Rejected Stones

Fail to Pass

Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

39. Fail to Pass

Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of winning; but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he's sure of losing.

- George Eliot

"Endeavour is here?" Izuku demanded, lifting off into the air. "Confirm that, Bakukgo!"

Bakugo's reply was hysterical laughter and a series of loud explosions.

"It's Endeavour alright," Iida confirmed. "Bakugo, Uraraka, and Shinso are moving to engage him and his minions. I'm going to try to continue to rescue efforts."

"Bakugo! Uraraka! Shinso! Do not engage!" Izuku ordered. "You can't hope to take him on with just the three of you. Fall back and stall for time! Everyone! Converge on the city! Tell the other testee's to focus on rescue efforts, and if any of them think they can help in the fight to come do so. Taking out Endeavour just became our top priority!"

"Midoriya, the rest of you should just run," Todoroki panted. "If my father is here, it's because of me. This is my fight."

"The hell it is!" Bakugo snarled. "He's here for all of us! God dammit Uraraka, I am falling back! Jesus this guy is strong. I can't even get close to him!"

"He's not responding to me," Shinso informed them. "I got a couple of his minions to answer me but he hit them hard enough to shake my control nearly instantly and they're back on his side. We're falling back."

"He's the new Number 1," Izuku said as he jetted forward. "Mei, I need you to look up any weaknesses Endeavour might have."

"Well, his powers are all fire based, right?" Mei said. "So if you can find a way to extinguish his flames that might work. But you don't have any foam missiles left do you?"

"No, I used them all in the earlier battle," Izuku said through gritted teeth. "Other options?"

"We'll try a dirt barrage if we can get enough space," Uraraka panted, her voice strained. "But he's too relentless! Every time Bakugo and I try to launch something at him he just blows it away."

"God dammit, get your asses over here now!" Bakugo snapped. "Where the hell are you?!"

Izuku flew over the ruins of the city, past several trapped or wounded HUC members. There were perhaps half a dozen hero trainees from other schools still working frantically to get them out, but Izuku could see that Endeavour would be on them in moments.

"Uraraka, Bakugo, I'm going to try diving on Endeavour. My suit can take a great deal of heat and has excellent cooling systems, but I'll need a distraction to get in close enough to hit him," Izuku said.

"One distraction coming up!" Uraraka grunted. Ahead of Izuku, a giant section of a fallen building suddenly floated into the air. Izuku saw Bakugo leap up, using his explosions to propel it into the air so that it tumbled up and towards an advancing wave of men and women in red and black uniforms. They were carrying guns that launched what looked like small concrete balls; dangerous, but not instantly lethal.

At their center was a man wrapped in flames. Izuku couldn't make out details through the distortion of the air by the intense heat, but there was only one man in Japan that could be: Enji Todoroki, father of Shoto Todoroki, better known as Endeavour the Flame Hero and the current top ranked pro hero.

Like All Might, Endeavour had a reputation for not only being an effective crime fighter and a tremendously powerful brawler, but also for being smart and efficient. That was where the similarities ended. While All Might was known for his charisma, smile, and the ability to diffuse tense situations with a laugh or a kind word, Endeavour had a much darker history. He was known for his propensity to violence and willingness to use overwhelming firepower to stop criminals in their tracks, even to the point of lethal force.