Ambition
(I wanted my readers to know that I sometimes put reader/author interactions in the Author's Notes. "Internships: Part 3" was one of those. There was a vote about future events in the story that I wanted my readers to participate in, so don't forget to read the author's notes everyone.
Thank you, and enjoy the story!)
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~~~ Previously~~~
There, at the end of the alleyway, stood Izuku Dreemur, streaks of red flames surrounding his hand and swirling around his body. A starking contrast to the darkness of the alley. His burning eyes that glowed a furious blood-red sent a chilling FEAR into Stain's soul.
"Asriel, you really need to send more details in these kinds of situations. I was almost too late."
~~~ Present~~~
'It's him, The Angel!' Stain thought to himself. He couldn't help but be ecstatic at the green-haired boy's appearance, The Angel of our future was standing right in front of him. But he just couldn't help but feel a tad bit of concern. You see, the one who orchestrated the Nomu attack was Shigaraki, "leader" of the League Of Villains. He had attempted to recruit Stain into his numbers, as Stain was an experienced killer and was expected to teach Shigaraki how to be a better leader. However, their goals did not meet up and Stain refused the offer. However, this is not what drove Stain to be concerned for the boy. The reason he was concerned was that Shigaraki's goal was to "destroy everything he doesn't like", and Izuku was one of such things.
And that was not something Stain would allow to happen.
~~~ Flashback~~~
In a dark, worn-down bar somewhere in the Kyushu district, were three people two of them familiar. The man, made of dark purple-black mist was Kurogiri, the teleporter from the USJ. Kurogiri was behind a bar counter, cleaning a glass cup. On the opposite side of him was a man in all black clothing with tangled pale blueish-silver hair. Standing at the entrance of the bar was Stain himself, swords and all. And finally, an unknown party behind a small monitor was listening in. A small television displaying the words "Sound Only" sat on the wall behind Kurogiri.
"You were the ones who attacked UA? And you want to add me to your numbers," Stain concluded. He was given an "opportunity" to gain the power he needed to complete his goals, but this offer was sounding worse and worse by the second. "Yeah. Come on, you've got so much more experience as a villain, sir," Shigaraki replied. "What are you after?" Stain questioned. He was no longer interested in the offer at this point and was more concerned with the goals of this villain. If they had the ability to threaten All Might, then they had power, but that power seemed to have no actual aim at this point. It just sounded deranged and childish.
"For now, I just want to kill All Might. I want to break everything I don't like," Shigarki explained. "Damn kids like this, too... Everything..." he continued, holding up a picture of Izuku from the Sports Festival. Stain was never fond of killing children. He believed in the future of society, and children were the future, which is why they must be protected. The fact that this psycho wanted to kill not only a child but the most important child in today's world? His blood was boiling with rage.
That was the photo of a child who only wanted peace and kindness in this evil world, which he had seen on the news and forums. Everything ever written about the kid had been nothing but good intentions. However, it was also filled with biased people who hated the quirkless. Izuku needed to be protected most of all, he decided. And if this villain was a threat to the green angel, then he is a threat to the entire world's future, because that is exactly how far Izuku would reach. He is a true hero, like All Might, and will be humanity's saving grace. He would not stand by as the world's beacon of shining hope was being threatened.
"I was foolish to be interested. You're the type of person I hate most. You want me to go along with your childish tantrum? What meaning is there in killing without conviction?" 'What meaning is there in killing him?' he thought to himself. He wanted to ask that question, but he knew that doing so would put a target on Izuku's back, and he wouldn't dare jeopardize the boy's plans for this world. Not when he could complete his goal to purge all false heroes from this world just by supporting the child from the shadows.
In seconds, Stain attacked Kurogiri, rendering him and his quirk useless, and then proceeded to do the same to Shigaraki. And to top it all off, he held a shard knife above Shigaraki's throat to make sure that he wouldn't move. Through the fingers of the dismembered hand on Shigaraki's face, one eye was visible, but it was enough to see the mix of terror and rage in his eyes. "So you want to add me to your ranks," Stain said. "No matter what you want to accomplish, it is necessary to have conviction and desire. Those without it and those who are weak will be weeded out. It's only natural. That's why it turns out like this," Stain declared.
"This society, overgrown with fake heroes, where the word itself has lost its true meaning, and the criminals who wave their power around idly should all be purged," he proclaimed, holding the knife closer to Shigaraki's throat, but he hesitated. Stain couldn't yet kill them. Shigaraki wasn't the true leader here, that he was sure of. If he was, Stain wouldn't have stood a chance. After all, someone as childish and immature as Shigaraki couldn't possibly be smart enough or strong enough to create that monstrosity they call a Nomu.
