Izuku's POV:
"Ow!" I yelled, holding the top of my head with both my hands. Pain shot out from the top of my head down to my forehead with how hard that hit was.
"The hell were you thinking, brat?!" The doctor yelled back displeased.
I gently rubbed the top of my head, looking away from the doctor, defiantly. Eyes traveled to Agatsuma-San who just stood to the side, stifling a laugh as she watched the confrontation.
Of course, the doctor's outburst had gotten the attention of several other onlookers who just had to stop what they were doing to watch me get chewed out.
I had only returned to the Butterfly Mansion just a few minutes ago and I'm already being yelled at for my antics... what a great night.
It had taken a while for me to return. The DS Corps hideout is decently far away from the city, deep within a large forest. A few heroes were able to locate me on my way back, however, they were swiftly dealt with. Little to no effort needed at all.
Turning my attention back to the doctor, I allowed a light frown to show in my expression.
"You know, for a doctor, you're really not all that caring..." I muttered.
"What was that?"
I flinched, quickly responding with, "Nothing!", as to not anger her further.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head from side to side well taking in a deep breath of air.
"Listen, I'm not mad about what you did. However, did you once stop to think what consequences your actions may have?" The doctor asked, still semi-aggressively.
"N-no?"
It was more of a question, not really understanding where she was getting at. I did what I should've done, right? I saved as many people as possible. I helped put out the fire in any way I could. I consoled and calmed down the children I had saved... Sure I may have gotten some media attention and was unable to find the demon that caused this, but all things considered, I did what I should have done... right?
"You might have drawn attention to us," Agatsuma-San clarified.
I returned my gaze onto her, presence illuminating the somewhat dark room, awaiting for her to explain further.
"Our organization is already on the heroes' radar. If they learn that you are also a member, they may try to capture you in order to get answers on the DS Corps as a whole," Agatsuma-San explained.
"Plus you were caught on camera. Caught on live television. Do you know just how many eyes will be on you from now on? Plus, what you said about heroes and hero society, while not wrong at all, will be highly controversial. You'll be confronted by those who agree and those who don't," the doctor added.
"I-oh... That wasn't my... I-intention..." I said, a little ashamed at my lack of planning ahead.
"It's alright... just be more careful. You were already decently known by people before this and allowed for a few images of yourself to be leaked. You must be more vigilant while on your missions. I understand that you couldn't be stealthy tonight with how dire the situation was, but with other missions, be more careful," the doctor said.
I nodded in understanding. While I was listening and understanding everything they were trying to tell me, I wasn't as focused as I probably should've been. Not because I was trying to be defiant or anything, I was just... I was more concerned about what kind of demon had caused that orphanage to burn down.
Those flames seemed far too hot for any normal demon to have produced... was it possibly a lower moon who attacked the orphanage? If that's the case then I should probably get some help in finding the demon... I alone would absolutely not be able to defeat an lower moon. Not at my rank. Maybe a Hashira could help me?
Perhaps my crow was wrong and it wasn't a demon? No... that wouldn't make sense seeing as their were huge bite marks all over the scorched corpses, chunks of flesh completely missing. Plus, even most villains aren't sadistic enough to burn down an orphanage.
Now that I thought about it though... Those flames... those raging, unwavering flames had a strange and dangerous presence that it shouldn't have had. On top of that, the flames felt... familiar. Too familiar. Almost as if I had experienced them before. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it... Either way, it was unnerving to think about.
I was swiftly snapped out of my thoughts by the concerns of the doctor.
The doctor sighed. "Are you hurt?" She asked.
I shook my head, no. "Only a few cuts and bruises."
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"No effective fighting prowess..." I thought, staring on in amused frustration as two heroes foolishly attempted to fight a B-Class villain I had been keeping tabs on recently. The two heroes were quite popular locally, however were completely incompetent in doing their job.
Scoffing, I turned and walked away, past the rapidly growing crowd as they annoyingly cheered on the two idiots. Reliance on quirks is the worst habit a heroes, and really humanity in general, has come to adopt. They can easily be used against you when facing off against certain villains.
If a hero is to fight someone like Eraserhead and they suddenly lost their abilities, they would be nothing more but a quirkless child. Their best bet would be to run away as they'd get instantly defeated by a martial arts expert such as Eraserhead. Most heroes, an estimated 95% of them, have no expertise in actual martial arts in any sort of capacity.
90% aren't great thinkers while in battle and therefore can't properly form decent strategies to take down an opponent for the life of them. The best they can do is blindly throw themselves into battle. This behavior and incompetence is only escalated when a hero is being watching by their "adoring fans", and end up making horrible decisions in order to appease to the public.
