Green Scale
Chapter 16 ~ Arise
Rated M
I Don't Own MHA
Hello everyone and welcome back to the story, where we reach what could possibly be the second last chapter of the arc, as Izuku faces Todoroki, and this time I'm not cucking you by giving another small set up chapter *Evil Laughter*
We're gonna go balls deep in this one folks and make a spectacular last explosion in this chapter, followed by the next chapter, which will finish the fight, and you're all going to see the big bad clash of UA's top 1st years in a match I've foreshadowed since chapter 10, so I command you to be excited dammit!
I hope this goes well...
Do it….
Let go of yourself…
Undo your shackles…
Make them fear you…
Feed off their fear…
Remember your hate…
Make him suffer…
Hear his screams…
Make him beg for death...
Crush him into dust…
Burn him to ashes…
Roar into the sky…
Become one with the dark…
It is your destiny…
The wall cracked as Izuku's unscaled fist crashed into a mirror, shattering it into tiny shards as the boy slumped down on the bathroom floor. There was a green and black hue in the small and cold space, and that was due to the boy's quirk...
"Get out of my head you wretch!"
His near bubbling eyes suddenly lost the huge green light and they reverted back to the normal tint, while his scales sank back into his skin. He grabbed the part of his shirt that covered his heart and sighed in relief, somehow being able to stop that person from invading his brain...
He was breathless and could barely see past a meter in this small enclosed space, and he was hyperventilating like he'd run a marathon. His heart was racing from seeing that same thing again and again, and his human fingers were scraping away the floor tiles...
This had been plaguing him like a curse ever since he had gotten serious against the Nomu and unleashed a small amount of his quirk's power, but somehow, it terrified the young man beyond what he'd experienced before…
The sound of his…
No…
The sound of its voice...terrified him, and for whatever reason, he couldn't make this entity leave his mind. Everytime he closed his eyes or even blinked, he would see a sea of red and a man shrouded in darkness come ever closer with each word, like he was stalking a helpless gazelle on the plains…
He had not been scared of anyone but Bakugou before, but now this was something entirely different, like the fear of death, or something similar…
It was a natural fear, like he was born to feel this way…
The way this creature looked at him made his entire body grow cold, and those eyes were plain horrifying. The way it walked, talked and even breathed rendered Izuku paralyzed by fear, and nothing he did could stop it…
What was this thing that could render him helpless with just a single look, and in his own mind, no less? Not even someone as strong as Prism or Andre could reduce him to a state like this, and even when he was looking into the eyes of beings that strong, he wasn't completely suffocated by their aura enough to make him pass out. This was different, but it was impossible to get an answer about it…
Perhaps his father, the one thought to be responsible for his power, would have answers...
"I'm pathetic...getting spooked over a damn vision…" he almost crushed the handle of the door with his power and just managed to pass through without breaking something, but his eyes were glowing. "But that can't have been some medical condition or psychological problem. It felt so real…"
He didn't want anyone to see him like this, because he didn't know what he would do to them. He didn't even know what was going on with his own body, so how could he know to control something he didn't understand?
The child needed to shake these hallucinations out of his head and only set his eyes on the important things...
Izuku had a match to win, and if he came out victorious, he would get a chance to improve both himself and the image he had so suddenly built up over the course of this festival. He had the one quirk that everyone alive on earth feared, the quirk of Red Scale, and it was going to be exposed some time in the future, so Izuku knew that making the gullible public love him was the best bet, as it would soften the blow at least a tad. Should he have his flames burst out right now, he'd probably be labeled a freak and an abomination, but if he became an icon of the hero system, then people may have a slightly more positive outlook on it.
Beating Todoroki was the only thing he needed to be thinking about, and everything else even remotely before or after that was irrelevant. This was one of the things he absolutely needed to accomplish if he were to have an easy and straightforward passage into the realm of the top heroes.
Yes, that was the way… He needed to focus on the present right now, and not the shaded future he could have...
He can only be beaten by his opponent right now…
Not this voice in his head...
"I won't submit… Not now…not ever..." The young dragon whispered to himself as he made his way to the stadium tunnel...
Yaoyorozu watched Todoroki come out of the stadium tunnel and onto the field, and she gulped nervously, knowing that this was an opponent that Izuku could actually struggle against with the injuries he sustained from Bakugou. She'd decided not to bother him about anything irrelevant like what she had going on inside her head, but she did want to talk to him about how he was planning on winning this…
Momo didn't have a single doubt that when fit and unscathed, Izuku was easily the strongest member of not only their class, but their entire year group, though she wasn't blinded enough by admiration to ignore the glaring odds stacked against her mentor of sorts. Todoroki was someone that would use his quirk until his body gave out like Midoriya, but his control over the drawbacks were miles better than the almost sickly grip Izuku had on his, and Todoroki's quirk was best used at range where he could flood the battlefield. Being surrounded and engulfed by such a large mass of ice and fire would be enough to overwhelm even some of the top heroes in Japan, and someone who can barely lift his arms is done for in theory…
But just in theory...
Bakugou was metaphorically curb stomped by a fresh and uninjured Izuku, but now the scale user was facing someone with both a stellar defence and devastating offence, and from what she could see, he wouldn't be able to block or dodge much before the ice or fire became too fast and too powerful to dodge with his deteriorating skin and muscle…
She worried for him, not as an influential classmate looking to avoid a bad rep for her peers, but as a person, and couldn't resist holding her own hands for support...
She was prideful in her abilities and even a tad arrogant at times, and she had every single thing she could ever want in life, except a real friend. That's why the loss to Tokoyami hit her so hard in the gut, and why she was so emotionally crippled after the event. Then, Izuku came over to her out of curiosity and didn't have any ulterior motive behind what he was saying, and the guy half the class believed to be a murderous maniac managed to get her back on her feet and lift her head back where it was supposed to be.
The teen may have developed subtle feelings for him during that time, but it wasn't charm or good lucks that lured her into him. It was the words he spoke and what he said to her in possibly the most confusing and stressful time of her life. He told her that she could get stronger, and that her troubles would just be like a ripple in the ocean of her future success, and while that didn't manage to change anything, she felt good inside knowing that he was going out of his way to help her, and then in the tunnel, he saw through her stern facade and told her the words she never knew she needed to hear.
"You can be yourself around me…"
Those words weren't just something to woo her or make her swoon for him. It was genuine and she could tell he didn't choose them carelessly, and normally she would suspect him of trying to seduce her, probably hoping to gain her body for himself, but there was not even a hint of lies around him or disgusting lust in his tone. The way he talked and looked into her eyes made her swell with emotion, and even though he probably didn't return her feelings, she knew that the line wouldn't lose meaning.
