Chapter Text
Chapter 19 - Falling Blade
The air was heavy and thick from the overnight rain. The fine particulate that always hung in the air was gone, the distant form of Mount Fuji visible down the narrow sightlines of the skyscrapers. The scents of the city, however, were more intense, the water having brought new life to dried out sources of musk and rot.
Such thoughts ran through Kaenna’s mind as she and Saphira soared over the sunset-swathed glass and concrete of Hosu. As they’d arrived late in the day, their patrol with Hawks began in the late morning and would extend until well into the night. They’d pushed for an all-night shift, but had been denied because Hawks, unlike them, needed the rest. As it was, dragon and Rider had taken fewer rests than the number three hero, with him giving them permission to continue while he ate or got updates on the ground.
The last of the evening commute was vanishing as the streets began to darken, though -above the buildings they were still bathed in vibrant reds and oranges. Beneath them, the pro heroes were shifting from the daylight shift to the night, bright, vibrant costumes replaced by drab hues and subdued embellishments. Among them, Kaenna saw, were Manual and Tenya, just hitting the streets at a brisk walk.
“The young one is tense.”
Kaenna felt it too. Though Tenya’s face appeared calm and professional, there was an alertness to him that went far beyond simply watching for trouble. She also caught the way Manual constantly kept his intern in his peripheral vision at all times, no more than a step behind or alongside him.
“He knows he’s running out of time to act out his plan. The tighter the net gets, the higher the chance Stain will be caught by someone else, slip through, or strike again.”
Saphira snorted, a puff of fire escaping her nostrils with her displeasure. “He’s a fool for seeking to do what his betters could not.”
On the one hand, Saphira was right. Logically, Tenya going after Stain himself on some grief-fuelled revenge quest was the height of foolishness. On the other hand, he was only human, and thus his emotions could very easily drive his actions against any logic. Kaenna was no stranger to being like that, with the way she had sought to chase down the Ra’zac to avenge Garrow’s death. She had sympathy for Tenya’s plight, but that did not change the fact she would stop him by force if she had to. She was also desperate to pass a message to him, but her orders to stay in the air had meant they hadn’t encountered each other all day.
“How’re things up there?” Hawks’ voice came over Kaenna’s earpiece.
She raised a hand to her helmet to toggle the reply. “Quiet. There’s a tension in the air among the people, but no movement that would suggest Stain’s presence.”
“Hopefully it stays that way, let me know if-”
A plume of fire shot into the sky, and a wave of pressure fast behind it forced Saphira to flap and adjust. Across the skyline, similar plumes erupted, shattering the peace and sending the populace scrambling for cover.
“Well so much for that plan. It’s showtime kids. I know they’re technically not, but for the sake of the current legal system I’m authorizing you to use your not-quirks to get out there and save people.”
Saphira’s roar echoed across the glass canyons as they wheeled around to the nearest plume of fire. What had started as an explosion on a lower roof had now spread to neighboring structures, setting a trio of office buildings ablaze. Inside, Kaenna felt the growing panic of its few remaining occupants, most of whom were on the upper levels with the fire cutting off any path to safety.
Accepting that some collateral damage was going to be necessary, Kaenna guided Saphira to the nearest window that had people cowering behind it. The thick glass shattered, long gleaming knives falling harmlessly out of the way of the dragon’s scaled claws. Two women and a man screamed and cowered away from them.
“I’m the intern hero Shur’tugal,” Kaenna shouted above them. “I’m here to get you to safety!”
Their panic subsided slightly, and one of the women spoke, “Wh-what’s going on? Is that another hero you’re riding? How will you get us all out of here in time?!”
“My name is Saphira, and I am Shur’tugal’s partner. I will carry you to the ground,” Saphira explained in a calm, yet insistent tone.
“We don’t have much time. Hurry!”
The three rushed forward, one brought up behind Kaenna on the saddle and the other two held firmly, yet gently, in Saphira’s forepaws. With a kick back, a beat of her wings, and a scream from their passengers, they left the ruined building behind. With a grace belying her size, Saphira balanced on her hind legs and tail to release her two, before laying prone for the last to dismount.
They repeated the process for the same building until it was empty, then the other two. Emergency responders had arrived by then and had begun to push back the blazes consuming the buildings. Just as they made for the skies to search adjacent buildings, a flash of blonde hair and a familiar mind flitted across Kaenna’s awareness.