It's something that must stop. Honestly, by now, it should be a requirement for heroes in training to learn to fight without their quirks.
They don't even need to learn martial arts or swordsmanship or anything of the sort. Just teach them relative hand to hand combat. Teach them how to wield a knife for god's sake. It's pathetic just how many heroes lose against a villain once the usage of their quirks become compromised. Either by a weakness being exploited or by losing the ability to use it entirely.
I couldn't help but shake my head in disappointment. The only hero school with enough foresight to teach their students these skills is UA High. And possibly Shiketsu High at times as well. But with the decreasingly low acceptance rate of UA, only heroes who meet the acceptance requirements will ever be taught these skills. Even then, their is no guarantee that those who are accepted will be seen as valuable assets in the future, and can quite possibly be expelled.
Because of this, the number of pros with actual fighting prowess is few and far between. In an ironic twist, those who are seen as having "non-flashy" quirks, end up having greater fighting skills than those with more powerful and flashy abilities, as they don't rely solely on their weaker quirks. This is why Eraserhead is as skilled as he is, he knew he couldn't rely on a quirk like his to win him everything, so he trained in martial arts. But in turn, this also means that those people will not be getting any form of recognition or appreciation for what they do, as they aren't as appealing as someone like Allmight or Kachaan.
Those two heroes back there would probably still win though. They'll overpower the villain if they don't let their guard down.
I carefully pulled my hood over my head, hands in my pockets.
It was a bright sunny day out, the birds sung beautiful hymns as they traversed between towering buildings. I shouldn't be ranting too much in my head on such a nice day. Besides, I don't usually come out into the city during the day, I have no need to, especially since I use many hours in the day to train.
Whenever I do come out into the city, it is normally at night, and that's only because of many missions I'm given on demons and my side job as a vigilante who works with a well-known and well respected info broker. Unfortunately, the same info broker is unbearably greedy and condescending at times, but nothing compared to how Kachaan was, so it's not too difficult to deal with him.
I didn't just come out here into Tokyo just to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere though. I was looking to add even more fighting styles into my arsenal. My ability to analyze a person's fighting style only to incorporate some of their exact same movements is often seen as amazing, impressive, or creepy. Kachaan and Aldera saw it as useless and a waste of time.
Apparently the school was shut down a few years ago. Someone must've exposed them for their fairly blatant crimes.
Regardless of how people view my skill, it's highly useful when just studying fights. Unfortunately, I can't really learn much when watching hero fights, so I usually walk past dojos or karate classes that seem to be teaching a style that I haven't come across yet. I'd watch closely, but not too close to the point where people would see me as being creepy.
Boom
Crash
The booming sound of what seemed like an explosion was swiftly followed my a strong rumbling feeling in the ground, vibrations shooting up my legs.
"An earthquake?" I thought. But no.
It ended far too quickly to be an earthquake. "A villain attack then? Another one?"
"Lunar Fall!"
"That's a well-known ultimate move of a fairly popular hero! Don't tell me that she's here," I muttered.
In a flash, pro hero Mirko appeared mid air, striking a villain with an immensely powerful downwards kick.
Mirko, a pro who's been rapidly growing in popularity over the past few years, recently reaching the top 25 heroes in all of Japan. Her quirk? Rabbit.
She can do anything a rabbit can, only better, having a few rabbit-like appendages such as ears and a tail. Her physical strength is undeniable as she's been seen crushing iron with a kick. However, it is unknown if that is her limit. Probably not.
"I wonder if she can kick through reinforced steel?" I pondered. "Maybe that's a bit too much."
Yet another crowd formed as even I stopped to watch this brutal, one-sided onslaught. This is one of the things I hate most about the city. Too many crowds form too quickly whenever a remotely popular hero is spotted. That hero doesn't even need to be in a fight, they can just be walking down the street and a good amount of people would swarm them for autographs.
Usually, like earlier, I wouldn't stick around to watch hero fights like this, but Mirko, unlike others, is a great fighter, especially in utilizing her legs to achieve powerfully crushing strikes. The only downside to her character that I can think of is that she can get a bit too excited while in a fight, which can cause her to lose focus a bit. She can be reckless and not quick enough to react to someone in danger. However, aside from that, she's a decent example as to what a hero should be, especially seeing as she has only been a hero for a few years now. She's someone who is still learning. Someone who doesn't just rely on their enhanced physical abilities. Someone who takes the time to grow in combat.
Someone who'd be showing off her ultimate moves for me to learn how to perform. Sure, I may not be able to copy the exact level of strength behind the kicks, but I can get pretty damn close.
