Collector Hero: Synthesis Chapter 26 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Collector Hero: Synthesis! With the Team Up request sent by Ingenium, both the Ryukyu Agency and the Endeavor Agency are coming to Hosu. How will Stain deal with this kind of firepower being brought against him? Shigaraki is also going to be unleashing three Nomu onto the city! Things are going to be a bit chaotic soon.

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 26 – Team Up and Hosu

At the Endeavor Hero Agency there was much going on the morning of the third day of internships. Izuku and Todoroki were both confused at first, but their confusion was cleared up when Endeavor stepped out of his office and got everyone’s attention.

“Listen up!” Endeavor boomed and everyone practically stood at attention. “We’ve had a Team Up request sent to us from Ingenium. He’s requesting both myself and Ryukyu for assistance in dealing with the Hero Killer: Stain.” Some murmuring was heard amongst the multiple Sidekicks for a moment.

‘The Hero Killer.’ Izuku knew that was who had originally injured Ingenium. It seemed that Iida’s older brother wasn’t taking chances. A Team Up of the Ingenium, Endeavor, and Ryukyu Agencies should be more than even the elusive Hero Killer could escape from.

“I’ll be taking Burnin, Kidō, Onima, and our two Interns to Hosu.” Endeavor informed his Sidekicks with finality.

“Uh, boss, is it really okay to take the interns? This is the Hero Killer we’re talking about.” Burnin looked between Izuku and Todoroki and then back to Endeavor.

“I know they’re top of their class at U.A. but Burnin has a point, sir.” Onima voiced his agreement with his colleague.

“They will not be engaging the Hero Killer; they are there to observe and learn.” Endeavor locked eyes with his son and then Izuku, making sure that both teens firmly understood his instructions. “At most, they’ll be tasked with keeping civilians out of harm’s way.”

“That should be alright then, right?” Kidō looked at Burnin and Onima for their opinions now.

“I guess so.” Burnin looked over the two teens. She would be lying if she said that she didn’t like the two boys. They were hard workers and didn’t complain about the tasks they’d been given over the last two days.

“Yeah, if they’re not on the frontlines, then they should be safe.” Onima nodded after a few moments of thought.

“We’ll be leaving shortly for Hosu, so make sure that you’re prepared.” Endeavor looked at the five that were coming with him. “For everyone else, I expect you to continue your duties as normal while we’re gone. I want the daily reports on my desk as usual and I’ll go over them as soon as I return.”

“Yes, sir!” The rest of the Sidekicks replied professionally.

-Ryukyu Agency-

“This is so exciting, it’s a really big case, right Ryukyu?!” A fair-skinned girl of average height with wide, curious eyes questioned the Dragoon Hero. The teen’s upper eyelashes were long and thick, and her irises a shade of royal blue. Her hair was a periwinkle blue, and it fell all the way down to her knees, twisting around itself at her waist and curving inwards around her legs. This was Hadō Nejire, a Third Year student at U.A. High School and one of its so-called ‘Big Three’ for her top placement in the Hero Course.

“Yes, Nejire, it is.” Ryukyu couldn’t help but smile at the bluenette. She was such an adorable ball of energy, if a bit airheaded sometimes. “We’ll be tracking down the Hero Killer in Hosu and putting a stop to his string of murders and attacks.”

“Oh, that guy…” Nejire didn’t look angry, but a grimace was on her pretty features. “He definitely needs to be stopped. What’s his problem with Heroes anyway?”

“He believes the modern Hero System is flawed and thinks he can change it by force.” Ryukyu sighed as she thought over what was known about the Villain. “Honestly, he’s not entirely wrong, there are quite a few people in this industry that don’t do Hero work to help others, but to enrich themselves. However, his methodology is absolutely incorrect and he’s nothing more than a serial killer at this point. That’s why we’ll be stopping him.”

“Right!” Nejire nodded, her face serious but somehow still adorable.