No disrespect to the Monsters of the Underground, though. They aren't mindless zombies whose only purpose is to follow the "leader".
Stain stood up and sheathed his blade. "People show their true colors when they are on the verge of death. Our goals oppose each other, but we do have one thing in common, to destroy the present. I can see it in your eyes. The hatred towards this world we live in. How will you bud, I wonder?" Stain told him. These were all lies, he just needed an excuse to get away before he pissed off the man behind the screen, for he would probably die if he went any further. "The negotiations were a success. Now, return me to Hosu..." Stain commanded.
"There are still things I must attend to there."
~~~Present~~~
"Angel, you have come. I'm glad to see you doing well, seeing as this attack has quite a bit to do with you," Stain told him. Izuku was a bit taken aback by this information, and Asriel was afraid for his big brother. "Wh-what do you mean? Why would anyone kill this many people to get to big brother?" Asriel asked hesitantly. "Agreed. And how do you know this information? You work alone, last I checked," Izuku said warily. Stain understood their fear, but not their confusion. They were attacked by The League before, shouldn't they have picked up that they were a target now?
"I'm both surprised, and not. The League, or more accurately, Shigaraki Tomura has attacked you once before, has he not?" Izuku nodded and Asriel slowly inched towards his big brother. "The League approached me with a job offer. Naturally, I refused, but he told me something that I feel you must know. Angel, you are his number two target, his number one being All Might," Stain told them, and he watched as their faces concerted into fear and discomfort. He couldn't blame them, they were being threatened by a powerful organization after all.
As if the government wasn't enough, no. They just couldn't get a break, could they?
All Might is a true hero, he is the only person I'll let kill me. You, however, are a true Angel, the destined savior of this world. I recognize your intentions for this world and I support it," Stain explained. Izuku felt strangely flattered by the compliment but still didn't like the person it came from. It was greatly unsettling. "You are the hope and future of this world, for both heroes and villains alike. You are an inspiration and a safe haven, and it has been proven many times over."
"People who are hurting and scared come running into your arms, hoping for MERCY and salvation, which you give without hesitation. People who are angry and spiteful are pacified and spared by your unwavering kindness. You put yourself into places you shouldn't be, and are willing to risk your life for those who don't deserve it. I admire All Might for those same feats, but you somehow shine brighter than The Symbol of Peace himself, and I idolize you. And I know I'm not the only one, either. The Monsters of the Underground, the humans of the Underworld, the Heroes of the Overworld, and the many people in between are slowly being swayed by your actions and it's only a matter of time before you change this world for the better. I'll make sure that even if the heroes deny you of your dreams, there is a whole 'nother society of people who will give you everything you need. This is why I am warning you of the ones who desire your demise. If I must fight a war, so be it. I will tell the world of your ambitions and they will be made into reality."
"Do not give up, Angel. You have so many more on your side than you even know," Stain finished, walking towards the two children. Izuku was too shaken to even move. Were there really this many people who looked up to him? He had thought that there were only a few thousand, but if what Stain was saying was true then... Izuku couldn't help but feel a spark of hope burn into a bright fire. MERCY was suddenly an option, and he was more than happy to give it. "I acknowledge how easy it is for me to just bow down to you, but please, humor me for a moment. I desire to see your power. I must know that we are in safe hands, I hope you understand, Angel," Stain challenged, getting into a battle stance.
"Come! Prove your determination, heroes!" Stain yelled.
Asriel summoned his swords, and Izuku his fire. Asriel used frontal attacks because it appeared that Stain's quirk was blood-related, and Monsters were made of magic which meant that Asriel would be unaffected by Stain's quirk. Izuku used long-range attacks because he was a human, and humans were made of blood which meant that he would be susceptible to Stain's attacks. Stain watched the unity between the two, and couldn't help but admire it. These two were powerful enough on their own, but they were absolute gods when paired together. "I commend your teamwork, but I asked to see the power of our Angel. I have already seen your skills, monster child. As I said, I desire to see his skills,"
The Dreemurs hesitated for a moment before Izuku nodded. "But-" Asriel started. "Asriel, let me be a distraction. You need to get those two to safety. Use the platforms and fly them to a medic, just like the USJ," Izuku ordered. "No! I've inherited my brother's name. I have to do it. This is my fight!" Ilda protested. "You inherited it? That's strange. The Ingenium I've seen didn't have that look on his face," Izuku told him. "Asriel, get them to safety and call backup!" Izuku ordered, summoning his red sword. "Right!" Asriel replied, summoning a large white star-shaped platform and placing Ilda and moving over to Native. Stain had tried to attack Native before Asriel could get to him, but Izuku blocked his attack and pushed him back with another blast of fire. Asriel quickly placed the fallen hero on the platform before Stain could attack again. "I'll be back!" he yelled as he flew off.
