Collector Hero: Synthesis Chapter 29 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Collector Hero: Synthesis! Now that Stain has been captured and the Hosu incident is already on the news, things begin to move. Speculations about a connection between the League of Villains and Stain are emerging, and many of the criminal elements in the country are beginning to stir.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 29 – News Breaks

“They caught the Hero Killer! Amazing!”

“Seriously?! Who beat him?”

“I’m relieved, but also a little disappointed.”

“I know what you mean.”

The news that Hero Killer Stain had been apprehended and was in custody had broken this morning. It was everywhere in the media along with the Hosu incident. People read or watched the news on their phones, listened to it on the radio, read about it in newspapers, saw it on TV, or online at home or work. The impact of Stain’s capture couldn’t be downplayed. The man was singlehandedly responsible for the murder of seventeen Pro Heroes. He had the highest Hero body count of any independent Villain since All Might had become the Symbol of Peace, there was no way that Stain’s arrest wouldn’t be huge news.

The fact that interns from the Endeavor Agency (names withheld as the interns are minors) had been the ones to apprehend the infamous Hero Killer were huge parts of the various articles and news stories. Endeavor had to give a small interview to confirm that the interns in question were unharmed and that there safety was a top priority. Most people didn’t much care beyond the fact that two high school kids had been the ones to finally take down the Villain that no one else had even been able to corner.

“At present, the point of origin of these mysterious ‘Nomu’ creatures is unknown.” Daikaku Miyagi, a well-known and respected news reporter, spoke on the screens of TVs and phones all over the country. “However, due to the sighting of two men watching over the event from an NHA TV helicopter, many are speculating that they’re linked to the incident at the USJ last month. The group of attackers, known as the League of Villains, have not made it clear what the purpose of the attack in Hosu was.” He moved a paper in front of him to the side before continuing. “With the largest number of murders of Pro Heroes since the advent of All Might, Hero Killer Stain has certainly left a mark on the history books. Up next, a look into the motives behind this Villain’s crimes. Haruna.” He turned to his co-anchor with a nod.

“Hero Killer Stain, real name: Akaguro Chizome, age thirty-one…” Haruna began her segment on Stain.

Neither of the two news anchors could know that several people were reacting strongly to the possible link between the Hero Killer and the League of Villains. But it was happening in various parts of the country. From hardened criminals with horrible crimes under their belts, to first time offenders that wanted to follow in Stain’s footsteps, things were beginning to stir.

-League of Villains Hideout-

“No matter where I turn, the Nomu are just an afterthought.” Shigaraki glared at the TV and then crumbled up the newspaper in his hands. “Far from forgetting about him, now it’s like we were the sideshow.” He nearly growled as the newspaper disintegrated to dust between his hands.

-Genius Hero Agency-

“The incident in Hosu City last night…” Best Jeanist looked over at his multiple Sidekicks with serious eyes. “It certainly worries me. Yes, it worries me quite a bit.” He continued to comb a shaking Bakugo’s hair, the explosive blonde suppressing a growl at the waste of time coming here had been. “People are so easily distracted by big incidents like these. But it’s now, more than ever, that Heroes need to remain calm and composed. Because chaos is often so good at drawing out the slumbering brutality in people’s hearts.” He finished combing Bakugo’s hair into a tamed part, so vey different from the ash-blonde’s normal spiky hair. “As such, we’ll continue our usual operations today, just as always. Let our jeans keep our bodies and minds bound upright.”

“Sure! Best Jeanist!” The group of Sidekicks, all in fact wearing jeans of some types, chorused back their agreement.

‘I came to the wrong place!’ Bakugo’s combed hair suddenly poofed out into its normal spikes as his irritation grew. He didn’t even car for jeans, but had been forced to wear them an intern of Best Jeanist’s Agency.

-Gunhead Agency-

“So, Stain’s finally been arrested.” Gunhead held up the newspaper to show his Sidekicks and intern. “This is good news, but we mustn’t drop our guard. Incidents like this embolden several of the criminal elements of society who think that they can get away with crimes while everyone’s attention is diverted.”

