weak! Useless! The boy you target is a true hero, and he will not be killed for such a worthless cause. I will come back for you, and I will stain myself with your dirty blood!"

Stain gets away. Heroes chase after him, after the blood trail his wrists leave.

They lose him.

Aftermath

In the hospital, Izuku, Tenya, and Shouto share a room, each of them with a scar on their arms. It's a bit ironic.

Tenya, once again, apologises for allowing his hatred to blind him, and thus putting them in harm's way. Shouto waves it off, and Izuku immediately forgives him. They reckon that Stain allowed both Izuku and Shouto to live, at first, only cutting deeper when he was getting desperate. By all accounts, they should not have survived that attack.

Shouto notices scars on Izuku's arm that weren't there before, and Izuku reveals that they're from the Sports Festival. Shouto feels guilty at first, but Izuku forgives him easily. A physical scar is nothing compared to healing Shouto's mental scars.

Tenya reveals that his left hand, the one he used to protect Shouto and take that throwing knife, has nerve damage. While their society is now at a point where they can heal damaged nerves and perform surgery on them, he will leave them until he can view himself as a true hero. Izuku and Shouto decide that they'll also keep their scars, despite being able to get rid of them, to help Tenya on his journey.

Tenya deliberates on Stain. Native has already turned himself in, and the drug ring he protected is being taken care of. Many of Stain's previous victims also had a tendency to turn themselves in. In that case, what did that mean for Tensei? He never asked Tensei why Stain hurt him. He just assumes his brother would never do anything wrong.

Before he can really think about it, the door opens.

Mount Lady and Manual come in, followed by Chief Tsuragamae Kenji, of the police department. He commends them on holding their own against Stain, and that it was a shame Stain managed to escape. Nevertheless, even if they didn't capture Stain, fighting with their supervisors present and permission given is illegal. They could be tried for it, in other words.

Shouto argues against this, (though he doesn't call Kenji a 'mutt'). Mount Lady intervenes, calming them down.

Kenji then goes on to say that he is willing to overlook their battle, so long as they keep quiet about their involvement, and give the credit to their supervisors. Shouto relaxes, though he hates that he has to give Endeavour credit for any of his actions. Izuku agrees, as does Tenya.

The conclusion of that fight, and the fight in general, wasn't what they'd call amazing. If anything, it was a big eye opener. The USJ villains were scary, but Stain was terrifying. That fight was a look into how far they needed to go before they could become heroes.

And it's a challenge they're eager to meet.

Notes:

Mount Lady actually teaching her intern? You betcha! Izuku realising that heroics can affect more than going out in public? You betcha!

So, in canon, Stain says that he let Tensei live to spread the rumours, but we never really find out if he targetted him solely to spread rumours, or if it was a secondary objective. I've decided that there is a reason, and we'll find that out in a later update

Stain getting away and having a go at Tomura couldn't possibly have an affect on the story going foward... Right? Mwehehe

Next week, we're gonna take a look at a bunch of other internships, so be ready for that!

(This was 6,163 words long. I'm so glad I pre-wrote a bunch of this)

Conclusion:

Izuku is properly introduced to Mt. Lady and analyses Stain's pattern, leading to them going to Hosu

Izuku tracks down Tenya, saves him, and sends an SOS to the 1-A group chat, which Shouto responds to

Stain is able to get away, and acknowledges Izuku as a 'true hero'

Tenya is left in shambles as he thinks about morality and heroism

#my rewrite academia #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #mha critical #my hero academia #rewrite #horikoshi critical #plot #week 15 #internships

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