This is how I'd teach myself more and more different breathing styles. By analyzing different demon slayers who use these certain techniques or by reading guides to these breathing styles, which is how I mastered Flower Breathing, an incredibly useful fighting style.
The villain was quite durable, perhaps something to do with his quirk, but whatever his quirk was, it wouldn't protect him for long. Not against Mirko.
"Lunar Tijares!"
Yet another ultimate move's name was uttered by Mirko, delivering the finishing blow to the villain's head. "I almost fell bad," I thought, wincing at the loud crack made from the impact.
"That guy won't die, but he'll have severe brain damage..." I thought.
I suppose it didn't matter though. Upon closer inspection, the villain was one that I knew, also one who committed unspeakable atrocities in the past, so whatever injury he takes is well deserved.
The crowd clapped and cheered, earning a delighted and determined grin from the pro.
I allowed a small smile to grace my lips. Despite my new opinions on heroes... I suppose that I did feel nostalgic, maybe even a little jealous of my past self who could just appreciate a good hero fight simply because there were heroes. I miss that naivety to a certain extent.
I stood there for a few moments longer before finally leaving the scene. "I've learned everything I can about Mirko. I should be able to perform her attacks once I train a little later," I thought.
I halted my movements directly in front of an alleyway, stepping into it after staring down the eerie darkness for a few seconds.
Puddles were a little too abundant in this alleyway, rats scampering way when noticing my presence as the pitter patter of tiny feet decreased more and more in volume. It stunk of dirty garbage and rat droppings, sun failing to light up the alley as it was blocked by a fairly tall building on my right and another to my left.
I looked up slightly, sighing deeply.
"I know you're watching me. So just come out and make this easier for the both of us," I said, half yelling as to not gain attention from anyone outside of the alleyway or from inside the buildings on either side of me.
Swiftly, I unsheathed my katana that was hidden in my oversized hoodie, blocking a failed attempt of a sneak attack from above. Metal clashed with metal as I utilized my superior physical strength to push the mystery person decently away from me, about a meter or two.
"You're good," a male voice said from the darkness of the alleyway.
"Was there any concern that I wasn't?" I questioned, pointing my katana at the man shrouded in darkness.
"No. Just wanted to experience Emerald's skill first hand."
The man swiftly sheathed his sword by his hip, keeping his hands by his side as he stared on at me.
Confused, I tilted my head at the sudden pacifism from the man who was stalking me and then attacked me out of the blue. Yes. He has been stalking me for a while now. I noticed a weird presence following me where ever I went for the past hour or so, but I never made a move against this person, not wanting to cause trouble in broad daylight.
I was also a bit surprised he knew I was Emerald. I wasn't in costume. I was in my civilian clothing. I didn't find it fit to beat around the bush and try to deny the fact that I am Emerald. He knows and there is nothing I can do about it.
"How did you know?" I questioned, lowering my katana, but still keeping a tight grip on it in case this was some sort of distraction for an ambush or something of the sort.
"Kid. It was quite simple to tell. Your presence... your aura. It is a dead ringer for Emerald. Both of your auras feel far too similar for it to just be a coincidence," he explained in a cold voice.
I narrowed my eyes incredulously at the man at his explanation. "That's not something anyone can just tell on a whim. You must be a skilled man to sense the similarity... who are you? It's only fair I know who you are if you know me."
The man let out a small chuckle which didn't actual contain any form of amusement. It was cold, dark, and serious. He was dangerous. Terribly so.
The man stepped forward, allowing me to get a better look at his features.
He was a relatively muscular man with a distinct hunch to his stance. He creepily let his tongue hang out of his mouth, which was abnormally long. Long black hair that draped over his face along with a headband and mask.
He sported a dark combat suit plated with metal armor across his body, assorted with an arsenal of weaponry. Arms wrapped in yellow bandages from just below his shoulders down all the way to his wrists. Knees protected by metal pads along with black boots with a long blood-red scarf completing the entire look
This was a vigilante I have heard of.
"Stendhal..." I said, readying to protect myself again in case he tried anything.
"So you already know of me?" he asked.
I only nodded, still keeping unblinking eye contact with the man. His eyes were cold... holding some form of fury within them. Those weren't they eyes of an evil man per say, but definitely the eyes of a fanatic.
"Why did you attack me? I don't see why I'd be your target, seeing as how I am a vigilante just like you," I said, watching the man's every movement.
"Don't assume that just because one is classified the same as another means that we are allies," he corrected.
