Chapter 4: Webjack vs. the World
"And that's it for the Preliminary Event!" Present Mic exclaimed in the commentator's box, his co-host by force, Aizawa putting in earplugs at this. "For first place, we have Katsuki Bakugo, along with second place Shoto Todoroki and third place Ibara Shiozaki!"
He turned to his co-host. "I noticed all of your class made it. Surprised?"
"A little," Aizawa grumbled. "But they're showing potential. Of course, that was nothing compared to what's next."
"Ain't that the truth!" Mic laughed before wildly gesturing to the microphone before him. "Anyways, we'll be going to the next event now! Midnight, take it away!"
"Second place, eh? Like father, like son, I see," Teased a Pro-Heroine, Mirko, to a fellow Pro beside her, that being Endeavor, as they watch the first event of the Sports Festival unfold.
"I would advise you to keep your thoughts to yourself unless you want to get burned, Mirko," Endeavor warned, not amused by the heroine's attempt to rouse him up.
"Buzz kill as always. Can't even take a joke and try to act like you're at least enjoying watching your kid attend the one occasion that most Pro looks back fondly when we partook in it," She teased.
"I have no recollection of any fond memories of this pathetic event. It is merely a means to an end to show off UA's strength and paint a target for the students as Villains observe and study their abilities to hunt down later," The Flame Hero snorted, not amused at all by any of this.
"Wow… that's a pretty heartless way to look at things," Muttered the BMI Hero: Fat Gum, also standing beside Endeavor, along with another Pro who came from other cities to safeguard the Festival.
"If the truth bothers you, then begone from my sight. I am only here to see my foolish son give up on this phase of his and finally use his full potential," Endeavor insisted.
"Come on now, regardless of the reason, we are all here to make sure these people can watch the sports and the kids can do the sports in peace without any pesky villains getting in the way of the fun," The Winged Hero: Hawks said, stepping in on the steadily growing tension. "So we should enjoy it ourselves as well."
"It's precisely because of the kids that this damned event should have been canceled this year," Endeavor dismissed the pleas of his colleagues.
"If this is about what we saw in the USJ leaks, then you, out of everyone, shouldn't be too worried since we all saw Shoto handle himself fairly well," Hawks reminded. "Or is it because he started fighting villains so early that has you jumpy to get this over with?"
"Don't pretend like none of you see the problem that's been looming for a while. That mess weeks ago was a clear sign that UA is losing its edge. Making this request for Pros from other cities to come here is nothing short of sheer arrogance on Nezu's part," Endeavor scoffed.
"Really? Because it seems to me that the little chimera is just being overcautious," Mirko countered. "Whatever stupidity these League of Villains are up to, they've shown that there is little they won't cross to get their way, so by showing that the whole community is quick to respond to a call for help, we can reassure the masses that we can handle whatever disaster is bound to happen."
"And what about answering the call for the Hero Killer, who is confirmed to be in Hosu? I haven't heard anything about heroes from other cities attempting to go there and help the Hosu Pros catch that maniac," Endeavor questioned.
"The news came in yesterday. Not enough time for anyone outside of Hosu to make a response and come to help, and any Pro that does go there will be misinterpreted as Vigilantism," Fat Gum pointed out.
"A minor issue that the Commission will gloss over as a way to get more publicity," Hawks shrugged. "We get your real meaning, Endeavor, but it is what it is. Let's just have faith that everything will go smoothly in Hosu. Ingenium is a Pro worthy of standing among the top ten, so he'll probably be the one to at last take out Stain."
"Probably. But speaking of vigilantes. You all know the reason I force myself out of my duties to come to this dump, but am I wrong in assuming that not all of us came here to squash a certain arachnid?" Endeavor questioned. And to that, the Rabbit Hero grinned.
"Mirko?" Fat Gum asked accusingly.
"Yeah… it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that plenty of us agreed to Nezu's request for personal reasons that have slowly become more ignoble as the months passed," Hawks shrugged.
'Where are you, little spider? I just know you're going to show up and make a scene at this lovely festival. So hurry up and unveil yourself so that we can finish off where we left off,' Mirko thought viciously, itching for payback against Webjack over their less-than-pleasant first encounter.
The skyline of Musutafu stretched behind him like a grid of sleeping giants. Wind danced through the steel bones of half-constructed towers, and neon signs flickered like tired eyelids under the early evening sky.
Perched atop the train station roof in a crouch, Izuku, clad in his gleaming Mark II Spider-Suit, flexed his fingers against the concrete. The new HUD in his mask pinged quietly, syncing routes, weather patterns, and police alerts. Everything was ready. He was ready.
He just didn't want to be.
"Ugh," He muttered under his breath. "This is gonna suck."
He wasn't dreading the fight. He could handle the Hero Killer. What he didn't want was what came after.
He activated his psychic energy to full capacity, letting it surge through his limbs like electricity down a power line. Thin, glowing web-like patterns illuminated his suit from within—Psi-Web conduits igniting with a vivid, green shimmer. His skin vibrated beneath the Geno-Fiber, fine-tuned to withstand the stress of what came next.
"Okay, fast-food plans," He said aloud, more to distract himself than anything else. "Burger Banquet? No, I went last time. Ooh, maybe Katsu Crate—"
Then he dropped.
From a height of seven stories, Webjack leapt off the station roof like a living bullet. He landed perfectly on the train tracks with a graceful thoom, knees bending, heels digging into the steel. Not a sound from him. Not a fracture in his bones.
And then?
He ran.
A blur of green light and kinetic force shot down the track, so fast it seemed the air cracked apart in protest. Dust spun into tornadoes behind him as he disappeared in a flash, faster than most cameras could track. Webjack's full speed—a power he rarely displayed—wasn't just fast. It was terrifyingly fast. Somewhere between 500 and 800 miles per hour, with psychic vibration enhancing every muscle fiber in his body.
Musutafu became a memory in seconds.
The world became a blur of color and shape, but Izuku saw it all with razor clarity. His Spider-Sense guided him like radar in the dark, predicting each twist in the road, every dip in the terrain. He weaved through alleys and side streets, darted around moving vehicles, and flipped over pedestrians without breaking stride. His body moved like liquid thought—frictionless, precise, predatory.
He ran along rooftops, vaulted over a glass dome, then coasted through the sky before tucking into a barrel roll and landing into a sprint again.