-Ingenium Agency ~ Noon-

Endeavor, Burnin, Onima, Kidō, Izuku, and Todoroki walked into the large building that was the Ingenium Agency. They were promptly greeted by the receptionist and led to a large meeting room. Once there, they were greeted to the sight of Ingenium, along with several Sidekicks, including Tenya) and Ryukyu with her own Sidekicks.

“Endeavor, good to see you, thank you for agreeing to this Team Up.” Ingenium gave a short bow to the older Hero.

“The Hero Killer needs to be stopped, I’m here because I’m a Hero.” Endeavor gave a nod to Ingenium and then another to Ryukyu.

“Now that we’re all here, we should begin the debriefing and planning.” Ryukyu suggested and Ingenium agreed with a nod.

“This is a map of Hosu,” Ingenium pointed to the large map on the table. Everyone gathered around to get a good look at it while the local Hero continued to speak. “I was separated from my Sidekicks and attacked at this location.” He pointed to a circled spot on the city map. “If we apply Stain’s previous attacks on other cities and assume he’ll follow his current pattern, then we’re looking at three more attacks at minimum before he moves on.”

“We’ll need to recon all of the major areas where crimes take place then, that’s where Heroes do their patrols the most.” Ryukyu looked over the map closely. “What areas would you recommend for that, Ingenium?”

“The main shopping district, the entertainment district, and this part of the business district.” Ingenium circled the three spots on the map. “They have the highest crime rates in Hosu.”

Izuku noticed that the circled area for the business district was very close to where Ingenium had been attacked the first time. He saw Endeavor give him a short nod, obviously the Number Two Pro Hero had noticed Izuku’s observation. The chances of Stain attacking the same area were lesser than him moving on to the shopping district or the entertainment district.

“I have Sidekicks that will be more than happy to help you navigate Hosu while we track down the Hero Killer.” Ingenium nodded as two of his Sidekicks stepped forward. The Hosu-based Pro explained that one of them had a Quirk that let them fly with assistance from their Gear, while the other had a Fire Type Emitter Quirk and could work well with Endeavor’s group.

“How much area can we cover with teams of three at minimum?” Endeavor questioned, knowing that Ingenium had just over sixty Sidekicks at his Agency.

“Standard patrol routes are here, here, and here.” Ingenium began outlining the normal patrols his Agency did in Hosu. “So, we hit the three main areas of interest ourselves. The Normal Hero Agency, run by Manual, covers this area over here and he’s already agreed to work with us. His Sidekicks are already on the lookout for any suspicious activity in their area in case Stain is hiding out there.”

“That’s good, it would be odd if Stain stayed in the same areas that he performed his attacks. Having eyes in different parts of the city is going to be crucial.” Ryukyu agreed as she eyed the two different patrol areas. “He’s not exactly going to blend in with the getup he’s been seen in before.”

“People strapped to the teeth with bladed weapons rarely do.” Endeavor let out a small grunt. “On that note, what do we know about Stain’s Quirk?”

“It’s some type of Paralysis Quirk.” Ingenium informed, recalling exactly how Stain had defeated him and then crippled him when he couldn’t move. “He didn’t activate it right away when he attacked me, so we can infer that it’s not something he can activate before a specific condition is met. In my case, it was only after he cut me that his Quirk took effect.”

“A cut? So, poison of some kind?” Ryukyu’s eyes narrowed at the prospect. Poison or venom-based Quirks were somewhat uncommon, but they existed and could have a variety of effects upon a person.

“Not according to the toxicology report that was performed on me when I was administered to the hospital.” Ingenium shook his head. “There was no trace of any foreign substances in my bloodstream.”

“The act of drawing blood maybe?” Izuku muttered lowly, but Endeavor heard him.

“If you have thoughts about Stain’s Quirk, then share them Synthesis.” Endeavor prompted his intern, using his chosen Hero Name at that.