She honed in on it, gaining altitude to avoid the interference such thick buildings would provide. Once above their spired tops, she saw him.
“Hawks, I have visual on the escaped criminal Bakugou Katsuki.”
It took Hawks a second to respond. “Shit. Go after him, try to not engage if you can help it, but stop him if he’s about to attack anybody. He’s racked up quite a few assaults since he escaped.”
The news of her childhood bully having only committed more crimes wasn’t much of a surprise to Kaenna. It unfortunately meant that the odds of Katsuki surrendering peacefully, especially to her, were zero. He would fight, and Kaenna had no reason to spare him more than his life.
“What is the plan, little one?” Saphira asked.
“He doesn’t have the equipment he once did, but even with just his body he can likely sustain brief bursts of powered flight. However, he’s likely to go into a rage when he sees me, and won’t try to run. All we have to do is get his attention.”
They soared on fire-sourced thermals, keeping Katsuki in view at all times. The blonde shot through the alleyways snaking through the city, an explosion-powered arrow that left scorch marks on every corner. Then, when he was approaching a wider area behind several restaurants, they dove, a falcon descending on an unsuspecting rabbit. A second from the ground, Kaenna lept, aiming for the direction Katsuki was coming from, with Saphira on course for the opposite end.
Windows rattled and the ground shook with Saphira’s impact, and her roar sent Katsuki careening backwards as he frantically fired explosions from both palms to stop. Only to slam back-first into Kaenna’s armored chest. He spun around, fury in his eyes and crackles in his palms.
“Kusa!” he snarled, face contorting into a hideous mask of rage. “Here to get in my way again!?”
“I’m here to bring you in, Katsuki,” Kaenna replied coldly. “Now surrender.”
“Surrender?!” He let out a bark of laughter. “Why the fuck would I ever surrender to arm candy and her pet snake!?”
A trash can began to rattle as a low sound rumbled through the space. Kaenna watched Katsuki’s pupils contract to tiny pinpricks and the sweat on his brow doubled at the sound and mental pressure coming from her partner.
“To describe you as a fool, little spark, would be an insult to fools.” Saphira growled. “You will be returned to your cell, willingly or not.”
Katuski lowered his stance, his arms placed in front of him with sparks and pops sounding in his palms. “I’m going to be the next number one hero, and once I bring in the Hero Killer all those useless extras couldn’t, everyone will know it! Nobody will stop me, especially not you, Ku-”
“Jierda.”
A loud, visceral snap echoed off the bare concrete and brick walls, followed shortly by a scream tearing itself from Katsuki’s throat as his forearms fell limp halfway down their lengths. His burning eyes flicked back and forth between his arms and Kaenna while wordless sounds shuddered from him.
“You… You fucking bitch! You fucking lying cunt! I’ll kill you.”
Katsuki charged, his lips drawn back in a vicious snarl. His broken arms flopped uselessly beside him, the bones poking and bulging through the skin like some larval abomination.
“Jierda.”
A second crack, louder and wetter than the first, sent Katsuki falling. His left leg bent at an unnatural angle and his shoulder hit the ground hard, another crack signaling that it too broke. Kaenna felt not even pity as her childhood friend turned tormentor writhed on the ground. She reached down and, with all the effort of lifting an empty sack, hauled him up by the tattered collar of his shirt.
“Bakugou Katsuki, you’re under arrest.”
“Fuck you,” he slurred, his mind foggy from adrenaline and pain.The words were hardly above a whisper. “All my life you’ve been the weed I could never get rid of. You stood in my way, vanished and made my home life hell, then you come back and ruin everything. When you’re nothing but a useless, quirkless, breeding sow!”
Kaenna opened her mouth to respond, when a shadow blocked out part of the firelight illuminating the alley. A mind, mostly blank but still there, rapidly closed in. She tried to draw her sword, but with Katsuki still occupying her right hand she was left awkwardly drawing it into a backhand grip with her left. It wasn’t fast enough.
Kaenna’s arm was wrenched in its socket as Katsuki was torn from her grip. Finally seeing their foe, Kaenna swore. A Nomu, pale-skinned with two leathery wings, had Katsuki dangling by the shoulders from its taloned feet. It was gaining altitude and speed with every beat of its wings that, by rights, shouldn’t have been able to support its own weight, let alone its involuntary passenger. She couldn’t allow it to get away.