“Yes, sir!” The Sidekicks and Ochako nodded in confirmation.

“We’ll be performing our normal patrols today, as usual. Don’t become lax, keep being vigilant. We all know that some of the worst Villain’s operate in the shadows. The arrest of an infamous Villain is just the kind of opportunity they’ll try and take advantage of, so keep up your awareness.”

“Yes, sir!” Ochako and the rest of the Sidekicks called back.

-Selkie Agency-

“Well damn…” Selkie shook his head at the news today. “The Hero Killer finally got taken down.” Honestly, he thought it was about time, but he knew how slippery the Villain was. “It was doubtful he’d ever come after me, given his MO, but I can’t say that I wasn’t being vigilant for any suspicious activity around the harbor.”

“Everyone was worried about having a run-in with Stain.” Sirius looked at her boss with understanding. “The man has some twisted convictions. His ideas about Heroes and how they should act and operate is incredibly fundamentalist as well.”

“Kero.” Tsuyu let out a soft croak, knowing that Izuku had been one of the two interns to help apprehend the Hero Killer. “His ideals weren’t bad initially,” She listened to the reporter talk about how Chizome had once given soapbox speeches about needing to reform the Hero profession away from the media and business influence that had pervaded it over the decades. “But he became a murderer over them.”

“Some people can’t take the fact that the majority don’t agree with their views, Froppy.” Selkie explained to the teen. “Having your own idea of what being a Hero means is fine. I don’t personally do much in the way of merchandising, though I’ve appeared on some shows and given interviews, even had a few PSAs about safety in the ocean and such. But I understand why some Heroes do much more, getting their names and faces out there. This is a dangerous profession and there’s no reason that people shouldn’t be paid for putting their lives on the line.”

“Having ideals doesn’t mean forcing them on to others though.” Sirius shook her head. “What he did was unforgiveable. He became the very thing he claimed that Heroes should fight against. I fail to see how that proves his ideals at all. It was just murder.” The bluenette wasn’t forgiving of the Hero Killer’s action at all.

“Selkie!” One of the Sidekicks in a traditional sailor outfit came into the galley of the ship. “We’ve got a call from the Coast Guard! They believe they’ve found foreign smugglers and are requesting assistance. The suspected smugglers apparently have Mutation Quirks that make them highly mobile in the water.”

“Alright!” Selkie stood up from the table quickly. “Let’s ship out and meet up with them!” He was out of the galley and heading for the top deck in seconds.

“Time to go, Froppy!” Sirius nodded to Tsuyu as the two girls hurried after Selkie.

“Kero!” Tsuyu nearly cleared the stairs up to the deck with a simple hop, barely needing to bend her knees at all. Her strength had certainly improved while training under Selkie.

-Edgeshot Agency-

“I can’t say that I’m unhappy to see the Hero Killer finally brought to justice.” Edgeshot mentioned as he, Camie, and Momo prepared to head out on patrol. “There was a chance that I could’ve been on his list as well. Such a waste of skills.” He admonished Stain’s use of his skill with weapons to become a murderer. “Changing the Hero profession cannot be achieved by becoming a Villain.”

“He’s a total psycho, absolute head case.” Camie gave her opinion as she put her hat on. “How do you inspire change in Heroes by killing them? It makes no sense.”

“Perhaps he clung to his ideals too tightly?” Momo suggested while pulling on her boots. “He became fanatical about them, and fanaticism breeds violence more often than not, right?”

“Indeed.” Edgeshot confirmed his intern’s thoughts. “If he wanted to promote a positive change in the Hero profession, he could’ve become a Hero and led by example. Refusing merchandising offers, ignoring the limelight, and even speaking about how he viewed the current Hero profession versus how he believed it should be. All of that would’ve done better and moved his cause forward than what he did. Instead, he became the exact opposite of what he claimed to stand for. The sad part is that he probably doesn’t even realize it himself.”