“Oh! Um…yes, sir.” Izuku saw all the eyes on him and took a second to compose himself. “If there was no foreign substance in Ingenium’s body when he was administered to the hospital, the poison angle is less likely. I was just thinking that Stain is known to carry tons of edged weapons on his person to commit his attacks, and with Ingenium’s experience, perhaps the act of cutting a target has something to do with activating his Quirk? Maybe he needs his target’s blood for it?”

“A good theory.” Ryukyu gave the intern a gentle smile. “If he carries so many blades and was only able to activate his Quirk after cutting Ingenium, then that theory has merit.”

“True,” Ingenium agreed, shooting a smile at Izuku. “I wasn’t able to see what happened during the attack itself. I was cut and before I could turn to face Stain again, my body went limp and I was on the ground unable to move.”

“So, we’re operating on the assumption that he needs to have access to our blood to use his Quirk?” Endeavor looked between Ingenium and Ryukyu. Both Pros gave him a nod of agreement which he returned. “That means that the only people that directly engage Stain should be ones that can either block edged weapons without injury, or those that can get rid of any blood before Stain has a chance to use it for the activation of his Quirk.”

“Agreed, it would be risky to send in Heroes that are vulnerable to edged weapons in this case.” Ingenium looked over his many Sidekicks, picking out who among them had appropriate Quirks for this mission.

“My scales in Dragon Form will stop a sword or knife blade without issue.” Ryukyu informed her fellow Pros.

“I can burn away any blood before it can be used, if Stain gets close enough to me to draw blood at all.” Endeavor confirmed right after the Dragoon Hero. Most Villains stayed far away if they confronted him at all. Getting too close to the Flame Hero was just asking to be burned in a combat situation.

“My suit is heavily resistant to edged weapons, but Stain is incredibly skilled, he aimed for the small gaps in my costume to down me last time.” Ingenium informed the other two Pros, giving them a warning of the Hero Killer’s proficiency with his weapons of choice.

“We should devise groups then and get familiar with each other’s Quirks before we begin the patrols. Stain’s MO is to operate at night when the most Heroes are patrolling so that one going missing isn’t noticed too quickly.” Ryukyu suggested to the group at large. Both Endeavor and Ingenium agreed and the Heroes began to talk and explain the functions of their Quirks, leaving the interns to speak to each other.

“Iida, good to see you.” Izuku smiled at his friend. “Learning a lot from your brother?”

“It is good to see you as well, Midoriya.” Iida returned the smile. “I’ve already learned quite a bit from my brother over the last two days. He’s shown me some aspects of the Hero profession that I was only partially aware of when it comes to running an Agency.” The bespectacled teen was all smiles as he spoke about his brother. “I hope you and Todoroki have both been learning an equal amount.”

“Paperwork mostly.” Todoroki shrugged to explain what they’d been doing for the most part.

“Ah, yes, that’s part of what we’ve been going over since the first day.” Iida nodded, though the look in his eyes hinted that he was also shocked by just how much there was to do.

“Hey!” Nejire was suddenly right beside the group with a beaming smile. All three boys nearly jumped back from the girl and her surprise appearance. “I’m Hadō Nejire, U.A. High Hero Course, Class 3-A! I’m your senpai!” She giggled brightly at the three boys. “I didn’t know I’d get to meet other interns on this Team Up! It’s so interesting to see!”

“Um, hello, Hadō-senpai.” Izuku greeted the bubbly girl.

“I’m Iida Tenya, Class 1-A.” Iida was quick to reply with a proper greeting.

“Todoroki Shoto.” Todoroki gave a short nod to the girl.

“It’s nice to meet you all!” Nejire was still all smiles before she nearly zoomed in on Izuku. “Hey, hey, Midoriya, I saw the videos of the First Year Sports Festival, you were amazing! What’s up with your Quirk though? You had a lot of Quirks! How’re you doing that? Can you teach me how to have multiple Quirks?” All three Class 1-A students quickly found out that their senpai was a curious motormouth.

