A floating city that was perpetually in motion. I-Island was considered the peak of human technology and advancements. It was also considered the safest place on the planet.
Thanks to their constant motion, Gates rarely appeared on the Island. David Shield, the island's lead researcher, compared it to a satellite locking onto a GPS location with the limitation that the location was fixed in space. Because of this, I-Island only encountered 12 Gates within the past five years. Other cities of the same size had tens pop into existence each week.
Due to their safety, technology, and overall uniqueness, I-Island quickly became a hot tourist destination. As the utopia it was, it attracted people by the thousands. Unfortunately, this also made it hard to handle security as efficiently. Two years ago, a human Villain named Wolfram invaded the island with a group of terrorists and stole several pieces of Quirked and Awakened enhancing tech. I-Island's leader and own National Ranked Hero, Siddharth Bachchan put a stop to their efforts, but ever since then, the nation became more secretive, more closed off. Typically it took weeks of background checks and interviews to even be allowed to step foot on the island. Taking up permanent residence was a whole other headache.
However, for the conference, the intensive research was fast-tracked, only taking three days to clear every representative in the world. What surprised Izuku the most about this, was that he heard even the other National Heroes, himself, Thomas Andre, Liu Zhigang, and Adrian Brenner got background checks.
A/N: I made up Adrian Brenner to fill the slot of the unknown National Ranked Hero from the wiki!
It wasn't like Izuku wanted or needed preferential treatment, in fact, he was honestly quite happy to hear that he was being treated normally. Most National Ranked Heroes were humans that the law applied not to. They were Nation-Level threats that could not be controlled, so no one, outside of Siddharth it seemed, attempted to.
As Izuku's private jet came to a stop on one of I-Island's many runways, he found a new appreciation for pilots. He couldn't imagine landing a plane on a non-moving surface, and even though I-Island was moving slow compared to a plane, he still couldn't see it being an easier task.
The plane was quickly guided to a sort of tunnel. However, it was not moved to that tunnel by its own wheels or even any sort of "towing" vehicle, but by the ground itself.
"The entire runway is a moving sidewalk?!" Sakura exclaimed as she pressed her face up against the window, looking out at the massive walls surrounding the city.
"That's correct," Their stewardess said, "I-Island takes security very seriously, so every plane that lands is ferried through this tunnel, which scans the entire plane determines if it is a threat. If not, the passengers may disembark and the plane will be carried to an underground hangar that will house it until it must leave again. Even the planes leaving have to go through the same process."
"So then… are we gonna be sitting here for a while?" Miruko asked.
"Not at all! The tunnels use highly sophisticated techno-magic to quickly assemble a list of every item on board. Then computers scan through that list of items and if they find anything suspicious, they send it to technicians overseeing the process, who can either clear the suspicion or sound the alarm. It takes only a few minutes at most."
As if on cue, a soft, yet clear, BING, echoed throughout the tunnel and an umbilical docking gate latched onto the side of the private jet. As the stewardess opened the door, Izuku called upon a few Infantry to carry their suitcases.
"Follow this hallway, at the end of it, you should find a guide that will accompany you for your time here."
"Thank you," Izuku handed her a hefty tip and Yaoyorozu stepped into the cockpit, doing the same for the pilots.
The stewardess was stunned speechless for a moment as she realized Izuku handed her the equivalent of five-thousand American dollars. In terms of how much Izuku made, it was basically pennies, but it was still a pretty hefty tip to give.
"For dealing with my sister throughout the entire flight," He joked, earning a slap on the shoulder from Sakura. Izuku wasn't wrong though, and he did feel bad for Sakura calling for the flight attendant at least 12 times throughout the four hour plane trip.
"I-It was my pleasure," She quickly regained composure and bowed, "I hope you enjoy your stay here at I-Island."
"Thank you," Izuku repeated as he began following his family through the docking Gate, eventually reaching the side of the tunnel, where it opened up into a much more standard airport-like terminal center.
Because of the conference, this typically quiet place was now booming with noise and people. Thankfully, their guide was not hard to spot.
She was an American teenage girl, maybe 18 or 19, wearing a tan vest over a red plaid shirt and tan knee-length pants. Her blonde hair hung loosely around her shoulders and salmon-rimmed glasses hung just in front of her pale-blue eyes.