She didn't want a guy she held dear to suffer defeat; let alone horrid injuries, but it wasn't her call to make, and she didn't have the power to stop either of the two students from fighting once the whip cracked the concrete slab that Midnight was standing on.
'Find a way Midoriya. Don't make me humiliate myself with tears at your expense…' She whispered to herself.
Her classmates couldn't be allowed to know about this weakness for many reasons, but mainly because it would compromise the respect she had gained over these first months at UA, and the image she'd built as a stoic and trustworthy leader. Having her cry for a boy she was already rumoured to be familiar with would no doubt be suspicious, but it was more worrying that she'd cause problems for Midoriya, or Izuku as she had been convincing herself to say aloud…
He couldn't have any more problems right now…
She could try and shoot for her shot at a later date, when the two of them were closer, because now was Izuku's time to shine, and it was his first chance to make himself known to the world. She had been convinced by him that there was still a chance at having an internship, so her mood was lifted, and all she could do was sit tight and support him, even if it frustrated her.
But there was something that agitated her brain to an even higher degree...
He had a goal that she couldn't understand, and Todoroki probably had the same thing, and now they were fighting. It wasn't right…
Why were they all fighting like this? Like ruthless gladiators in a coliseum? It was barbaric and cruel to her, and even though only Uraraka and Bakugou had been rendered immobile, she wondered how everyone was okay with this. She noticed Kirishima get agitated, and perhaps he was also noticing it, but it was something that really bothered both her and her family…
The hypocrisy of the hero world, and the people that worshipped it...
(Outside the Stadium)
In a forest clearing, a huge man stood alone…
Andre had a cold and unresponsive look on his face as he stared into the sunny sky, not at all being affected by the harsh rays of the star that his planet orbits. His hands were in his trunk pockets and he now wore the signature three blade sweater that all of Akira's agency used as a casual uniform.
Nothing shamed him more than failing his master, and even though the fear of what Akira may do to him was terrible, his frustration in his failure was an even stronger emotion. He feared his master, and his master was the only man on earth he had ever truly recognised as being worth bowing to, but that fear was just a blimp on the radar when compared to how devoted he was to the young man's cause…
Ever since they were kids, he adored Akira and was loyal out of a combination of respect and almost religious faith…
He had failed, and not just that, but he had also harmed the only thing that his darkened master held dear. The greatest hero on earth did cherish his parents and considered them family, but his bond with Izuku was really the only thing that mattered to him. Akira was only interested in returning to Japan because of the prospect of reconnecting with his brother and making his life change for the better, since the fabled scale quirk of Red Scale promised misery to those that suffered its wrath and its presence…
He had injured the green jewel of the Midoriya clan that would one day be the most powerful man in the world, and he knew that hell would be to pay for that offence. It was possible that Michael got to him first, and if that was the case, he knew that he would suffer excruciating amounts of pain, but pain didn't matter to him…
Nothing mattered to him…
Nothing but the dream his master shared with him…
As he looked up, his animal instincts picked up on a nigh invisible object close on him from above, moving at speeds that even he was unable to fully see, and from just one glance with his beast eyes, he could see the huge bolt of thunder circling overhead.
"You came…" he frowned as one of his arms began to expand. If he were anywhere else in the world, he'd have already transformed and laid waste to cities trying to defeat this person, but the risk of being identified in Asia was too great, so he needed to limit himself massively...
His ears twitched and he pushed himself off the ground with a gentle tap of his foot, avoiding the thunderbolt that struck down where he was standing, too fast to even see coming. Andre himself couldn't track it, so he just predicted where it would land and moved accordingly, though it wasn't as easy as it sounded.
As soon as the bolt of lightning hit the grass floor, it ricocheted off of the ground and sprang up to the body of the human, attempting to strike the lion in the heart. A killing blow. Andre could sense the bloodlust and it gave away the lightning's trajectory, so he grabbed the hand that shot out of the golden bolt.
The electrified arm hit Andre straight in the eye, but was stopped just before it could penetrate the lid of it…
"Hoshino…"
The male's hands quickly shot back to a safe distance as the second strongest hero in Akira's agency was revealed in the shade of the trees above. His yellow eyes flashed with fury and his hair was standing out like a real bolt of lightning, sticking up in a thick trident above his head, but only serving to make him more intimidating, and not someone to scoff at. His hand, now positioned in the signature cutting formation of the agile attack style that was taught by their master, was sparking with golden lightning and burning up the soil on the ground...
Andre wasn't allowed any time to expand on the man's name as a sudden kick ripped the air around them into smoke and collided with the demi-human's rib cage, making the man's white and gold eyes widen in pain as he skidded slowly along the forest floor.
"Kah...this mosquito… Sucker punching me from above and even cutting me off?"
The second strongest member of America's nine top heroes didn't even react to the taunt and disappeared in a blinding flash, making Andre blink, and then appeared right in front of his face with a furious expression. The huge man's rock hard neck was gripped like it was made from a soft rubber and the free knee of the lightning hero crashed into the midsection of the lion.
Even someone like Andre, who had the most durability of the nine elite heroes of the agency, was feeling real pain from each almost unseeable attack thrown by the raging warrior of the clouds. Andre's eyes were capable of tracking even the fastest things, but Hoshino's speed was one of the two exceptions to this ability…
His quirk, "Thunderclap", allowed him to literally become lightning by just clapping his hands together, and even though that clap was equivalent to a bomb going off next to your ear in terms of noise, the man was too fast to make it a weakness. When not being one with the golden bolts, his entire body was powered up by the quirk, to the point that the human eye, or any eye couldn't keep up…
In terms of power, only Andre was superior, but Hoshino actually rivalled their master in speed, and that was terrifying...
After taking enough damage, Andre's sclera turned pitch black and his arms flashed into golden fur thicker than a carpet. Hoshino could only jump high enough to wriggle his upper body out of the hold that Andre prepared as the vice master slammed him down on the ground, barely able to prevent the entire area from erupting…
Hoshino was laid down gently into the dirt, both to save his body from near destruction and to save the area around them from an earthquake. Just to be sure, Andre's huge gold claws dug deep into Minoru's leg, stopping him from getting away and mounting another attack.
"I've had enough of your childish cockfighting… Stand down before I send you into the next city…"
The young man, his yellow hair flowing in the wind, glared at his superior. He vanished from the pin and reappeared right behind Andre, his fingers pulsing with yellow light. "You are a disgrace to us all…making me lay hands on Izuku..."