Reaching out, she felt no resistance in gaining access to its mind. Once in, she uttered a word she’d somewhat hoped to never need again.
“Deyja.”
The Nomu’s mind cut off like a cut bowstring. Its wings went still, its talons around Katsuki limp, and it fell. A single word, one of the twelve words of death, and its existence was ended.
Saphira leapt deftly to the nearest rooftop and, her neck reaching out, caught Katsuki by the back of his shirt. The angry blonde screamed in pain, his broken limbs flopping around uselessly.
“We should return him to the command area for treatment and proper detainment.”
Kaenna opened her mouth to reply, when her earpiece buzzed an alert.
“Shur’tugal,” the hurried voice of the dispatcher came, “urgent message from Manual. He reports that his intern is missing and requests your assistance in searching for him.”
“Barzûl,” Kaenna swore. “Saphira, get Katsuki back to the command area. I’m going after that fool Tenya.”
“Be safe, little one.”
Saphira took to the sky, Katsuki still dangling unceremoniously from her jaws, while Kaenna sprinted down the alley. She emerged on the main road in seconds and spread her mind as far as she could across the chaotic landscape. She felt fear, anxiety, and pure animalistic dread from the populace that either hadn’t or couldn’t evacuate. Fires lapped at or burned deep within numerous buildings, more Nomu visible in fleeting glimpses amidst the choking smoke. Kaenna ignored it all, searching instead for a familiar, vengeful mind, her needle in a hay stack.
She ran and ran, covering more ground in ten minutes than a horse would in half an hour. Then, she felt him. Something was wrong, though. The rage and desire for revenge were still there, but it was layered with something else.
Before Kaenna could discern what it was, the sensation of Tenya’s mind was abruptly cut off. Next to it, a feeling of victorious pride swelled. Furrowing her brow, Kaenna took the nearest alley towards that sensation.
She took the corners at speed, leaping onto and rebounding off walls rather than slowing down. Turn after turn, she closed in, the unfamiliar mind’s presence growing stronger with every step. The heavy, cloying scent of iron crept into her awareness, but she pressed on.
One final corner and she was there.
Propped against a wall nearest to her was the familiar form of Native. His leather costume was torn in places it shouldn’t have been and his right arm had a nasty cut oozing blood. Beyond him stood a man in tattered, but durable clothes. Blades were strewn across his body, a crude mask covered his eyes across his noseless face, and the most abused sword in history was clenched in one hand.
“Another fake, come to the slaughter?” the unknown man growled.
The glint of metal even further, almost at the end of the alley, drew Kaenna’s eyes. Her blood froze and heart dropped.
It was Tenya, there was no mistaking that full-body armor. His helmet was gone, and he was still as a statue, a pool of red lying beneath his chest. A chest Kaenna could not see rising or falling, nor hear a heartbeat inside of.
“Tenya?” The name was a ghost on her lips.
“Oh, you came for that would-be hero?” A sharp chin jutted at Tenya. “He came swearing vengeance for my crusade, and rather than trying to save my intended target he came for me. A false hero, through and through, so I culled him like the rest.”
Any hope Kaenna still had for her classmate evaporated at the man’s words. His identity was no longer impossible to deny, it was Stain, the Hero Killer. A glance at Native showed he was still breathing in the slow, shallow way of one knocked unconscious.
“Why?” she asked through grit teeth. “Why do you think you have the right to decide who is and isn’t a hero?”
“Because no one else will. This world is filled with those who wear the title of hero, yet all they do is seek glory and fame. My mission is to expose them, and pave the way for a world of true heroes like All Might, no matter how many must fall.”
Heroes like All Might? She turned her gaze slowly, agonizingly, to Stain and probed the surface of his mind. In neither his face, his posture, nor his emotions were any traces of remorse for what he’d done. And there Tenya lay, a corpse. Never again would he chop at the air when he felt the class was misbehaving, nor would he be there to beat her in a contest of straight line speed.
All because Stain thought every hero needed to be like All Might?
“You think everyone should be like All Might?” she asked in a low, emotionless voice.
