The news of the Hero Killer and his doings had spread rapidly and Bakugo had managed to convince his parents to let him take some time off there to "clear his mind". His mom had relented, hoping that it would do her son good, because she particularly did not know how to deal with this situation. It might have been mere coincidence that he was in Hosu City that particular day. Or it might not have been, as Bakugo sunk his head into his scarf and pulled the hood over his head. The Hero Killer had been here. The burning urge to talk to Deku had flared up again and this news made it writhe in him. If there was anywhere Deku could be found, it would be somewhere around here, when the Hero Killer struck.

He wouldn't miss this note-taking opportunity for anything, Bakugo was sure of that. Hands in his pocket, and hair hidden by the hood, he looked like a commoner and not the UA student who had gotten his Quirk destroyed by an old..... Bakugo didn't know what to call Izuku.

His hands were itching, the sun was bearing down on him. Yet no explosion manifested. Would he end up Quirkless for the rest of his life? Would HE, Katsuki Bakugo end up as a Quirkless being due to another previously Quirkless boy? He shivered, even though he was sweating.

He felt nauseous from these thoughts, suffocated even, as a tiny voice in his mind, which sounded like Deku, continued to hammer on.

"How does it feel to be Quirkless, Kacchan?"

He bit his lip to keep from crying.

He got inside a restaurant, and pulled his scarf off. It was too hot. He ordered a soda and looked out. It was unusually hot and sultry today, as if a storm would occur. The sun would set soon so that was a relief. When his order was served, he downed it in one go. He almost crushed the glass but stopped himself. He didn't need to freak everyone out in his rage again. Already it had cost him his Quirk. He hoped that it wouldn't be his life.

Deku had spared his life.

The crushing sensation settled on him as he was going out of the cafè. It nearly choked him, the thought of that damned Deku sparing his life was too much of a humiliation. He needed to find that brat, and soon.

And possibly get some answers out of him, get the answers to the questions haunting every waking thought of his.

"Mercy droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place underneath."

He pushed it to the back of his mind. He needed to find Deku, not listen to a morose recitation of Portia's speech in his damned head. Otherwise he would punch a wall.

Fuming, he stormed out of the restaurant, and went to the last place where the Hero Killer had been spotted. The place stank slightly of blood, which was splattered on the pavement and walls. He felt sorry for Four Eyes, and immediately felt irritated for feeling sorry. The sun didn't cast much light here.

Quirkless, he wouldn't stand a chance against the Hero Killer.

Even if Aizawa Sensei had been training him in Martial Arts for the past week.

He kicked a loose stone on the street, tears prickling at his eyes again at the reminder of his utter worthlessness.

He had bullied Deku for being Quirkless and therefore worthless.

He looked at his palm, which wouldn't have any more explosions blossoming on it.

What was he now then, according to that logic?

A person he had considered a mere pebble on the road had managed to trip him up so bad that now he was chasing after him.

Rage bubbled inside him.

The only reaction he knew to virtually any kind of emotion was anger.

And therefore, he kicked a brick.

And succeeded in making his feet ache.

That's what Deku was. A pebble that had tripped him up. He could still be number one. He could—

This relatively optimistic train of thought dissolved as fast as ice-cream in the summer sun.

He was Quirkless.

He walked out of the alley, drawing his hood over his head and wrapping his scarf around his neck.

It was his fault.

He was worthless.

"Who is useless now, Kacchan?"

"SHUT TF UP," he shouted to the leering face of Deku in his mind.

Spooked out, he leant against a building, seeing the rays of the sun become less heated and the sky turn a beautiful scarlet.

What had Deku said to him that one day?

"The sky is putting on makeup, Kacchan."

Oh right, they had been three. Before the trouble of the Quirks added to their incredibly complicated relationship. He had probably called him stupid at that time and punched him along with that, he couldn't be sure.

His childhood memories were full of him being a bully to people.

No one had said that he was wrong.

Except Deku.

Who had now destroyed his dreams and crushed it beyond repair.

"Just like you had attempted to do with mine," Deku's voice spoke in his head, "Kacchan."

The unusual heat was still there, however, even as the sun set and the darkness seeped into the sky.

He stood up and looked around, hoping against hope that the Hero Killer would be here. Because that would mean that Deku would be somewhere around too.

