Stained Red 3

Shoto Todoroki let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the notorious Hero Killer's unconscious body encased in his ice. "Let's restrain him and get him to the street. Maybe we can find some rope."

Midoriya was standing next to him when he nodded. "Yeah, we should probably take all his weapons too."

"Tch, you losers can go do that on your own." Bakugo scoffed, walking past them and the Hero Killer to Olivia.

Native started pulling the weapons off of the hero. Shoto and Midoriya paused for a moment, watching as Bakugo and Olivia interacted.

They couldn't hear what Bakugo was mumbling to her, and that in itself was already strange enough. It wasn't his lack of yelling that surprised them the most though. Shoto had never seen Bakugo move so… carefully. So gently. Shoto glanced over at Midoriya, and the look on his face told him that he hadn't either.

Once Bakugo had the bloodied woman in his arms, he turned around to face them, eyes locked on her face as it rested against his chest. She said something softly that made Bakugo's ears tinge pink, before she let out a louder groan, eyes shifting to them. "Midoriya, please stop thinking so loud about this, the last thing I need is a headache on top of five stab wounds."

Her voice broke occasionally as she spoke, showing her lack of strength, even as her words tried to hide it. She's had to have lost enough blood to be falling unconscious soon, if not more. If they didn't get her help…

"What did I say about being bait, Starling? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure I made it clear you weren't, and yet here we are."

Shoto looked up as the number three Pro Hero swooped down into the alley. He was missing quite a few fathers, and had some burn marks on his clothes, but his casual smile stayed.

"I'm pretty sure that stopped being the case the second you stationed me in Hosu…" She groaned, glaring at the Winged Hero. Bakugo's grip on her tightened as her breathing started faltering while she spoke.

"She needs a doctor, you damn Pigeon, not your sass." He growled, starting to move her out of the alley. Shoto couldn't help but agree, but understood the Pro's casual behavior. The fight had taken less than ten minutes to everyone else… but to them, it had felt much longer.

"Glad you're alive too, Pilot. I knew you missed me!" Hawks chuckled, sending a wink.

He helped them tie up the villain, and dragged him along behind him like a toy. Turning to him and Midoriya as they walked, he tilted his head.

"Hey, you're the guy I sent after him! And the cooler Todoroki is here too! Ha ha, get it? Cooler?"

No one laughed, and Hawks sighed, shaking his head. Shoto noticed how the Pro Hero's eyes lingered on the trembling woman in Bakugo's arms.

Hawks frowned curiously, before realizing he wasn't smiling, putting the casual expression back on his face. When the screech of a Nomu somewhere above them grew in volume as they approached the street, she trembled more.

The Pro Hero ran a hand through his windswept hair, and took off his headphones. He ignored Bakugo's protest as he put them on Olivia's ears, and clicked a button. Whatever it was supposed to do seemed to work. The trembling slowed, and her eyes slowly closed, her cheek against Bakugo's chest.

As they made it out into the street, the old man from before came flying at Midoriya, who barely dodged in time. Other Pros followed after, taking in the sight before them.

"Endeavor sent us!"

"Those injuries look really bad, I'll call an ambulance."

"No fucking shit, you moron!" Bakugo yelled, and Shoto shook his head. Now that Olivia's ears were covered and she was passed out, his loud voice had finally returned.

"Is that… The Hero Killer?"

"Yes!! Fuck, how the hell are you guys Pros?!"

"I'll get the police on the line!"

Bakugo got distracted again by the blood coming out of the small woman in his arms, and Shoto was distracted by the fact his old man had listened to him for once and sent back up. So when the older man yelled, "GET DOWN!", no one had seen it coming.

Suddenly, Midoriya was in the air, grasped tightly in a Nomu's claws. The wind from the thing's wings kept everyone back as they shielded their eyes. Before anyone could react, Stain sliced free of his bindings, kicking back Hawks as he caught the blood in the air.

The Nomu fell, paralyzed, and Stain leaped up to meet it. Putting his hand on the creature's head, he pushed it down to meet the pavement, stabbing into its brain as it skidded.

"The word 'hero' has lost all meaning in this society. The world is overrun with fakes and criminals like Captain Celebrity who chase petty dreams! You must all be purged!" Stain licked his lips, pulling his small knife from the creature's head.

"Everything that I do, is to create a stronger society." As he stood, his eyes fell on Endeavor, who had just arrived on the scene.

"Endeavor…"

As his mask fell off, Shoto felt something creep into every pore of his mind and body. The murderous intent rolled off the Villain in waves, causing even the Pro Hero's to tremble, leaning back in absolute fear as the fight left them all. "You false hero!"

"I'll make this right! This street must run with the blood of hypocrites!"

As Stain stumbled forward slowly, step by step, it felt like all the stars in the sky had turned their back on the heroes below them, leaving them to the fate of the darkness in front of them.

"'Hero'! I will reclaim that word! If I don't fix it... if someone isn't... stained with blood...! If heroes aren't restored...!! Come forward, and just try to stop me, you fakes!"

Endeavor took a step back, his eyes wide. In that moment, Shoto realized that even someone like his old man could feel fear. Could feel weak.

"There is only one man I'll let kill me! He is a true hero!" He panted, eyes glinting against the moon behind him.

He threw his head back, and his roar echoed around them, like a mantra that cut through the night. "All Might… ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!!"

One of the Pro Heroes next to him fell back as the roar filled the air, eyes wide in terror. No one could move. No one could breathe.

Stain's eyes glazed over. His breathing stopped.

The knife fell from the unmoving Villain's hands, falling through the air in slow motion.

And as the metal hit the pavement, the sound echoed in everyone's ears… and the world around them fell silent.