“True that.” Camie let out a small sigh. Villains had always had a myriad of motives for their actions ever since the dawn of Quirks. It was just a part of a Hero’s job to try and make some sense of them while investigating to establish motive.

“I’m ready.” Momo stood up, fully in costume now and ready to start their patrol.

“We’ll be maintaining the standard patrol route today.” Edgeshot informed as they took the elevator down to the ground floor. “There’s no reason to deviate and change our patrols today just because a big incident happened elsewhere. People use familiar routines to reassure themselves that everything is normal. Seeing us on our normal routes will provide assurance that everything is as it’s supposed to be here.”

“Yes, sir.” Momo and Camie agreed just as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

-U.A. Faculty Lounge-

“A phone call is here! A phone call is here!” The ringtone on Toshinori’s cellphone went off. He picked it up and excused himself from his colleagues to take the call. Seeing the number, his eyes widened and his legs started to shake slightly.

“Hello, Gran Torino, it’s been a while.” Toshinori greeted his old mentor.

“I saw the news, Toshi, more of those Nomu creatures showed up in Hosu.” Gran Torino’s elderly voice came through the phone. “Two suspected League of Villain members were caught on camera watching over the chaos.”

“Yes, but the Heroes dealt with the Nomu, and the Hero Killer, Stain, was also apprehended. That’s all good news.” Toshinori replied, occasionally looking towards the door in the small meeting room he’d appropriated for himself.

“Toshi, you know that the Hero Killer isn’t why I called.” Gran Torino’s tone left no room for any distractions or other news. “Monsters with multiple Quirks, a group of fanatics willing to kill children to get at you, seemingly perfect plans to compromise a U.A. Facility, and now possible connections to a serial killer that specifically targets Heroes and has a clear fixation on you. I believe you know what I’m thinking, right?”

Toshinori grimaced, knowing exactly where Gran Torino was going with this. He’d hoped to have more leads to go on by now, or that Nezu and the group of Investigation Heroes he was working with would’ve found the medical expert responsible for the Nomu. “I’m sure I do.” He replied to his old mentor.

“That Villain, Stain, he’s got a powerful belief in his ideals.” Gran Torino stated plainly. “As the investigation continues, his ideals and opinions are going to become known to the public. On the internet. In papers and magazines. On TV.” He took a breath that Toshinori could hear clearly through the phone. “For better or worse, this age we live in is one of suppression. But mark my words, people are going to be influenced by this.”

“The Heroes will deal with them, just like Stain.” Toshinori spoke with belief in his fellow Pro Heroes.

“Then there’s this League of Villains.” Gran Torino didn’t bother responding to his old student’s words. “The media is already making connections, whether they’re true or not, so this League is going to go from a gang of upstarts that attacked U.A. and got beaten, to an organization with something to say.” He cleared his throat quietly. “In other words, they’re the perfect magnet. The evil of individual thugs isn’t worth much, but when it’s all united under a single will…it’ll become a hundred times more dangerous.”

“I know…” Toshinori admitted as his free hand tightened into a fist.

“If this situation was what they were gunning for from the start, then their head honcho isn’t a slouch.” Gran Torino’s eyes narrowed as he continued. “Steadily removing their obstacles, manipulating the whole situation from the shadows, making sure everything goes according to their plan. That way of doing things…” He took a deep breath. “Shimura was my friend, your predecessor as the holder of One for All. And the man that killed her, the one that tore that hole in your gut…I think we both know that All for One is behind this.”

“Yes…” Toshinori admitted with a grimace, feeling an ache from his injury. “To think he somehow survived after those wounds…I didn’t want to believe it.”

“That successor that you’ve chosen.” Gran Torino spoke softer this time. “You need to make sure that you sit down and tell them everything. About you, about One for All, and especially about All for One.”

“I know…” Toshinori accepted that with a heavy sigh. Even though such deep breaths or exhalations irritated his damage respiratory system.