What he hadn't anticipated were the Nomus extruding from various points in the city.

Tomura Shigaraki laughed as the Nomus wreaked havoc around the place.

"I WILL SEE HOW YOU BECOME MORE FAMOUS THAN ME, STAIN, HERO KILLER!!!"

Izuku watched the proceedings in boredom. Tomura was overreacting again.

"Tomura-kun, so much of drama isn't required. Also, I wasn't aware that Akaguro-san and you were running for a popularity poll. Even so, this is utterly dumb. I am going for a walk."

He yawned and climbed down the roof and onto the pavement.

Where an interesting sight caught his eye, causing him to whip out his notebook and pen.

Bakugo felt like he would go deaf with how much the people around him were screaming. He had completely lost his bearings in the Nomu panic. He kicked another pebble.

The presence of Nomus prompted the action of the pro heroes and indicated the presence of Deku as well. He saw a flaming one-handed man walking across him and shouting orders.

Endeavor. Enji Todoroki. The father of one of the villains who had attacked USJ.

He wondered whether Endeavor was trying to even reconnect or do anything about his own son at the moment.

A shriek sounded from the alley beside the building he was standing in front of. Frowning, he looked around and saw no pro heroes. Dang it, he wouldn't be of any use with anyone in trouble.

However he heard a voice next, which made him pause from retreating.

"INGENIUM WILL BE THE HERO TO END YOUR LIFE."

Four eyes really should know better than to do this. Which level of dumb did he operate on? Granted it had been his brother, but this was asking for death.

"I want to be a hero because I want to save those in trouble."

If he got diagnosed with schizophrenia, he knew who to blame.

He turned towards the alley, muttering, "Now he has gotten into trouble, fighting a battle he could never win and needs help. What kind of a hero needs help?"

In a shadowy corner, he saw someone lurking. A certain someone with messed up green hair in a green overcoat.

Deku had spotted him before he could even attempt to make a sound. Eyes widening, the boy shouted something at someone and a portal opened behind him, and just like that, he was gone.

Something in him broke.

He was pulled away from his thoughts by a scream of pain in a voice that sounded just like Four Eyes.

Rushing into the alley, he saw Stain about to slit his neck.

Eyes widening, he reached the nearest thing he could, a brick in this case, and threw it at Stain.

His aim was perfect, hitting the Hero Killer in the face and sending him flying.

A pro hero sat injured, unable to move and Four Eyes looked paralysed as well.

"GET UP, FOUR EYES, GRAB THE OTHER MAN AND RUN, WHAT TF WERE YOU THINKING?" he shouted as he charged at an approaching Stain with two bricks in his hands.

Stain dodged it and plunged his katana into Bakugo's right shoulder, causing him to drop the bricks.

"I can't...I can't move," Iida wheezed out, "My body is paralysed, I think it's the same for him too, I think it's his Quirk."

"YOU COULD HAVE SAID THAT BEFORE," Bakugo snapped, seeing red. He punched Stain's arm which was holding the bloodstained katana and jumped back, biting a whimper at the burning pain in his shoulder.

Aizawa sensei wouldn't be amused.

"I see that you have come to save your friend and a stranger. A true hero. I will spare your life. However those two must die. Blood has to be spilled for this cause."

Bakugo tuned him out. If he had thought that Deku's eyes spelt insanity before, then this man took it to a whole new level.

They spelt, "Maniacal obsession."

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"ARE YOU INSANE? MURDER IS MURDER, WHATEVER THE CAUSE IS, AND WITH YOUR STATE, IT IS A CRAPPY ONE FOR SURE. GET YOURSELF TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION, KNIFEY!"

He threw another brick at Stain.

Iida and the other hero were still paralysed apparently.

Izuku nearly fell off the rooftop in shock.

"Who tf are you," he mumbled, "And where is Kacchan?"

"See something interesting, Midoriya Izuku?" Kurogiri asked, getting tired of Tomura's tantrum at his "brilliant" Nomus being rejected.

"Yeah, Kurogiri, better warp Stain away, before he gets caught by Endeavor. Kacchan's shouting can be heard for miles. And we will need Stain for ehm, resolving Tomura's mindframe. Later, though. Warp him into the bar just before he gets caught. You can do that, right?"