"Welcome to I-Island, Thanatos Agency!" She spoke in perfect Japanese as she clasped her hands over her hips and bowed. "My name is Melissa Shield. I'll be your guide for the International Hero Conference and any other needs you may have!"
"Melissa Shield?" Izuku asked, shocked that someone this important would come to greet them, "Like… the daughter of David Shield?"
"That's correct!" She beamed upon being recognized, "Mister Bachchan asked me to personally escort your Agency. Or more specifically, he asked me to escort you," She explained, referring to Izuku.
Miruko, being the person she was, asked bluntly, "Why?"
Melissa's cheeks were dusted pink with embarrassment, "Well, Mister Bachchan is actually more like Uncle Bachchan… He likes to play matchmaker all the time. He tries to find me a good relationship."
Miruko crossed her arms, "So are you gonna play along?"
Izuku and Yaoyorozu smirked at her territorial nature.
Melissa giggled and shook her head, "I'd want someone who's in the same field of work as me. I'm in the lab all day, after all, I wouldn't be able to spend enough time with whoever I was dating."
As she continued rambling, seemingly flustered by Miruko's question, Hisashi patted his son on the back, "It's a shame, she's kinda cute."
Izuku squinted, "What is it with you and mom trying to pair me with every girl I meet? Do you want me to have a harem?"
Hisashi shrugged, "You kinda already do. No point in not growing it."
Izuku had to shake his head in disbelief. He did not remember his father this way, "Nejire's just staying with us because of Nejire and Miruko works with us. Aside from me and Momo, nothing else is going on," He insisted, Melissa's talking just enough to muffle his words from the rest of the group.
Hisashi nodded with a smile, "Nothing else is going on right now, but I've seen the way they look at you."
"Really? I know about Miruko, she kinda made her feelings clear, but hasn't acted on them yet. I figured she was still sorting everything out… but Nejire too? Why?"
"Anyways," Melissa finally brought the conversation back to reality, "These bracelets will be your currency for the duration of your stay. Just hold them up to a card reader and it'll make the payment." She handed one out to every single one of them, except for Eri.
"So what's the spending limit?" Sakura asked immediately.
Melissa shrugged, "The balance on those bracelets wasn't provided by our nation. They were wired to Midoriya's account. So your limit is whatever he's okay with."
"There is no spending limit," Izuku said, causing Sakura to pump her fist into the air, "Except for Sakura."
"What?!"
"Trusting you with a credit card would be like giving a child a loaded gun."
Sakura pouted, "That's not at all what it's like."
"We'll make sure to pay you back once we get home," Izuku's mother assured.
"Absolutely not!" He insisted, "This is a vacation… of sorts… so just go wild." Izuku had more money than he knew what to do with, to force his parents to be frugal just so they could pay him back would be incredibly shameful. It made him depressed to even think about the concept.
"Of course, while I-Island didn't provide you with any personal spending money, we did arrange for you to stay at our finest hotel!" Melissa gestured for them to follow after her, "I'm sure you want to take a moment to rest after your flight." As she began going into detail about the accommodation and its amenities, Izuku felt a few familiar Mana signatures enter the terminal.
Directing his attention to one of the umbilical hallways, he was somewhat surprised to see Cha Hae-In and Sung Jin-Woo walking out. They immediately noticed him and ignored their guide, walking over to intercept Melissa, who had yet to see them.
"Hey Dancer!" Miruko greeted first with her limited knowledge of the Korean language, a mischievous grin on her face.
Hae-In blushed and felt the need to look away from the call of her embarrassing nickname, but thankfully for her, Izuku turned the conversation away from it.
"I honestly didn't expect to see any Korean Agencies here," He said, hoping that he didn't sound rude.
"Those Shadows you left are taking care of a majority of our Hero duties, and Choi Jong-In is handling what they aren't." Jin-Woo translated.
Izuku lifted an eyebrow, surprised to hear that Choi was actually back in action. The last he heard about him, he was running from just about every fight he saw. Granted, those fights were against massive Titans.
