Kurogiri's mist rippled with barely contained fury as he assessed the catastrophic failure unfolding before him.
'Unacceptable.'
It would be a lie to say that this had been included in their calculations. The plan hadn't gone the way they initially concluded, but all was well.
Or it would have been if not for this sudden development.
The white-haired vigilante stood inches away from Stain and Endeavors fallen bodies. Both were powerless to resist, the ideal scenario. However, taking them away would prove challenging.
To retreat meant this operation was a failure, and with Endeavor lying helpless meters away, Kurogiri was unwilling to simply retreat so easily.
'The entire operation. Every Nomu deployed. Every resource expended. All for this moment.'
Kurogiri's yellow eyes fixed on the Number Two Hero's frozen form.
'If Endeavor dies here, tonight becomes a victory. The Symbol of Peace's pillar crumbles. Society's faith wavers. Master's plans advance.'
Stain was expendable. Always had been. A useful tool with a conveniently destructive ideology.
But Endeavor, his death would shake the foundations of hero society itself.
Kurogiri's mist began to expand, tendrils of purple-black void aiming to reach toward the paralyzed flame hero. Coming this far and just leaving was impossible.
Hence, Kurogiri planned to use his warp gate for a quirk extraction.
He didn't have to target them individually. Just enveloping them with fog would do. Though it came with a certain risk of a counter should the vigilante dodge.
However, doing so would allow him to grab both bodies and make a quick getaway. Once taken, Endeavor would be killed before Stain's paralysis wore off.
Two seconds. That's all he needed.
However,
The villain had barely begin when the Vigilante formed a hand seal and slammed the earth.
'He noticed—'
The earth erupted.
Stone and concrete surged upward like a tidal wave, reforming itself with impressive speed. A massive wall of compacted earth rose between Kurogiri's expanding mist and Endeavor's prone body, cutting off the warp gate's path completely.
"What?!" Kurogiri's composed demeanor fractured.
'Terrain manipulation?! But the reports said nothing about ...' The wall was thick and appeared suddenly, obstructing his vision.
He couldn't continue his attack even if he wanted to at this point.
'Damn it!'
THRUM-THRUM-THRUM.
The sound fell into his ears.
Kurogiri's gaze snapped upward.
A helicopter. News media, judging by the camera equipment visible even from this distance, circled overhead. A powerful spotlight swept across the ruins, catching the silver hair of the masked man and the bloody form of the Hero Killer.
"Look!" Ayaka Fujimoto's voice echoed from the sky, amplified by a loudspeaker. "The battle in Sector Four—there's a newcomer! And the Hero Killer... he's down!"
Kurogiri looked up at the light, then at the distant sirens growing louder with every passing second. The tactical window had closed.
"It seems the stage has been compromised,"
He needed to extract Endeavor in a short timeframe. A minute, maybe less. All while guarding against the vigilante. The probability of success was slim.
"Forgive me, Hero Killer." Kurogiri said regardless of whether stain could hear him behind the wall.
"It seems our partnership regretfully ends here." Those were his last words before vanishing.
The street returned to an eerie silence. Above them, the helicopter's camera captured everything.
The white-haired vigilante stood motionless for a moment, finally relaxing upon realising the enemy was truly gone. Then his gaze shifted to Endeavor, who was trying desperately to force his body to respond.
"You..." Endeavor's voice was strained. "You must be... the vigilante... Ingenium mentioned..."
"Hello, Endeavor."
The reply was bland and the features were hidden behind the mask. "Those Bastards!"
Stain roared beside them, drawing their attention.
His gaze turned to the vigilante, gleaming with a similar hatred and intent to kill.
"You .."
Blood dripped from the Hero Killer's mouth with each word. "Who... the hell... are you...?"
The masked figure's head tilted slightly, as if considering the question.
Then answered in a casual tone: "My surname's Hatake."
He paused, letting the name hang in the air.
"You can call me White Fang."
Stain's eyes narrowed. "I haven't heard of that name. Tell me, what did I ever do to you for this?" The masked man didn't reply, rather turning and walking away.
"Answer me!" Stain yelled. "If you're gonna do it, you might as well finish the job! Why let me live?"
The figure stopped. "There's a lot of reasons actually, but if I had to pick ..." He turned his head. "... It would be because even killing you wouldn't be satisfying enough ..."
The words made Endeavor frown.
The figure shrugged. "So enjoy your capture, Stain. I'm certain the authorities will treat you with all the mercy you showed your victims."
"And where exactly do you think you're going?"
"Huh?" The white haired vigilante paused. He turned to see Endeavor glaring at him with barely concealed fury.
'Kakashi' blinked.
""That's an idiotic question," the vigilante muttered.
Endeavor's jaw tightened. "You're... playing a dangerous game, masked man. Do not think your 'assistance' grants you immunity. Once this paralysis fades... I'll be the one asking the questions."
".."
It was official. Endeavors ego far surpassed his sense of self preservation. For a second, he deeply regretted saving this arrogant bastard.
'It's a mystery how this guy became the number Two.'
CLAP! He formed a seal with both hands, then exploded into a cloud of white smoke. By the time the thick haze cleared, the street was empty.
_
Elsewhere
Kurogiri's portal manifested on the metal platform with a swirl.
Tomura Shigaraki sat on the tower's edge, legs dangling over the drop, his back to the portal as he scratched his neck.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
The purple haze over Hosu was beginning to fade. Fire crews were getting the blazes under control. The chaos was ending.
"I'll take it the plan failed?" Shigaraki's voice was flat.
Kurogiri stood silent for a long moment. "The Number Two survives. The Hero Killer has been captured. He was... neutralized by a third party. The same individual who interfered in the alleyway weeks ago."
There was no response. Just the sound of Shigaraki's scratching growing louder.
"Tomura—"
"It was one guy. One. With everything we had, yet he's still alive." Shigaraki stood to his feet.
"We underestimated him." Kurogiri said in an attempt to calm him down. "He is the number two hero after all."
"Oh sure! As if that's going to somehow erase our loses and this failure of a night! First at USJ, now this. Every time we make a move, every time we try to show the world that heroes are frauds, something goes wrong. All Might survives. Endeavor survives. And we look like IDIOTS!"
Kurogiri remained silent, knowing from experience that Tomura needed to vent.
"Six Nomu, Kurogiri. GONE. And what do we have to show for it? Stain's captured. Endeavor's alive. And now there's footage of some vigilante playing hero broadcast to the entire nation."
His scratching slowed.
"Master is going to be so disappointed."
"Perhaps not entirely," Kurogiri offered. "While Endeavor survived, we've demonstrated that even the Number Two can be cornered. Paralyzed. Helpless. The image of him frozen and vulnerable will spread. And Stain's capture..."
"Is worthless." Shigaraki's tone was dismissive.
"It can be attributed to our League."
"It doesn't matter. That bastard was always expendable."
He turned away from the city, his shoulders slumping slightly.
"Let's go home, Kurogiri. I need to figure out how to explain this disaster to Master."
A portal swirled open behind them.
"And that white-haired vigilante..." Shigaraki's voice dropped to something dangerous. "Find out everything about him. Name, quirk, location. Everything. Next time, I'm going to turn him to dust personally.""
"Of course, Tomura."
They stepped through the portal together.
When it closed, the water tower was empty and the city returned to calm, save for the sound of distant sirens and the fading glow of fire on the horizon. Hosu City had survived its darkest night. For the citizens, the scars would remain for a long, long time.
By the next day however, the rest of Japan would be focusing on a different aspect of what happened the previous night.
Two individuals in particular, would be pushed to the very forefront of the media storm set to follow.
___
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