Out in the countryside, the city fell away. Concrete turned to fields. Trees blurred past like green smears on a canvas. Up ahead, a bullet train was making its way to Hosu—fast, but not fast enough.
Izuku overtook it within seconds.
Next came the ravine, a deep, ugly scar in the earth—the result of some long-forgotten Villain's attack decades ago. No time to slow down. No time to think.
He jumped.
Air howled around him as he crossed the ravine like a launched missile, the green glow of his Psi-Webbed body casting a streak of color in the sky. He hit the ground in a crouch and kept running.
A few miles out, his HUD beeped.
"Map check," Izuku grunted, eyes flicking to the overlay inside his mask. "Still on track—lake up ahead, that's new—"
No time to go around.
He hit the lake at full speed—and kept going. Each step churned the water beneath him into a cyclone of spray and mist, his boots skimming the surface like skipping stones. It wasn't perfect. He nearly tripped once. But physics bent to him now.
Ten seconds later, he was across.
The last stretch into Hosu was flat, easy ground. And then… silence.
Webjack landed softly on the rooftop of the Hosu Train Station, the wind of his arrival causing the sign to rattle above the entrance.
And then he collapsed.
Face-first.
He rolled onto his back and wheezed into his mask, sweat fogging the inner lenses. He wasn't injured. Not even close. But his stomach growled like a kaiju in heat, clawing at the inside of his ribs like it wanted to eat him.
"God… I hate super speed," He groaned. "Worst power ever invented. I will die from this someday."
Super speed meant super everything—super metabolism, super dehydration, super hunger. He needed calories fast, or he'd pass out before meeting the Hero Killer.
He dug through a side pocket and pulled out a few crumpled yen bills.
"Good thing I brought lunch money," He muttered, staggering to his feet.
There was a fast-food joint two blocks down. He also had a small hideout nearby—just a backup spot with spare clothes, and most importantly, snacks.
He'd hit that first, chow down, and then go track down Stain.
And after that? Assuming he lived?
He'd have to run all the way back to Musutafu—and eat again.
Maybe his mom would have something ready by then. She didn't know about his vigilante life, but she definitely knew her son had developed the appetite of a starving dragon.
Soon enough, he forced himself to make the necessary swings to satisfy his belly, but before taking off, he sent a text message to Ochaco, wishing her good luck and to beware of Bakugo. So focused was he on this that he was less cautious, and a few people started gasping as they saw the vigilante swing away from the station.
Amongst the crowd was a man who stared at the Vigilante with a predatory gaze. He reached for his phone and called for someone.
"Master. The Spider has taken the bait."
"Right on schedule, too. The Sports Festival just finished the first round, meaning we don't have to worry about anyone in Musutafu interfering," All For One said, pleased that the Spider is stepping into his web. "Doctor, ready Veronica."
One excellent meal more suited for five people later, and Izuku was back in costume, zipping up to a nearby rooftop, perching on its edge, scouting his position for a bit before assuring himself that it was secured for now.
'Now, let's see…' He turned on his HUD and searched for files he had made about certain Heroes over the years of analysis and fanboying. It's a long list, but by dividing them between each city district the Heroes operate in, it becomes less tedious and opens up to the ones of Hosu.
'Okay, the most recognizable heroes in Hosu are Ingenium, Manual, Native, The Fly, and Takeshita. I need to figure out which ones the hero killer will go after…' Izuku mentally said as he tapped the phone, 'I don't have any of their routes, so I guess I'll just swing around and see if they're on patrol.' He turned on his police scanner and pointed his wrist at a nearby building. 'I hope I'm not too late.'
It did not take him long to find the heroes of Hosu. The city is on high alert with every Pro searching for Stain; some of them look scared, understandably so, but doing so is making the citizens nervous, while others are just confused.
As he suspected, the townsfolk are being kept in the dark about the Hero Killer to avoid panic. Even though Stain, for all his lunacy, has never harmed an innocent bystander, they can't take any risk, and while telling everyone to stay in their homes would be preferable, Izuku understands as well as the Pros that giving Stain any reason to give up on Hosu and leave would be bad for everyone. If they're going to catch him, it would be better if they do it today instead of letting him run amok for another month or more.
Being careful not to be seen by them, one of the first main Pros Webjack spots is The Fly, which he follows for a bit.
'Everything I've gathered about this guy is the same. Stain goes after what he considers to be fake heroes.' He glanced back down at the Fly, watching him ask if everything was okay to a few civilians before continuing his patrol. The sight made Izuku tap his chin, 'But there's never any specification on what he qualifies as fake, though. One that just does it for money or glory? Or is it one that doesn't do enough?'
Izuku came to a stop at that thought, glancing back down at his notes, 'Do Vigilantes qualify as fakers in his eyes. No, if greed is a factor, then me doing all this for free wipes me off the list. There is also vanity. I do look good on cameras, so that could be the reason to consider killing me. I didn't see any reports of him going after vigilantes. I know he used to be one. Stendhal, I believe he was previously called,' He looked back at The Fly one last time before turning away. 'Wish he kept the name Stendhal. That one was fire. Anyway, I don't think he'll go after The Fly. I should look for another hero.'
Firing a web line before slinging across another street where another target. The Normal Hero: Manual.
He followed him for almost the same amount of time as The Fly, mainly seeing him do a long roundabout patrol, and as far as he could tell, Izuku concluded that Manual was a truly upstanding hero, and if Stain was serious about only hunting down false heroes, then he should leave Manual alone.
In terms of ability, he only knows that Manual has a water quirk, but the hero goes out of his way to inspire people, constantly complimenting and helping others with little things while making sure to look out for crime and villains.
Compared to The Fly, Manual was a better hero, so he should be in the clear.
He swung away to find another hero.
Native, who was currently in the middle of a crowd of fans. He was signing autographs after autographs, along with taking selfies. The sight made Izuku blink, sitting down on the edge of a rooftop across the street. He watched as Native stood there, doing this for way too long that which was irritating before moving through his patrol.
The sight made Izuku gulp. 'I think I know who the Hero Killer might go after next.' Izuku thought as he hopped onto another rooftop to follow Native. He then saw the hero go down two more streets before having another crowd surround him. Seeing this, Izuku sighed and took out another snack. 'Yeah… this is bad. Should I go find Ingenium and Takeshita first, or stay watching him? I mean, I think he's probably gonna be targeted.'
