Boku no Hero Academia, Chapter 52: Hero Killer Stain vs. the Students of Yuuei
We get a mini-flashback as we see Midoriya's thought process putting Noumu, Iida and the Hero Killer's appearance together and basically has been just scouring dark alleys, which is Stain's M.O. for killing people. Midoriya's first instinct is thankfully to run, but Iida can't move. Midoriya really wants to get away but there's that other hero dude slumped against the wall. Iida is just being all stupid and angry and Sasuke and shit going all "get the fuck away this does not concern you" which is... just stupid. Vengeance for brother and all, but you can't even move and you were two panels of monologue away from getting your head sliced off.
Fuck off, Iida.
Stain, however, continues to look awesome as he proves to not just be anotehr psychopath and actually "tests" Midoriya, sort of, by telling Midoriya that while coming in to save his friend is a nice sentiment, he asks Midoriya just what he is planning to do if it means coming up against him in combat. Punctuated with a horrifying artwork of his face, while he says his "weak shall be culled" line.
At this point Midoriya is kind of panicking and we are shown him fiddling with a phone behind his back... and I really assumed he called All Might or Gran Tourino. The manga would prove otherwise, though it's a nice little foreshadowing. Iida continues to be bull-headed, but Midoriya, while visibly afraid, tells Iida that butting one's nose into other people's business is a hero's principal quality.
Stain delivers a smile worthy of the Joker at this remark, although possibly because Midoriya brings up All Might as well. Midoriya does his Full Cowl trick again as Stain goes in for a slash. Iida, for his credit, tries to warn Midoriya against getting slashed, but Midoriya uses the trick he did against Gran Tourino and zips between Stain's legs. And I do love how Stain is already making a backwards-facing counter-attack while Midoriya is bouncing off the walls of the alley, delivering a glorious 5% Detroit Smash right into Stain's head.
The art makes it look like Midoriya bashed Stain's head apart into a splatter of blood for a moment, but that's just Stain's hair. And Stain looks gloriously and creepily happy at this reaction. Iida notes that this is just like Bakugou... I don't remember Bakugou doing this specific move, but all righty then good job there Midoriya. Stain licks Midoriya's blood from his blade, though I'm not quite sure just how he managed to get Midoriya's blood on it, all Hidan-like. Maybe it's Stain's blood that matters? Eh, whatever the case, Stain manages to disable Midoriya.
Stain then shows an unexpected side of himself, telling Midoriya that while his power doesn't quite cut it, he has enough potential to continue living while he goes off to kill Iida and Native-American-Man because they're worthless. So Stain isn't just a psychopath -- he actually has some kind of... well, extremist, I guess. But he has some kind of insane viewpoints.
And a blast of fire and ice zooms in and forces Stain to hop away before killing Iida, and it's revealed that Midoriya contacted Todoroki... who's badass. Maybe the three of them can be enough to drive away Stain? And presumably Todoroki is hanging out with Endeavour, which is why he's around... which brings something interesting regarding Todoroki's character, considering all his daddy issues. Maybe if Endeavour (and Gran Tourino, who's last seen with Endeavour) shows up, it'll be enough to drive Stain to retreat?
Overall great stuff. Iida's an idiot, but both Midoriya and Stain are just a treat to read about.
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