Iida didn't know what native could do. He didn't know anything about the man.
He knew absolutely nothing about him whatsoever.
And yet, here he stood to defend him.
...
Iida felt… Numb. Numb beyond the quirk. Numb inside his soul, as a sense of shame, began to seep in, slowly but surely.
He hadn't tried to save Native.
It hadn't even crossed his mind.
Stain was right about that at the very least.
Behind his back, once again another battle took place.
This time though, it did not end with him regaining his bodily autonomy.
It ended about some minutes later, as something rolled across the floor in front of him.
Something round. Something where the colors of red, and the dark brown of Native's hair were mixed vividly.
Iida felt sick, nauseous.
He had a revelation. He was going to die here. He was actually going to die in this alley.
Just like Native. He could have saved him. Instead, both of them were going to die here.
It was weird.
He had never truly understood just how much he truly, honestly loved his life before now.
He did not want to die.
No more than Native had.
Something slammed into the floor ahead of him.
Something black. Something with a presence. Something powerful.
Instinct told him who it was, even before he spoke.
"You won't kill anyone else today."
Izuku's voice was rough, growling, almost feral… But there was no doubt who it belonged to.
Then suddenly, he was completely, and totally engulfed in black.
For a brief moment, he felt utter panic, as he was suddenly thrown through the air. Out of the alley, the same way that Stain had carried Daredevil.
Rather than feeling the crushing bite of concrete though, this time he literally bounced across the ground.
He could breathe too.
Izuku had encased him in a protective cocoon of that black web of his. Stain wasn't going to bite through that with something as mundane as a steel sword. Not with how strong it was. Iida had seen that strength for himself many a time.
As he lay there, he felt the sense of shame just… Engulf him. Completely.
Izuku… Izuku was a true hero. As true as Daredevil.
The very first thing he'd done was to get the ones in danger out and to safety.
While he… He had made a mistake he could never undo.
He was the worst. Stain was right about him. He was a joke of a hero. A complete and utter joke.
---
Izuku had never in his entire life felt worse.
Not mentally at least.
He wasn't well. He needed… He needed rest. He needed to think, to take it all in. He needed to be able to accept what he was now.
Instead, he was once again thrown into another battle, as the memories of his last one swam through his head. Of the last, horrible moments of…
He was tired, he was sick, he was horribly wounded, with a throbbing, awful pain in his back with every move he made. He had lost something tonight. Something he knew into his soul he could never get back.
And yet, be HAD to fight. He had to save Iida and Stick.
All the while a voice was telling him that he was in the wrong place. This was the wrong fight.
Mina had told him she would be able to handle her foe and for him to go save Iida.
He trusted her. He wanted to believe in her.
But that was so, so hard to do when he could barely believe in himself at the moment.
He had to believe in her. He could not mentally handle the idea that she could lose. Not now.
At least he knew who Mina had to face.
He had absolutely no idea who this man was. The only thing he knew, the only thing he cared about, was the body at his feet. Someone else had died. Someone he hadn't been able to save.
His responsibility.
He got into stance, the only stance he knew, as he put himself between the strange man in red, and Iida and Stick.
But then, rather than attacking, instead the man cocked his head, as he looked Izuku over.
"You're shaking. Lack of conviction?"
"I got a hole in my back from your friends. But that's okay. I can still beat you."
"To call us friends, is grossly overstating it. I have no affiliation with that brat Shigaraki."
Shigaraki?
"That's his name? Shigaraki?"
"Yes… The brat with but a seed of conviction."
Maybe the police would have use for his name. It was hard to think. Did they already know the name? He couldn't remember.
"You though… You have plenty of conviction. Impaled in the back, yet here you are, still standing."
The murderer's voice was strangely…Well, it sounded like he was admiring him. That was probably the delirium. As he continued though, the voice got more dangerous, probably how it had always been.
"You won't kill anyone else today… Good line that. However…"
And at that, his expression changed, as his eyes judged Izuku, they narrowed, and… The killer intent… It was huge. It was truly, truly massive. It was horrifyingly scary.
"It is my duty to kill the one you just sent flying… And if the two of us were forced to fight… Then more likely the weaker of us will be purged."
It reminded him of how he'd felt back during the first invasion. Staring into the eyes of the man made of mists.
This was the eyes of a killer. A true killer.
Normally, Izuku would have been horrified. He would have stood his ground, but he would have had to confront his own fear of death.
But not tonight.
Tonight, there were many feelings dancing through Izuku's soul, and fear certainly was one of them. But fear of bodily harm to himself was not one of them.
Izuku felt the Teeth come out in a smile.
"A real hero… Is someone willing to risk his life for anyone in need"
Strangely enough, it seemed as if the man also smiled at that.
Then, loudly from behind him, a voice rang out.
"IZUKU! HIS QUIRK IS TO PARALYZE PEOPLE THROUGH DRINKING THEIR BLOOD. YOU MUST NOT LET HIM DRINK YOUR BLOOD. OTHER THAN THAT, HE'S DAMNABLY FAST, IS ABLE TO SHRUG OF PAIN TO AN UNBELIEVABLE DEGREE, AND IS A MASTER AT BLADED WEAPONRY!"
-Well, thanks for that bit of exposition there, Stick.-
He… He needed to taste his blood to actually do anything to him?
That… That meant he'd won this battle before it began.
The man in red made his move, and true enough, just as Stick had said, he really was damnably fast. Not nearly as fast as Hoodie, but still, damnably fast.
Izuku could easily have done something to prepare for the attack, maybe send a cannonball, a line, or dodged.
Instead, he let his opponent hit him straight on with his sword against his chest.
The man's eyes widened in shock. But to his credit, he was able to wrench the blade back before Izuku went in for the counterattack.
As such, the black goo that had stopped the blade was only able to partially engulf the blade itself, instead of gluing it to Izuku himself and depriving him of the weapon.
Not that it mattered. The black liquid spread out across the blade, turning it into a harmless rod, and more importantly, gluing it to his hand.
'It's over." Izuku said tiredly. And he was. He was exhausted.
"You can't discard your now harmless weapon, and even if you could, you can't get through my second skin. Surrender."
Out from his shoulder, Venom popped up as a second, smaller head.
"But please, do fight on. It will be so, so much more entertaining."
The man in red cocked his head.
"So, that quirk of yours is another, conjured entity is it?"
And with that, he licked the black mass that was currently engulfing his blade.
Around him, Izuku felt his black suit detach itself from his skin, and fall to the ground in a puddle.
Outside the alleyway, Iida's cocoon did the exact same thing.
"Shit."
...
If you want to read ahead of the public release, or just want to support me.
You can join my p atreon :
[email protected]/Huvnn