Izuku turned to his HUD to look up Native. He found that he was considered on the lower end, though he was very public as well. Just a few rescues and villain takedowns, nothing major though. Izuku sighed at this and closed the app before looking back at Native, who was giving out his last autograph.
'I should at least figure out his patrol route first. Then I can decide what to do next.'
His Spider-Sense gave him his answer as he turned around behind him and spotted someone or something that sent him chills.
'Stain!' Webjack panicked, instinctively activating his Psi-Webs, but partially calmed down when he saw that the one behind him was neither a Pro-Hero nor the Hero Killer but some… thing.
The strange creature is small, roughly the size of a dog, but it is the farthest thing from an animal. He wouldn't even call it a Heteromorph. This thing couldn't possibly have been human to begin with.
Pink skin, round eyes, and an exposed brain. His, or more likely her. Her most prominent characteristics are her cat-like ears, which are in fact human noses, and a spinal tail. She wears a pair of pale lace-up shoes on her feet.
"Ah… What's up, Danger?" He blurted out of impulse, not sure what to make of this, even less so when he started to remember. This thing resembles the first Nomu he fought, and he realized that she must be with the League of Villains.
Before Izuku could make any movement, the creature disappeared, as though she had teleported.
"Where?" Izuku frantically looked for his surroundings and spotted the creature on his right, now sitting on the edge of the south side of the roof they were on.
The creature vanished from sight again, now standing on the building that was behind her.
'Does she want me to follow her?' Izuku wondered. 'If there were a prize for a worst trap award, this thing would win third place. Still, I can't ignore this any more than I can ignore Stain.'
Deciding to risk it, Izuku turns invisible and follows after the creature, who kept teleporting, going further west of Hosu.
Witnessing the interaction from another building is a Hero dressed almost like a red robot who is perplexed by what he saw and starts to contact his leader.
"Ingenium, sir! I just saw Webjack. He's in Hosu, and he… Ah, turned invisible, and I think he is also chasing after some disgusting, small cat creature thing."
"As if we didn't have enough to worry about," The Turbo Hero groaned. "Try to follow, but do not engage him. If he's also after the Hero Killer, we have a chance at catching him if we let him fight first."
"Clever, trying to hide in plain sight, but he will not resist taking the bait regardless," Kyudai mused as he and All For One watched the events unfold in Hosu through multiple spies who had been keeping an eye on Webjack since he arrived.
"I have never seen that particular Nomu, Doctor. Didn't know you would bother to make them so small," Zen noted.
"Small bodies make for less tediousness and surprisingly good results," Kyudai replied. "Veronica is new and thus far one of my favorites for extracting samples. The Quirk I gave her is called Blinding Speed. She can move so fast that even to a trained eye it looks like she's teleporting. She can only move so fast for seventy to eighty meters at a time, but so far she has proven to only get caught when there is no need to be cautious."
"You certainly love to play with your creations, don't you?" Zen teased.
"A true scientist knows we must love what we create while exploring all the possibilities that can be made together," Kyudai joked. "Once she's led the boy to Stain and they're done wearing each other down. Veronica will rush in and take a sample of his blood, and in a worst-case scenario, Kurogiri, who is on standby, will warp her to safety."
"Nothing to be done then but to enjoy the show. Still,"Zen smirked, briefly making the monitor turn to the live footage of the Sports Festival. "On the off chance that this Hero Killer fails to satisfy the boy, I think we can get away with one last twist of the knife to test his worth once and for all."
"Dang, that was intense." Death Arms commented as they watched the second event come to an end at the UA sports festival. It showed Katsuki Bakugo in first place, yelling profanities as he declared how great he was. "That kid's got issues."
"Yeah, but nothing we haven't seen before. I'm sure the teachers in UA will set him straight eventually," Kamui Woods replied as they and several other heroes were outside the Sports stadium. "His homeroom teacher is Eraserhead after all."
"Urgh. I hate that guy. Buzzkill of the century," Mount Lady groaned, bad memories of her few encounters with the Erasure Hero bursting out of her head. Every criticism he threw at her for the way she handled villains made her wish she could do villainy just to squash the life out of the man. "I don't know what Ms. Joke sees in that loser."
"Pretty sure he's just easy to fuck with and isn't really into him," Death Arms commented.
"Was that reassurance supposed to be for yourself?" Mount Lady teased.
"Very funny. So when's the wedding?" Death Arms bit back with a romantic mock of his own.
"Don't even joke about that!" She warned, knowing full well that he was referring to Webjack.
"Oh dear, what's this I hear about love struggles?" The trio sees a heroine walk towards them. A curvy woman with long blonde hair that is styled in curly locks in the front with folded curls in the back, three snakes protruding from her hair, and a maroon dress with scale-like details for a costume.
"Uwabami? I didn't know you were the type to do security," Death Arms said, surprised.
"Every hero has to expand their horizon, darling. Just because Rescue operations are my cup of tea doesn't mean I don't know how to rough off a few naughty boys," The Snake Hero mused.
"Great, as if I didn't feel like enough of my time was wasted," Yu whined, looking bored.
"Never took you for the diligent type, Takeyama, dear. I thought you'd jump at the chance to laze about while on duty like this," Uwabami teased.
"Thankfully, she's matured considerably since her terrible debut," Kamui Woods hissed, still miffed about how their meeting turned out badly for him. "She's still a pain to work with, but at least she has more to think about than just her image."
"Oh, shove it! You're not the second coming of All Might either," Yu snapped.
"Oh? I see," Uwabami snickered, getting a devious thought in her mind.
"Don't you dare say it," Yu warned, knowing where she was going with that look.
"My, my, you got some steep competition," Uwabami chuckled, not paying Takeyama any more attention and instead looking elsewhere. "Hey, Ryukyu! You better tell your new lady friend to beware, otherwise she will lose her man."
"I thought I warned you not to get Nejire involved in any of your scandals," The Dragoon Hero muttered, trying to ignore Uwabami and enjoy her drink.
"I'm this close to crushing everyone within a one-mile radius," Yu growled.
"You make it so easy to insult you," Kamui deadpanned.
Izuku did not consider this one of his brightest moments. Deciding to go through with hunting the Hero Killer was already a huge leap in his mind. He's been through a lot since he became Webjack, but his childish behavior when bearing the mask was always a good disguise to hide that he still fears for his life, but still has the drive to push forward.
