Chapter 10: Deku vs Muscular
The time had finally come. Deku, Morph and Cook took a break around the outskirts of the Beasts' Forest. Night was coming soon and according to the intel they had, the League was going to attack in an hour or two. "Deku...I know we are against the League but...why are we trying to interfere in their plans? I mean...if we attack them now, wouldn't it be technically helping the U.A. students?" Morph asked. "When I was living with Stain, he taught me something. When animals hunt, the best time to attack their prey is when the prey is attacking its own prey. Their sheer focus on catching their food distracts them from their surroundings, giving the perfect opportunity to be attacked as well. We'll deal with the students later. For now, just remember why we are here. To do whatever possible to destroy the League. I shall not rest until All Might's wish is fulfilled. On top of that, Dabi did piss me off a lot. Using me like his damn play-toy. He'll get what's coming to him."
Cook sighed. "Well at least we have a goal for once." Deku smiled but his face suddenly went dark. "I need a minute alone. Keep a lookout." Saying this, he walked away. Cook glanced at Morph who just shrugged. Deku stood alone with his eyes closed. Pain and sadness could be reflected on his face. Then his expression slowly turned to anger. "Let's see how you're doing...Kacchan." Deku thought about his past with Katsuki Bakugo. He slowly began to understand that Kacchan was drunk on power because of how the society treated him after he got his quirk. "Maybe Stain was a correct about Heroes too. The society manipulates them. That is why they never truly do Hero work just to help the others. Something that All Might never succumbed to. Nothing can convince them. They will always...ALWAYS get in my way. If the time comes...I shouldn't hesitate to kill them. If All Might were still alive, he would be the only hero I wouldn't kill."
At that moment, Cook ran up to him. "Hey, kid? You gotta see this." He took Deku to the edge of a cliff that was overlooking the forest. Morph was waiting for them there. "Look." she said, pointing towards an area of the forest. Even though it was a little far, Deku could clearly make out the blue flames that were setting the trees on fire. He grit his teeth. "Dabi." he growled. "He started before the arranged time. I guess he got impatient. Let's go." Deku headed from the left so that he could end up behind the League and Morph and Cook were supposed to take them head-on as a means of distraction. As they split, Deku made sure to check his new ear-piece, which was made thanks to Morph and KK. "Keep me updated."
"Got it." came the reply. Deku was using Full Cowling at 8 percent the whole time, in order to get into position as fast as possible. While he was moving across the rocky terrain, something caught his eye. He quickly reached in time to see a large man about to attack a small kid. Deku immediately intervened and slammed his foot into the man's face. "Muscular." he said. "You recently joined the League didn't you?" Muscular stood transfixed for a moment. He then spat out a bit of blood. "Bastard...who the hell are you?" he growled. "That's none of your concern. Just know that I will defeat you." He spoke into his ear-piece. "Stay back for a bit. I'm a little pre-occupied."
"Roger that." came the reply. "Kid." Deku said, glancing at the boy behind him. "You better get away from here." The boy named Kota had tears in his eyes. Deku sensed anger and sadness more than fear. But he didn't have time to think about that. Muscular lunged at him after activating his quirk. Deku tried to dodge but didn't make it in time as he was met with a punch to his arm. Luckily, the bits of protective armour plates that Morph had designed into his suit, and One For All's own strength prevented him from getting any serious damage. But Muscular was grinning. "I increase my speed and strength by increasing the amount of muscle fibers so much that they can't be contained by my skin!" As he said this, Muscular's upper body was half-covered with his own muscle fibers that tensed up every time he wanted to increase his power.
Using Stain's evade tactics, Deku jumped around using Full Cowling and launched himself at Muscular and landed an 8 percent punch in his direction. Muscular quickly blocked it with his arm. He felt nothing. "So that's your Quirk, eh? Just an inferior version of mine!" he yelled, and slammed his fist into Deku's face. Deku was blown back into the rocky mountain wall with dust spreading everywhere, and blood splattered out of his mouth and nose. "This guy is too strong!" he thought. "Only 100% might be able to do some serious damage!" Deku ran towards the large enemy and stuck his hand in between the muscle fibers, fixing him in place. "Now's my chance! One For All, 100%! Smaaaaash!" Deku's fist made contact, and the whole mountain side crumbled. Rocks blew everywhere, causing a huge dust cloud. Deku's bone was broken, and his hand looked red from the outside. But this was not the time to think about the pain as the perfect situation for Deku had come in hand.
The dust for a few seconds concealed him completely and he used that to his advantage. Quickly ran around, located Muscular's body, jumped in the air and came down with a hard 8% kick on Muscular's groin. Muscular roared in pain, but to Deku's surprise, he quickly grabbed his hand, and slammed him into the mountain side. "You're not all talk, so it's time to get serious. He attacked the still-recovering Deku with a barrage of strong punches. Deku couldn't do anything. Every blow was painful as hell. And suddenly, the punches stopped. "Water?" he heard Muscular say. Deku opened his eyes which had been closed for a while, to see the boy standing with water on his palms. He had attacked Muscular with his quirk. "You killed my parents!" he yelled. "Water Hose. Do you even remember?!" Muscular smiled. "Why of course I do. They're the reason I have this fake eye!"
"They did not deserve to die!"
"I agree, kid. But it was totally their fault. They got in the way." Hearing this, Kota flared up with anger. "I will never...NEVER forgive you...AS LONG AS I LIVE!" he screamed his heart out. "As long as you live, eh? Let's see how long that takes." Muscular laughed with malice. As the beaten-up Deku watched, Muscular walked up to the boy, and with one swift move, grabbed him by the neck. He then slammed the kid on the ground and landed a powerful punch to his face, crushing his head instantly. Deku's eyes widened. Inside him, a small voice cried "No!" He slowly managed to get up. "That kid...he...had no part in this." Deku struggled to speak. Muscular just laughed. "He got in the way...just like his parents. And now that I think about it...just like you." Muscular flexed his muscle fibers and charged at Deku, once again pinning him against the mountain wall. "You wanted to stop me, right? You think of yourself as a HERO?!" Muscular yelled, punching Deku hard in the stomach. "What was it you said? 'I will defeat you.' right? Where's that confidence now HUH?!" He slammed Deku's face on the ground. Muscular kept getting angrier. "Where did you even come from, brat?! DEFEAT me?! ME?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"
Muscular then stopped to catch his own breath. He held Deku by the neck, pinning him to the ground. For a few seconds, there was silence. Only the sound of the wind could be heard. That silence was broken with a single line from Izuku. "I am Deku." The moment Muscular heard those words, out of the corner of his eye, just too late he saw something shine. Shhiiick! The knife in Deku's hand cut through the muscle fibers of Muscular's arm. Deku then launched a series of slashes, cutting up the muscle fibers as much as possible. Muscular howled. "DEKUUUU!" He then quickly grabbed Deku's wrist, with his other arm and started twisting it, preventing Deku from using the knife more. "Time for you to die." he growled. Even though he was in pain, Deku smirked. "Not yet." Within the next second, Muscular saw Deku move his body a little, and felt something cold near his chin. It was only after three seconds, he realized what had happened.
Deku's other hand was free, and taking advantage of Muscular's blind side, he had used a second knife to cut open Muscular's throat. Muscular clutched his throat in pain, but the amount of blood loss was too much. He took his last few breaths whispering "Deku." over and over again. Cutting him with the knives was only possible with One For All 20% but the outcome of the battle was clear. Deku had won. Muscular was dead.