MHA: I Am Homelander

Kazuo tore through the dark, each footfall pounding against the rough stone, his shoes long discarded and his bare soles split and bruised.

The pain was real, screaming up through his legs, but it was a distant echo compared to the thunderous roar of his heartbeat.

His Quirk surged violently in his legs, amplifying every stride, launching him forward like a projectile shot from a railgun.

'Please don't be too late… don't let me be too late… don't let me be too late…'

The labyrinth of tunnels blurred around him, streaks of gray and black blending together.

His lungs burned. His arms pumped. His eyes stayed sharp, trained on the narrow beam of light ahead.

He took a vicious turn around a fractured support pillar—then skidded to a halt, eyes wide.

His entire body locked.

Before him lay devastation.

A gaping crater had swallowed the entire corridor—an abyss that spiraled downwards in mangled steel beams and fractured concrete, like the earth had opened its maw to devour the rebellion itself.

The whole structure had caved in on itself, creating a sinkhole that must've stretched down for hundreds of meters.

And at the bottom stood a lone figure.

Blonde hair now matted with sweat and blood. Knuckles red and slick.

Loid, faced away.

Kazuo's breath hitched, the oxygen stalling in his lungs.

A body lay crumpled near Loid's feet—Seismurge, or what was left of him. Broken. Mangled. The great villain reduced to a pile of flesh and ruin, a shattered monument to defiance.

Kazuo couldn't move. Couldn't speak. His tongue felt like stone in his mouth.

Loid didn't even glance back at first.

Then, slowly, he stirred.

"Kazuo," he said softly. The voice floated upward through the stillness like a ripple through a mirror. "Do you remember when I told you about that nagging sense of incompleteness on our way to school?"

Kazuo stared down, still unable to form a reply.

Loid turned.

His expression was calm—too calm. Not the face of someone who had just committed violence of that magnitude.

His blue eyes were crystalline and sharp, and a small, serene smile tugged at his bloodstained face.

"Never mind," Loid said. "That's gone now."

Dozens of footsteps began to echo in the distance—measured, precise, controlled. No longer the panicked running of civilians, but the practiced rhythm of authority.

From the shadows, Pro Heroes emerged in full gear.

Edgeshot moved like a phantom, silent and composed.

Kamui Woods bounded forward with branches twisting from his arms. Death Arms loomed tall and powerful. Cementoss followed, already beginning to reinforce the damaged structure with walls of quick-set concrete. Mount Lady walked at the rear, her massive form casting long shadows.

They stopped.

"What...the hell?" Mt Lady muttered as they all froze at the scene.

The crater. The destruction. The lone boy standing at the epicenter.

Even them, professionals, couldn't help but second guess what exactly they were seeing.

Edgeshot narrowed his eyes, assessing the scene in a split second. Then his gaze shifted.

"Cementoss—reinforce the walls and secure the crater. Kamui, Death Arms—check the villain's vitals and determine if he's stable. Mount Lady—escort the boys to the surface."

And before turning, he mumbled as he took a glance at the two boys once more. A nod. "You did good."

Silence enveloped the two boys and Hero as they walked through the tunnels. 

No one said a word, the only sound being that of Loid wiping the blood off his body with a handkerchief provided to him by Mt Lady. 

It wasn't until they were just close enough that the distant chatter and traffic finally entered their ears and upon them walking a little more and turning a corner, they were met with a steep ramp, the ceiling no more as the moonlight illuminated the surroundings.

'Its already dark out?' Loid asked, following the two up.

'I didn't realise we were in there for so long...'

"There they are!" 

Loid and Kazuo blinked as they reached the surface, only to be met with dozens upon dozens of individuals flooding the streets. 

News stations had parked their cars nearby, giant screens on their sides as countless reporters stood by them. 

Between them and the nosy civilians, it was more people in one place the two boys had ever seen.

And as all eyes turned to them...

"What can you tell us about the villains?"

"Why is it that the two of you were the last to leave?"

"What did it feel like being trapped in there?" 

The countless individuals all stormed toward the boys, yelling their questions before they'd even gotten to them. 

It was clear that a media storm was already in full swing.

Camera shutters snapped. Reporters shouted over each other. Civilians surged behind barriers, waving their phones, desperate to capture anything.

However, before they could reach the two boys, police and Mt Lady shielded them.

"Give them some space!" She yelled, clear that she was annoyed. 

This moment was respite was taken advantage of as Loid was yanked to the side by paramedics upon them seeing the specs of blood on him.

"Wait here." A female said after dragging him to a secure ambulance to the side of the chaos, sitting him down behind the ambulance.

For once, Loid was able to breath.

The surface air was cold and electric.

The outside world roared with floodlights and reporters and the hum of generators powering massive screens.

Loid stared out across the ocean of faces. His expression was neutral. Still.

Then he turned. 

"Thank you," 

Beside him, he stared at a man with neatly cut hair, his body showing countless injuries, cuts, bruises, clear that he'd been through nothing short of a war.

Kain turned to him, silent, staring.

"That's the first thing you say to me?"

Loid turned away, ignoring him as he continued.

"All day… something's felt wrong. Ever since my Quirk awakened, I've felt off. Like I'd unknowingly sacrificed a part of myself to attain this power. It unsettled me."

"Well, that was until you gave that speech about accepting your limits, not aiming to be the best but to do your best. What was it that you said? That you made more of a difference that way?"

He smiled softly.

"What a load of shit that was, huh?"

Kain frowned. His posture stiffened.

