Chapter 55 – The lion and the assassin I
He was in no hurry. The golden giant was calmly rallying those who should have been the sacrifices needed to create a better society.
Stain wanted to move, but he couldn't. Not because he was paralysed, but because, as soon as he took a step, those… those visions of death, accompanied by the bloodlust of that thing, would come true. A warning that would become reality. It wasn't a threat. His instincts screamed at him: it would have been a fact if he had moved.
*Thunk*
The dry sound of the spear hitting the floor caught Stain’s full attention. Now he had all the giant's attention on him.
He couldn’t see the eyes behind the helmet, but he could sense their gaze, attentive and inquiring. Stain felt naked, with nothing, almost his own soul being watched and judged by the giant. After a period of time that seemed eternal, the golden giant spoke.
«I am Izuku Midoriya Valorian Vadrian Manastus. Member of the Adeptus Custodes and Guardian of the Golden Throne. Let's talk, Hero Killer…» he introduced himself, only to hear a snort coming from the helmet «face to face.»
When Izuku took off his helmet, Stain's eyes opened slightly wider. That face may have looked young, but the scars that bear witness to Izuku’s battles and those eyes… the eyes of someone who saw unimaginable horrors, only to be able to return and tell them, and to persevere in his duties.
Stain could neither acknowledge nor deny that the golden giant, Izuku Midoriya, was a survivor in the purest sense of the word. A lion who, despite the battles he has faced, will not hesitate to face others.
«Talk?» Stain asked as he recovered, his voice tinged with respect «I'm not here for-»
«It wasn't a request.»
Izuku's tone was harsh and cold, exuding authority. It was the voice of command that broke Stain's claim. Stain had a tremor: his teeth hurt from how much he was grinding them, and what was supposed to be a rejection disappeared, replaced by an unconscious need to comply with Izuku's command.
«The Hero Killer, Stain.» Izuku began, almost as if reading documents «You officially appeared under this name a few years ago, and in that entire span of time, you've killed 17 professional heroes, while you've essentially handicapped 23. Your preferred method of execution is to operate in dark, secluded alleys like this one.»
«There's no point in telling me what I do and how I act.» Stain said, annoyed «You just have to know that I do it out of necessity.»
«Necessity.» Izuku chuckled, hearing that word «An all-too-familiar term for my taste, and honestly, your 'necessity' is too superficial.»
«Superficial?» asked Stain, the tone sharp
«It's clear that your goal is to clear the streets of people posing as heroes.» he said, voicing Izuku's "dream"«And honestly, I can respect that intention of yours. Too many are taking advantage of their positions to commit despicable acts. After all, heroes aren't just security personnel; they've also become economic investments and show animals for politicians.»
«Then I'm not the only one who sees it.» Stain said, sincerely surprised «True heroes are those who act out of pure and total altruism, ready to sacrifice their lives without asking for anything in return. Exactly like him.»
«I understand. But there's one thing All Might has in common with all true or false heroes.»
Hearing his idol compared to a fake, Stain felt his blood boil. He felt a desperate need to cut out his interlocutor's tongue.
«...That is?» he asked, speaking through his teeth and clutching his katana more firmly.
«He is human.» Izuku stated in a warm tone «All heroes, false or true, as well as villains and vigilantes, are human. And the human being is perfectly capable of deciding whether to do good or evil. However, the question of good and evil is also entirely subjective. What may be right and honourable to me may be wrong and unseemly to you.»
Izuku's words were intended neither to offend nor to praise. He spoke as if he were expressing facts. An understanding of human nature without defining it in black or white, but in grey.
«Are you saying what I'm doing is wrong from your point of view? That I absolutely must be stopped?»
«As I already told you, Stain, I can respect the nobility of your goal.» Izuku said, shaking his head «But that doesn't mean I approve of the way you try to achieve the goal. Besides, your selection is what really made me use the term "superficial."»
No further explanation was needed: Izuku's eyes, full of disappointment, said it all. Stain decided to take on the task of purifying the heroic society, but how can he define who he killed or seriously injured if he were not a fake? He has his contacts, sure, but his targets… did he really find them guilty?
«Your idealism is pure, but it blinded you, Stain, by preventing you from distinguishing true from false. It pains me to admit it, but where I've lived for the last 10 years, you could have been an accomplished Inquisitor.»
Stain didn't know how to take that statement; after all, he doesn't know what an Inquisitor is, nor can he know how incredibly tense the relationship between Izuku and the Inquisition is.
In the 41st millennium, the Inquisition is a secret police-like organisation created in the final days of the Horus Heresy and officially recognised and activated as an Imperial branch after the Heresy ended, to protect the Imperium not only from external threats but also from the enemy within. But over time they gained so much political power and authority that they could make lethal decisions and condemn entire worlds.
Many inquisitors are arrogant and especially fanatical, and Izuku has had enough of those bastards who committed atrocities to preserve inconvenient secrets or sabotage the honest work of their colleagues. He witnessed those atrocities and, more than once, had to clean up the consequences of those acts or execute inquisitors who had forced his hand too far.
Tsk, I just remembered the unseemly consequences of the First War for Armageddon.
«...What are you?» Stain asked, noticing the imperceptible discomfort in Izuku's eyes
«I am a Custodes. I am a possibility of what the humanity of a distant and bleak future, or of another universe, might have become had it not been for the betrayal and blindness of the very humanity my Lord loves.» Izuku stated wearily «But despite the possibility I represent, I am a loyal servant of my Lord, and He has given me an order… a duty, before going home.»
«That is?»
«Protect humanity from what threatens it» he stated seriously «And that means protecting it from itself, if necessary.»
Izuku's eyes were fixed on the Hero Killer, and the latter could not deny the clarity of the path he had agreed to take and how he would fulfil his duty, regardless of the cost it would entail.
«The time for words is over, Stain.» Izuku stated without taking his eyes off the Hero Killer «Even though I know it won't change your answer, I still have to: you surrender?»
Stain felt the instinct yell at him to do it. To not disobey Izuku. But his idealism, his need to cleanse heroic society of hypocrites, silenced that instinct.
«You said it yourself. I cannot give up or stop until I have purified this rotten society.» he said, on guard «Only when I have succeeded will I agree to be captured by those who truly deserve to be called heroes.»
«So be it.»
Izuku put on his helmet again, reactivated the seals, spread his legs slightly, and in a fluid motion, swirled his spear, putting himself in a guard position. The hand with the weapon was set back, the free hand in front of him, open as if ready to take anything thrown at him.
A chipped blade, not rejoicing at the lives it tears and crying with frustration at the way the purity it exalted is irremediably corrupted. The blade must be broken to purify it… huh?