"I came to ask you a question, as well as to confront you about your recent speech, that has recently gained traction by many people. Not just from Japan, but from everywhere," Stendhal said.
I shook my head disbelievingly. "Someone like me could not have gotten that much attention. Don't try to flatter me. I'm not interested in recognition," I informed the fellow vigilante.
Yet another chuckle escaped the man's lips, only this one... this one actually seemed genuine. "Not interested in the fame, huh? Good. However, I assure you that I do not exaggerate."
The man reached into his pockets, not flinching when I lifted my katana up higher in preparation of what he may be attempting to grab. But to my confusion, he didn't pull out a weapon, but a phone instead.
Stendhal seemingly swiped his finger on the screen of the phone before stopping to finally press the screen instead.
He looked up at me, turning the phone so that the screen was facing me. I got a little closer, but not too close.
A video was playing. A video that seemed all too familiar. A video of me confronting those fools who called themselves heroes after I saved those children from the burning orphanage.
However, I wasn't focusing on the video. I was focusing on the video's ratings.
Millions upon millions of views. Millions upon millions of likes and a couple thousand dislikes. An incredible like to dislike ratio and an insane amount of views for something that literally just happened earlier today at midnight
"As you can see, I was not lying. You have made a name for yourself if you hadn't already before," Stendhal said.
"Your speech has finally caused people to begin to think about heroes and hero society as a whole. The are beginning to see their wrongdoings and are responding accordingly. Society is finally seeing the truth. The truth that their are indeed false heroes who don't deserve their title."
I squinted a bit, stepping back a little as Stendhal brought the phone closer to himself and turned it off.
"Your words are being heard."
"Damnit... this isn't good... I mean it is good! But... they were right... Agatsuma-San and the doctor were right... this is only going to bring unwanted attention onto me, as well as onto the DS Corps as a whole. Both heroes and villains will be after me, just like Stendhal here. Although he's not exactly after me..." I thought.
"I... see..." was all that I could muster up the resolve to say, before shaking my head a bit to snap out of my worried thoughts.
Stendhal raised an eyebrow at me. "That's all you have to say?" he asked.
"Well, no. I'm glad people are taking my words seriously... I'm just shocked is all," I said, speaking the half truth.
The man only nodded.
"Now for my question," he said.
"What is your end goal? You may have been the one to say what needed to be said, however, do these words truly align with your morals? With your conviction? What meaning is to all of this if not for conviction?" he questioned, ranting a bit.
"End goal? Conviction?" I repeated.
"I... my main goal is to become as strong as possible so I can protect those I care about... but... I suppose I want to help inspire those who are wrongly treated in society like I was... the quirkless, mutants, etc. They all need to be shown that they can be heroes too," I explained.
The man nodded approvingly. "A noble goal. I'm assuming you fall into one of these categories?"
"Quirkless." I responded simply, leaving the man in a state of shock for just a few moments, completely breaking character for a noticeable amount of time.
Why am I giving this insane person whom I just met, so much personal? I.. I'm not sure... I just feel as though he can be trusted. His words sound genuine when he speaks. Maybe that's why I re-sheathed my katana without even meaning to.
I definitely expected cruel comments or laughter against me once I told him I was quirkless. Well... I did get laughter... just not... the kind I expected.
He let out a crazed laugh, seemingly almost manic when doing so. The laughter however was weirdly happy and joyous. A star contrast to the belittling laughs I'd get from my past classmates.
"That just makes everything you've done up to this point all the more impressive, Emerald," Stendhal said, catching his breath a bit from the crazed laughter.
"H-huh? You think s-so?" I asked. He doesn't care about my quirklessness? Just like the DS Corps?
Stendhal didn't reply, only turning away from me, seemingly preparing to leave.
"I see a lot of promise in you, Emerald. I have faith that you will only continue to grow from here. Don't disappoint me."
And with that, the man leapt up into the air, up onto the roof of the building to my left, swiftly disappearing as swiftly as he came.
"Well that was... random... and... strange..." I thought to myself.
"I have a feeling this won't be the last time we meet... we'll meet again soon. Under what circumstances, I can't say. However, it won't be good... that's for sure."
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Author's Note: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Stain has officially met Izuku, but he still currently goes by Stendhal at this point in time.
Aside from that, I wanted to thank to all for getting this story to over 1K reads! This truly means a lot, especially since it hasn't even been 2 months since I started uploading stuff to Wattpad.
The number of new readers I've been getting is insane and has definitely motivated me to continue uploading more and more chapters.
However, since school for me is going to start soon, I will be posting chapters less frequently than I have been, but I will definitely shoot for posting once a week.