"How's Baek doing?" Yaoyorozu asked, Correnic converting her words in real time to Korean.
"He woke up a few days ago, but his mind and body are still so exhausted that he's merely been resting in bed."
"So," Izuku turned his attention to Sung Jin-Woo with a brazen and confident attitude, "You still wanna kill me?"
"Woah woah woah!" Hisashi immediately stepped in, moving between Izuku and the Korean Hero, "What's this about killing my son?" The bloodlust that bleed out of his pores was so potent that it even impressed Izuku, who arguably had the strongest bloodlust Skill in the world. Hisashi's might've even been on the same level as Kojin's Fear Skill.
But even though Hisashi had Higher Being-Level Boosts, Sung Jin-Woo was not impressed. He smiled as their Auras clashed like eighty-foot waves slamming into each other. "I've spent ten years in a Gate, it's gonna take a lot more than an angry dad to scare me."
Hisashi's Aura instantly shrank, "You too?"
"Me too…?" Jin-Woo's expression hardened, "A Ruler? Monarch?"
"An Architect," Hisashi responded gleefully, happy to find a kindred spirit, no longer all that concerned with the threat to his son.
"An…" Jin-Woo scratched at his head, becoming more and more confused with the conversation as time went on.
"A servant of the Monarchs," Izuku clarified, then, sensing another Aura, far vaster than anyone else here, save Yaoyorozu and himself, excused his party, "Well, we'll see you at the conference gala tonight. I'm sure everyone wants to unpack and clean up."
Cha Hae-In, after receiving the translated message, bowed, "Of course! We'll see you tonight!" Jin-Woo, Yaoyorozu, and Miruko on the other hand, fixed him with an odd stare as the two groups went their separate ways.
After they were out of earshot and nearing the exit of the airport, Izuku answered the question in Yaoyorozu's eyes, "Thomas Andre arrived." That still didn't seem to answer any of their questions, but Izuku's only response was, "I want to save our meeting for the perfect moment."
Lennart Niermann, the German representative and the head of the Richter Agency, had never seen so many reporters gathered just for the International Hero Conference. What was even more of a shock was the fact that most of the reporters were not native to I-Island. Either they somehow predicted that the International Conference would get moved weeks in advance, or, more likely, they figured out how to get their background checks fast-tracked like the Heroes.
"It probably helped that they weren't tourists," Lennart thought to himself as he stepped out of the airport to the cacophony of snapping shutters. However, they were not aimed at him. They were aimed at another of the airport's exits, which connected to a separate terminal.
"What're they looking at?" The German asked the Vice-President of his Agency.
"If I'm not mistaken, that Ashborn Hero from Japan is supposed to arrive today. Fate may have aligned our arrivals."
Lennart rolled his eyes at his right-hand man's "eloquence." Before he Awakened his powers as a Hero, the Vice-President was a very well renowned poet. It was something he hesitantly dropped in order to handle his duties as an S-Rank in full. Of course, his more literate side snuck out every now and again.
The man may have been overly wordy, but he was rarely wrong. And true to this, right as Lennart's eyes finished their revolution, Izuku emerged from the airport terminal, Yaoyorozu and Nejire on his left and Miruko on his right. Behind Izuku was a regal knight and an upright ant with a rather violent Aura. Both were made only of Shadows. On the knight's hip, an exquisite white and gold sword rested, contrasting his dark color scheme.
And behind even that knight was another congregation of Shadows, twelve in total, all forming a circle around something. Both Lennart and the reporters were interested in seeing what was behind that wall of Shadows and the gaps between their bodies were perfect points to peek through, in fact, they were plenty wide enough. However, no matter how hard someone tried looking at that Secret Service-like gathering of Shadows, their eyes were pushed away by fear. Even Lennart could barely stand looking in the direction for longer than half a second. His skills as an Awakened allowed him to pick out the floating Lich that led the group, but the sheer cold he felt looking at him was astonishing.
Of course, while no one could glance at the circle, where Izuku hid Eri and the rest of his family, Izuku himself and his Agency's members were completely open to pictures. And as they strutted through the crowd, led by a girl with blonde hair, Lennart felt his mind go numb. Not from the fear of the Lich, but from the unbelievability of what he was looking at.
