Chapter 23

I did my best to control the anger burning through my veins and dig my feet into the pavement as I asked Stain, "Do you know why Shigaraki Tomura is causing havoc in this city?!"

Stain grunted and spat blood before getting up on his trembling legs. Crouching towards me, he asked, "Who are you?!"

I looked back towards Iida who flinched again.

"I'll be having words with you once this guy is apprehended."

Mustering enough courage, Iida snarled, "Why do you care?! This is my fight!"

I scowled and replied with a growl, "You can't even move, how do you expect to defeat this maniac?! And I'm your friend, stupid Iida! It's my duty to stop you from doing something you may regret. Resent me if you want to but I'll do everything, even if I have to beat the shit out of you, to knock some sense in your mind that's clouded by revenge!"

Iida gritted his teeth in frustration and anger as I continued, "Take care of your fellow victim once you're able to move."

Before I could turn around towards Stain, he threw a knife at the back of my head which, surprisingly for him, was easily caught by me. What, you expected me to drop my guard against a piece of shit known for killing heroes?

"Tsk, so eager to kill. Is that all you can think of with your deranged mind? Answer my question and I may apprehend you in a less painful way!"

Stain snarled, "Get out of my way kid. From your talk with your friend, I could tell you are serious about being a hero. But him? He wants revenge. He doesn't deserve to be a hero."

Already angry and frustrated at the attack on the city, I didn't wait any further and grabbed his face in my palm to slam him against a wall. I was so fast that he couldn't even see me move.

Conqueror's will was pulsating out of my body with every heartbeat and its effects were very clear. The night sky itself was beginning to yield to my will as its colour took a tinge of green. Far away on a sky high tower, I felt Shigaraki stumble back into a portal.

Growling and panting after barely recovering from going berserk, I asked, "One more time, why is Shigaraki here? Why are you targeting heroes? What's your motive behind this? Did someone put you up for this?"

Stain laughed raspily and replied, "He wanted me to join his league, but our goals were different so I declined. He just came here to drop me off."

I slammed him back into the wall and punch him in the abdomen. As he was coughing and gasping for air, I said, "That hand fetish manic is causing havoc in the city! Because of you, the scum of this society is taking advantage of this attack to have their way with the civilians! I just stopped a rapist before coming here! Why are you killing heroes?! Give me one good reason, I may go easy on you."

Stain snarled, "Because those heroes are fake! All they want is money and fame! They don't care enough to save people! They don't deserve to be called heroes. I'll kill all the fakes if I have to for cleaning this country off their filth!!"

'An idealistic villain...'

I snarled back, "And who gave you the right to decide whether they deserve to be heroes or not?! Who gave you the right to be the judge?!"

Stain finally managed to push me away and free himself. Grabbing his katana, he slashed at my abdomen but I easily evaded it.

"My purge... is for the sake of a better society... This sham filled society... and the criminals who wield their power in the name of petty mischief... I'll end it all!"

Stain tried to manoeuvre around me and go after Iida who had begun to move again. But I was way faster and stronger than him. I grabbed his katana and shattered it like glass. Still, he managed to throw a knife at Iida which was thankfully stopped by Todoroki's ice.

"Midoriya, I'll be here to provide support if you need it."

I nodded to Todoroki and turned back to Stain, "If you hate those so-called fake heroes, you could have tried to become a hero and clean the hero society from inside..."

Slamming him on the pavement, I bombarded his chest with my fists.

"... And I bet you did try, but you failed to become a hero. You gave up when you tried to spread awareness about the corruption among heroes but no one listened..."

I stopped when I started hearing cracking sounds from his chest. Stain's breathing was ragged and he was trying with all of his might to stay awake.

"... You gave up. If you were devoted enough to your cause, you should have kept trying. There are many ways to become a hero. But you? You chose the easy way out. You decided to kill all the heroes you saw were unworthy. Instead of choosing to do things the right way, you chose a coward's path and became a murderer. Am I right? Your will is weak. In the end, you're nothing but a coward."