“He is the one true hero!” Stain replied, spreading his arms like he was calling to the heavens.
“I see.” A flat, unamused laugh huffed its way out of her lungs. “Then you truly don’t know anything about the man.”
Stain’s demeanor shifted in an instant. His body tensed, a coiled snake ready to strike, and his face twisted into a sneer.
“I’ve studied All Might for years, what would a little girl know about him?”
Kaenna took a slow, silent step towards the villain. “I know he’s a man like any other.” Another step. “I know he has pains and fears that very few are allowed to see.” Yet another step. “I know he is flawed, as we all are, and that putting him on this pedestal of godhood is doing a disservice to him and everyone else who wants to help others.” She stopped, a few short paces left between her and Stain, tears leaving damp trails down her cheeks beneath her helmet. “And I know that he would never approve of denying someone the chance to do better!”
Stain’s sword flashed in the dim light. The ragged edge rose towards her neck, promising death if it broke through the light chain hanging from her helmet.
A spark lit the alley for a brief instant, then a sharp clatter echoed off the bare walls. Stain looked down at his sword, now significantly reduced in length, then at the blued brightsteel of Brisingr. His mind twitched before his body did. The remainder of the broken sword lashed out, only to stop short as Kaenna’s open hand slid past its guard to wrap around one of Stain’s hands. The man let out a grunt of pain as Kaenna began to squeeze. The grunt turned into a moan, and then a scream as bones broke in the Rider’s grip, the handle of the sword creaking and cracking from the pressure.
Desperation flared across Stain’s mind and he let his free hand drop from the sword. It came back up holding a long knife, one side holding an edge, the other serrated like a saw. The knife struck, only for it to go flying in a spray of blood and severed fingers. Stain howled in pain, clenching his bloody stumps into a fist which he threw at Kaenna.
Rather than sully her blade with him again, Kaenna applied the full measure of her strength to her crushing hand. Skin, bone, and splinters of bone oozed between her fingers as Stain’s hand and sword hilt caved beneath her inexorable pressure. She spun, twisting her hips, and slammed the villain against the walls of the alley, leaving a trail of spattered blood in his wake.
“You fake!” he spat, spit running dribbles down his chin. “Such violence is not the way of a hero!”
“You’re not facing a hero of Japan,” Kaenna replied. There was no warmth in her voice or her heart. All that lived there now was the burning drive for vengeance she had last felt when Garrow had been murdered. “You face a Rider of Alagaësia, a veteran of war. I’ve killed more men than you can fathom, and when the need arises I won’t hesitate to do it again. But you don’t deserve that mercy.”
A snap of her hips sent her foot driving into Stain’s ribs, yielding several satisfying cracks. The air was driven from the man’s lungs, but he wasn’t given the opportunity to recover before the same foot slammed down in an axe kick on his right hip. The bone gave before metal and magical strength, releasing the leg to hang limp by the now-bruised soft tissues. A similar gauntleted strike to the clavicles sent both his arms hanging uselessly.
“You’re nothing but a monster, Stain. Make all the excuses you want, that’s all you are. I’ve fought enough to know when I see them, and no man does what you have done.” Kaenna stepped to where the broken sword lay. She sheathed Brisingr and lifted the battered metal, its tip now blunt and perfectly smooth where her sword had cleaved through. “You deserve much for your crimes, but all I’ve done is make sure you cannot hurt anyone ever again. You might be healed before your trial, but they’ll have to carry you in.”
The Rider reversed her grip and plunged the blade down. Through strength alone, it tore through the skin and muscle of Stain’s lower back before pulverizing the vertebra and the delicate spinal cord inside. A raw, primal scream tore from Stain’s throat as the sword emerged through his gut and buried itself in the blood-soaked concrete.
Her anger abating, Kaenna moved next to Native. He was still unconscious, but showed signs of waking soon. She raised her right hand over the wound on his arm, which had finally stopped its bleeding.
“Waíse heill.”
At her words, the wound began to close, until there was not even a scar left behind. She left him and went next to kneel next to Tenya’s body. His brow was already cold when she removed a gauntlet and placed her hand on it. The tears began anew, and a soft sob ripped itself from her throat.