All Summoners called upon their Summons from another dimension, binding them with a contract that forced them to fight for humanity. It was a style of fighting that cost immense amounts of Mana and caused the Summon to dissolve into ash after the contract ended, which made the Summoner a rare combatant to see inside a Dungeon.
Izuku, on the other hand, seemed to never suffer any ill effects like Mana exhaustion from his massive Summons. In addition, the thing that made Lennart want to puke, was the mass of Shadow Soldiers beneath Izuku. He Summoned them not from another dimension, but from his own Shadow. Lennart was certain that right now, he was the only one who could see the Summons beneath Japan's new greatest Hero. There were easily over two-thousand.
Lennart was certain that if everyone could see these Shadows like he could, they too would think that Izuku came here with the intent to conquer I-Island with his army.
Izuku felt a sense of embarrassment as he rode the elevator up the Central Research Tower. He was dressed professionally in black tie attire and the girls were similarly prepared, even Melissa, who was coming along as a translator. But that was Izuku's exact problem. He was going to walk out of the elevator with four girls, whose beauty was hard to argue, at his side. He was worried that he would be seen as a womanizer of sorts.
Yaoyorozu was wearing a velvet red dress that, from the front, seemed to be extremely conservative. It covered just about every part of the front of her, the back, however, was exposed. Her dress also had no sleeves of any kind and instead, she wore long gloves of the same color as her dress that went up to the middle of her biceps. The dress also had slits on the sides of her legs so that she wasn't restricted at all if she had to, as she put it, "Kick some sense into someone." Izuku didn't know who "someone" was, but he sure hoped it wasn't him, at least not with the heels she was wearing.
Miruko, much to Izuku's surprise, went for a white, more flowing dress that wasted no opportunity to flaunt her body. It was strapless and low-cut. The bottom of the dress, which became slightly more see through as it traveled further down her legs, ended at her ankles, where she wore simple flats.
Nejire, to no one's surprise, chose the cute, over the sexy, and wore a teal dress that ended in a skirt just below her knees. There wasn't much special about it except for the petal-like frills of the dress. Like Yaoyorozu, she wore matching heels.
Finally, Melissa had pulled her hair back into a ponytail, pulled off her glasses, and donned a strapless dress. The top half was a deep sapphire blue, while the bottom half turned into a pale powder-blue skirt. The two pieces of fabric were connected in at her waist, the seams hidden by a black cloth belt.
Izuku also had Beru and Igris attending him as both his personal bodyguards, not that he needed them, and his assistants. At least, that was Izuku's official reasoning. In truth, he simply thought they looked cool flanking his group like they were.
As they reached the 80th floor, a massive, stadium-sized, botanical garden with several open air floors where the gala was taking place, Yaoyorozu took the crook of his right elbow and Miruko took his left.
Though Izuku thought this would've made him tense up more, he felt a sense of calm wash over him as the two girls showed their affection for him. Nejire, unfortunately, had to simply stand to the side and watch with a slight pout as Melissa giggled at the sight, betraying her importance as a translator and as the daughter of one of the most important researchers on the planet.
The silver doors pulled open and Izuku was assailed with dozens of savory and wonderful smells. Up over a thousand feet and Izuku still felt like he was on the ground inside this warm and beautiful multilayered-garden.
They stepped out of the elevator and that warm feeling disappeared. On every level of the garden, Heroes noticed his presence, shifting their attention to him and making him want to engage Shadow Essence to hide. He didn't, of course, instead choosing to ignore them as Melissa led him and the other girls further through the garden.
The first to greet them was the last person Izuku expected to meet right away. He looked up, feeling a heavy presence dropping from three stories up.
The man was dark-skinned, with bleached hair, dark eyes, and the most casual attire Izuku could imagine for a gala: An Imagine Dragons concert t-shirt and cargo shorts.
"Well don't you all look lovely," He said with a heavy indian accent, "You're making me look like a slob."
Izuku couldn't help but smile. Intuition told him that this was the man's opening line for essentially every conversation he had and would involve himself in tonight.