"That shit you were spouting, it's nothing more than the coping mechanism of a weak man who understands he has no place at the top, hell, even bottlenecking your Quirk because of it. And its one thing to be physically weak, but that philosophy of yours? Its a whole new level of pathetic."

Kain's eyes slowly widened as he stared at Loid. He saw the boy's expression, the soft smile plastered over his face and the tone he spoke in.

It was like the boy didn't mean for his words to be disrespectful. He wasn't saying it out of spite or just to be an asshole.

No, it was clear that these words came from his heart.

"No...not me though. It isn't really fair to compare us, but I am quite simply...more than you could ever understand and it was you who made me see this. It was you that made me see that I wasn't incomplete, but instead, but complete than I'd ever been."

"So, I really mean it when I say this...Thank you."

CRASH

Kain abruptly shot to his feet, the first aid kit beside him toppling over as he did, veins bulging in his neck as he grit his teeth.

"Are you sick? First you set me up and now you ramble on about such nonsense. You arrogant bastard, what are you spouting?!"

Loid remains silent as his smile fades.

"You hard at hearing or something? Did one of those Villains mess with your ears?"

Loid rose to his feet, standing face to face with Kain, his expression straight and unnerving, his blue eyes wide and sharp, dangerously so.

"I'll make it simpler for you to understand, so listen up."

"I'm stronger. I'm smarter...I'm better. I AM BETTER!"

The words cut through the noise like a scalpel as Kain's expression softened. But Loid wasn't done.

"I'm not some weak kneed fucking crybaby who makes excuses for being one of god's mistakes. You, a weak man, strive to do your best...but me? I live knowing I am the best."

Kain's pupils dilated as a shadow invaded his face like dark circles under his eyes, unknowingly lowering his head as Loid looked down on him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

Kiyoshi's voice suddenly blared over every speaker in the plaza.

Everyone turned.

All screens—phones, billboards, camera feeds—flickered and changed, hijacked. A single image now dominated the broadcast: Loid, standing behind the ambulance and before Kain.

Kiyoshi grinned on camera. "Let's give a hand for the kid who singlehandedly brought down the notorious villain Seismurge!"

Gasps. Murmurs. Eyes widened. But mostly silence.

Silence because a unified doubt invaded everyone's mind.

How? How was it that a middle schooler could ever have hoped to defeat a bloodlusted villain.

Yuka stepped forward and cupped her hands around her mouth. "It's true! He saved us—not once, but twice!"

Not just her either, the rest of the gang. 

Yuto raised his arm. "My Quirk wouldn't have worked without him! He was our eyes in the dark!"

Daiki adjusted his broken glasses and walked up with a calm authority. "Daiki Watanabe. CEO of HeroTech. I stand by that boy. We owe him our lives." And for once, Daiki smiled.

The crowd hesitated silence, taking another look at the boy on all the screens, they view of him slowly changing.

It was true that the Heroes were preparing as if they were ready to go into war before ultimately bringing out the boy sooner than later without even a sweat on them, which couldn't be said for the boy whose clothes were tattered and specs of blood sullied his body.

And as if to act as the last hit of the hammer...

"Well, there you have it folks. And Loid, don't you think its only right for the people to know who will be fighting for the #1 Hero spot in the future?" Kiyoshi asked, his charades going on for so long that a few of the Heroes thought it best to just let it play out.

All eyes turned to Loid in that moment as silence descended in anticipation for what would come next.

And without even thinking, a single word came to Loid's lips as his voice rang out as if he had a microphone to his lips.

"Homelander."

No words are spoken as his voice echoes until...

"Yeah! Homelander!" Yuka yelled from the crowd, the single figure cheering amongst silence.

It wasn't long until the rest of the gang joined in, whistling and clapping.

And slowly but surely, the applause began to spread as though it was contagious until the entire crowd of people invading the streets joined in, the entire area flooding with applause, cheers and chants."

"Homelander! Homelander! Homelander!"

Loid watched, at the forefront of it all with a dazed expression.

But slowly, the corner of his lips began to twitch upward as he looked around.

'T-They love me...'

He thought, his lips soon curling into a full smile as he shot out both arms.

'THEY LOVE ME!'

This euphoric feeling, he basked in it as he chuckled as if he needed another outlet to let his overwhelming excitement out from.

Applause. Shouting. Cheers. Reporters screamed questions.

Blonde hair slicked back. Blue eyes glowing. The light from the crowd's praise seemed to fill his chest.

"This feeling…" he whispered. "To be watched… to be worshipped… it's intoxicating."

He turned back to Kain, seeing the man watch this all with a crestfallen expression.

The wars he'd fought, the life he'd sacrificed to do this all, the wounds and blood dripping from his body...it all meant nothing.

"See? They don't care about noble ideals or half-baked morals. They want a winner. Someone above them. Someone to look up to—no matter the cost."

Kain stared, stunned, his knees almost buckling as if he'd lost all purpose.

"This," Loid said, spreading his arms wide as if embracing the entire city, "is greatness. This is the truth of power. This is what it means to be the best."

He stepped forward. Basked in the light. Let the crowd chant his name like a hymn.

"This is...me!"

In the crowd, lost in a sea of flashing lights and roaring voices, Kazuo stood frozen.

His eyes wide and expression deflated as he stared at the scene.

And all he could do was mumble a single word, his voice lost beneath the cheers:

"H-Homelander..."

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I really enjoy writing this so I hope the same level of joy is felt from you all reading it.

I know powerstone goals are a common thing nowadays but we don't have many readers yet, so uhh, if I'm satisfied with the powerstones we can get I'll upload another chapter!

As usual, let me know what you think and thank you all for reading!