(Y/N) POV
Most of the time I've spent interning under Endeavor, I've mostly done capacity training by myself, though I did spar with Todoroki a few times. In the morning at least, we can usually get warmed up without Endeavor yelling at us the entire time. Thankfully, Endeavor never pays attention to me until I ask for assistance, so a couple of times, I got to talk to Izumi over the phone. I learned that she's managing to not break her bones so...I'm proud.
Damn, I really am going soft, huh? I wonder what...What He would say if he could see me now.
(Y/N): "Hey, Endeavor. I'm...I'm gonna go to Hosu. I have a weird feeling...something is wrong."
Endeavor: "Why would you go there in just a hunch? If nothing is there then you're wasting valuable time."
(Y/N): "..."
I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. Honestly, I just felt kind of dead, like something just drained me of all the energy I had and the thing filling in that void was the need to go on a patrol in Hosu. Thankfully, I managed to map out a route due to Endeavor taking us there every other day because stain just...Exists.
(Y/N): "Call me if you're gonna patrol, I'll...I'll meet up with you."
—————
*Insert JoJo reference here*
"Is that a mother fuckin' JOJO REFERENCE?"
No. No it isn't. It's me being lazy and trying for cheap comedy when I KNOW I could do better.
—————
What the hell is up with me right now? I never ride in the train. It's always just on top of the train or hiding in the back. But here I am, Stuck in between a sleeping man who bears a striking resemblance to Aizawa...Okay, never mind. Here I am, stuck between Aizawa and a Poorly disguised Present Mic. Ah, the good ol' Fedora + Trench coat. The thing made to be inconspicuous even though it is literally the most conspicuous thing you could possibly wear (then again, I'm in no place to judge with my hero costume). I wonder why they're here. On this train. Together.
Ah, if only Todoroki was here. She'd be conspiracy theorizing so I don't have to.
After getting off at my station and starting on my new patrol route, I take in the day time Hosu. It's...Nice. Couples doing couple things, families doing family things. It's a nice refresher from having to deal with the Todoroki family's...Less than healthy relationship. No time to bask in the sun and take in the sights however. I got a job to do.
I know that it hasn't been that long since I went on patrol of my own volition, but I can't help but feel some weak sense of nostalgia as I jump from building to building, swinging around with my chain, trying to stay out of sight from the common man. It's like when I was still just a vigilante delinquent, stealing money from Thugs, scaring people. Just me against the world...
I guess I just got too used to being alone after the incident in Empire city.
And why do I feel like someone is watching me again? No one can see on top of the rooftops.
—————
(Y/N): "You know, I'm really feeling down."
Bakugo: "WELL STOP IT BEFORE I BLOW YOU!"
(Y/N): "...Up?"
Bakugo: "I KNOW WHAT I SAID."
(Y/N): "Oh my."
—————
As night begins to fall and the streets start to slow down, I take a break from my patrol, sitting on the edge of a building and looking up the sky. It's quiet, and peaceful...I've learned a lot of things while going to UA. I've learned how to cook. I've learned how to go on patrols more efficiently. I've learned how to fight along side others instead of being a lone wolf. But there are some things that you can only learn by experience, and one thing I learned over my years of vigilantism?
Quiet is NOT a good thing.
Getting up and turning around, I can see him in the shadows, his cold, dead eyes trying to pierce my very soul with their gaze, red electric arcs jumping up and down his body and through a puddle he's standing in.
Cole.
My breathing turns uneasy, in my mind, I hate the fact that my first instinct when faced by him now is to go in a defensive stance.
(Y/N): "Why are you here, Cole?"
Cole: "I gave you a warning, didn't I? I said that the next time I saw you, I'd kill you. But this time, I didn't come alone."
Suddenly, an explosion goes off in the distance, followed by screams. Against my better judgment, I turn away from Cole towards the explosion, only to see some kind of lanky pale man(?) ripping a train car open.
(Y/N): "Is that-?!"
Cole: "A Nomu. They may be small fry than the one at The USJ, but they do their jobs."
(Y/N): "What...WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'THEY'?!"
More explosions go off in another direction, more screams. My phone buzzes, a text with a location from Izumi and Endeavor telling me that Hosu is under attack.
(Y/N): "Damn it...Izumi's in trouble!"
Cole: "You're not going anywhere."
Cole: "Time to die, traitor."
————————
Nobody's POV
————————
Cole charged at (Y/N), His electrified arms turning into blades that clashed against (Y/N)'s neon chain sword. Cole slashed like a ferocious animal at (Y/N), electric arm blade narrowly missing and tearing through his coat.
