"Leave me alone!" Stain screamed, holding his head. "Why don't you leave me alone?!"
The murmurs were making him insane, pushing his reasoning to the borders of madness. The words kept banging against his skull, ricocheting off. No matter how Stain tried to think of something else, he just couldn't.
[Do not try to fool yourself when things are becoming too real, Stain.]
Stain's head snapped toward the scrunched up, mutilated head of Nomu, his eyes glowing bloodier than red.
He was having a hard time remembering the sequence of events.
Stain remembered getting beaten by three UA students. He remembered Endeavor. He remembered his desire to end the fake Hero there and then.
The next thing he remembered was lifting his sword and looking into the eye of a child.
He had failed to do it, Stain recalled. He had refused to kill a mere kid. He had denied passing a flawed judgment.
[This world is indeed full of hypocrites. It is full of those who value their judgments over doing the right thing. The Heroes this world worships are the biggest stain that must be washed away. And — it won't happen if you keep rejecting yourself. It won't happen — if you keep rejecting me.]
Drooling, Stain reached out and stroked the husk-like Nomu's head.
"Who… are… you?" Stain asked, a desire to purge this world of the fake Heroes boiling inside him.
[God. Devil. Messiah. Herald of Change. I have many names. You can call me — Conformity.]
In a warehouse at a coastal city of Japan, several figures had gathered, eying each other with blatant animosity.
Dabi, with half of his face burned, threw his hands inside his pockets, his mouth flattening into a thin line.
"Hey, hey…" The girl next to him kept nudging him with her elbow. "What's the story behind these scars… Eh? Eh?"
"Fuck off…" Dabi said, stepping away.
"Hehe… Nice to meet you, too," the girl giggled. "I am Himiko Toga. You?"
Far from them, wearing a black and white costume, Twice stood next to Muscular. "I like it. The way we have all come together for a common goal. Not I — We. But We — We. I cannot become We anymore…"
Muscular frowned at the nutcase.
Mr. Compress, wearing a colorful suit and a face mask, nudged his top hat at Spinner. "Can you transform at will? Or is it permanent?"
Far from them, Magne and Mustard eyed Mr. Compress, their eyes narrowed.
"Doesn't he look like…" Magne said.
Mustard nodded, wearing a gas mask. "… like a downgraded version of Dr. Blessed."
Magne and Mustard jumped as the horrifying voice entered their ears from behind. Wrapped in clothes, Moonfish was standing there with his jaw hanging open, drool staining his black, unnerving costume. Googlᴇ search novel{f}ire.net
Suddenly, steps rang across the warehouse, and a figure walked out from the darkness.
A hush fell over everyone as they saw the two blobs of redness gaining a body in front of them.
Stain had taken off his face mask, showing his noseless face in the open. On his back, he carried swords. On his waist, the Nomu's severed head hung like a trophy, it's eyes rolling left and right with every step.
Of course, everyone present within the warehouse recognized the Nomu on the spot.
The respect and interest they carried for Stain intensified, bordering on unnatural zeal.
Stain didn't say anything and kept walking, eying everyone. He looked them into the eyes, letting them see him as he was.
When he had gone through them, Stain turned around to face them.
"Indignation," he said, his voice uncannily hoarser than before. "Disappointment. False faces and stained hearts. Society's Double Standards.
"It doesn't matter why you are here. For what reason. For what purpose. It doesn't matter if you are looking for means to let out buried feelings. Or… if you want to show the world that it should have listened to you… treated you better… seen you as… a human being…"
Dabi's fist inside his pockets curled up into fists.
Toga's smile widened, becoming a grin.
A growl came from Moonfish's mouth. Spinner closed his eyes, grabbing his shaking arms. Twice held his head, crying. Magne looked down, and Mustard took a deep breath as if he was having trouble breathing.
Muscular licked his lips.
"All that's matter…" Stain said, stroking the dead Nomu's head at his waist, "… is that you know there's something wrong with this world. All that matters is that you know what it is. You have seen them. In their eyes — The disgust the fakes carry for us.
"It's time… to purge the world…"
The warehouse roof collapsed.
With a bang, laughing, a figure landed between all the Villains.
"Found ya!" Rabbit Hero: Mirko grinned, eying Stain. "Luna—"
It wasn't only Luke who had been trying to find Stain. Unlike him and Knuckleduster and Pop*Step, though, Mirko had all the means and authority to do it openly.
With another boom, she shot toward Stain, becoming a white blur against the darkness. Spinning midair, she brought down her leg, the air whistling around it.
Mirko was fast. Too fast. Fast enough that even one Villain behind her reacted to her presence yet.
Surprisingly, known for his inhumane reactions, Stain hadn't even taken out his swords.
The moment Mirko was about to cave in Stain's head, he lifted his left hand, putting his palm calmly between him and her body.
A mouth opened up on his palm.
As blood dripped off his hand, teeth and tongue squirmed into existence.
Then, Stain's entire left arm above the elbow bulged as the mouth sucked in as if taking a deep breath.
A sonic boom exploded out from the palm-mouth, sending Mirko flying.
With a massive BOOM, she hit the warehouse's door, tore through it, and went rolling away on the port.
Shaking and bleeding from the head, Mirko stood up and eyed the warehouse.
Through the darkness, Stain walked out, wielding his swords, his long tongue slithering out as he eyed her.
Flanking him on either side were Villains.
Blue flames burned on one side as Muscular's body expanded on the other.
Rabbit Hero: Mirko licked the blood off her face, grinning. "What a sorry bunch of losers…" she said, stepping forward.
"… And this purge…" Stain finished his words, his eyes glowing red, "… will be carried out by us, The Claws of Conformity —
"— starting with you… Hero!"
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