-Kanrakuga Alley ~ Bar ‘Basue’-

“Seems like no one is willing to break the law these days.” A somewhat heavyset man sighed. He had his black hair pulled back into a short ponytail, an eyepatch covered his right eye, and he had about four days of unshaven stubble on his face. “All this whining about not selling out their friends. It’s a real pain.” He picked up his drink from the table and took a sip.

“That’s because producing and selling support items and costumes without a license is considered a major crime.” The man across from him spoke up with what looked like a revolver in his left hand. He was a middle-aged man of moderate height and slight build, with round glasses over his notably narrow pink eyes. He had short gray hair worn parted to his right with side bangs hanging above his eyes, along with a small mustache and a goatee on his chin. One of his front teeth was missing, leaving a gap when he grinned. He currently had an unlit cigarette hanging from the edge of his mouth.

“What’s your point, Giran?” The larger man raised his left eyebrow.

“Don’t you know?” Giran chuckled lightly at the other man. “Recently the established Support companies have been selling their goods to non-Heroes through back channels. Or so I’ve heard.”

“Tch!” The scruffy man grunted. “No wonder all of our business suddenly started drying up.” He downed the rest of his drink with a scowl. “Man, I miss the days before All Might came along. I was young, and this country was a way more impulsive place. ‘Bout time to retire, I suppose.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“Hold on now.” Giran leaned forward a bit with a grin. “This is between you and me, but I’ve got the opportunity of a lifetime here.” He raised the revolver right beside his head, pointing the barrel towards the ceiling. He pulled the trigger and a click was heard, a flame appearing from the end of the barrel and lighting his cigarette. The ‘gun’ was nothing more than a fancy lighter. “Now I’m only telling you this because your people have a reputation for quality.” He held up his cellphone and showed the other man the screen. “Have you seen this video? The Hero Killer is the man of the hour.” He hit play and the video, taken from an odd angle, showed Stain trapped in a green transparent cube. The Hero Killer was slamming his head and fists against the construct while ranting at Endeavor with such conviction that all of the present Sidekicks took an instinctive step backwards from the trapped man.

“The hell?” The rotund man blinked as the video cut off after Stain was subdued by a short guy in a green costume and fell to the ground limply. “The hair on my arms is standing up after that rant.” He grinned at the screen.

“This clip keeps getting put up and then taken down, because both sides get it. Especially that last part, this guy’s whole style is going to spread like a plague.” Giran put his phone away and looked at his fellow criminal seriously. “From the punks with a few priors, to the really bad guys on the run, anyone who’s anyone…including brokers like me…is going to be drawn by this.” He exhaled a small cloud of cigarette smoke into the air. “All that evil scattered around out there is going to be gripped by the same fever. Every one of them will be drawn to the organization that the Hero Killer was working with…the League of Villains.”

-U.A. High School ~ First day back after Internships-

“Hahahaha!” Sero and Kirishima howled with laughter at seeing Bakugo’s hair.

“Really?! Really, Bakugo?!” Sero pointed at his head, still laughing uncontrollably.

“Stop laughing!” Bakugo snarled at the both of them. “It’s stuck like this, even after a good washing!” He raised his hand, crackles going off above his palm. “Keep it up and I’ll murder the both of you!” He was shaking with rage that the stupid hairstyle that Best Jeanist had forced on him over and over had seemingly stuck.

“Look at that hair! It’s a perfect 2:8 ratio part!” Kirishima banged on the desk beside him as he laughed.

“You two are dead!” Bakugo leapt at the laughing boys; his ash-blonde heard appearing to explode as it returned to its normal look.

“It changed back! Bwahahahahaha!” Sero and Kirishima nearly busted a gut as they laughed even as Bakugo grabbed hold of them.

On the other side of the room, ignoring the loud trio of boys, Mina, Jiro, and Tsuyu were chatting together.

“Wow! You got to take on Villains?” Mina gushed as Jiro told them about her time at Death Arms’s Agency. “I’m so jealous! All of my patrols were completely uneventful.”