(Y/N), unexpectedly grabbing Cole by the strap around his chest, blasted him point blank with a powerful neon bolt, head butting and kicking Cole away as he jumped off of the building, running towards the location Izumi had sent him. Cole gave chase, gliding along electrical wires and the train track in order to keep up with Neon (Y/N)'s speed, and using long range lightning bolts to try and slow (Y/N) down.
Jumping from the tracks, Cole shot an electric shockwave down at (Y/N), making him fly backwards into a wall, the wall cracking and crumbling from the force. Lining up a shot, Cole attempted to shoot (Y/N) with another bolt, but he was shot in the shoulder by (Y/N)'s own neon beam, a small one shot by his finger. The tiny beam was enough to throw Coles aim off just that tiny bit, the lightning bolt barely missing.
(Y/N): "Alright, That's it..."
Blasting open the wall, (Y/N) climbs into the building, falling into an apartment kitchen. He lit the stove, setting a roll of paper towels on fire and absorbing the smoke just as Cole followed him inside. Cole zapped the lit stove, causing it to explode, (Y/N) smoke dashing out the window as it did.
Landing on the street, Cole jumped from the hole in the wall, coating his entire body in electricity...
...And falling like an anvil, slamming into the ground with a devastating electric shockwave that (Y/N) was forced to take the full impact of, sending him flying.
Crashing into a car, (Y/N) shakily got up, spitting out blood. Raising his hand, he kicking himself off the car, twisting his body in midair and starting to fire a barrage of smoke shots at Cole, covering the street in a thick black smoke. Cole could barely breath, coughing and trying to get out of the smoke cloud by jumping for an electrical wire, but (Y/N) dashed out of the cloud, his body almost completely made of smoke, and dragged Cole back down into the cloud with him.
Zipping past Cole left and right, front and back, (Y/N) attacked with hit and run tactics from within the cloud, Cole getting more worn down as time went on by the many strikes of (Y/N)'s chain. In an act of desperation, Cole threw down a small condensed ball of electricity, and crouched down, the ball exploding like a grenade, splitting the cloud open and giving himself room to breathe.
(Y/N) stepped out of the cloud, continuing his way to the location that Izumi had sent him, cracking a glow stick and switching back to neon, running up the sides of buildings, even through some, and through alleyways. In the distance, he saw a massive blast of blue fire, but he couldn't investigate at that time. He was being chased by Cole. Again.
Cole shot down at (Y/N) from the rooftops, his arms covered in cuts, face covered in soot, and his clothes torn, but still he pursued (Y/N), the surge of energy that was powering his will to fight starting falter.
(Y/N) ran up the side of the building Cole was on, the location Izumi sent just a few buildings away. The two just stared at each other, neither moving, knowing that the first one to try would end up being the one to fall. Fires were burning, some buildings around them crumbling in places, the wind fiercely blowing, as if trying to push the two off the building, but to the two, it was completely silent. And that silence was only broken by one thing.
A winged Nomu carrying Izumi into the sky.
(Y/N) couldn't move for a moment seeing this, but when he did, he broke the concrete of the roof with his first step, completely blocking out Cole. Cole however...
In that instance, in those crucial moments, his body...moved-No. his body ran. It ran, not to chase after (Y/N) or to run away to recover. It ran on instinct. It ran...HE ran...to save. For a few moments, those precious moments...he wasn't Cole Macgrath, The infamous...
He was...Cole Macgrath. The vigilante.
The hero.
(Y/N) jumped onto a building, just as the Nomu's wings stopped flapping for some reason. Time seemed to slow around him as he lifted his hand, shooting a high precision neon shot, aimed straight for the Nomu's head. What confused him was...stain leaping up behind the Nomu...
And a red lightning bolt intertwining with his neon blast, the shot piercing straight through the Nomu's head as stain stabbed into the Nomu grabbing Izumi and saving her from falling to the ground.
(Y/N) turned to his side, seeing Cole a building over, his arm outstretched like his, arcs of red lightning jumping in between his fingers and up his arm. The two stared at each other for barely a second, yet it felt like an eternity for both of them...and Cole jumped into an alley. (Y/N) let him go, a wordless, albeit confused, thank you.
A thank you...to his best friend. To his brother.
———————
(Y/N) POV
———————
Jumping down from the building and hiding in the alley to the side of stain and Izumi, I peek out and see...
Something spooky.
A wave of bloodlust washes over everyone there, before stain fell unconscious. And now I am very confused.
Because I mean...Two people I'm pretty sure I fear just helped save my girlfriend, one of which was actively trying to kill me and should be dead.
Walking out of the alley, I help Izumi up. She has a cut on her leg... and as for stain...
Izumi: "(Y/N)!"
(Y/N): "he's...unconscious."
Endeavor: "What the- (Y/N)!"
I walk over to the group of pros, carrying Izumi.