“I, well, it’s my Quirk, Collector.” Izuku took a second to settle himself before he could reply clearly. “It’s a Mutant Type that let’s me copy other Quirks, but only of the Emitter or Transformation Types.”

“Really?!” Nejire leaned in closer and Izuku leaned back slightly. “That’s so interesting! But why only Transformation and Emitter? That’s kind of limiting, isn’t it?”

“Well, the doctors that helped me figure it out hypothesized that it’s so that my body doesn’t change too much and make my Quirk stop functioning.” Izuku explained to the energetic girl. “I can only use Transformation Type Quirks at about half of their normal power because of that limitation too.”

“That’s so neat though…you can have all sorts of Quirks and you combined them together during the Sports Festival too! I was super curious about what you would do next! It was so exciting!” Nejire was practically bouncing on her feet at this point.

“Thank you, Hadō-senpai.” Izuku smiled at the older girl at the praise.

“Hmm, if we had met earlier maybe I would’ve let you copy my Quirk? It’s super useful!” Nejire grinned as she held up her right hand as a glowing spiral of energy surrounded it. “I call it Surge, and it uses my energy to launch powerful blasts at whatever I target! But it takes a while to build up the stamina necessary to really use it. Then you have to learn how to manipulate it properly so that you can hit stuff, I figured out flight near the end of First Year too.” The golden spirals of energy appeared around her feet and lower legs, lifting her off the ground as she smiled at the boys.

“That’s so cool!” Izuku exclaimed, now he was the excited one as he pulled a notebook from…somewhere…and began writing down what Nejire had already explained about her Quirk. “What type of energy is it? Are you able to regulate the strength of your blasts, or are they a standard strength? Does flight take up a similar amount of energy or less?” Nejire was now the one on the end of a barrage of questions.

“Hey, hey, Midoriya, one at a time!” Nejire giggled with her hands raised in front of her. “Is this why Yuyu says I need to slow down?” She looked thoughtful for a second before laughing. “To answer your questions, the energy I produce doesn’t match any known in the natural world, so it’s been classified as a unique energy of my Quirk. I can totally control how weak or strong by blasts are too! Flying takes less energy than a blast, but it’s a constant drain rather than a sudden drop.”

“I see, that makes sense.” Izuku muttered his pencil moving across the notebook rapidly as he wrote down everything that Nejire was telling him.

“I think we’ve lost them.” Todoroki looked between the conversation and Iida.

“So, it would seem.” Iida blinked at the rapid-fire questions and answers flying back and forth between Izuku and Nejire.

-Atop a Building in Downtown Hosu ~ Evening-

A swirling black portal of mist appeared out of nowhere. From within the swirling fog emerged Shigaraki Tomura, clad in the severed hands that made up his Villain outfit. He looked over the city as Kurogiri formed from the portal and stood behind him.

“So, this is Hosu, huh?” Shigaraki asked rhetorically, scratching at his neck. “Livelier than I thought it would be, what with the Hero Killer running around.” He mocked the man that had stabbed in when they’d met. “For all his high-and-mighty talk, he’s still only at the small potatoes stage. It’s almost precious how hard he’s trying.”

“You shouldn’t criticize him too much…” Kurogiri spoke up. “The cities he’s appeared in have all seen across-the-board drops in crime rates. Some theorize that it’s tied to an increase in Hero awareness.” The Warp Gate user informed the one he was ordered to look after. Stain was at least accomplishing some of what he set out to do.

“Well, that’s great!” Shigaraki scoffed at the Hero Killer’s efforts. “So much for putting a stop to Heroism! Hero Killer? More like Hero Breeder! Even if only indirectly…” He grumbled at the fool actually increasing the effectiveness of the Heroes. “I knew it…we’re just too different, deep down. He pisses me off…” Shigaraki growled as he crossed his arms. Kurogiri, bring out the Nomu.”

“Of course.” Kurogiri’s fog-like body began to billow before swirling into a large warp gate to the side of the Villain’s body.