"Thanatos Agency, I'm pleased to introduce you to my Uncl… er Mis-"
"Uncle Bachchan!" He exclaimed, not in the least bit concerned with his social image. He took the time to shake every one of their hands, even taking up Igris's and attempting to shake hands with Beru. Beru did not like that. "Can't charm 'em all," Siddharth joked.
"We appreciate you hosting all of us this year. I'm sure it must be a nightmare to handle this all of the sudden," Yaoyorozu said, but Siddharth waved off the concerns.
"I'm happy to have you all here! I-Island's darling Melissa came up with the new and improved programs used to run the background checks, so it wasn't nearly as horrific as the media proclaims it to be." His smile was inexorably charming.
"He's a smart guy," Izuku realized, "He let the media assume that they were working overtime in order to accept the new travelers, but in reality, they had plenty of leeway with it. Earns him a good bit of press in the process."
"Anyways," Bachchan began, "I apologize to bore you with these pleasantries. I came down here to arrange a deal with your Agency."
Miruko was now the one to step up, being the most familiar with the economic trades of Agencies. "What kinda deal?"
"See, we don't get many Gates here on I-Island, which means we have access to very few "native" Villain corpses. Unique, fully intact bodies like those of the Titans are incredibly rare and I would be willing to pay near any amount for just one of them."
Miruko shrugged, "We left all of those bodies to the Koreans for rebuilding efforts but…" She trailed out, "If you give us a commission fee, I'll convince the Korean Association President to let you buy one off of him."
Siddharth laughed, apparently joyous to find another business woman at the gala. "Well then, why don't you and me find a quieter area to discuss relations between my nation and your Agency? We'll let the others have their fun here." The proposal sounded a little like he was hitting on her, but Izuku didn't feel like he was that type of guy. Regardless, he nodded to Miruko.
"Have fun!" He joked as Miruko walked away, giving Yaoyorozu and Nejire a jealous stare as they remained with him. "One of the Perfected Elemental Spirits, chase after her."
One of Izuku's four thousand Soldiers broke off from his Shadow and embedded itself into Miruko's.
As soon as they had left, Izuku realized that people were no longer staring at him and his group. The party was back in full swing and everyone was chatting loudly like nothing ever interrupted them in the first place.
Quickly, time wore on as Izuku and the others were approached by more countries. Some wished to talk about their own feats with him like they were familiar war vets exchanging stories. Some asked about how he got so strong and how he got so many Summons. Some simply wanted to talk with him like normal people and get a read on him. However, the most common approach from someone at the gala was: "Will you join our Agency?"
The most recent one to ask was a man by the name of Adam White. "America has a lot to offer a Hero such as yourself and she's willing to pay top dollar."
Izuku was a little disgusted by how greedy America was. Before Christopher Reed was reported dead, it had three of the world's National-Rank Heroes and the most S-Rank Heroes in the world. No normal Gate would ever be able to threaten them with such powerful forces around and yet they still insisted on attempting to steal away the rest of the world's best and brightest.
The very moment he finished his question, a certain Shadow returned to Izuku.
"I have returned, my Liege. As requested, I shall share with you what I learned." In the span of a single second, Hinata, the Holy Being, transmitted a wealth of knowledge to Izuku.
He smiled, "Thanks. This'll make things easier."
"And if money isn't your prime concern, then we have something that may interest even you."
"Let me guess" Izuku began, "You want to entice me with enhancements from Madam Selner." Adam's face went pale and he looked around cautiously to make sure no one else overheard them, "Don't worry. One of my Shadows put up a soundproof bubble around us," He said, referring once again to Hinata, "Nothing leaves this group."
"How did you know?"
Izuku shrugged," It's not really important. And it's not a breach in your security," He assured, "But what is important is the fact that Madam Selner isn't a selling point for me."
"W-What? Why?"
"My daughter has an enhancement power. It's temporary, but it works on the same principle as Selner's. Which is why I know that upgraders don't have any effect on me."
Adam White pursed his lips. It sounded like what Madam Selner had seen in her vision was true, Izuku had too vast a pool of power to be influenced by mere mortals. "Well… forgetting America for one moment, Madam Selner wishes to meet with you regardless of your choice."