“It was just evacuation procedures and logistical support. No real fighting.” Jiro shrugged, winding one of her jacks around her index finger.

“That’s still awesome!” Mina bounced in place a little.

“It was just training and patrol for me.” Tsuyu put her index finger on her chin. “Though one time, we did catch some foreign smugglers. I only helped a little though.”

“That’s amazing!” Mina and Jiro stared at her with wide eyes.

“The past week went well for you too, right, Ochako?” Tsuyu smiled at her best friend.

“Yes, it was very…” Ochako through a good punch into Camie’s outstretched palm. “Instructive.”

“I’ll say,” Camie shook her hand a little. “Your punches are backing some more power, girl.” She wrapped Ochako in a hug. “We’ll have to spar a bit after school! See just how much you’ve learned.”

“You’re on!” Ochako’s competitive spirt was practically flaring around her. The big smile on her face made it look kind of adorable though.

“Heh, me and Momo learned some ninja tricks!” Camie smiled brightly at the girls. “Now we just need to get the outfits and tease Izukun!” She giggled and shot a wink at her boyfriend. For his part, Izuku only went nuclear red in the face, rather than locking up and stuttering incoherently. So, progress!

“Camie…” Momo was also blushing adorably and Camie almost cooed at her friend.

“Hey, hey, Chi-chan! Who did you end up interning with?” Toru, ever the bubbly one, asked the newest girl in their class.

“Chi-chan?” Chikuchi blinked at Toru’s nickname for her. After a second to seemingly mull it over, a grin formed on the brunette’s lips. “You’re lucky that your endearing, Toru-chan.” She giggled as Toru’s clothes bounced around a bit as the invisible girl laughed.

“So, which Pro Hero was it?” Toru asked again.

“I got an offer from Backdraft, so I went to his Agency.” Chikuchi informed and several of the class nodded at the good match up. “I learned a lot about water manipulation and fire suppression while I was there. Even though my hydrokinesis is limited to forming spike and cone shapes, Backdraft showed me how to make the most of it in various scenarios. It really opened my eyes to how versatile I can be if I think a bit outside of the box.”

“What did you call your Quirk, I don’t think you’ve ever told us?” Sato looked like he was trying to recall if she had told them.

“I do not recall either, mademoiselle.” Aoyama shook his head and made a pose, sparkles seeming to come off of him.

“It’s called Water Spike, for obvious reasons.” Chikuchi shrugged with a small grin.

“I’m glad that you three made it out of Hosu alright.” Shoji looked at Iida, Izuku, and Todoroki.

“Yeah, you two captured the Hero Killer, that was crazy!” Kaminari pointed at Izuku and then Todoroki.

“We didn’t fight him.” Todoroki cleared up any misunderstanding that might be in anyone’s mind.

“A wise choice.” Tokoyami nodded to both of them. “I doubt that would’ve ended well.”

“I distracted him, then Midoriya captured him, that’s all.” Todoroki explained to the class at large. “Stain couldn’t break out of Midoriya’s barrier, so he wasn’t a threat once he was trapped.”

“That is a much wiser alternative than fighting, but you both still disobeyed instructions. As interns that was improper, even though it did allow you to perform a truly Heroic act.” Iida lightly chastised them, but gave them credit as well for bringing down the Villain that had nearly ended his brother’s Hero career and left him crippled for life.

“Oh man, I can only imagine the kind of punishment that Endeavor gave you two for that.” Kirishima winced, having gotten out of Bakugo’s grip.

“We had to write an essay on what we did wrong and scrubbed the floor of the main training hall with only a hand brush and bucket for each of us.” Izuku informed easily.

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Sero mentioned, Bakugo seeming to have gotten through with them both and was now sitting in his seat, ignoring everyone.

“The main training hall is over two-hundred square meters of floor space.” Todoroki clarified, looking at the Tape Quirk user.

“I take that back.” Sero apologized, rubbing his knees as a sympathetic phantom pain went through them.