Yet, despite his new strength and courage, he came to rely on his wits and intelligence more and more. When faced with insurmountable odds, it was better to think smart, not hit harder. Of course, punching all of your problems away is not as ridiculous as it may seem. It's preferable; he just doesn't have the same luxury as All Might, so thinking smart is his trump card.
This is not him thinking smart, following a bizarre creature that he is almost certain was made by a mad scientist who took a page out of Frankenstein and mixed a bunch of human corpses to make it. Was the Nomu he fought also made the same way?
The League of Villains is surely more dangerous than he feared. How many of these things are there?
Veronica kept "teleporting" continuously, somehow aware that Izuku was following even though he remained invisible and not using his webbing, just leaping from roof to roof. Izuku could barely keep up because of her impressive speed, but he wasn't trying to catch her as he wanted to at least see where she was heading.
Soon enough they reached their destination, Veronica landed on the edge of a three-story building, and instead of using her Quirk again, she jumped down into the alleyway below her, just as Izuku caught up to her and the moment he looked down to catch her, she vanished with her Quirk again.
"Where did she go now?" He muttered, frantically searching the alleyway for her, but did not find the grotesque creature. Instead, his eyes stared down at his original target. "Stain?"
Indeed, there he stood, leaning down on the wall of a building, the infamous Hero Killer, the man responsible for killing seventeen heroes and crippling twenty-four others to the point of being unable to fully recover that they might as well be dead also.
The fiend stood there silently, either resting or perhaps waiting for someone to find him. He has to know that the Pros are looking for him, and by the looks of it, he's eager to be caught, but surely he's not so confident to believe that he can take out a whole team of them, like a whole agency. Maybe two or three at a time.
Then again, he must also know the fear he brought upon Hero Society. While some, like Native, seem not to be worried at all, confident that they can at least avoid confronting him alone now that they know the danger afoot.
Before he can decide on anything, Izuku can feel a strain on his body that is the result of his invisibility's time limit running out. The ability to turn invisible by vibrating his body to refract visible light around him has come in handy to evade Pro-Heroes, especially when they were unaware he could do that, but it is a taxing ability.
It doesn't come with the risk of increased metabolism when he uses greater speed but it does hurt him after longer periods. The combination of his immense durability, coupled with a healing factor that works well enough without an extra boost shields his body from the side-effects of intense vibrations, especially his mind, but that too has a limit.
The longest he went overusing his Silked Veil was when he fled from the USJ. Every time he reached his limit, he had to hide out in alleyways and dumpsters for a bit until he could turn invisible again, and he had to repeat this cycle twelve times. Thankfully, repeating this process consecutively doesn't have lasting consequences.
With only three minutes left, he decides to wallcrawl closer to Stain and try and catch him off guard, and he has gotten pretty good at making himself inaudible when being stealthy.
Which makes it a pity that his efforts proved for naught.
"Whoever you are, don't bother wasting my time," The villain suddenly said, slowly getting back on his feet and looking above him. Izuku went wide-eyed at this, glancing down at his hands and seeing he was still invisible as the killer continued to talk, "I don't see you, but I know you're there. You are brave, and yet you smell of uncertainty."
'Wow… either this guy is paranoid to the point that he taught himself to enhance his hearing for any heartbeat, or his Quirk has some impressive sonar,' Izuku thought, less confident of his chances to catch him off guard.
The Villain was now on the defensive, now searching for his surroundings, his guard having no openings to exploit.
"Well?! Where are you?!"
'He is way too intense…' Izuku mentally gulped, now feeling a killing intent pouring from the madman. But as he felt this, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. 'I didn't come all this way just to turn tables between my legs. I got this.'
He made his way to the floor, still making no sound with his movement. Stain seemed uncertain of his exact location, his glare alone promising absolute death to all who gazed upon him, but Izuku would not allow himself to succumb to fear. Never again.
With his invisibility about to be turned off, he needed to make the first move, hoping to incapacitate him, at least for a bit, with a sucker punch before webbing him in a cocoon.
Acting fast, he delivers the swiftest but still most brutal punch he can muster at the Hero Killer.
Stain scuffed, knowing what was coming, and quickly unsheathed two knives, blocking the blow as he put them in a cross formation in front of his stomach.
Silence fell on the alleyway, and with Izuku cursing his luck, his invisibility finally wore off.
"So it's you," Stain commented, almost in lament, as he uncrossed the blades and thrust one at Izuku, his Spider-Sense screaming at him.
The attack was one of the fastest things Izuku had ever seen, but his spider-sense was faster. He quickly backpedaled at this, dodging the first thrust, only for the killer to start swinging his blades everywhere. It was a rapid, fluid motion that he used those knives with, but it was an even greater dance that Izuku did. His Spider-Sense rang out every split second, motioning him to do the slightest movements, ducking and dodging each blow.
And as this happened, the killer began to push Izuku to the wall to pin him. Webjack countered by shooting webs at Stain to push him back and stick him to the wall behind him, but the Hero Killer showed his great speed by evading despite the close proximity, leaping to his right while a cobweb is formed on the wall.
"You almost had me there. Can't say I'm surprised," Stain snorted.
"Hero Killer: Stain. You're as deadly and ugly as I was told," Webjack hissed, sounding more forceful with his stunts as Stain's menacing aura slowly became more unbearable to him.
"I suggest you leave me be, boy. My crusade is with the fake heroes," Stain insisted, his raging gaze never fading but not seeming to be directed at Izuku.
"I didn't come all this way and skip out on watching the Sports Festival just for sightseeing. I've come for you, Stain. Your killing spree is over," The Vigilante declared.
"There is much strength in your voice, but you're still not at the level required to challenge me," Stain declared, not feeling threatened by his new opponent.
"What, afraid to get your butt kicked by the new kid? I didn't think you were the type of guy to care about your rep, given the way you dress," Izuku quipped.
"You use pathetic jokes to not only irritate your opponent into giving in to anger and becoming sloppy, but also to hide your self-doubt. You fear death, and still you persist on this lonely path of yours." Stain is unaffected by Izuku's stunts, and worse, has him figured out, causing the Web-Slinger to falter.
"I've seen you in action before, witnessed the impact you have on this evil society of impostors who dare to pervert the name of a Hero. You are not like them, and you are a cut above the rest who also reject the status quo without succumbing to villainy. Yes, you are worthy," Stain declared, somewhat confusing Izuku of what he was getting at. "And unfortunately, there is no convincing you to turn away and let me continue my mission."
