Chapter 34 - Hero Killer: Stain [Pt.2] 

You sidestepped swiftly to dodge one of Stain's daggers, but the blade still nicked your side. A sharp, stinging pain flared across your flank, and you hissed through clenched teeth. Blood trickled down your side, but the sensation of the wound quickly faded into the background as something strange washed over you.

Your mind felt... distant. Like a fog settling in, clouding your thoughts. Everything else dulled—the voices, the sound of flames crackling nearby, even the sting of the cut. And then, like a switch flipping, your focus sharpened. A feral instinct surged through you, your pupils contracting into narrow slits that glowed faintly.

"Uh, Y/N?" Izuku's cautious voice cut through the moment. His body had finally broken free of Stain's immobilizing Quirk, and though he was ready to jump back into the fight, he hesitated, his emerald eyes flicking to you with concern.

You stood unnervingly still, the eerie luminescence of your purple eyes piercing through the dim light. A low, guttural growl rumbled deep within your chest, vibrating through the air like an unspoken warning.

Stain, standing a short distance away, froze for a split second before his face split into a manic grin. "Ah, there she is," he cooed, his voice dripping with twisted admiration. "There's the queen I want. A true predator."

Todoroki, Iida, and Izuku exchanged alarmed glances. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Did he hit her with one of his daggers?" Todoroki asked, his voice low but tense as his mismatched eyes darted from your rigid form to the blade that had grazed your side.

Iida, still weakened and unable to move fully, shook his head. "She's not paralyzed like the rest of us were. This... this is something else."

Izuku took a cautious step closer, his fists clenching tightly. "Y/N?" he called again, more urgently this time. But there was no response. Not from the Y/N he knew. The glow of your eyes, the way your growl deepened, and the way your wings trembled with barely-contained energy—they all signaled something primal and unrestrained.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Stain taunted, taking a step closer. His daggers twirled lazily in his hands, as though he was savoring the moment. "The beast in you. It's waking up. That's the real you, isn't it? The one that doesn't bow to anyone."

His words struck something deep inside you. A flicker of memory—distant but potent—threatened to surface, but it was drowned out by the heat in your blood. The sharp, predatory instincts Stain had provoked made every nerve in your body hum with energy.

Todoroki moved in front of you slightly, his flames flaring higher. "Y/N," he said firmly, trying to break through. "Snap out of it! Whatever he's doing to you—it's not real."

But Stain only chuckled darkly, his gaze locked onto you. "Oh, it's very real. She's just remembering what she truly is." His grin widened. "And that's something none of you can handle."

The battle wasn't over, but now it wasn't just Stain they had to face—it was the storm brewing within you.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

Your vision was shrouded in a swirling haze, shadows and indistinct figures moving in the fog. Voices reached your ears, but they were muffled, warped, grating on your senses. You bared your teeth instinctively, claws digging into the shattered stone beneath you. They weren't familiar. You didn't know them. And in this state, that meant they were threats.

"Go on, attack," came a voice that cut through the noise, clear and sharp. Stain. His tone carried a commanding confidence, but there was something strangely familiar in it, something that tethered you to this chaos. He was your... friend? Ally? The thought tangled itself in your mind, but the haze only deepened.

You shook your head, struggling against the weight pressing down on your consciousness. Someone else was speaking now, pleading, their voice trembling with desperation. "Y/N, please don't," they begged. The sound clawed at your thoughts, sparking a faint flicker of recognition. You knew this voice. Didn't you?

Still, the instincts driving you roared louder. You dropped lower to the ground, your wings spreading wide and menacing, brushing against the rough walls of the alleyway. A ball of searing plasma began to grow in your throat, pulsing with dangerous energy. You growled, your sharp teeth glinting in the dim light, as your gaze fixed on the green-clad figure ahead of you.

"Y/N, snap out of it, please!" the figure shouted, their voice cracking. It should have reached you—it had to—but the haze refused to lift. You couldn't place the face or the name, and they smelled of fear and sweat. That was all you needed to know.

The figure took a cautious step closer, and your growl deepened, vibrating through the air like a physical warning. Just as your muscles coiled to leap, a fiery blast collided with your wing, the searing heat forcing you to recoil and rear up, an enraged snarl tearing from your throat.

