apathy

revenge can be heated up in the microwave of evil

"It's a bit awkward to ask you this," Manual says unprompted on their second day of patrolling, "But you're totally going after the hero killer aren't you?"

Tenya looks up at him, surprised to have been seen through so quickly. Uraraka had believed his bluff that he was feeling better yesterday when they'd said goodbye, and they've been friends since the beginning of the school year. Manual he's seen around thanks to Tensei, but they don't actually know each other.

Manual catches his eye and gives a sheepish smile.

"I just can't think of another reason why you would choose my agency." He explains. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you've come! But you shouldn't let yourself be pushed foward by a grudge. You might cross the line into vigilantism if you're not careful."

"I appreciate your concern." Tenya answers tensely. He doesn't care. Tensei, who has only ever wanted to help people, because Stain deems him a 'false hero,' is trapped in a hospital bed. He may never get to go back to being a hero, and it's all Stain's fault. Tenya will make him pay.

Some sad expression crosses Manual's face, but he nods and continues to move along.

"Well, we have a lot of ground to cover before we go back, so let's get moving!" He says, voice upbeat. Tenya follows reluctantly. They don't get but ten feet away from where they were when a huge explosion erupts across town. Another one appears closer, signalled by fire and the sound of screaming. "At a time like this—? Quick, Tenya! Let's make a break for the crime scene."

With that, the hero takes off through the gathering crowd. But Tenya stays back, eyes glued to a nearby alleyway. He hears something. Faint compared to the questions and yelling around him, but still there. His engines spark to life without a second thought and he enters the alley.

It's dark and grimy, ending in a brick wall. Just as Tenya thought, Stain stands there, pinning the pro hero Native to a wall. He draws back his sword and Tenya sees red. All he can imagine is his brother on the end of that blade. All he can see is the man who hurt Tensei.

Tenya rushes forward to attack but Stain swings his sword—backwards, at Tenya instead of Native. The force of it knocks him off his feet and his helmet off of his head. Tenya's engines die down on impact with the ground.

"A child in a suit..." Stain muses, turning his head just enough to look at Tenya with dismissive eyes. "This isn't any place for children. Leave."

Tenya, instead, pushes himself to his feet, shaking with rage.

"A blood red scarf and too many blades to count. You're the hero killer, aren't you?" Tenya looks up, glaring at Stain. He'll make him pay. He'll make Stain pay! "I came looking, but to think I've found you so soon—!"

Stain's sword appears right in front of Tenya's face, so close that he can spot the specks of dried blood still on the metal. Tenya tenses in the face of it, words curdling on his tongue. Too close.

"You're here for revenge, huh?" Stain guesses, turning the blade to stare at him down the length of it. "Listen here, under the right circumstances, even kids like you are my targets. Understand?"

Reawoken by Stain's words, fury blazes to life in Tenya's chest. He grits his teeth, clenches his fists.

"You're saying I'm not worth being a target?" He asks quietly. Stain narrows his eyes at him, and Tenya stands straight, eyes full of righteous rage. "Hear me now, you criminal! I am the brother of a great hero that you struck down! I'm here to put a stop to you in his place, so don't you dare forget this name; Ingenium, the hero who will take you down!"

Stain studies him, then grins, an awful sight.

"I don't care." He says, dropping Native and letting him crumple onto the floor. Stain readjusts his stance, facing Tenya head on. "Die."

Tenya rushes forward, kicking with the aid of his engines, but Stain jumps up.

"I left your brother alive to spread rumors! You're both—" He announces in the air, over Tenya. Stain's boot kicks into his arm, the spikes on the front crushing Tenya's armor and impaling his arm. The other foot comes down on Tenya's head, slamming him to the ground. Once there, Stain stabs his sword into the weaker joint part of the armor covering his shoulder. The pain from the quick succession of attacks has Tenya's vision whiting out. "Weak. You and your brother both; Fakes."

"You shut up!" Tenya cries, fighting against the pain. "My brother is a wonderful hero who helped so many people, and you paralyzed him! He was a great hero! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"If you were a real hero, you would have saved him first instead of only caring about yourself." Stain hisses, jerking a thumb back at Native and applying more pressure on his sword. "Becoming blinded by your hatred for selfish reasons makes you the furthest thing from a hero!"

Stain rips the blade from Tenya's shoulder, forcing a pained cry from his lips, and raises it to drag his tongue against the edge. Tenya's body seizes up and he can't move. Stain holds the blade high, ready to send it plummeting down again. This time into Tenya's head.

"Which is why you will die here!"

Splat.

Both Tenya and Stain freeze. Tenya slowly raises his eyes to stare at the egg dripping steadily off of Stain's face. The sight doesn't compute. His brain cannot grasp the idea of someone so terrifying... covered in raw egg.

And needless to say, it doesn't fully understand the sight of a black tactical boot slamming into Stain's face, either. The hero killer crashes backwards as Tenya's savior uses his face like a springboard to flip off of. The newcomer lands in a crouch. Stain's head cracks against the concrete.

"That was a close one." He mutters, muffled by the mask that Tenya spots when he stands. He's wearing a dark hood that covers his hair well, and has a bag of groceries hanging from one arm. A yellowing bruise covers the area between the mask and his right eye. Tenya can guess with certainty that this is no hero who has stumbled onto the scene. This is a vigilante.

A vigilante who promptly grabs Tenya under the armpits and drags him away from Stain.

"Fucking hell you're heavy." He grumbles, seemingly rather unconcerned with the situation as a whole.

"You—you need to get out of here!" Tenya grunts through the pain that spikes from being manhandled. "This is my fight. You'll just get hurt!"

"Nah." The vigilante denies easily. Tenya goes to argue, but a growl stops him. He looks around the vigilante. Stain has begun to shift, pushing up off the ground.

"You're..." Stain slowly gets up, body tilted forward at an angle like some kind of beast, bloodlust radiating off of him. "That Green Devil kid Jotun is always bragging about... right?"

"I should tell him not to do that." Green Devil mutters to himself, leaning Tenya against the wall. Then he straightens up and steps in front of him, like he is a shield to protect Tenya from his own stupidity. Tenya wants to reach out and make him leave. He will die and it will be Tenya's fault for being such an idiot. "So what if I am?"

"I have no interest in hurting a fellow vigilante, so step aside." Stain orders. He raises his sword, Tenya's blood still coating the blade, and points it at Green Devil. "That one is just another fake hero. He will die."

"Move aside, you say?" Green Devil echoes. He takes a step forward, sliding the bag off his arm onto the ground, and shifts into a fighting stance. "Come make me, Stendhal."