(Y/N): "What...What just happened."
Iida: "I went after stain alone..."
(Y/N): "So Izumi and todoroki came to your rescue."
Izumi: "Where were you?"
(Y/N): "..."
I don't answer, just staring in the direction of stain and where Cole was.
(Y/N): "...I was attacked. They chased me while I tried to make my way to you. I'm...I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there to help."
Ambulances soon arrive, and I leave Izumi in one of the stretchers, sitting with her as she explains what happened. Iida wanted to avenge his older brother, so He went after stain alone. Then Izumi and Todoroki saved him when he was paralyzed by stains quirk.
Somehow, I feel like Endeavor is gonna get credit for this. I mean, with how Endeavor is, I would make sense. Burns, bruises, and broken bones...
He's gonna be annoyed about that and so am I because that is just...so damn stupid.
—————
That law really is stupid though. I'm genuinely not groovin' with it.
—————
Why are all of us in the same hospital room?
After being sent to the hospital, Izumi, Iida, Todoroki, And I had to be tended to for our injuries. Everyone, including me, was covered in cuts, so I had a feeling that everyone here is going to get new scars. The reason I have so many cuts is because I got thrown around by Cole. I almost had to get an arm cast, but thankfully I managed to heal most of my wounds with lots and lots of smoke.
While all of us were in the hospital, Todoroki and Izumi (mostly todoroki) kept pestering me on what happened with me, but I never told them. I don't mind Iida finding out about my whole...Vigilantism thing, but it's just better that they don't know. I mean, Izumi barely knows about Cole, and doesn't know he's still alive. I then think back to yesterday.
Why did Cole help save Izumi?
Just then, a short old man stepped into the hospital room, along with Manual. The old man approached Izumi's bed.
???: "Kid, I've got a lot of complaints for you. And you, (Y/N). You got a history with him."
A man with a dog head then walked into the room. I sighed, since I never wanted to see him again, since he arrested me once a long time ago, But unfortunately...I have to.
(Y/N): "Police chief Kenji Tsuragamae."
Iida and Todoroki stood, Izumi was allowed to sit because of her leg injury, and I just didn't stand up. Because. After all, I don't think he's here for me.
Tsuragamae: "You must be the UA students who took down the hero killer stain, right?"
Todoroki: "Yes."
Tsuragamae: "Regarding the hero killer we arrested...he had fairly serious injuries, with burns and broken bones, and is reviving treatment under strict guard woof."
Guard woof? What the hell is a guard woof?
Tsuragamae: "Being UA students, I'm sure you know that when superpowers we becoming the norm, the police attached a high importance of leadership and standards to make sure that Quirks were not to be weapons. The profession of 'hero' came in to fill that gap woof."
Where's going with this?
Tsuragamae: "For an individual to use a force that could easily kill others- for actions that would be appropriate to denounce- to be accepted officially...is thanks to early heroes who followed the rules and ethics of the profession. For uncertified individuals to use those quirks without specific instructions from their guardians is a clear violation of the rules. The three of you, as well as the pro heroes of Endeavor, Manual, and Gran Torino, must receive strict punishment."
Stupid rules. And it seems Todoroki agrees with me, seeing as she sounds pissed. Hey, if it wasn't her, then it was gonna be me, and I'm not even part of this conversation.
I just blocked out the rest of the conversation, covering my eyes with my arm and trying to go back to sleep. They can sort this out by themselves. By the end of the conversation, they agreed that Endeavor was to be credited for the arrest of stain, and the rest wouldn't be punished for the completely bullshit rules. (Can you tell I don't like those rules?) I then felt a nudge on my shoulder, opening my eyes to see Tsuragamae asking to speak with me alone outside. Reluctantly, I do so.
(Y/N): "What do you want? I didn't do anything."
Tsuragamae: "It's about MacGrath."
Cole?
(Y/N): "You have my attention."
Tsuragamae: "In an alley near where stain was arrested, a police officer found this."
He pulled a picture out of his pocket, words scorched into the wall.
You can't save everyone.
(Y/N): "..."
Tsuragamae: "You attempted to get to you friends, however MacGrath pursued and attempted to kill you, right woof?"
(Y/N): "Yeah...But when he saw Izumi get picked up by the Nomu he...He shot it down."
I leave out the part about me also shooting it down. I'd rather shift the blame of a dead Nomu onto someone who's already murdered people (does killing a Nomu count as murder?).
Tsuragamae: "I see. You're free to go."
Well...that only makes things a little worse. After all, I'm just more confused than before.
Those words on the wall... 'you can't save everyone'...
That may be true... But I can damn well try.
————————————————————
I have nothing to say here soooooo.....
When in doubt, stupid thing.
K bye.