"Of course," Kurogiri said, sneaking a peek into what Izuku was finding so interesting. He saw the boy whose Quirk Izuku had destroyed, trying to fend off the Hero Killer from two others who he didn't recognise.

From the boy's description of him, this situation was certainly surprising.

Bakugo was feeling his right hand go numb. This wasn't good. He gritted his teeth as the world began blurring around him.

Stain was next to him in an instant, his blade grazing his cheek. He licked the blood off it and Bakugo fell down, paralysed.

So THIS was his Quirk.

"You are weak, but you have potential. Your attempts will not be in vain. You shall live to see the next day."

"LEAVE THEM ALONE, YOU CLOWN, STOP TRYING TO MURDER INNOCENTS, IT'S A CRIME!"

Izuku found it very hard to not die of laughter.

Tomura grumbled something along the lines of, "Izuku, you are seriously forsaking the glorious sight of the brilliant Nomus for your childhood bully?"

Expectedly, he didn't get an answer.

Izuku was recording this video.

Somewhere pretty close by, some of the pro heroes had heard Bakugo's desperate shouts and rushed to that alley.

Stain heard the approaching footsteps and halted his monologue. It would not do well to be caught then. Especially considering that he had a job left to complete.

Bakugo saw how rushed his movements were. The effect had worn off him and he slowly edged his hand to a knife that was lying on the ground. Stain didn't notice that, which was a boon for him as he jabbed it into Stain's legs and probably cut his calf.

Stain fell to one knee for a moment and Bakugo yelled,

"FOUR EYES, GET TF UP, THE EFFECT SHOULD HAVE WORN OFF BY NOW."

"WHY TF ARE YOU BEING SO NOBLE? I MESSED UP AND NEEDED SAVING, SO JUST FUCKING—"

Iida felt tears drip down. He had to be rescued, by Bakugo of all people.

"IF YOU WANT ME TO STOP, THEN GET TF UP DUMBASS, I AM NOT BLEEDING TO DEATH FOR NOTHING."

One day, far into the future, Bakugo would look back at this moment and smile.

Iida snapped out of his haze when he heard those words. Getting up, he kicked Stain down, gasping.

Bakugo swore and stood up, grabbing the profusely bleeding wound in his right shoulder.

"Fucking finally," he said as he saw the pros come, "About time too."

However, it appeared that their luck had run out. Stain threw Iida off himself and jumped a few paces back, limping slightly. His demeanor was that of a cornered animal.

"ALL YOU HEROES ARE FAKE, GLORY-MONGERS, GREEDY PEOPLE WHO DO NOTHING FOR OTHERS IN REALITY, I WILL SET THE IDEALS BACK TO WHAT IT WAS. THE ONLY TRUE HERO THERE IS, IS ALL MIGHT."

Endeavor had appeared hearing all the shouting going on. The sight of him had made Stain go feral, as Tomura's fingers twitched to destroy him. Izuku rubbed a finger against his chin, his face darkening as the memory of Makoto flashed clearly in his mind.

"ENDEAVORRRR," Stain sounded furious.

Bakugo suddenly felt like Stain's distaste of Endeavor was more personal than anything.

"Kurogiri, Warp the Winner of Killers have got Talent to the bar, please," Izuku muttered, standing up. Tomura silently directed all the Nomus to smash Endeavor out of existence.

A blackish purple portal appeared below Stain, causing him to fall down in a final cry. Before anyone had a chance to react, it closed, leaving them with three injured people and no criminal in hand to catch.

"I am putting this video on YT. The chaos would be beautiful," Izuku spoke, going through the portal and into the bar.

Before that, however, he had done a very specific antic that the media would never stop talking about in the next month.

He dropped down from the building, right behind Endeavor. Todoroki had clearly said that his father's wellbeing was no concern of his. Besides, Izuku had more than an ample amount of reason to cripple the Number 2 hero.

Endeavor's flames ebbed and went out all together, the man himself falling to the ground at the sudden change, screaming.

Bakugo didn't turn back.

He was aware of what had chanced.

"OH AND BY THE WAY, IF THE PUBLIC WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS AMBIGUOUS HERO KILLER, SUBSCRIBE TO STAIN CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE, thanks for watching, Imma be off," Izuku spoke as black and purple engulfed him.

"My Quirk," Endeavor gasped out.

"Is gone, old man. Welcome to the club."