"Madam Selner is here?" Izuku asked, giving Adam a small amount of satisfaction knowing that he had succeeded in keeping one thing a secret.
"Not in this tower, but after the gala and after tomorrow's conference, she wishes to meet with you in private. For private purposes."
Izuku nodded, "I can't see any reason to refuse."
Adam and him exchanged business cards, just so they could keep in touch, but as Adam accepted Izuku's and went to hand him his own, he froze.
Once more, Izuku noticed the entire gala go silent as the elevator doors opened, exposing a man dressed in blue jeans, a gray t-shirt, a leather jacket, and dark sunglasses. His clothing alone could be considered imposing, but it was his size and Mana that silenced the entire gala. It was Thomas Andre.
Izuku turned around, smiling as he caught his first full-view of the man in person. He was stalking towards the group, immense pressure emanating from every inch of his skin. It was the pressure you put off when you were about to fight someone.
Igris drew his sword and Beru held up his claws, the party-goers becoming even more enamored as the possibility of a fight breaking out skyrocketed. Izuku held his hand up as Thomas pushed past them, stopping Beru from attempting to completely evicersating the man.
Adam White felt a sudden need to get between them. If a fight broke out here, between these two, it was likely to collapse the other 120 floors on top of the entire party. He would've tried to get between Thomas Andre and his prey, but the only outcome of that guaranteed his death, so he could only hope that nothing would happen.
Izuku stepped away from Yaoyorozu and Nejire, standing toe to toe with Andre. It was a comical image, as Izuku was several feet shorter, and yet, no one truly felt like he was at a disadvantage.
Thomas reached up, pulling off his sunglasses, revealing excited crimson eyes. The determined look on his face morphed into pure exhilaration as he began letting off his Aura in full. It was so powerful, in fact, that Adam White, as well as many other unpowered humans, straight up passed out.
One of the few un-Awakened to stay conscious, mostly thanks to her exposure to Siddharth, Melissa did what Adam White wasn't willing to do and stepped between the two as their eyes fought an imaginary battle. Her arms were shaking from exertion as she held them up, attempting to placate the two Heroes before they tore the roof off the garden, literally.
"T-T-Twelve floors up… t-there's a battle room." She couldn't stop her teeth from chattering, "Uncle b-built it to handle e-even International-R-Ranks."
Andre nodded, his mouth still stretched into a wide grin, "Is there a viewing platform?" Melissa was silent, the pressure of the two Heroes and the confusion of the question too much for her to handle. "I want people to be able to witness who's the stronger Hero."
Thankfully, there were two separate elevators that led to the battle room, allowing Thomas and Izuku to avoid a very awkward ride up the 92nd floor. During Izuku's own ride up, he quickly changed into his casual attire, black jeans, a white undershirt, and a hoodie so that he could move easier.
The battle room like the garden, it was far bigger than any stadium had any right being. It was essentially just a really big box with viewing rooms behind one-way glass so the fighters weren't distracted. Everything in the concrete colored room was reinforced with Magic Cores or other magic materials obtained from S-Rank Gates. Izuku could only imagine how much something like that would cost.
"Well," Thomas said from the opposite side of the room, being just barely picked up on by Izuku's ears, "I'd prefer to fight in a more colorful environment, but this'll have to do."
"No need to worry about that Mister Andre," Melissa's voice echoed into the battle room. She sounded a lot calmer, "My father's been working on this room for a long time now, and he gave it a few more features than just being tough."
Suddenly, both of the Hero's views changed, they were now looking out at a city landscape from the top of an office building.
Thomas nodded, "Pretty cool. But it still doesn't beat the real…" He trailed off as he reached for the wall that was behind him moments ago. It wasn't there. "This isn't an illusion?"
Izuku spread out his Sense Stat, finding that he could not detect any wall or ceiling anymore. It was like they had been teleported. If he focused really hard, he could feel the tower floors beneath him, so if needed, he could've broken out by just hitting the floor, but that still didn't change its impressiveness.
"It's experimental technology that harnesses Illusion and Spatial Storage magic to simulate a full city for the combatants."
"A full city?!" Izuku called up Hinata, "Can you float over the edge of the building… and then like drop down and tell me if you hit something?"
