Jade

Part 37

"Be more specific next time Izuku, It made me late"
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*3rd pov*

"He's too fast", Shoto growled and sent a burst of ice at the villain-vigilante. "Use fire mostly, ice just hinders him. Use your left to attack and right for defense and cooling down.", Izuku said and tried his best to nullify the effects of the quirk by willing his body to move which was rather stupid and just a plain waste of energy, alas it was all he could do.

In a city that was currently immersed in chaos, monsters running around destroying homes and endangering people's lives. Fires too big to put out with a water hose, smoke too thick to even attempt to breath in. Heroes scrambling to save civilians. A child crying somewhere, looking for their mother amidst the confusion. A mother frantically looking for her lost child, screaming for the little kid, people rushing the opposite way telling her to turn back and run. A father yelling for the child that was in the safe embrace of his strong arms just a moment ago. A family stuck in a burning building, shrinking into themselves to shy away from the crimson flames that could very well cause their demise.

Yet here layed Jade, in a cold and dirty alley, leaning against the wall with his right shoulder on the ground. Watching his friend fight for his own life along with 3 others against a man he once considered an ally.

"Shoto!", Izuku yelled as three blades embedded themselves into Shoto's left arm, "Aah", Shoto groaned and held his bleeding arm at his side. "Stop annoying me and let me kill you", Stain uselessly said. "If you'd have asked me that a few months ago I would've taken you up on that", Shoto nonchalantly said. He used his ice and pushed Stain back but not for long, soon the spikes were blunt stubs lying on the ground.

Stain got close to Shoto and managed to slash his cheek just like Izuku, only this was on his left cheek, a shallower cut with no blood on the blade that caused the injury. So stain stuck his tongue out and attempted to lick the bi-couloured boy's blood right off his cheek but Shoto lit his left side on fire which forced Stain back.

"Is this the kind of company you keep now Jade? Were sloppy brats the only people they had at that prep school you go to?", Stain taunted Izuku. "Shut the fuck up Akaguro, before I cut off that tongue you're so proud of with the blades in Shoto's arm.", the greenette threatened. "Big talk for someone who can't even move, I guess all you can do now is make bad jokes and empty threats.", he said

He went back to attacking Shoto who's fatigue was starting to become evident. "You've changed kid, sure I used to be able to hurt you, give you bruises here and there but I've never been able to cut you.", he laughed, "could it be?", a thick wall of ice to block him again. "Has the great Jade gone soft?", Izuku's eyes went wide. "What? A stupid school made you dull and dampened your skills. Your body's in no way a vigilante's, having dinner every night? Must be nice. Did some mindless fucker tell you that you could be a hero?", a knife to Native's head that was blocked with ice once again.

"Don't tell me you believed them, well whatever they said, it didn't help you. Right now you're neither a hero nor a vigilante, you're just a disgrace. More than that, all you are now is weak. Is that what being happy does to you? Glad I'm not atleast I can do what I need to.", Shoto quietly said mood to himself and went back to simultaneously worrying about his friend and fighting the S rank villain.

As Izuku took in the harsh words that were being spoken to him, he realised that everything he stated was, although cruel, were very true. He was so weak. For fucks sake, at every incident he's had with villains after joining UA, he's come out with severe injuries. He had to be admitted at the hospital because of the shallow cuts on his thigh. HE'S BEEN STABBED MULTIPLE TIMES IN A DAY AND HE DIDN'T NEED THE HOSPITAL.

He mentally shook his head as negative thoughts started to probe their way into his mind. This was no time for freaking out, there were lives to save.

"Fucking move", Izuku scolded his limp limbs which to no surprise, didn't work. Izuku had had a run-in with Stain before, back when Akaguro simply roamed the streets and incapacitated corrupt hero's who displayed their dirty secrets in alleys. Izuku had confided in the hero killer. He'd told the guy about his dream of being a hero, how it was crushed by his idol. How he disagreed with Stains ideals but respected the man himself. You see, stain was the first person to ever listen to him and ignore his quirkless status but Izuku or rather Jade, was cautious back then and didn't give too much away. He got some stuff off his chest and spoke to Stendhal for 4 hours once. Time well spent if you asked either Jade or Stain.

They'd get together whenever they bumped into each other, talking or sparring the entire night. It was one of the few times Izuku felt like he had a friend, sometimes Stain would patrol with Izuku and give him pointers, Izuku improved by leaps and bounds during those short weeks and Stain liked keeping the kid around, I mean who doesn't want a friend to hang out with?

But then they had a falling out one night and that night meant it all, Stain started ridiculing all hero's who weren't Allmight and it didn't sit well with the young boy. To Izuku, Stain was a person who'd known about a portion of Izuku's fucked up history and chose to ignore all of that and just focus on changing the boy's opinion on the blonde and overpowering hero who had contributed to Izuku's current state. That made Izuku mad and even if it was selfish and petty of him, he kicked the vigilante in the gut which led out to a full out brawl and a tie caused due to equal exhaustion and injuries on both side. They agreed on a cease fire and never to speak of their short time together.

"It's just like I told you last time kid. If He (Allmight) doesn't think you can be a hero then there's definitely no way you can."

Izuku had never wanted to bury his fist into someone's face more than he did when Stain said that. His eyes were bloodshot and he his body was somehow tense although he couldn't move it. All previous thought were a distant memory now, the only thing running through his mind was how great Stain's mouth would look if it were shut.

"Stain I don't give a damn about Allmight, he's as corrupt as the rest of them. He's a reckless bastard who only sees value in power.", Izuku stated with his newfound vigour. "I don't have a choice in becoming a hero but I'm working at it because I fucking want to and not that it matters but Allmight wanted me to be his successor so shut up"

Stain's smirk faltered when Izuku spoke that sentence and he stopped talking to the greenette, instead focusing on the monochromatic boy shooting fire at him. Stain was winning easily but he hadn't won yet and it was pissing him off because he needed to kill Native and Iida. He couldn't do that while Shoto was trying to burn him alive.

Shoto took a wound to his right shoulder and stumbled back, more than enough time for Stain to strike.

But that all changed when Izuku felt his finger twitch