The lion glared back. "It was unavoidable, and you know it! Should we have not put him to sleep, he would have either leaked my whereabouts or caught wind of our plans, and then we would be nothing but trash in the eyes of his brother!"
"That doesn't change the fact that you could be giving us a ticket to the chopping block, if we're even that lucky… Master will probably peel every last inch of your traitorous hide off before giving himself the satisfaction of ending your life…"
"Not like you're immune, seeing as you are the prick that dealt the blow…"
Hoshino's eyes sparked in annoyance. "And if I didn't? We would have been exposed and our lives exterminated…"
"Well would you rather commit high treason and explain our plot to the one person in the world that can't hear it?" The half-lion asked, almost daring Minoru to refute him.
The hero glared at the floor, hating that the truth was being spoken to him like it was obvious… "Don't speak to me like I'm a child, you fucking barbarian…"
Andre rose from his crouched position. He looked up to the huge screen on the front entrance of the UA stadium. "You're lucky we didn't fight for real. I could have flipped that stadium around if you didn't power down, and Akira wouldn't be too happy about having his movie buffer…" His dark eyes focused on the student that entered the arena. "The Young Master's opponent is weak, both in mind and body…"
"Yes, should Izuku be able to make up for his loss of muscle and skin with the power he has remaining, that sorry bastard will stand no chance at all, or any hero in this overrated country for that matter…"
"You do realise that Izuku is technically Japanese right? Since he was born right here in this city…" Andre smirked, before furrowing his brows at the screen. "But then again...if he isn't able to use that power...or if he just flat out refuses to, it'll be a hard fought fight indeed…"
Minoru looked at him sceptically. "You believe that he'd have doubts about it?"
"Well he is a successor to Red Scale, in a way… He doesn't just have public animosity to deal with, but also the interest he will arouse from other lands to the other corners of the globe."
"It's true, I pity the kid...but he's our master's own flesh and blood, so there's no way he's falling here…"
The air seemed calmer, if only for a moment...
Andre nodded, but then glanced down at the flashing light on his wrist. "A transmission from the main base?"
Hoshino's eyes widened...
"This is Regulus Nemea, standing by at the target location…"
There was a slight delay, but that was far from a good sign.
{Vice Master Wilson; Master Akira has requested your presence immediately} Both men's eyes widened in realisation of what that meant. {You have done well, and our benevolent lord as kindly overlooked your blunder with the young master, so you needn't fear of your return. Andre Wilson; you are to await our lord at Surge Tower, where he shall brief you on the events to come, and hand out the orders for the second phase of our plan…}
This was the personal assistant of Akira and the highest ranking member of staff within the agency, holding even more power in the organisation than Andre and Hoshino. For her to even bother calling him was shocking and almost as impossible as Akira himself calling them up, but this meant something big. Normally, the two of them would be contacted by the head of intelligence in the agency, the number 4 hero, and even though he was currently making his way out of Japan after aiding them in the stadium, he could have still opened communication, but didn't…
This wasn't an accident, and it was actually the head herself talking to them…
This meant that something had changed in their plans…
{Our Master demands you arrive before the end of the weekend, and should you fail in this, he shall make sure to enact the payment you deserve for Izuku's little accident. Take pride in the fact that all is moving as planned thanks to your retrieval of the school blueprints. It shall make our entry into Japan far easier, and should Izuku perform the desired move on our chess board, victory is within our grasp. Hoshino will be called back at a later date, but for now, he shall watch over the young master and make sure no mortal danger awaits him…}
The audio cut off coldly.
And there was a single thing Hoshino had to say.
…
…
...
"It has begun…"
...
"Yes Minoru…" Andre crushed the band around his wrist by expanding his arm and threw the fragments away into the forest.
...
"In mere months, we won't be shadows watching over the young master, but the pillars that hold up the Midoriya name, as it strides into the fields of Asia…"
It was the final match of the sports festival as the sun shone on the two contestants…
The lights of the stadium acted like laser beams as they lit up the ground, and chants ran across the arena like a wave… The atmosphere was simply electrifying and even the coldest people in the world would feel a tremble in their heart if they were here in this moment, standing where the top students of the 1st year were. It was like watching a sports game and seeing your supporting team score a point that wins the game, only this feeling was constant, as the fans booming voices refused to be put out and the incredible feats these students displayed were only getting more and more spectacular…
This was the biggest sporting event in the world, and yet no one had been able to experience something like this so far. There hadn't been this much excitement since All Might's final match in his 3rd year of UA, before people knew him as a symbol of peace. Now you had an unknown prodigy that was just bursting with talent, holding the same last name as the notorious duo that had the entire continent of North America in the palm of their hands, and on the other end, the son of the current no.2 hero and the boy possessing both ice and fire as his quirk.
This was the first time that either boy had been considered threatened by the opponent in front of them, and predictions were completely even, the crowd split between who would come out the victor...
Izuku could see Todoroki on the other side, and now he was the one looking like a sitting duck. He couldn't attack and he couldn't run, and he couldn't even defend when his arms gave out, so it looked to be a timed fight. It was obvious that Izuku could win, should he manage to luckily knock his opponent out within the first minute of the match, but that was far too unrealistic to just assume.
Out of everyone in his year, only Todoroki could put up a defence against his level of physical strength, and now that Izuku was almost stripped of that overwhelming force, Todoroki wouldn't even need that ice to defend him, as he could just send wall after wall of that freezing solid at him and wait until Izuku was crushed under the weight and momentum of the ice…
He could try a burst of speed, but should he fail in either grabbing Todoroki's legs and putting him in a hold, or just crushing the first bone he connected with, then he would be utterly helpless, and then nothing would save him from defeat…
This match was far too big to risk, and Izuku wasn't fool enough to bet his future if the odds were this badly against him…
'I could keep distance and use small amounts of my scales to avoid his ice, but that'll only last around 2 minutes at best, and I could also try destroying the arena with one blow, though that would make me defenceless, like the all out assault I was considering before… I can't make the same approach as I did with Bakugou, because my body would be ripped to shreds and I won't have Purity here to heal me…' His eyes narrowed as he felt sweat drip down his bangs. 'If I fight like a berserker and throw caution to the wind, I may just kill myself in the process…'
He was beginning to stress, and that was something unknown to the teen, as he was a Midoriya after all…
His whole future rested on whether he won or lost this match…
He couldn't make himself look weak in the eyes of the Blazing Fangs of Red Scale, who could see his weakness as a sign to take him away, and he couldn't make a mockery of his father's legendary family name by losing to some students, even if his power was relatively new to him…
He was trying to rack his brain and find something to do in this situation other than fly the white flag of surrender, but even a genius like him could find no real option…
Across the court, Todoroki locked eyes with the worn out boy and sighed…
Normally, he would actually be considering using his fire, but with the almost defeated opponent he was faced with, not even his ice would be necessary after the first few minutes. Of course, this was Midoriya he was about to fight, and even if he was battered and bruised beyond recognition, he would still put up a good fight, so in the minutes before their fight, he had been running scenarios through his head and attempting to predict what desperate or genius maneuver he would pull…
He couldn't even underestimate Midoriya if he walked out with a broken spine like the aftermath of the USJ incident, because this guy was someone that could beat you, even if he was half dead…
'Whether the name Midoriya bears the same weight as those two evil bastards in the states is irrelevant. What matters is our fight Izuku, and how you will perform against me…' he thought to himself. 'I'm aiming to finish this quickly, so for your own good...drop out now…'
If he was a real Mifdoriya, it would explain his genius way of fighting and his incredible way of reading people, but it also meant that he shared blood with Akira Midoriya, the only hero in the world that was feared by both sides of the law because of his power… That man was both a genius tactician and a brutally effective fighter, and not once had he even used his quirk in public…
If he was facing that man's own brother, then there was everything to look out for...