“I’m sorry, Tenya. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here fast enough. I wanted to tell you for the past three days that I planned on healing Tensei! But you pushed me away and went on this damned fool’s quest alone. Now I have to tell everyone that you’re gone.” She stood up and cast a hateful glare back at the still ranting Stain. “At least you will be the last victim of this madman.”
Saphira’s mind, out of reach for so long, finally touched Kaenna’s again. A minute later, she felt Hawks’, and she didn’t have to wait long for them to arrive. When dragon and hero alighted on the road just outside the alley, Kaenna was there to greet them.
“Well, you don’t seem that worse for wear,” Hawks said nonchalantly. “Did you find Manual’s kid? Or the Hero Killer?” A soft, keening cry from Saphira drew the pro’s attention first to her, then to where her sight was aimed. “Oh… Shit.”
“I was too late to save Tenya,” Kaenna said softly.
“It’s not your fault. Now where is-” Hawks cut himself off as his eyes focused deeper in the alley. The blood drained from his face and his posture shifted from tension to shock. “Is… Is he-”
“Still alive? Yes, but if you want him to stay that way he’ll need medical attention soon. I healed the wound Native had, but I won’t lift a finger for that butcher.”
A warm, smokey snout nuzzled tenderly into Kaenna’s side. She turned and buried her face in the familiar solid surface of Saphira’s scales, and wept.
♦♦♦
Police and medical personnel arrived to take Stain into custody, bring Native to the hospital, and recover Tenya’s body. All of that was expected. What Kaenna did not expect was a trio of officers to approach her with their hands on their sidearms. She shared a quick glance with Hawks who seemed less perplexed than she was.
“Shur’tugal, we need you to come with us to answer some questions,” the lead officer spoke flatly.
“What’s this about, officer?” Hawks stepped between them. “If you’re taking my intern places, I have a right to know why.”
“We need her to answer some questions as to how an unlicensed student was sent straight into the Hero Killer’s arms only to leave him looking worse than some of his victims.”
A faint growl echoed deep in Saphira’s chest, only to quiet when Kaenna put a reassuring hand against her partner’s flank. “It’s okay. I’ll go.”
They had Kaenna leave her sword with Hawks, who promptly relinquished it to Saphira, and sat her in the back of a squad car. From there, it was a short drive to the precinct, which was mercifully quiet despite the chaos that had unfolded that night.
Guided to a room very similar to the one from her previous questioning those months ago, Kaenna waited for her questioner to begin. A few short minutes later, a sharply dressed man with the head of a dog entered the room and took the opposite seat.
“Midoriya Kotoko, hero name Shur’tugal. My name is Tsuragamae and I’m the chief of police here in Hosu, and I have some questions I need to ask you.”
“Before you do,” Kaenna looked the man straight in his heavily-lidded, soulful brown eyes, “I would ask that you use the name I prefer, Kaenna Shadeslayer.”
“As this is a legal matter, I’m afraid I cannot do that. I can, however, only use your hero name if that is acceptable.” At Kaenna’s nod, he continued, “First, I would like to confirm the facts. You were asked, by Manual through a dispatcher, to help search for his missing intern Iida Tenya. You found him already deceased at the same location as the Hero Killer. Is that correct?”
“It is.”
“Rather than consulting your dispatcher or mentor, you then chose to engage Stain. Why?”
“Because if I didn’t, he would have killed Native.”
“So because you saved a life, you’re allowed to break the law?”
Kaenna’s gaze hardened. “I broke no law. Prior to my engagement with Stain, before even my apprehension of Bakugou Katsuki, my mentor gave me authorization to fight if it meant saving people.”
One furred eyebrow raised slightly. “Will this be true when we question Hawks on this matter?”
“It is the truth,” Kaenna replied, her patience at the chief’s attempts at poking holes in her story beginning to run low.
“Speaking of the escaped criminal Bakugou Katsuki, he was in quite poor condition when your partner dropped him off at the command area. Both long bones in his forearms are completely broken through, as is one of his femurs. That seems like quite excessive force to apprehend one teenager. There were no external signs of damage, which only leaves your quirk as the reason for his injuries, yet your record shows you listed as quirkless.”
“Because I am quirkless, but I am not powerless.” A weary sigh escaped as Kaenna leaned back in her seat. “Breaking Katsuki’s arms prevented him from using his quirk, and breaking his leg prevented him from being able to escape. It was the cleanest, fastest way to bring him back in. And all without a quirk, because I don’t have one. What I do have is a power that goes far beyond quirks, beyond technology, and is not regulated by any law of any nation.”