"The fact that you think I would ever consider letting you continue to kill, even if your targets are corrupt, is proof enough that you're out of your mind." Now it was Izuku's turn to snort at the lunacy he was hearing.
"Very well. Then I have no choice but to beat you down long enough for me to carry on elsewhere. I'll make sure the fakes don't find you and arrest you afterward," Stain said as there was no getting away from this fight.
The darkened alleyway seemed to tighten, each breath echoing the impending clash. Webjack, his form visible once more, poised on the balls of his feet, prepared for the intense confrontation ahead. Stain, the Hero Killer, stood unwavering, blades at the ready, a silent threat in the shadows.
Without a moment's hesitation, Webjack shot a blast of Psi-Web fired from his palm—not sticky this time, but dense, layered, and folded in on itself, designed to wrap around and harden into a cocoon within seconds. The glowing green latticework zipped toward Stain like a net made of thought.
Stain didn't flinch.
With a twist of his body and a flick of his arm, he unsheathed a single katana—not the crude, rusted ones strapped to his back, but a sleek, thin blade with an unnerving gleam, as if the metal itself had teeth. He slashed horizontally.
The Psi-Web shredded mid-air, cut clean in half like ribbon. The psychic strands didn't dissipate—they fizzled, unraveled, bled green energy as they hit the ground in steaming coils.
Izuku's Spider-Sense screamed before he could even register what he saw.
'How could he do that…?'
No time to think. Izuku dove left just as Stain lunged. The blade sang past his head, slicing a few fibers of his hood. Izuku rolled, sprang to the wall, and launched himself back in a tight flip, landing in a crouch.
He fired another web—this time sharp, like a whip—aiming for Stain's legs. But the killer twisted in mid-step and deflected again. Not wild, not erratic — precise. Izuku barely dodged a retaliating slash that scraped the bricks behind him.
This wasn't a thug. This was a hunter.
'Fast. Focused. Every strike measured to kill.'
Izuku boosted a short-range psychic pulse through his boots and blurred forward, fists glowing. He ducked under a blade, popped up with a rising elbow. It connected with Stain's chest, and the man staggered back a step—only to pivot and kick Izuku in the ribs. Hard.
Izuku slid back, caught himself, and web-zipped straight into a wall run, flipping off and aiming a full-force diving kick. Stain blocked again—barely—and was pushed into a crate that cracked under the impact.
Izuku landed, panting, arms up. "You're… good."
Stain wiped a trickle of blood from his lip, unbothered. "And you're not just a child in a mask."
No more words.
They clashed again.
Izuku went low this time, slipping past Stain's guard and aiming a quick triple-jab to his side, his strikes enhanced by pulsing psychic threads beneath his knuckles. The second blow landed, the third got blocked by Stain's wrist guard, and a knife whipped out from nowhere.
Izuku ducked, barely avoiding the swipe at his throat. He web-yanked a loose pipe from behind him and used it to parry the next two strikes, then snapped it in half and tossed both ends, each spinning through the air.
Stain knocked one aside, but the second smacked him in the shoulder, giving Izuku just enough time to shoot another wide net burst across the narrow alley.
The net caught Stain mid-lunge.
But the katana came alive again, slicing through the threads like they were silk. Not even resistance. As if the webbing did not weigh at all.
Izuku's brow furrowed behind his mask.
'No one cuts Psi-Webs like that. Not even Pro-Heroes.'
He blinked and saw Stain mid-air.
Too close.
He dove again, landed in a low slide, and shot a web-line upward to sling himself out of range. Stain landed and whipped around, cloak fluttering. His breathing was sharp but controlled.
Izuku crouched on a second-floor windowsill, staring down.
They had both landed hits. Both drawn blood. Both untouched where it counted.
It was a deadlock.
But Izuku's instincts were flaring louder with each second. This wasn't like fighting crooks. This wasn't like sparring with trained heroes.
This was war.
Izuku gritted his teeth, crouched low on the second-floor windowsill, breathing heavily.
'Okay…' He thought. 'Tight space isn't working. He's dancing around me like I'm the amateur.'
He hated to admit it, but Stain was better at alley combat. Every angle, every deflection, every footstep—it was calculated. Almost instinctual.
Webjack used to think narrow spaces were his element—fast in, fast out, vertical and unpredictable. But this guy? This guy made it a chessboard and put himself in check.
Then the Spider-Sense flared—not a lethal flash, but a pulse of danger.
He glanced over his shoulder.
Two civilians—a man and a teenage girl—had rounded the far end of the alley, drawn in by the echoing clangs of battle. Phones out. Spectating.
'Dammit.'
Izuku didn't hesitate.
He leapt down, hard—landing right next to Stain—and punched the ground with a downward blast of pure strength. The earth cracked, concrete splintered, and the entire alley trembled with a quake-like BOOM. Dust and gravel exploded upward in a shockwave.
The two bystanders screamed and ducked back behind cover.
Stain reflexively vaulted up, gripping a fire escape's railing and climbing in fluid movements, knife still drawn.
"You're smarter than you look," Stain growled as he ascended.
"Yeah?" Izuku snapped, flipping up after him. "You're a lot chattier than a ninja-murderer should be!"
Now on the rooftop, with moonlight pouring in and space to move, Izuku surged forward.
He was faster here. Wider gaps, more open air—perfect for swings, dodges, aerial flips. His fists cracked with green psionic energy, and he pressed hard.
Stain backpedaled, weaving around strikes, deflecting with his katana, but it was obvious: Webjack was in his element now.
Izuku threw out a rapid-fire web blast, forcing Stain to sidestep—only for Izuku to zip in at an angle, flipping behind him with a heel kick that cracked against the Hero Killer's shoulder.
Stain snarled and retaliated, now throwing knives with pinpoint precision.
Thwish—thwish—THWISH!
Blades zipped past Izuku at horrifying speeds—fast enough to pierce a Pro-Hero's armor. But Izuku was already mid-air, twisting, tumbling, slipping between the blades like liquid. No need for Spider-Sense this time—he was reading the rhythm, seeing the attacks before they flew.
He rebounded off a rooftop vent and came crashing down with a heavy right hook.
Stain's eyes widened.
He barely dodged—the fist grazed his shoulder, sending a jolt of pressure through his bones even without contact.