He didn't want to hurt Midoriya, but this was what it came to, and the boy showed no signs of backing down even with these unwinnable conditions. He couldn't care less about the arrogant face he pulled back before the tournament even started, and he didn't bother getting worked about how he disregarded his troubles with his father. Midoriya was just a student, the same as him, and they were fighting to see which of them was stronger…
Even though the fans would think otherwise with the expressions on the teens faces, neither of them held any animosity for each other…
The whip cracked on the ground as the crowd cheered for the start of the match, but instead of unloading the huge storage of ice he was fighting with, Todoroki just left his side of the arena and walked forward, directly towards Midoriya with nothing at all stopping the vastly superior physical fighter from punching his head clean off his shoulders…
"What are you playing at?" Izuku shouted over to him, but he got no reply…
He would have laughed if this was another time, because it almost looked like Shoto was trying to lose, but he knew that the person he was facing was far more intelligent than he wanted to admit, and so would be capable of deceiving many people with a bluff like this…
But was it really a facade?
He couldn't use his ice at close range when faced with the incredible reflexes of Izuku, and his hand to hand skills, while good, were but a blimp on the radar of the opposing male, who has solely survived by using said skills…
There was really no way for him to get the advantage, or even land a cheap shot…
And with that realisation, Izuku also began walking forward and stopped just feet away from Todoroki…
The two looked each other in the eye...
"Midoriya...you should consider backing out while your body is still stable."
Izuku frowned slightly. "You pulled this stunt just to tell me that? Of course I should drop from the card and quit, but it isn't that simple, as you already assumed."
The corner of Todoroki's mouth quirked up in amusement, but that smile faded as fast as it came, being replaced with the blank slate Midoriya had begun to loathe. "I'm not as oblivious as the rest of those...people up there…" He looked over the crowd, his eyes almost like daggers as he spotted the blazing figure in the distance. "And I can see what's going on with you. Risking your future isn't worth an hour of fame Midoriya, and you should be intelligent enough to know that…"
"And if I am? What does that matter?"
Todoroki sent a confused glance…
"Why are we fighting here? It isn't for the fans, nor for our peers. We fight because our futures will be drastically altered in accordance to how we perform. I suspect the both of us already have thousands of offers from various agencies across japan, or even Asia, but for me...and you...that just isn't enough, is it?"
The teen kept quiet…
"I'm fighting for my family, and for what I will become in the future. I wanna be a hero, but one greater than any other, and I cannot do that if I fall here. My family have high expectations of me, so it is my goal to make them proud; but also, after the USJ incident, I have another task ahead of me…"
"The vassals of Red Scale…" Todoroki quietly realised.
"Correct. How do you think they would react if I lost to you? Would they really take their time preparing for another assault when they could just take me without any resistance? If I look weak to them, I become a target, and if I lose to just a student, then I will have failed at surpassing my idol…"
"Then why do you care so little about the odds, and about what winning this could cause?" the boy glared.
"I do care, because my brother's path is to never show weakness and achieve the greatest strength possible for yourself. Push yourself to your absolute limit and endure unimaginable hardship, if it means gaining power."
Yes, his brother was always after more strength, and he said that he'd already reached his peak strength by the time that Izuku was able to walk. His lust for power had made him the greatest hero in the world; and the proof was these with someone like Andre lived in fear of him, and the golden lion was comparable to Prism in a way of might. Izuku needed that same strength, for every hero to bend the knee to him, but not for a reason of pride or revenge. It was because he'd been thrust into a world that demanded that his strength must almost double by every month, and it seemed like he would soon be at a point where his future would depend on how much he trained…
His favourite hero was All Might, and always will be, but he wanted to be like his brother…
An unstoppable force capable of bringing the entire world to its knees, but someone that desired a better world for the powerless…
Someone like Todoroki could not ever understand that, and Izuku didn't blame him for it...
"But is it worth this? All for some small opportunity? How can you endure and get stronger if you die in this fight!?" the boy gritted his teeth.
"Looking at what my life could be like in the future, and what the world could look like with me as the face of Asia, then yes, it is entirely worth it. I won't surrender or back down from the odds, because there is a small chance that I could win this and realise my dream. Things like injury don't phase me as much as you might think, and my future depends on becoming stronger than anyone else."
Izuku got into a stance…
"If I could possibly go on to save countless lives and be the hero I always wished to be, then I would throw my body into a lake of lava, or have it crushed by a mountain. For that dream, I wouldn't be bothered by things like pain or loss. You think I would ever hesitate in choosing the future of the world over my own wellbeing?"
"You may say that Midoriya, but are you really prepared to sacrifice that? If you lose to me, who knows what damage will be dealt to you, and who knows if you will ever be a hero in the future... Is it really worth losing your future, or dying for? Is your ambition that strong?"
...
Izuku's expression darkened. "Absolutely…"
And with that, the final match of the sports festival began…
With a furious stomp, Todoroki's boot smacked against the hard soil and exploded with ice, and that ice spewed out from its source and covered the side of the arena he was aiming for…
That was enough talk for today… He would not be able to make Izuku give in, it seemed…
And as he expected, the boy skidded out from the huge cave of ice, unharmed from the blast yet shaking from the pain he sustained from using his quirk. He had a grimace on his face and a tiny amount of his tracksuit ripped from the usage of his scales. Both boys were surprised that Izuku was already feeling the effects of quirk overuse, but both also knew that it wouldn't stop him.