From the purple-black abyss, three huge figures emerged. Two of them were off-white, looking a sickly color with their brains exposed from the tops of their heads. The one crawling along the ground had incredibly long limbs and four eyes embedded into its exposed brain. The other creepy-looking monster had large, bat-like wings on its back and four limbs that all ended in grasping claws. It also wore what looked like a respirator mask of some kind over its mouth. The final hulking figure was a massive mountain of muscle. Its skin was jet-black and the most horrifying thing was the complete lack of a skull. It’s large exposed brain simply sat atop if neck and lower jaw with no eyes at all.

“As if I’d let him get away with stabbing me like that.” Shigaraki spat with his long messy hair covering his eyes. “If he wants to go on a rampage, we’ll let him….” He let out a mirthless chuckle. “Which of us can cause more destruction? Let’s see.” He made a motion with his arms and all three of the Nomu leapt off the top of the building. “I’ll crush your pride and dignity…Stain.” Shigaraki promised with a hiss as he watched the Nomu descend on Hosu.

-Hosu City Streets-

“Almost six hours and not even a minor crime…I suppose that’s a good thing.” Burnin commented as the Endeavor group patrolled one of the three routes that Stain was most likely to show up at.

“It lets us look for any signs of the Hero Killer, so we should be thankful for the calm.” Kidō mentioned, making sure to take a long hard look down an alleyway as they passed it.

“We’re all in communication so if anyone spots him, they’ll be sure to inform us of it right away.” Onima tapped the earpiece in his ear.

“That’s when you come in, kiddo!” Burnin turned a grin on Izuku. “That Warp Gate Quirk of yours is going to be super helpful for getting us to the scene quickly.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll do my best!” Izuku nodded to the woman with the flame-like hair. He received smiles and thumbs up from the three Sidekicks.

“Who did Ingenium say was patrolling the area next to this route?” Endeavor questioned, noticing that they hadn’t seen whoever it was yet.

“Native.” Todoroki answered with a flat tone. He and his father were still far apart, the chasm between them couldn’t be fixed in a short time, but he would try to talk to him and be helpful during his internship. Hound Dog had told him that the first step to overcoming his issues was to acknowledge them. The second step was to try and work through his intense dislike of his father, that meant acknowledging the man and seeing his response. So far, he’d been somewhat surprised at how his father’s demeanor had changed since the last time he’d willingly spoken to the man.

“Not a bad Hero, professionally.” Endeavor nodded to Shoto in acknowledgement. “But I can’t say much about him beyond his public record. I’ve never worked with the man before.”

“He likes the limelight, but so do a lot of Pros.” Onima shrugged, before doing a scan of the street with his eyes to look for any signs of criminal activity.

Boom Boom Boom

Three faint explosions went off in the distance, but were still loud enough to reach the group. All four Pros were instantly on alert and trying to pinpoint the source of the blasts. A few moments later and a crackle was heard in the earpieces they all had.

“Downtown! Three Villains…I think? What the hell are those things?” The voice of Ryukyu cam over the radios.

“What part of downtown?” Endeavor questioned with his finger pressed to the device to enable him to speak to the other Pro Hero.

“Entertainment District, almost right in the center of it. How’d these things sneak through the city without being noticed?” Ryukyu gave them the information. “We’re engaging them! They’re attacking indiscriminately!”

“Synthesis!” Endeavor turned to look at Izuku sharply.

“Yes sir!” Izuku was already letting the map coordinate part of his Warp Gate find the designated location. A few seconds later and the exact location came to his mind. Now he could make an exit portal there! “Got it!” He held out his hands and the familiar purple-black fog poured out before swirling into a large circular gate. “Ready!”

“We’re going in!” Endeavor looked at his Side Kicks and two interns. “Shoto, Synthesis, you’re both on civilian evacuation, do not engage unless your life is on the line or your preventing someone else from getting hurt.”

“Yes, sir.” Izuku and Todoroki nodded in compliance with their instructions.