'That would've broken something,' He realized.
But he didn't retreat.
He twisted low, swept up a knife from his boot, and jabbed toward Izuku's side, point-first.
The blade made contact, but it didn't go through. There was a sharp clink, and Stain's eyes narrowed as his blade hit resistance—the suit material held, dented but uncut.
Izuku grunted and backflipped away, eyes wide behind the lenses.
"Nice try," He said, hand glowing with psionic threads again. "That spot's double-reinforced. I learn from experience."
Stain stood, posture low, circling.
He wasn't angry.
He was smiling.
"You're better prepared than most," He admitted. "Smart. Fast. Durable. I can see why they fear you."
Izuku flinched at the word fear. Who would be scared of him?
But Stain continued, fingers curling around another knife.
"But you've wasted enough of my time, so let's wrap this up!"
He lunged again, this time with real force, aiming to cleave open a weak point—the neck seam, the inner thigh, somewhere the suit might not be armored.
But Izuku was already adapting.
"I get I invaded your personal space first, but there's no need to be this rude," Izuku said through clenched teeth, catching the blade between two psi-threaded palms and hurling Stain across the rooftop.
Stain skidded, rolled to his feet, and crouched again.
He was grinning wider now.
"You're no fake."
Izuku spat to the side, hands glowing once more.
"Keep testing me, and I'll show you how real I can get."
"My, my. Such ferocity. Such a fire! And I thought my clashes with the previous Bearers of One For All were the only times I would ever feel this excited," All For One mused, enjoying the spectacular fight before him.
The clash of ideologies between two men with hopeless dreams for the future of this world is a comedic show to the Symbol of Evil. He definitely has to make sure these two don't get caught by the Pro-Heroes so that the fun they bring can last longer.
"It shouldn't take too long to wrap this up. While the boy has the superior power, he is still greener than his suit would imply compared to Stain, who only needs is one good strike to seal the deal," He declared.
"Indeed, and when the time is right, Veronica will seize the opportunity once Webjack becomes paralyzed by Stain's Bloodcurdle," Kyudai concurred.
"What's his blood type?" Zen asked, a crucial detail to know since the plan depends on how much time the Vigilante can be paralyzed to extract his blood.
"Figuring that out was difficult because of what small samples I managed to get and the radiation, but the few signs I found indicate O Type, which means the boy will only be paralyzed for exactly two minutes to extract his blood."
"I doubt Stain would sit by and let our little friend pour a needle at the boy," Zen said.
"That's where our new friend comes in," Kyudai said, changing the monitor to another footage, this one showing the Turbo Hero Ingenium, rushing to the scene where Webjack and Stain are fighting based on the coordinates his sidekick, who was tailing Webjack, or rather, Veronica.
"Impeccable timing. To be expected of a Turbo Hero,"All For One smirked.
"Yes. Judging by his usual top speed, by the time he arrives, Stain will have gotten the upper hand on Webjack, whose martial prowess is still unclean, relying largely on his enhanced physique to overcompensate," Kyudai calculated.
"Then the only thing left to tidy up are the other Heroes whom Ingenium surely told about Stain's location with the goal to surround him while he and Webjack hold him off. It is the best strategy for them, which cannot be allowed to happen."
'This has gone on long enough.' Izuku's narrowed eyes gleamed behind his mask lenses. No more holding back.
Like in the USJ… like against the Nomu.
Webjack planted both feet, stabilized his posture, and opened his arms. A low hum vibrated in his chest, and then—
BOOM!
A geyser of psionic webbing erupted from his sternum, flooding toward Stain with the force of a fire hose. The attack now poured from the Mark II suit's reinforced Geno-Fibers with ease. No internal damage. No risk of blowback.
It was like a second skin, fully synced to his nervous system.
Stain's eyes widened for a fraction of a second—then he blurred sideways, pushing his reflexes to the absolute limit. Knives were drawn and thrown. His katana flashed, slicing through portions of the webbing mid-flight as the pressure chased him across the rooftop.
He landed in a crouch near the far vent, breathing hard—but Izuku wasn't finished.
"No more tricks," Webjack muttered.
Webbing burst from every part of his suit—arms, legs, back, chest—everything but the head. The rooftop became a trap, psionic thread lacing across pipes, ledges, and walls like a living organism. The glow of green energy shimmered over every surface, turning the rooftop into a sticky, constricting death maze.
Stain had nowhere to run.
But he wasn't done either.
From a pouch in his belt, he flicked out a small, dull metal orb—half the size of a baseball—and threw it straight toward Izuku.
The Vigilante's Spider-Sense flickered, but not fast enough. Instinct kicked in. Izuku whipped up a web-construct shield, shaping it like a convex dome just in time to intercept.
The orb struck.
Fwoom!
The device imploded silently, releasing a burst of purple gas that spread unnaturally fast, cutting through the air like living mist. Izuku took half a step back.
But he inhaled.
He froze.
The burning in his lungs was instant.
He coughed, reeled, tried to web the gas away—but the damage was done.
'Poison?'
The Psi-Webs dissolved instantly as Izuku's concentration broke. The rooftop was clear again, and Stain leapt forward, reclaiming his agility with frightening grace.
He stood tall now, katana gleaming, face expressionless.
"I hate using poison," He said coldly. "It's dishonorable. The blade should decide everything. But lately… the fakes have gotten bolder. More desperate. And all because of you."
Izuku, hunched slightly from the burning in his chest, glared at him.
Stain's expression hardened.
"They know their lies won't survive if you keep shining. You've made them squirm. I appreciate that, and on a personal level, I almost enjoy their stubborn defiance. Keep up the good work, kid."
Before Izuku could regain full posture, Stain dashed forward. Spider-Sense screamed, but it was too slow.
The katana cut cleanly across his right shoulder, the reinforced suit finally giving under focused pressure. Izuku growled in pain as blood flicked onto the ground.
But the cut wasn't deep. Just enough. Worse, his balance broke. He stumbled backward, feet slipping over the edge of the roof and fell.
CRASH!
Webjack landed back in the alleyway, the concrete denting beneath him as he tanked the impact. He rolled once, then got to his feet, arm bleeding, lungs burning.
But he stood tall.
The poison coursed through him, but Izuku gritted his teeth. He'd been poisoned before. He'd felt worse. His metabolism—altered, enhanced—was already starting to process the toxin.