Wincing slightly, Izuku jumped forward to try and slash Todoroki across the face, his hand slowly coiling into a green one with scales reflecting the sunlight. His black talons reached a few inches from the opponents cheek, but then a small slab of ice shot through the gap, smashing into tiny shards but allowing its owner some breathing room.
As expected, Izuku wasn't even close to helpless, and wouldn't be able to be rendered defeated by half hearted attacks.
Todoroki knew this more than anyone, having faced a completely fresh and arrogant version of this kid, and knowing that ice alone was naught but a glass pane in front of him. He remembered those claws cutting through the freezing slabs like it was a molten rock melting through the earth, and his movements were just a green blur to his trained eye, but this wasn't the same boy…
Even Izuku knew that he was far weaker than before, not able to use a surprise attack from above anymore, and not having the endurance of power to make shockwaves powerful enough to blow the other kid away… It was telling that this resistance wouldn't last long, and Todoroki wasn't cruel enough to drag it out.
Before Izuku could accelerate again, Todoroki slapped his right hand down to the dirt ahead of him and pumped energy into this attack.
Izuku looked at it and remembered that same posture being used when he released a huge ice blast against him in the mock. This was bad, and he couldn't just destroy whatever was coming with his strength anymore.
The ice came at him like a freight train, rolling along the floor as it almost instantly latched onto the area that Izuku was standing on, and began to rise as Todoroki flicked his arm off the ground and made a throwing motion with it. The student jumped as he saw the frozen water rise up, and he could see the jagged edges of the structure come closer and closer to him, so he curled into a ball, not wanting a single thing to hit him while he was vulnerable.
But Todoroki had already seen Izuku's aerial ability when he managed to wrestle Dark Shadow out of the sky and win his quarter final match, and now he knew how to counter it, and that was simply by changing the direction of the ice.
"What!?" Izuku's eyes widened as he broke out of the fetal position, looking on in shock as he saw the huge pillar of ice change direction and snake around to crash into him like it had a mind of its own.
It was far too fast to dodge, and he was still in the air so his mobility was all but lost…
The huge cylinder of solid ice crashed into him, and he could only hold up a frail defence to that power. His arms rose to protect his face and his scales only had half a second to form before the impact, so they were weaker than normal, therefore not able to absorb the entire force of the blow, and so let Izuku be sent flying without warning…
It wasn't strong enough to send him out of the arena, but it was potent enough to make him have to use his legs to stop himself from falling out of bounds. Ripping the calf area of his tracksuit bottoms, his feet crushed the ground with the force he landed with, and a small stream of blood leaked from his legs. He looked down and cursed as he awkwardly stood back up.
'Already, he's showing signs of it, but after this, he'll be down and out for sure… He's got a will of steel for being able to survive the injuries he suffered earlier, but that won't matter now. He has around 3 or 4 moves left on the chess board before his body shuts down and fails to keep up with his mind, leaving him at my mercy, and now that I'm putting my back into this, he may not even come back up after the next volley…' Todoroki stalked his enemy as he tapped his foot on the floor, sending a medium sized wave of ice at Midoriya.
The boy looked to his left and saw the ice racing for him, and almost without thinking, he pushed from his legs and threw himself away from the danger, almost like his body was on autopilot. It was probably his strange new instincts that helped him get out of that, but it didn't matter, as Todoroki expected it.
Izuku's eyes were the only part of his body to turn as a massive wall of ice crept overhead. It was far larger than the one at the start of the fight and was aimed directly for him…
It was Todoroki's plan to shoot a weak but threatening amount of ice at him, making him move into the centre where he had a clean shot. With Izuku moving in midair and without much control, it was a guaranteed hit, and because this was Izuku, he decided to put all his power into that strike...
He saw the huge wall of ice come over the top of him like a huge wave out at sea, and he could only look up, as the speed of it was faster than his arms, and he couldn't guard…
"No…" he breathed as a huge blast of dirt and ice erupted in the centre of the battleground...
The crowd gasped, not being able to see Midoriya after that, and some of the pro heroes that had faced death before actually thought that Izuku had perished under that...
Though Todoroki wasn't so distressed and only glared harder into the lump of ice in the centre of the playing field. "I'm not even surprised Midoriya…" He said with an almost annoyed look on his face as he saw a crack form on the ice formation he covered the kid in.
Seconds later, a huge explosion rocked the field and Todoroki shielded his eyes from the stray shards of ice that flew past him. The gusts of wind blew past him and he struggled to stay on his feet, but his eyes never left his target...
And out stepped Izuku, his arms in tatters…
And his eyes told the story that his opponent had wrote like an expert…
It was now clear that this was Shoto's plan all along; to take out his enemy's limbs and everything that could make him a threat in the end. He'd baited him into that powerful ice attack not to immobilize him, but to box him inside and allow for only one method of escape… This whole thing was for Izuku to destroy his own arms while trying to get out of the structure, and it worked like a charm…
"Nice trick…" Blood flowed from Izuku's mouth as he wiped it away without much care… There was bruising all over his arms, making them go from dark purple to an almost blue colour, and it was so disgusting to look at that some even turned their heads away from the sight. The pain he must be feeling was horrendous, and everyone knew there was more to come.
'He's definitely broken a few bones from that attack; not even those annoying scales can stop that from happening. But his arms are all but finished, meaning that I knocked away his fangs… Now that his legs are weakened and his main form of offence is all but gone, he's nothing but a target…' Todoroki's leg began to flow with mist and so did his arm as he raised them for an even stronger attack. 'This will be the one to put you away…'
But Izuku quickly sprinted away to the right, making the charge up stop.
The student's legs were coated in a thick layer of crimson liquid, shining in the sun and sticking to his skin from the amount that was gushing out after they broke his fall earlier, and although his pain was numbed slightly from the damage to his midsection, he was growing weary from the loss of blood. He couldn't even run in a straight line…
But he wouldn't give in yet…and he showed that by disregarding the damage to his legs and pushing forward with more power, to the point that Todoroki actually needed to turn the other way to keep sight of him.
"Running around like a little rodent won't do you any good Midoriya… You don't even have a quarter of the speed you used against Bakugou last round, so what will this do?"
Izuku gritted his bloodsoaked teeth and shut the voice of his opponent out of his head. He couldn't let facts get to him in the moment, and now was the worst time to hesitate.
He quickly spun on his heel and flipped into another direction as he ran straight for the prodigy, his claws out and his posture lowered down to where his body was almost touching the floor. His speed doubled as a dust cloud formed with every silent step he took closer.