Emerald eyes slammed down to bore a hole through the dog-headed man’s face. “I use magic. Not parlor tricks or a quirk that has effects one may describe as magical, but genuine magic. To my knowledge there is nobody else on Earth that can use it, and I did not gain the ability to use it on Earth. If you would like to learn the details of all that, the police department in Musutafu should be able to enlighten you.”
Chief Tsuragamae seemed taken aback by the force of Kaenna’s outburst. He recovered quickly, a testament to having earned his position.
“While I find that explanation highly improbable, I will work to have your claim verified. Now, onto Stain. You clearly had the means to incapacitate him like you did Bakugou, yet instead you left him mangled with the most extreme overuse of force I’ve ever seen.”
“None of his injuries are life-threatening and he’ll never hold a blade against a hero again.”
“He’ll also likely never walk again,” Tsuragamae countered. “Heroes are supposed to use the minimum amount of force necessary to end a conflict. Sometimes that will involve the degree of damage you dealt, or even more, but given you were completely unharmed I find it impossible to believe you had to resort to such extremes.”
The table shook as Kaenna dropped her hands on the table before clenching them together. “Let me put this as simply as I can. I know the difference between street thugs, petty criminals, and monsters. Stain is a monster, one who spouted a creed and backed it up with violence, turning both against anyone he felt didn’t meet his unreasonable standards. The fact he is alive to stand trial is the cruelty he deserves. He will never walk, never hold a blade, never threaten another person in his life. And I am at peace knowing that Tenya will be his last victim.”
“But that isn’t a choice you get to make. You, too, chose to back up your convictions against him with violence, when as a hero, you are meant to be better than the Villains you combat.”
The chief’s rebuttal of her argument sent Kaenna shrinking back in her seat. It was an easy thing to forget, having seen and done the things she had, that she was aspiring to be a peace keeper, not the soldier she’d been forced to be. No longer was she expected to tear down enemy magicians to kill the hundreds or thousands of soldiers they were protecting. No longer was she expected to kill at all except in the gravest of circumstances.
“You’re right,” she said after a moment, her voice small and empty of the fire it had before. “I’m not their judge or executioner, I’m a servant.”
“It’s good that you recognize that.” Some of the sternness melted off the folds of the man’s face. “Which is why I’m prepared to offer an arrangement for you that will keep the blame off you while still explaining why Stain is so injured. Your mentor, Hawks, and your co-intern Saphira were the first two on the scene, yes?” At Kaenna’s nod, Tsuragamae continued, “My proposition is this. We will report that, although you were the one to locate Stain, it was Hawks who bested him. Though you deserve praise for putting an end to Stain’s ambitions, the public cannot know it. Do you have any objections?”
Kaenna puzzled over the question for a moment before answering, “Yes, but none that would put me in a better situation. Stolen glory is something to be shamed, yet sometimes for the good of a people it’s necessary.” Her mind drifted back to the exact circumstances of Galbatorix’s death, and how he was never truly defeated, yet she, Saphira, Murtagh, Arya, and Nasuada were all hailed as heroes for felling the tyrant king. “So go ahead and give Hawks the victory, I don’t want to be attached to that monster’s legacy.”
Tsuragamae stood, his chair squeaking against the bare concrete floor. “Thank you for your understanding. Despite my position, I don’t want to see promising young heroes fall before they can have the chance to fly, as it were. Now, let’s get you out of here.”
The ride back from the precinct was far less hectic than the ride to it. A sense of calm had returned to the streets of Hosu, a few people visible on the streets going about their business, but there was still an underlying tension that Kaenna knew all too well. The fighting may have stopped, but peace was not so swift to return, nor memories fade of how close disaster had come. From Farthen Dûr, to Ilirea, and all the towns and villages between that Kaenna had seen liberated, the innocent people who lived there always had an air of unease, of constant tension, until long after the Varden had moved on. The scale of conflict in Japan was different, of course, but the people were nonetheless the same in their fears.
As she watched the twinkling lights of the city streak by, Kaenna thought of a duty that may have fallen on her shoulders. Who would tell the class of Tenya’s death?