Izuku called upon all of his traits, surprising Stain. Stain had only seen five abilities in the sports festival. The blue shoes were seen in the race. The orange gloves with the half-and-half kid. The yellow gun, green shield, and red sword were in the final fight with the monster child. So the purple book and cyan knife were new. He couldn't help but wonder what they did. "So this is you going all out? I'm glad to see you use your full potential, and truly honored that you chose to use it on me. Thank you for your transparency, I will give you the respect of going all out myself."
A swing of the cyan knife, and Stain felt heavy. 'What is this feeling? Why am I so heavy? Gravity manipulation? What a terrifying power. Truly excellent!' he thought. Despite his struggle to move, he pushed through, determined to make this fight worthwhile. Every time he dodged a yellow bullet, his steps were loud and heavy. Every time he jumped over a ground-breaking punch, he was pulled back down before he could recover, throwing him off balance. His attempts to attack were met with the familiar green shield and blown away by red swords. Red fire surrounded the area, preventing any chance of escape, not that he would disgrace his foe with such cowardice. If he was counting the colors right, this next attack would be from the purple book, but he was becoming tired from his efforts to fight with this back-breaking weight on his soul. Not only that, but every time he got too far away, Izuku would use those blue shoes to close in on him, so there was no break from the assault. 'What a terrifying display!'
And just like he predicted, a purple attack came from the floating book, but the form it came in was extremely unexpected. Purple streams of seemingly liquid light filled the alleyway and blinded his vision with a thick fog. He prepared himself for an attack, but it never came. Instead, he felt paralyzed, like he was wrapped in an unbreakable string. He looked down and saw a purple glowing heart. He wasn't sure what that meant, but he now understood what this fog did. He had been captured. "It appears you have captured me. Congratulations on your win," Stain said. And no sooner than he did, the rest of Izuku's attacks dispersed, revealing Stain tied up in purple strings. "I'm glad you have such a passive power in your grasp, this way you won't have to kill anyone. With power like this, there is surely no one who can defeat you. I'm glad to know that the League won't be able to kill you. Stay safe, Angel. And I wish you the best of luck on your journey," Stain encouraged. He looked up to see Izuku with the same purple string coming out of the tips of his fingers, and a warm smile on his face.
"Thank you for believing in me. I'll do my best" Izuku replied cheerfully.
Izuku picked Stain up and pulled him along with the strings as the two walked out of the alleyway to be greeted by Hawks, Endeavor, and quite a few other heroes. Hawks took one look at Stain and laughed. "Man, and I was really hoping you wouldn't have to get involved in this, but at least I can say you were within the rules, right?" Izuku nodded in response. The heroes were checking Izuku for injuries and Asriel had tied Stain up so Izuku didn't have to use any more of his magic. Ilda and Native had been tended to and were in a nearby ambulance and were giving reports on the incident.
Ilda had taken a second from his interrogation to walk up to the Dreemur brothers. "You two," he called, catching their attention. Ilda bowed a perfect 90 degrees and clenched his fists in shame. "You were endangered because of me. I am truly sorry," he continued. "I couldn't see anything past my rage... I put you at risk... and I can never repay you enough... for coming to my rescue..." He said, doing his best to hide his broken voice as he cried. "I'm sorry, too," Asriel said. "Even though you were feeling so cornered, I didn't try to reach out to you. Even though we're friends," Asriel told him. Izuku didn't really feel like he was friends with Ilda, but he was grateful for the apology nonetheless. "Pull yourself together. You're the class rep, right?" Izuku said, trying to console Ilda, though it sounded more like some form of encouragement. "Yeah," Ilda replied, wiping his tears with the little amount of fabric that his outfit revealed.
The fight had only taken about ten minutes, but it felt longer to Izuku. The words of encouragement continued to warm Izuku's heart, knowing that there was actually a chance at peace with more people supporting him, though he could only guess how many that was. Unfortunately, while Izuku was caught up in his thoughts about the fight, the sound of flapping wings made itself known. A Nomu had escaped being beaten by a hero and was speeding towards the group. "GET DOWN!" Hawks yelled, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts. But it was too late, the winged Nomu latched its claws into Izuku's shoulders, and blasted off into the sky.
"IZUKU!"
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(And that's it for this chapter. I don't know about you guys, but I just love cliffhangers. It always gives me the feeling that the story isn't over just yet, and it makes me happy. I always get excited when the next book comes out and I can read all the way to yet another cliffhanger. I know most people don't like them, but I certainly do.
Nearly 3000 words in this chapter! Crazy, right?
As always, thank you for reading and I will see you soon. Bye~)
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