Todoroki was phased slightly by the burst in speed and almost panicked, thinking that he'd reach the insane speeds of their previous battle, but then remembered that if Izuku could consistently keep that speed, he'd have won this match already…
He erected a small barrier of ice, and watched Izuku shoot straight through it with the speed of a supercar, and then put up another on his side to protect him from the right hook that the teen sent his way. As he did that, he ducked out of the way of the punch, allowing the scaled fist to slide across his hair harmlessly as it crushed ice, and he finished by making another spread of ice around him.
Izuku looked down and saw the floor suddenly become incased with ice, and decided for a different approach, choosing to stamp on the ground harshly and crack the ice; the force knocking Todoroki off balance.
'Not good!' The son of Endeavor narrowly avoided falling, his heart dropping slightly in dread after almost being exposed to physical punishment, but he'd underestimated Izuku, even though he said he wouldn't.
Izuku quickly closed the distance and appeared underneath Todoroki, his arm and veins bursting as he flexed his muscles and delivered a powerful uppercut to the ice caster's ribcage.
"Uuuggghhh…" Todoroki staggered as he got up from the winding blow. He put his arm out to try and blast the kid with ice, but Izuku was gone by then. 'No…' He realised in a crucial moment 'This is how I lost last time!'
He suddenly dropped down to the floor, freezing the ground with all his might and creating what could only be described as an ice flower in the centre of the arena, trapping both he and Izuku in the middle.
Izuku was mere inches away from the leg of Todoroki, looking to take the limb and cut it down to size, but the ice that shot up his legs stopped him in his tracks…
The boy glared at Shoto, frustrated by the small inconvenience and tried to break out, but was stopped when Todoroki opened his mouth to speak, a pained grimace on his handsome face.
"Stop this Midoriya…" Todoroki spat out some blood while holding his chest. "I don't want to cause you any more harm…"
Izuku just frowned deeply as he pulled his bleeding feet out of the frozen prison and extended his right leg, his eyes glowing a deep and terrifying green like back then, attempting to boot Todoroki in the face with a front kick.
Todoroki saw the immediate danger and recognised the pulsing fear he felt back then, before Midoriya pummeled him with punches and won the match in the mock battle that had plagued his conscience since. He knew that he would be out cold for sure if this hit, and he could never allow that to happen after all he'd said… He looked for a way out of it, and could see the foot come closer and closer like a ballistic missile shooting through the sky. It was only a miracle he was able to think fast enough… He held out his palm and suddenly sprayed the boy with a glistening cloud of moisture.
"A smokescreen!?" Izuku quickly spun around and dispersed the obscuring collection of fog while clenching his teeth from the pain that it caused. Flailing around like that would only further damage his already pulsing limbs, and now Izuku was beginning to feel the full force of the pain he promised himself.
He couldn't see anything through this white mist, and could only hear and feel. His senses were heightened, but even here he could be attacked successfully...
His hand reached out and grabbed the nearest thing…
And that thing was the frozen hand of Todoroki that revealed the boy's shocked gaze...
"How did you-!?"
Todoroki's almost frozen arm was nearly crushed by the force of the grip, and thanks to those insane senses of his, he was able to detect the hand coming for his neck.
This was an exact repeat of the last match, where Todoroki tried and failed to use stealth, resulting in him being in the crosshairs of Midoriya's fists, and that was a place no man would ever dare go…
He could feel his heart pounding with fear as those images flooded his mind like a burst dam...
Izuku bit down on his bottom lip, drawing blood as he pulled the arm outwards, and Todoroki's eyes shot open in realisation as the boy turned his back. "No stop!"
But it was too late, as Izuku stuffed a portion of his shirt into his mouth to control the pain and guided the trapped arm of the ice user over his back, then ever so swiftly yanking it…
*SNAP!*
Todoroki's arm was bent like a crowbar and his eyes went into a state of miosis from the pain while Izuku growled in pain; throwing the other student over his head and into the corner of the boundary…
The child rolled and just about stopped on the boundary line, shaking as he rose from the ground.
"Gaaaaahhh!" Todoroki roared as he flexed his snapped limb, only to see it harmlessly fall down to his side. He fell back on a wedge of ice he'd erected to stop him being thrown out into the crowd, but he was only focused on one thing now.
His hand stung like it'd been hit by a hornet's stinger, and was numb and shaking, but his arm was completely snapped like a weak and frail stick, even his resilience to pain allowing the arm to rise only a few centimeters…
His eyes became slightly bloodshot from the anger and the mist from his right side began to cloud his image.
"M-Midoriya…" He growled ferally as he glared at the teen with anger pulsing through his sapphire eye…
Izuku shook off the blood on his leg and began panting. 'F-Fuck… I don't think I can even use my arms anymore, even if I put all my effort into trying to move it, it'll just deflate like an empty pillow… Now I can't block, attack, or even dodge effectively…'
His vision was blurred from both the bloodloss and the disorientation of the huge blasts made by both he and Shoto. He stumbled around, almost blind from the aftershock of the explosions before, and he could feel his body get weaker by the second. 'I only have another minute left until my body utterly crumbles under the weight of my quirk… I'll have ten seconds before my vision goes, another ten before my body begins to shut down, and the remaining time will depend on when my legs finally falter… I'm doomed unless I take him down right now…'
His heart was beating like it never had before, hammering like the beating of a tribal drum, and his eyes were bursting with green and black light, but it wasn't excitement or fear that he was feeling…
It was hunger…
Do it…
This is your chance…
Burn him to cinders…
Until only embers remain…
Do not fear yourself boy…
He madly clutched the side of his head, panting furiously as he tried to drown out the booming voice of the man inside his head…
'No… I can't… I can't do it…'
No, he wouldn't succumb to that…
"I WON'T SUBMIT!"
He roared out into the sky, the cry echoing out like the screaming of a wild beast, and his legs almost exploded from the power inside them; blasting Izuku out from his position and having him spiral through the air.
But before he reached his target, a thick blockade of ice, enough to cover the entire stadium...collided with his head…
And it seemed like the entire world froze in place…
It was dark...and the temperature was boiling…
It was as if he was inside a volcano…
His surroundings were only black and green, and it felt like he wasn't even in the physical realm anymore…
He couldn't feel his injuries, or anything for that matter…except the horrible warmth…
He could see his own body and knew that he was conscious, but he couldn't see any kind of floor, or wall, or anything resembling a solid object when he excluded himself. Just a black void surrounded by green flames…
"Am I...dead?" he asked himself, shaking at the possibility of his life being over…
…
"Not quite…"
Something smacked his senses into overdrive as Izuku felt one emotion he'd been immune to for most of his life…
It was fear...