Stain leapt down after him, descending with precision via the fire escape.
He landed softly, katana still in hand.
"It's over," He said, raising the blade now streaked with red. "I won."
Izuku tilted his head, unimpressed.
"You think that little nick's gonna stop me?"
Stain's smirk returned.
"Not the wound. The blood."
Izuku's heart skipped. He understood now.
But before Stain could explain his Quirk or activate its effects—
"I MADE IT!"
A powerful voice shouted from above. Both fighters turned.
A new figure landed in the alley with a heavy clang, the ground shaking from his descent. He wore a white, armored suit, sleek but bulky in the arms and calves. Jet engines lined his elbows, humming with charged power.
"I found you, Hero Killer Stain!"
"Ingenium!" Webjack shouted, alarmed. Ingenium is one of the good heroes who is okay with having him around, but he can't help but worry about letting him engage Stain in combat.
"Oh. So my chosen prey for the day ended up coming into my clutches after all," Stain mused, having chosen the Turbo Hero to eliminate for the day. His timing couldn't be any more atrocious, but he knew not to have any hopes for things ever going his way. He just has to take what he can get and prioritize his duty.
"Thank you for holding him off for this long, Webjack. Now we have this fiend surrounded," Ingenium informed, as the majority of Hosu's Heroes should be closing in any minute now.
"This changes nothing!" Stain roared, changing his target to Ingenium and rushing in for the attack.
Webjack saw this coming and was ready to hold him in place, but Stain beat him to it, extending his tongue and ingesting Izuku's blood from his blade.
And then, Izuku felt a strange, icy sensation coursing through his veins, rendering him immobile. It was as though his very essence had been seized by an unseen force, leaving him helpless and at the mercy of his adversary.
With all motion stripped from him, he fell, head faced to the ground. The vigilante gritted his teeth against the vulnerability that coursed through him, a mixture of fear and frustration etched in his hidden face. The alleyway seemed to close in around him, amplifying the gravity of the situation.
'What's happening? Is this his Quirk?' Izuku panicked, completely paralyzed and unable to do anything.
Stain lunges at Ingenium with his katana, swinging the blade vertically with lightning speed that the Turbo Hero responds to by using the engine on his left elbow to propel himself to his right at a faster velocity, evading the sword swing, and follows it up with a counterattack, moving his right arm for a punch while using his arm engine as an added boost, delivering a mighty fist right at Stain's face, sending him crashing into the wall, creating a hole that blows the Hero Killer inside of the building.
"I'll be the one to stop you, Stain!" Ingenium declared.
"Don't make me laugh!" Stain snapped with disgust, getting back up quicker than Ingenium expected, and returned to the alley, thrusting his sword forward so that the armor in Ingenium's forearm could block. "Only a true hero can defeat me. And you're nothing but a FAKE!"
'I should have known that his Quirk was Vampiric. His insanity was a dead giveaway,' Izuku thought bitterly.
Izuku has read reports of cases where people become unhinged and violent because their Quirks have severe repercussions on their psyches. The worst cases of these are Quirks that require blood to function. They almost always develop an extreme drive for violence and irrational behavior with a craving for blood. This is why those with Blood Quirks have been dubbed Vampires.
This extreme condition can be treated as demonstrated by the Blood Hero: Vlad King, who, despite not being all that popular and having dangerous control over blood, is known as a respected and sophisticated Hero and teacher. A bit of a drill sergeant, but it comes with the territory of being amongst the Staff of UA.
It's not just because he's overly passionate about Heroes and disgusted with how so many people pervert the responsibility for their own benefit. Stain is really sick and a complete slave to his own Quirk.
Despite this, Izuku doubts it matters since the Villain is too far gone into his aspirations that tragically have merit, as the Vigilante can attest to.
He can't let this stop him. He can't let Ingenium die, but Stain's Quirk over him is too strong, try as he might to try and force himself back up.
Maybe he could use his psychokinesis to overcome this mess, forcefully move his body like a puppet, or something to that effect, to start moving again, but Stain paralyzed even his ability to vibrate himself.
"Dammit!" He cursed, believing that he may have been soundly defeated. And his troubles only get worse as the Nomu, Veronica, returns, reappearing before him. "Y-You…"
The creature looks at him blankly, displaying no emotion.
"You wanted me to fight Stain. That's why you lured me here," He realized too late. "Why?"
Her response? Veronica opens up her mouth, and from it a large needle comes out, shocking the Vigilante, who could do nothing but watch in horror as the Nomu lunges at him, plunging the needle into his right shoulder. Izuku winced from the sharp pain. Veronica must possess a fair amount of strength, or the needle was exceptionally made to be able to penetrate his skin's natural defense.
This went on for a bit as Veronica collected a fair amount of Webjack's blood, pulling the needle from him once it was full.
"What was that for?!" Izuku shouted.
"Well done, Veronica. Now return to Kurogiri. Your mission was completed gloriously," Kyudai spoke to his Nomu via a small microphone he was holding.
Obeying orders, Veronica vanishes from Webjack's sight once again.
"I'll look forward to future experiments with great interest!" Kyudai praised.
"As will I. But surely, this can't be the end for our Web-Slinger, can it?" All For One mused.
"If you're worried, we can just have Kurogiri warp him back to Musutafu. That is as soon as he is done putting the other Pros in place."
"Yes, but before that, let's see if today marks the end of the Turbo Hero."
Not far from Webjack and Ingenium, several more Pro-Heroes are heading towards the coordinates given to them by Ingenium's Sidekick, where Stain is located. While the Pro and Vigilante are holding off the Hero Killer, the rest of them will surround the perimeter and dogpile Stain once and for all.
Amongst one group of Heroes hunting down the Killer are Takeshita, Manual, and Native.
"I can't believe this is about to go down. We got a shot at catching that murderer," Native said, looking like he was having the run of his life, but not to run away from danger, instead running towards it.
"It's okay to be scared. As bad as villains can get, this guy is in a league of his own, but as long as we stick together, we should be fine," Manual said, trying to encourage his comrades and the others who are uncertain of their chances against Stain.
"Who's scared? Not me! Certainly not me," Native muttered, refusing to admit that he is afraid to face Stain.
"Honestly, you guys are just too much. But I suppose it's better to think this way than to let that freak get to us," Takeshita said while panting a bit, amused by the way his colleagues were acting.