Endeavor was through the Warp Gate not even a second later, quickly followed by Burnin, Onima, and Kidō. Todoroki was about to follow before his eyes widened and he stopped dead.

“Todoroki?” Izuku blinked at his classmate.

“Hero Killer!” Todoroki pointed down the alleyway were he’d seen the man illuminated by the city lights for long enough to make a positive identification.

“What?!” Izuku turned his head only to see the alley empty. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Todoroki nodded and both boys shared a look. They weren’t supposed to engage, but the incident downtown had called all the Heroes there.

“What should we do?” Izuku looked between the portal that he still had open and the alleyway.

“Damn it…” Todoroki actually let the curse slip out as he was pulled in two different directions. One to follow their current instructions, but that would let the Hero Killer probably kill whoever he was targeting right now. The other option was to go after the Hero Killer and at the very least surveil him so that they could report his location.

The two interns shared a look, both of their gazes serious as Izuku closed the Warp gate and they rushed down the alleyway to track Stain.

-Downtown-

“What the hell?” Endeavor’s words were repeated by his three Sidekicks as they emerged into a battle zone. Three massive creatures (they most certainly couldn’t be called human) were tearing up the area, knocking Heroes aside in the process as the local Pros tried to subdue them.

“Endeavor!” Ingenium slid to a stop next to the Flame Hero and Iida stopped behind his brother a split second later. “Tenya says these are the same as that Nomu thing that attacked the USJ!”

“Nomu? The bioweapon?” Endeavor asked for clarification.

“Yes, sir!” Iida nodded to the man. “I’ll never forget what that beast looked like! These things are definitely the same thing, especially that huge one with the jet-black skin!”

“Raaarrgghh!” A bellowing roar from overhead saw Ryukyu in her Dragon Form clashing with the flying Nomu in aerial combat.

“We have clearance to use lethal force against these things, right?” Endeavor was already beginning to increase his temperature, the flames flaring along his costume.

“Yes, blanket authorization for the extermination of the ‘Nomu’ has been instated by the HPSC.” Ingenium nodded to the other Pro, his Engine Quirk revving loudly.

“Burnin, Kidō, Onima, help subdue the four-eyed Nomu and eliminate it!” Endeavor ordered as he and Ingenium blitzed forward towards the biggest threat.

“I don’t see any eyes!” Ingenium landed a powerful highspeed kick to the black Nomu’s side, sending the beast skidding backwards a bit.

“Then it’s either infrared or echolocation, maybe some other type of Sensory Quirk too.” Endeavor bathed the abomination in flames making it let out an odd sound from its twisted body. “Regeneration?” Endeavor blinked as all the burns he’d inflicted healed up in seconds.

“These things have multiple Quirks!” Ingenium reminded as he came in from behind the big Nomu and slammed into it with a shoulder tackle. The eyeless beast stumbled forward before shrieking and swiping at Ingenium with a wild backfist. The Pro Hero was far out of range without issue thanks to his speed.

In the chaos of the battlefield, none of the Pros realized that Izuku and Todoroki hadn’t come through the Warp Gate with them. The threat of the Nomu and the panicked civilians trying to get away from the bioweapons took precedent over all else. While the Pros engaged the Nomu and evacuated civilians, two interns were tracking a serial killer in the back alleys on the other side of the city.

Whether their choice would be a good one or a bad one remained to be seen.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Meet ups to make the Team Up work more effectively, that’s how Pros do things. Also, adorable Nejire is here! Yay! Someone else that can chatter as fast as Izuku! Kek!

Was she serious about letting him copy her Quirk? Surge is damn powerful once you work on it long enough!

Shigaraki has gotten his Nomu and set them loose on Hosu! What an asshole.

Stain is stalking through the back alleys just as the Nomu attack begins, splitting Izuku and Todoroki from Endeavor and his Sidekicks.

While the Pros are dealing with the Nomu, how will the incident with the Hero Killer play out?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!