Izuku's head almost span as he searched for the owner of that voice in this void he could barely call a location, but then he saw the green fire begin to fade, or...was it melding into the black…
Looking at the red and black fires that sprouted up from the void of nothingness was like acid to his eyes, and he felt horrible even having the image of them into his head, like they were giving him an allergic reaction.
Now, the red began to swell in the surrounding area, and as the echoing sound of the thing's voice became louder and louder, the red light and fire drew ever closer, until it was overlapping the green, and when Izuku turned to look behind him, he saw something he didn't even have words for…
It was like a cutout of a person surrounded in crimson fire…
It was just a huge collection of power, like he was staring into the very soul of a quirk…
For some odd reason, the emotions he felt were severely limited and only had a fraction of weight, so it stopped him from dying over the difference in power, but he was still looking up to it, his whole body twisting with agony…
This was a power he'd not ever sensed before… Something no one had came close to…
There wasn't even a chance that anything existing in this world was stronger than this being, and Izuku could almost feel himself grow tired from the huge cluster of power standing ahead of him…
Andre, Prism, the Nomu, All Might, Hoshino… They were all nothing compared to this horrible stain of a person walking towards him… Even with the scale quirk, he felt like his old quirkless self, but worse. When he had no power, he was still always able to run or hide, or try to fight back in vain, but against this? His body wouldn't even let him move...
Its face was completely obscured, not even a single detail being visible, and its body was only shown with red lines running through it… It was standing at an impressive eight foot and towered over Izuku; its eyes almost feeding on the fear he would normally feel if confronted with this menace...
"You know who I am?" The creature asked in an almost mocking tone as he stepped closer to Izuku… Its voice was deep and distorted, like the crackling of burning wood on a fire. Izuku felt like it was very fitting...
The boy looked back at him, not knowing how this person would react to his answer, and what kind of danger he was in. "I do…"
"And you know why you are here, or even what this place even is?"
"N-No, I don't have a clue…"
The being seemed to nod knowingly and turned its back to him, then raising its hand and shooting a bright white light into the void of black…
An image started to form, and Izuku knew exactly what it was…
"What is this? How did-"
"One question at a time, boy. If you are curious about your whereabouts, then I can say for certain that you are still where you were just a minute ago; lying limply inside the huge sculpture of ice that had crushed you moments before…"
Izuku frowned. "That doesn't answer my question. What is this place?"
"I answered your question perfectly. You are still in the stadium owned by UA, in Musutafu Japan, and you are rapidly losing blood. At the rate things are moving, you'll be dead in 10 seconds and that kid looking like an idiot, staring at your utterly shattered body, will be seen as a murderer, and your school will be shut down…" The demonic creature smirked. "Wanna hear what happens next?"
Izuku's eyes opened further in realisation and all thoughts that hinted at the creature deceiving him were thrown out of the window. He didn't want that to happen, and he didn't want a future like that for Todoroki, especially after promising himself to save him…
"No, that wasn't me!"
"You angered him to a point where the grip on his quirk loosened and he lost control of his power. You couldn't defend against it or counter, so you ended up taking the full force of that blast, shattering bones and breaking every last inch of the resistance you had left. Your mind left your body as soon as the cold substance impacted your face…"
Izuku breathed out in a stressed way. "I don't want that!"
The creature nodded again, of course...
"You haven't lost just yet, and I don't intend for you to just sit in a field of dirt and die of blood loss…" it replied dryly.
The boy looked up hesitantly...
In the image displayed in the dark distance, Todoroki was standing there, about 20 meters away, and was sweating up buckets… He'd clearly used almost all of his ice powers to knock Izuku out, and what remained was just his exhausted form staring into the huge glacier he'd created. People were shouting, screaming even, and Izuku could see the classmates of his in a state of shock, not wanting to believe what they'd just seen.
"Quite impressive, don't you think? Insignificant rabble like him are able to wound a child such as yourself, at the moment…"
Izuku didn't understand what it was alluding to, but listened anyway.
"After you so easily guessed my identity, I expect that you are already wondering what my reaction to your failure is."
The child had a delayed reaction, but nodded with a sigh.
"The two of us are a special breed of human, and so advanced in both body and mind that it would be unwise to even consider us of the same race as the rest of the garbage on the streets, so you can imagine my surprise seeing you of all people being bested by that overrated ball of angst. You and I are people that cannot be rivalled when at our best. We stand without equal and strike a terrible fear into anyone who dares challenge us, and yet this happens…"
For some strange reason, Izuku felt shame from that…
"But I don't blame you, my hatchling, for you haven't yet reached your full potential, or even a whole percentage of what you are capable of… You are now fighting with a mere matchstick, compared to the infernal supernova that you shall wield when you reach adulthood, and that is why I don't look upon you with disappointment. Comparing you to me is foolish, and those leeches I call followers are already making that mistake. You to me, are nothing but a bug like the rest, but the reason you are not worthless filth, is because you have the potential to be something great…"
Something...great…
Almost as if it read his thoughts, the being cackled. "I don't blame you for fearing me at all, and I expect this shall haunt you for a long time to come, but don't be disheartened by this. I may be unbeatable, but you will soon be too, so what do you think will happen when two invincible warriors cross blades?"
"One of them dies?" he felt very pressured when he said that, like he was predicting a grim future
The being shook its head. "Again; not quite…"
It began to walk to the side slowly, each step so delayed that it felt like hours ticking by as he moved...
"All Might, Endeavor, Hawks, UA, The League of Villains… They're all the same in my eyes… Each of them strives for a goal, and yet none of them can ever get it… Even if one of them succeeds in accomplishing their life's goal, that joy and pride will only fade later…"
"All For One was an associate of mine once, and we hold a somewhat mutual respect for each other, not because we admire each other in strength, but in mind… He isn't foolish and delusional like the others, as he knew that his empire wouldn't last forever…"
"Tell me more." Izuku said bravely.
The monster looked at him and smirked. "His goal was originally to rule the world, but once he heard about the power of his brother's quirk and how it could stockpile over multiple users, the man knew his days were numbered, and then with the arrival of me, and later All Might, his fears were confirmed… Instead of resorting to desperation, he attempted to inflict the most damage he could on the world, and get revenge on the man that toppled his dream in the end…"
"So in the end, One For All is what defeated All For One?"
The thing laughed humorously, taking pleasure in remembering the fall of the villain. "Yes, the irony was sublime… The reason I don't lump him in with the rest is because he realised he didn't have the power to realise his dream… I don't approve of him because I believe his wish to be a waste, though not to the extent of that blond fool you worship…"
...
"Do you have a dream Izuku? Do you have something you want more than anything else?"