"You bastard!" Stain's voice roared from behind you. You heard the sharp whistle of something slicing through the air—a dagger, no doubt—aimed at the one who dared to strike you. The sound of impact followed, a startled grunt as it hit its mark.

Through the fog clouding your thoughts, a faint, searing pain registered in your wing where the flames had licked it. Your aura flared instinctively, tendrils of energy surging outward and wrapping around you like a protective shield.

Your growl shifted into a deafening roar, the plasma in your throat surging closer to release. The green figure stumbled back, their hands outstretched in a placating gesture. "Y/N, it's me, Izuku! Please, you know me!" His voice cracked with raw emotion.

The plea pierced the haze for a split second, a fragment of recognition flaring in your mind. Izuku. The name rang familiar, tugging at something deep inside you, but the instinctual urge to strike still roared louder.

Behind you, Stain's voice cut through again, sharper now, filled with dark amusement. "Don't stop now, Y/N. Show them what a true beast can do. Forget their lies—this is who you are."

Your claws scraped against the stone as you hesitated, torn between the primal rage coursing through your veins and the flickers of familiarity fighting to break through. The battle waged within you as the storm in your mind grew more violent, and the world around you teetered on the edge of chaos.

"Get back!" Stain's voice cut through the haze like a razor, his command sharp and cold.

You could feel the energy surge, the plasma building in your chest, ready to burst. It was as though you were being torn between two worlds—one where the primal instincts dominated and one where you could hear the desperation in those who still cared about you. The fire within you crackled, boiling over as the plasma ball shot from your throat, streaking through the air in a brilliant, violent flash.

The blast collided with its target with terrifying force, and a scream split the tension of the moment. "MANUAL, NO!" A voice cried out from behind you, the sound raw with pain and disbelief.

The scream hung in the air like an echo, reverberating in your ears. You turned slowly, the weight of what you'd just done sinking in. The scene before you became clearer in the wake of the blast—the smoke curling in the air, the figures, and the blood.

The man—the one who had been caught by the blast—lay on the ground, a dark smear of blood spreading beneath him. His limbs were twisted in unnatural angles, and his body was scorched. A woman—her face a mixture of terror and grief—ran forward, kneeling beside him, shaking him desperately, her hands trembling as she tried to check for any sign of life.

"Manual!" she sobbed, her voice breaking. "Please, stay with me. Please, don't go." Her hands pressed against the burnt skin, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the blood from flowing.

Izuku's voice cut through the chaos, trembling but firm. "Y/N, stop! This isn't you! This isn't who you are!"

But the words barely reached you. The primal rage, the fire in your veins—it was all-consuming. You took a step forward, claws scraping the ground, your wings half unfurled in readiness to strike again.

Stain stood behind you, a twisted grin plastered on his face, his eyes gleaming with cold amusement. "Perfect. That's the power I wanted to see. Keep going, Y/N. Let it all out. They don't care about you. They're just trying to stop you."

But then something shifted—a faint, flickering recognition. Manual, the name echoed in your mind. You knew it... You remembered the face of the woman who was crying over him. She'd fought with you before, on the front lines of heroism. Her desperation, her grief—this was real. You had hurt someone who had been on your side.

The weight of it hit you like a freight train. What had you done?

You staggered back, your body trembling as the fog in your mind started to clear, if only a little. The chaotic storm of rage was still there, lurking beneath the surface, but something else was fighting to rise above it—regret. Realization. Horror.

Izuku, still standing in front of you, reached his hand out again. "Y/N, please—snap out of it!" he pleaded, his voice desperate.

You stared at him, at the pain on his face, and then to the woman cradling Manual's lifeless body. Your heart twisted painfully. This wasn't who you were supposed to be. This wasn't the hero you wanted to be.

With great effort, you dropped to your knees, your wings folding against your back. The plasma ball in your throat fizzled out, the dangerous energy dispersing. The fog was beginning to lift, but the damage had already been done.

"You did this," Stain's voice rumbled behind you, dark and triumphant. "You can't take it back now. They will always see you as the monster."

But as the weight of his words hung in the air, you knew that you had one chance to stop this madness. The question was—would you take it?