“Something wrong, Mina?” Sato noticed that Mina was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“You didn’t tell us about your girlfriend.” Mina leaned closer, her black and yellow eyes nearly drilling into the larger teen’s eyes. “After the excitement from the Sports Festival, I forgot to ask about it again. Then we had the internships and I forgot even longer. But now I remember! So, spill it, mister!” She pointed at Sato with a wide grin and shining eyes.

“Ooh, me too, me too! I wanna know!” Toru was beside Mina in an instant. Both of the girls were interested in the gossip.

“Uh, sure, it’s no big deal.” Sato blinked at how excited the two were about this. He pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and then tapped the screen a couple of times. “Here, this is my girlfriend, Ruri.” He let them see the screen after looking at the picture for a moment.

“Ooh, she’s cute!” Mina gushed at the girl on the screen.

Ruri had light blue hair down to her shoulders, bright green eyes, and in the picture was wearing a green apron over what appeared to be a purple shirt. The rest of her couldn’t be seen since she was standing behind a counter.

“Yep, really cute.” Toru agreed with Mina. “How tall is she? The counter is throwing off my estimation.”

“She’s about Mina’s height.” Sato flipped to another picture, showing Ruri beside him, both smiling at the camera.

“What’s her Quirk? Is she in U.A.?” Mina knew it was a long shot, but maybe she was in General Studies, or Business Course.

“Nah, she goes to a High School not to far from my neighborhood.” Sato shrugged since he still saw her in person almost every day. “Her Quirk is called ‘Blue’, it lets her turn things various shades of blue for a short time. But she has to touch them to do it, and it has a limit to the size of the object.”

“Does she bake like you?” Toru asked with a giggle as another picture of Ruri and Sato in a kitchen together, both wearing aprons, was flipped to on the phone.

“Actually, I’m kind of teaching her how.” Sato rubbed the back of his head with a chuckle. “She tried a cake I baked once and liked it a lot. Then we started talking, and that led to some cooking and baking lessons, and then…you know…one day I worked up the nerve to ask her out.” He had some red on his cheeks now.

“So cute!” Mina giggled, nearly hopping in place at how cute the relationship was.

“How long have you two been together?” Toru was giggling along with Mina.

“Coming up on a year now.” Sato smiled at the picture of his girlfriend on his phone.

“Anniversary!” Toru and Mina cheered and Sato couldn’t help but chuckle at their exuberance.

The door to the classroom slid open and everyone rushed to their seats as Aizawa entered the room. “Welcome back, students. I hope that your internships were productive.” He scanned the room and saw all of his students looking attentive. “We’ll be going over the reports that your internship mentors have sent me, in detail. But before that, a pop quiz about Hero Law and Licensing.” His eyes locked onto Izuku and Todoroki as he said this.

“No…” Kaminari let his head hit his desk.

“Not a pop quiz…” Mina laid flopped onto her desk with crocodile tears.

“Sorry.” Izuku looked down at his desk after his quiet apology.

-End Chapter-

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Things are moving within the criminal world. Not helped by the media misconstruing things!

Heroes all over Japan are reacting to the news of Stain’s capture. For some it’s a load off their shoulders. Others see it merely as justice being enacted as it should be. One thing is for sure, Stain is going to Tartarus and there are no plans to let him out, ever.

We found out which Pro Hero Agency our new Hero Course student Chikuchi interned with. A Hydrokinetic Hero like Backdraft is a perfect choice, right?

Mina and Toru finally remember to make Sato talk about his girlfriend! Ruri is a cute-looking bean! Not a U.A. student though. She’s a girl on a different path, but the love is still adorable.

Will Izuku get sexy Kunoichi outfits modeled by Camie and Momo? Is he that lucky?!

Also, Aizawa knows what happened, he’s read the report, but that still doesn’t excuse Izuku and Todoroki’s action during their internship. Time for the go-to teacher punishment, a subject relevant pop quiz!

Kaminari and Mina aren’t fans.

Next is the return to Foundational Heroics Class. How will that change with so many little changes adding up over time?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!