Izuku's brows furrowed. "I want to be…"
But he stopped, his mind hitting a brick wall...
The creature's smile widened. "You don't know what you want, and that is your only true weakness…"
"My weakness?"
"These dreams you claim to have are but an illusion made by things you admire or respect… You want to be a saint for the people, because you were moved and inspired by All Might, and you want unrivalled power to stand next to your brother, who you think of as a god on earth…"
Everything it said was true to a fault, and Izuku didn't dare deny it…
"And now you claim to be striving for the title of a true hero, which is the thing you got from Rakuya… You have no ambition other that fulfilling other people's goals, which makes you worse than all the scum I despise…"
There was no anger in its voice…
"Why aren't I dead then?"
"Because you have room to change…"
Izuku was confused at the monster's words and looked closer.
"You're just a naive child not knowing a thing of the dark world just over the borders. If you had a look into what really goes on behind closed doors, you will be able to form an opinion of your own. Whether your eventual ideals turn out to be equal to mine or not depends on you and your choices, and if you don't find the answer you need, you may always take shelter under my wings, but know that if you ultimately find something truly worth fighting for...you will evolve into something greater than you can ever imagine…"
"And w-what is that?"
A strong white light shone in the distance as the image of Todoroki and the stadium faded back into the abyss.
The monster snarled slightly, its image almost glitching as the face of a man stared back at Izuku for the smallest fraction of a second, too brief for even he to catch… "Seems that you are about to die. We'll have to cut our conversation short and heal you…"
Izuku stepped back quickly. "This...thing I'm going to be! What is it!?"
"I'll explain later, but we have something far more concerning to address before I leave you to your own devices…"
The light shone brighter…
"Your quirk is without rival and cannot be used by anyone other than yourself, and yet it has a drawback big enough to kill you. If you awaken and try to use it, you'll die instantly, so how do you suppose you remedy that?"
Izuku shielded his eyes from the light as the creature's body began to be exposed…
"There is something you have yet to release; a power great enough to give you all you ever wanted, at the cost of your humanity… Should you let it all loose, you shall be born again and will be able to win that match…"
Izuku's heart was pumping blood at such an incredible rate and he felt all the pain come back… "GAAAAHHHH!"
The creature's red eyes watched the blind boy roll in agony, and those evil orbs of death showed pity for the first time… "It is a taboo for you, since you hate the idea of evil, but you've killed before… People will hate you for who you are, and the people that birthed you, but they don't matter; they never have…"
The black, red and green vanished from his view and was replaced by the first person look of the ice he was trapped in…
"If you truly wish to be the greatest hero to ever live, then you must rise to face the greatest evil…"
His chest felt like it had been set alight with renewed vigor…
"Be my equal in every single way…"
…
…
…
"Only then will you be a match for me…"
His feet slowly twitched as the pool of freezing blood began to boil underneath…
His shattered scales all turned to black dust in the air…
He felt warm…
The ice didn't bother him anymore…
He felt the wounds in his chest and head grow smaller, and the pain began to fade…
His eyes, once a dull green, slowly morphed into something far more terrifying…
The black mist inside his eyes were now forming something like a symbol...replacing what the draconic slits would be…
His breathing became relaxed, and the blood began to burn inside him...bubbling like hot tar…
The broken black claws reformed, but they were different now… Jagged and rough like they were melted down from magma...
His hair, once a normal shade of black, began to be overshadowed by the small amount of green gradually getting brighter…
His lips felt like they were on fire, and black scales stretched from the sides of his mouth, up to his temples…
As he breathed, searing smoke came out of his mouth, and he felt something rising within him…
He felt water drip onto his head and looked up to see all the ice melting…
A green and black light appeared under Izuku, and like a puppet pulled by strings, he began to rise to his feet, almost gliding across the ground…
His thoughts turned to something off in the distant corners of his mind, and his heart slowed as a smile blossomed on the slowly transforming boy's face…
He saw a man, dressed all in black, wearing a red cape and wielding a long crimson katana… His black and red hair flowed through the wind, and his body emitted a dark and powerful aura, making the earth erode away under his feet…
He was the embodiment of power and control, and he was the only man in the world strong enough to keep Izuku from mentally collapsing after his powerlessness was exposed…
He was Izuku's one and only hero in this world...
His brother, Akira…
"Izuku... you will, for a while, shine brighter than anyone else…"
His powerful words, the ones he'd remembered since they were spoken, had a new meaning now…
At first, he thought it was his brother's way of telling him he could be a hero without a quirk, and so All Might's rejection didn't hurt as much as it should have, but now Izuku realised it meant something else…
He could rise to the heights of his idol, the man he called his hero…
Green and black fire slowly ignited in his hands...
And with that in his mind, he ushered the words that would seal his fate, and begin his path into darkness…
"I submit…"
And that was the chapter!
Yes, okay...you didn't get the entire fight, but having a 30,000 + long chapter is overkill in my opinion, but at least we got something else right? Fear not, because the conclusion to this fight and this arc will be in the next chapter, along with the news about Ingenium's attacker.
And I really do apologize about the wait. This chapter was especially hard to write, and even now I doubt it's perfect. The reason for this being released after 2 weeks (pretty bad by my standards) is because I wanted to make this one the best yet, and also because I'm gonna be sitting my GCSE's soon, so revision is important.
Bio RL ~ That's a pretty small issue, and I'm not entirely understanding of this intense hatred towards Izuku's family, but I can definitely do with cutting down on the hype (though this chapter has it again lmao).
~ This chapter was a chore to release, but I totally get your pain dude.
ShardAura Thanks so much!
Justsomereader ~ I'm probably not going for a harem story and just sticking with the two girls I have in mind, but I love the resemblance you made about dragons. I'm not sure about it, but perhaps maybe one of them could be slightly corrupted in one way or another, but only after I decide how to implement that into the story.
Sinister10tails ~ I do have big plans for Ryukyu, but that will come much later, and I'm mixed about season four. Really wish they went the extra mile with animation considering that the Overhaul arc is the peak of the series, but you can only dream right? As of right now, I haven't made plans for any student deaths, but that will definitely happen in the future, and I'm a huge darksouls fanboy, so I share your opinion on Seath.
MIKE202303 ~ Thank you for reviewing!
The last airbendr agreed… I'm kinda against the whole "oh you get a power because reasons" thing they do in superhero movies, and I think heroes are more relatable when they earn their power, but I do have plans for explaining how quirks came to be and how they give people powers.
Rovsan143 ~ I'm just as excited to introduce Akira, but you'll have to wait a lil bit longer until he's fully in the story, and not just in the background.