Mastermind: Strategist For Hire

The Hero Killer: Stain

"Mastermind." Izuku looked around and saw a pair of red eyes staring at him from the darkness.

"Well, I should hope I'm recognizable by now," he said cockily, "I am pretty high profile."

"You're the one who killed All Might."

Izuku smiled behind his mask and threw his arms out to his sides, "With pride. What can I do for you?"

"You can die!" All of a sudden three knives shot at him from the darkness. He managed to dodge the first two, but the third grazed his cheekbone before clattering to the ground. His brain kicked into overdrive as he turned to look at his attacker.

His eyes widened when he saw Stain, the hero killer. He knew that Stain had been known to kill villains, but that was back in his vigilante days, now he mostly targeted heroes. Well, except for him, apparently.

Izuku quickly picked up the knife that had dropped and wiped off the blood as best he could. He didn't know how the hero killer's quirk worked exactly, just that it involved blood and paralysis, but the odds were that there was some sort of blood ingestion requirement for activation like most blood related quirks. He pulled his mask up a little higher to cover the cut on his cheek.

"So, are you gonna tell me what I did to get on your hit list?" Izuku asked. Stain was known to be long-winded, so hopefully he'd monologue for long enough for Izuku to figure out a way to either kill Stain or run away.

"You killed All Might!" All of a sudden, Stain was right next to him, grazing his arm and licking the blade before Izuku could stop him. Izuku fell to the floor as his body gave out on him and he tried to calm his breathing. Stain's quirk had a time limit, Izuku knew that much. He swallowed and hoped his intel was correct about how much Stain liked monologuing.

"You kill heroes too, we're not so different, you and I!"

"All Might was the one true hero among the scum. He was the only one worthy of the title hero. The heroes I killed were selfish beings pretending to do was was good for society when in reality they are only furthering their own ends. They needed to be weeded out for the good of society. The heroes I killed sent a message to the ones that remain that they need to improve or else fall victim to my blade."

"And you believe that All Might's death sends the wrong message?" Izuku tried to move his fingers to no avail.

"It sends the opposite message. Killing All Might was an act of senseless violence and for that, you must die. By killing All Might, you have not made hero society better, you have deprived it of it's crown jewel. There is nothing left worth keeping, all that's left is trash! Don't you understand what you have done?"

Izuku's panic was starting to bubble up underneath his calm facade. This was it. This was how he died. He kept trying to move his fingers, but it felt like he wasn't even trying. He closed his eyes, preparing for the end and then...his finger twitched. Izuku resisted the urge to laugh hysterically. It felt like he was moving through taffy, but he could move.

"It's scum like you who make it necessary for me to stain my hands with the blood of the unworthy. You are what is wrong with society."

Izuku looked up at Stain, but didn't move. It seemed he couldn't feel when his quirk wore off. Izuku could use that to his advantage. Stain moved around as he spoke and at one point he looked up at the sky.

"I have judged you and found you unworthy of life..." Izuku quietly stood and quickly made his way behind a nearby dumpster. He held his breath as Stain looked back to where he should be.

"Shit! He must be type O." He looked in either direction before gathering up his knives, "No matter, he can't have gotten far. My blade will still taste his blood tonight." And with that, Stain hurried out of the alley in search of his prey.

Izuku waited for several long minutes before breathing a sigh of relief and coming out of his hiding place. He quickly took off his jacket and mask, hiding his knives inside like he had when he had escaped the hero raid. It was far too dangerous for Mastermind to be on the streets tonight.

Izuku made his way back to base, he thought through the fight. Stain would find him again soon enough, and when he did, only one of them would make it out alive.

"No."

"Come on, Stain, be reasonable! We both want to destroy the things we hate."

"No," Stain pulled out another knife, "You want to destroy the things you hate, I want to change society for the better. You have no vision, as evidenced by you killing the only true hero in this godforsaken society."

"Please Stain," Kurogiri said, "We can change society together."

Stain shook his head, "I will let you live because I think you truly are trying to change society, but if I ever run into Mastermind again, he will taste my blade. Killing All Might will lead to all the wrong changes and it is unforgivable." He sheathed his blades, "Take me back to Hosu, Warp Gate, I still have business there."

Shouto Todoroki watched Ida brush off Uraraka as she tried to talk to him. He'd originally thought it was strange that Iida was going to intern in Hosu because that's where his brother was attacked, but then he'd seen Iida's eyes.

His eyes were full of the same hatred that Shouto felt swirling inside of him. Ever since Midoriya had made him aware of it, he just hadn't been able to ignore the feeling. He felt it constantly to where sometimes it was all he could think about. After years of feeling numb, the anger felt...nice? Shouto knew that he should probably talk to someone about this, a therapist or something, but Endeavor was the number one hero now. Who would ever believe that he had spent years abusing his wife and children, just because of some one-sided rivalry with All Might?

Shouto couldn't talk to anyone. He couldn't fight Endeavor and win. So if Iida had something he could do to get rid of this festering anger inside him, who was Shouto to get in the way? He silently wished Iida luck as he watched him leave. Hopefully he'd find what he was looking for.

Shigaraki scratched at his neck as he overlooked Hosu at sunset, "That stupid hero killer. Who does he think he is? I'll show him the change we're capable of!"

"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to consult with Mastermind before we enact our plan?" Kurogiri asked, "He has helped us in the past."

"You don't need a strategist if all you're doing is causing chaos, Kurogiri." Shigaraki replied. "Warp in the Nomu!"

As Kurogiri complied, Shigaraki smiled and looked out at the still peaceful city, "I'll show them all! By this time tomorrow, everyone will have forgotten about Stain's pathetic changes!"

Izuku cracked his neck as he left the meeting. Hosu was quite the journey from his home base, so he tried to make any prospective clients come to him if they wanted a face to face meeting, but this gang had the potential to be a big client and Izuku decided to invest a little effort into making sure they had a good relationship. And this way, he'd be able to take care of his little Stain problem.

Now all Izuku needed to do was wander a bit and see if he could find the hero killer. All of a sudden, he was blown off slightly off course by an explosion and he panicked. What was Katsuki doing here? He was supposed to be interning with Best Jeanist in another city!

Izuku looked around quickly and sighed when he saw a group of heroes fighting a Nomu. Ah, it was just the league. He idly wondered what Shigaraki was trying to accomplish by letting them loose in Hosu, of all places, and then decided it didn't matter. What the League chose to do with their resources was their own decision, Mastermind only needed to worry about it if they paid him.

In fact, the League's interference only made things easier, Izuku thought as he headed away from the action. Stain would be somewhere quiet, apart from the chaos, most likely in an alley.

None of the heroes noticed Mastermind as he quietly began his search for the hero killer.