The Shadow Angel did just that, popping up ten seconds later, nodding to Izuku, "I hit the sidewalk." Apparently, Melissa was not lying. The building went all the way to the ground.
Izuku raised a single eyebrow, "It's like a Gate… this is incredible."
"Cool!" Thomas shouted, "Now that you're done gushing about nerd shit, I can show the newbie who's boss!"
Melissa pouted at that as Izuku scoffed, taking the Genesis Blade from Igris and handing Hinata the extra Evolution Core and the Spear of Longinus. "I really need to find that Spiritual Essence. The Lance of Longinus sounds like it could be really helpful against the Monarchs."
"So you rely on your weapons to win?" Thomas asked, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck as he made his way across the roof to Izuku. There was no climatic countdown to this battle. As far as Thomas was concerned, the fight had already begun.
"Eh…" Izuku shrugged, "It's more of a test. I wanna see how well you handle some of my stronger weapons."
Thomas smirked, "You're taking me too lightly."
"Funny… that was my line."
[Skill: Shadow Essence has activated.]
[Skill: Quicksilver has activated.]
Izuku completely disappeared from view, sprinting off to the right and then coming at Thomas from his left side. That didn't fool "The Strongest Tank" though.
Thomas's eyes tracked Izuku's cloaked form rushing at him. He wasn't nearly as fast as Izuku was, but he had been in the business for a long time now, speed wasn't enough to beat him. Raising both fists, Thomas channeled an immense amount of Mana into them. It was enough to make even Izuku question the wisdom of charging straight at the man, but nothing would change if he faltered, so instead, he picked up the pace. This was a mistake.
"DEMOLITION!"
When Izuku was just feet from Thomas, he swung his arms down, slamming them into the ground and activating his most devastating Skill.
[Skill: Demolition. By charging the arms with Mana, the User can create oscillating Mana shockwaves that will destroy just about anything.]
Izuku was thrown backwards immediately, flung off the building's edge entirely as Thomas Andre jumped after him.
Righting himself midair with Ruler's Authority, Izuku reconsidered his approach. "His perception is strong enough to see through my Stealth and he has an ability to deal with my speed advantage. I can't see if it even has a cooldown or not."
Izuku's feet touched the ground and he reached upwards with Ruler's Authority, grabbing at Thomas. But then, something odd happened. Thomas countered it. He had no foothold or anything mid-air and yet Izuku felt an opposing force repel him, like two magnets of the same polarity. It wasn't enough to stop him completely, but before he could break through the force, Thomas crashed down where Izuku had been standing.
Izuku, having been forced to leap away from the area, lost his telekinetic grip on Thomas. "Was that… Ruler's Authority?! No… it wasn't as strong… Dominator's Touch?"
Izuku snapped out of his thoughts, about to ask Thomas if he was a Ruler, but he was distracted. Instead of any words leaving his mouth, a fist introduced itself to his face. He once again went flying back, crashing through building after building before coming to a stop with the help of Ruler's Authority.
"Come on!" Thomas yelled as he chased Izuku through the holes in the buildings. "Give me an actual-!" Thomas was batted to the side as Izuku drove his gauntlet into the side of his face. He never even saw it coming.
"You know, I think you're right…" Izuku said, "I was taking you lightly." Emerald light burned in his eyes as he rested the Genesis Blade on his shoulder. Hinata hovered just behind Izuku, her Evolution Core glowing with magic. "I won't make that mistake again."
Thanks for reading! I know it's taken me a little while to update, but that is because I am in the final week of my college semester! One more week and I'll be free to write all the Shadow Monarch I want! For those of you reading this on Fanfiction, there is an illustration of the very last scene, Izuku and Hinata, on my Discord discord . gg/DeFqz5F (Sorry about the spaces, Fanfiction doesn't really like links!) and my Archives of our Own page! (Because FFN hates images.) It's pretty cool, go check it out! Next week, I'm just going to focus on school so I can finish out the semester strong, so I likely won't have another chapter up until around this coming friday, maybe. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, next one is going to be absolutely crazy so don't miss it!
Oh and by the way, as soon as this chapter is posted, I'm going to be going live on Twitch at Project_Armament, come say hi!