The tendered mood is ruined when Takeshita notices something from their right coming in like a blur, and it looks like it is heading for—
"NATIVE!" Takeshita cried, rushing towards Native and knocking him to the ground. As a result, he was the one who received the brunt of a massive fist that sent him crashing into a cake store, destroying a portion of it while also being blown to the back.
"TAKESHITA!" Manual yelled in horror, as did the other Heroes at what just transpired.
"What the hell was that?" Native muttered before he turned his head and saw the culprit, the same Nomu that was in the USJ, fully functional again and attacking the Heroes to ensure no one else interfered with the fight against Stain.
Things worsen when three of Kurogiri's Warp Gates appear above the street they are in, and out came falling the other Heroes that were gathered to surround Stain.
"What is this?" Manual demanded, watching as the rest of his comrades gathered in this street instead.
"My apologies, dear Heroes," Kurogiri spoke up with his yellow eyes forming on one of the Warp Gates. "But I'm afraid the affair with the Hero Killer is a private one between him and Webjack, and only one of you is allowed to partake. But don't worry. My brother-in-arms is more than happy to preoccupy your every woe."
Upon saying so, the Nomu made a thundering screech as he commenced his murderous assault on the Heroes.
"Die, Faker!" Stain howled, the fury he held back against Webjack now exposed to the world, no longer having a reason to hold back now that he is facing one that he deems a mockery of the word Hero.
Ingenium, his resolve unwavering, faced the relentless onslaught of Stain. The Turbo Hero's engines roared to life, and with a burst of speed, he propelled himself forward, narrowly evading Stain's katana. The alley became a new battleground of speed and precision, a clash between the Turbo Hero's swift movements and the calculated strikes of the Hero Killer.
Stain, undeterred by the speed of his adversary, anticipated Ingenium's trajectory. With a fluid motion, he countered the Turbo Hero's rapid charge, parrying the attacks with uncanny agility. The clash of metal echoed through the narrow confines of the alley, each strike a testament to the prowess of both combatants.
Ingenium unleashed his special move, Recipro Burst, pushing his engines to their limits. An explosive burst of speed sent him hurtling towards Stain, his fist poised for a devastating punch. Stain, however, proved to be equally agile. With a nimble sidestep, he avoided the full force of Ingenium's attack, leaving the Turbo Hero momentarily off balance.
Seizing the opportunity, Stain retaliated with a swift counterattack. His katana sliced through the air, aiming for Ingenium's side. The Turbo Hero, still recovering from the failed strike, struggled to evade the razor-sharp blade. Stain's katana made contact, leaving a deep cut on Ingenium's side.
Despite the pain, Ingenium refused to yield. He activated his second special move, Rocket Charge, propelling himself into the air. Stain, momentarily caught off guard by the unexpected maneuver, looked up as Ingenium soared above him.
Ingenium, suspended in mid-air, redirected its trajectory with precision. He descended upon Stain, engines blazing, delivering a powerful kick that sent the Hero Killer crashing into the alley wall. The impact created a fissure in the brickwork, momentarily stunning Stain.
"This ends now, Hero Killer!" Ingenium declared, determination burning in his eyes.
However, Stain, true to his resilience, again recovered faster than anticipated. He lunged forward with renewed ferocity, catching Ingenium off guard. The katana danced with lethal intent, aiming for the Turbo Hero's vulnerable areas.
As the battle reached a critical juncture, Ingenium's lower body suddenly seized up. The effects of Stain's Bloodcurdle took hold, leaving him paralyzed and vulnerable. Stain, a predatory glint in his eyes, prepared to deliver the final blow.
"I told you. Only a true hero can stop me, and you ARE NOT A HERO!" Stain yelled at the defiant Pro, who even now showed no signs of fear, even if his helmet was removed, one would only see resolve and valor.
Just as Stain's katana descended, a sudden green blur intervened. Webjack, having broken free from his momentary defeat, swung into action. His webbing shot forth, ensnaring Stain's blade and preventing it from striking Ingenium.
'Damn! His blood type is O,' Stain cursed.
"I won't let you rob the world of another Hero," Webjack declared, determination resonating in his voice. With a swift and calculated motion, Webjack yanked Stain away from Ingenium, creating a momentary reprieve.
"I've seen enough," All For One declared, extending his hand for Kyudai to give him the microphone, which the Doctor kindly did. "Kurogiri. The mission was successful. Send the boy back to Musutafu, exactly where I want him to be next."
"As you wish," Kurogiri's voice was heard in the room.
"He is still poisoned because of Stain," Garaki reminded his master.
"He'll be fine. He's been through much worse than what he is about to experience," Zen mused, looking forward to what is about to unfold.
"Ingenium! Are you alright?" Webjack asked worriedly while he crouched down to tend to the wounded Hero.
"Sorry. I ended up not being of much help after all," The Turbo Hero lamented, ashamed of his sorry state.
"No. You bought me time to get out of whatever his Quirk is. He seems to need to ingest the blood of his target before he can paralyze them, and I'm guessing different blood types play a key factor in the time limit," Izuku said, grateful for his arrival.
"So he's a Vampire. That explains a lot,"
"Do I have to rough you off some more, then?" Stain questioned, looking like he could continue fighting despite the constant string of punishment thrown at him.
"I could go for some Katsudon made by my Mom right about now, but hey, Heroes can afford to fight on an empty stomach when still on duty," Webjack mused while tightening his fist as it glowed with the webs inside.
"That's right," Stain said, more composed, accepting that he can't convince Webjack to back down unless he hits him even harder.
"Enough is enough, gentlemen," Kurogiri spoke up as the darkness that formed his body erupted from the ground beneath Webjack.
"This darkness. It's you," Webjack gasped, recognizing the Mist Villain.
"What is this?" Stain snapped in confusion.
"Do not worry. I'm sure the two of you will be permitted to fight again, but for now, it's in the world's best interest that the two of you continue your works separately for a while longer," Kurogiri sneered as he began to take the Vigilante away.
"No! Inge—" Webjack could no longer be heard as he was consumed by the darkness.
"Damn villains!" Stain shouted, unable to do anything for Webjack as they were gone.
He had no time to ponder or vent his new frustration as his ears picked up the sounds of fear and chaos. Citizens were crying out in the distance. Another fight was afoot, one more devastating.
"It seems this city has more than fakes to bring it suffering."