My words provoked him to try and attack me and by his reaction, I knew I was right. I could see the madness in his eyes. I knew that no matter how much I tried, I couldn't help him in any way.

I rammed my fist into his face and sent him flying into the wall.

Stain was defeated.

I looked back to find Todoroki and Iida helping the hero 'Native' who was originally being targeted by Stain.

As we came out of the alley with Stain tied by ropes, the other heroes had arrived, along with Gran Torino.

"Midoriya you brat! What happened here?!"

I looked towards Stain and replied, "We caught the Hero Killer. He was about to kill Iida and the pro-hero 'Native' when I stopped him and fought to subdue him. You can see it took a lot of effort."

Right when the other pro-heroes were interrogating Iida and me, I sensed a Nomu closing in towards me. I immediately dodged when it tried to grab me and activated armament to attack back.

But before I could, Stain freed himself and licked the blood of the Nomu that had spilt on a pro hero's cheek. He swiftly ran and jumped towards the Nomu to stab it in the brain, thus killing it.

Right at that moment, Endeavour arrived at the scene. When Stain laid his eyes on the number two hero, he was blinded by madness.

"Endeavour..."

"Hero Killer!!"

"You fake... if I don't fix it... if someone isn't stained with blood... come, just try me you fakes!! The only one to kill me... is All Might! A true hero!"

At that moment, everyone around me was intimidated by Stain. The conviction in his voice, he was ready to stand against all of us for his beliefs. But all I saw was a broken man holding onto whatever was left of his ambition.

Before anyone could take action, Stain was out cold.

Later that night, Todoroki and I were in Iida's room in the Hosu hospital.

Iida bowed to me and said, "I'm sorry. I was blinded by revenge. I shouldn't have tried to seek him out."

I bonked on his head and scoffed, "Yes! You shouldn't have done that, you idiot! You would have been dead if I was even a second late. I told you didn't I? You could have called me or Uraraka if it was getting too much for you. But, I think I wasn't persuasive enough."

Todoroki looked at me and asked, "But how did you find him in that alley?"

Before I could answer, the door of the room was opened and Gran Torino entered, followed by a man with the face of a dog.

"Ah, You guys are all here..."

Pointing towards the dog-man, he continued, "This is Mr Tsuragamae Kenji, Hosu's chief of police."

As I was about to get up and greet him, the man said, "Please remain seated, woof."

'Huh, a mutation type quirk. And similar to Tsuyu, he has a verbal tic for it.'

He looked directly at me and said, "So you're the one who put a stop to the Hero Killer, woof. Stain is currently recovering from a number of broken bones and other serious injuries, woof. When quirks first appeared, the police prioritised to maintain the status quo and refrained from using quirks. But that void was filled by heroes. Even though it was a heavily criticized decision at first, it garnered public support. All because your predecessors acted morally and complied with the laws, woof."

His glare intensified, "Young boy, you used your quirk without the explicit permission of the police or other authorities responsible. Even if it was to stop someone like the Hero Killer, such action represents the stunning breach of the law, woof. Even if your two friends didn't play any role in stopping Stain, evidence shows that they too used their quirks."

He looked at the three of us and said, "You three, as well as your hero mentors... The six of you must be dealt with strictly and impartially."

Todoroki wanted to say something but I stopped him as the chief cleared his throat and continued, "All of that is what I'm obligated to tell you, as the police. But the real question is whether or not to deal with this problem publically, woof. If we let this out, you'll be lauded by the public but won't escape legal action. Fortunately, the number of eyewitnesses was small that night, so we can hush up the whole matter before it causes problems. But in that case, your decisive action and achievements will be hidden from the public."

The police chief wanted to name Endeavour for capturing Stain and save us from being punished. Relieved, we bowed towards him and thanked him.

Among all that tension, I had forgotten something I did the previous night. I had taken the lives of those criminals, even though I had not wanted to. Though no one found out that I was the one responsible for the chaos at hospitals due to random people having fainting fits, the guilt was eating me up from inside. My powers, they were growing way faster than I could control them.

(BNHA)

A/N: I don't know why some people like Stain. I did not agree with his views at all.