Black looked at the trio of miscreants in front of him, eyes radiating maliciousness towards them. The black creature looked absolutely lovecraftian, the man covered with hands looked repulsive, and the weird purple mist person was somehow a mixture of the other two descriptions. Such an ugly group of mortals standing in the presence of a god was bad enough but to challenge him to battle AND disrupt his delivery services made it an unforgivable sin. The enraged Saiyan put down the desserts, took up his battle stance, and prepared to put some of his rediscovered power to the test. Sensing the energy around him, he found that while there was lots of activity around him, as expected, they all paled in comparison to powers that he was more accustomed to. Suddenly, Black's scowl turned closer to annoyed confusion in response to the life energy he detected.
"Huh, those three are here too?" Black muttered, still in his battle stance. He would not have the time to explore those observations at the moment, as the huge, black, bird-brained creature rushed towards the Saiyan, ready to strike.
Black z-vanished in front of Nomu, perplexing the creature. Realizing how easy it was to outspeed him, Black dropped his battle stance, crossed his arms, and gave a cocky smirk.
"So that's all you're capable of," Black said, observing the movements of Nomu. The creature threw a barrage of punches, which the Saiyan danced around with ease. Black z-vanished again and gave Nomu a massive kick, which launched the creature to the surface of the domed ceiling and then ricocheted him back to the ground, a few meters away from the trio of villains and Aizawa.
Black gave a snarled-smile at the villains.
"Is that more you have to offer, villains?" Black taunted, feeling the fighting ecstasy from his Saiyan anatomy.
"I-Impossible!" the purple mist exclaimed, having not foreseen this event happening. "That creature was designed to defeat All Might. Tomura Shigaraki, what do you suppose Nomu should do?"
"Oh, Kurogiri, if you weren't a warp gate, I'd have turned you to dust," Shigaraki said, scratching his neck aggressively. "He's definitely using hacks. No one should be able to fight like that, even if it's All Might."
Nomu got back up only to have his left half be completely blown off by a sudden gust of wind. Shigaraki and Kurogiri's eyes widened at the massive damage done to their main juggernaut.
"So it's supposed to defeat All Might," Black said, still keeping his fist extended from the ranged punch he gave. If this is on par with All Might, the strongest hero out there, would it even be possible for me to regain my original power at this rate?
The Saiyan then loosened his stance, entering an existential dilemma. He lowered his head down, staring at his feet, seemingly starstruck. Is there even a point to slaying all mortals if I can't even get a real chance to do so?
"Goku, watch out!" Aizawa shouted, confused at the Saiyan's sudden lack of motivation to fight.
Nomu, having fully regenerated, rushed towards Black again, delivering a massive right hook. Although it was an ineffective punch, Black's neck followed the movement stimulated from that punch.
Well, let's assess this, Black reasoned. How were my powers returning in the first place?
As the Saiyan reminisced about his other fights in this universe, Nomu gave Black a massive body shot punch, knocking Black a few feet in the air.
Underneath his gray, wrinkly hand mask, Shigaraki gave a grin.
"Now we got that cheater," he said, cackling while scratching his neck less aggressively.
Black's body experienced a huge volley of punches from the Nomu, each punch managing to knock the Saiyan around without doing any real damage.
Back in my usual multiverse, I would just get stronger from fighting powerful adversaries, Black thought, still getting hits from Nomu. Goku and Vegeta's strength pushed me to intense heights; my base form got much more powerful and I even unlocked that exquisite Super Saiyan Rose form. It was much more valuable than the goose chases I had to do against just Trunks alone.
Nomu's assault continued, seemingly ravaging the Saiyan's body. The other two villains watched with accomplishment.
"Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri said. "I believe that we should be able to exterminate the rest soon."
"Wonderful," Shigaraki replied. "Just wonder when this guy will finally pop from Nomu."
Yet, here, it's different, Black continued in his inner monologue. I may not have gotten much power back from the Looney and Clooney duo but I suppose I did go quite hard against them. Against that Kacchan and giant on the other hand?
Black was slammed back into the ground with Nomu punching the Saiyan into a hole in the ground.
My powers actually returned against them even though they were so much weaker than even Trunks! Black continued to reason. Is it because I went easy on them?
Nomu then flung Black around the ground, which still did no damage apart from tracking debris on his clothes.
No, not quite, Black thought, getting to a sensible conclusion. It is somewhat right, as I still need opponents to fight. I could have easily ended all of my enemies' lives on the spot but I knew what I needed to survive. Besides, I wouldn't have wanted to test the Kaioken out against the giant. Even though I still could have easily defeated him in my base form, I still put the extra effort to use the Kaioken, even if my attacks were still intentionally made to not kill during that bout.
Nomu clenched both his hands together, raising them in the air.
A mix of going easy and trying? Black wondered. No, still not quite but it's closer. The sudden changes to his fighting capabilities and training regiment was still very hard to wrap his mind on. Saiyan philosophy was most certainly not the reason, especially as Black himself wasn't even a natural one.
Still, fundamentals should apply no matter the universe.
Who is Goku Black? the divine Saiyan imposter internally questioned. I started Project Zero Mortals to cleanse the multiverse of the filth that plagues it. I am a god who seeks to preserve justice and righteousness to all of reality!
As the Nomu began to slam towards the ground, Black blocked the massive blow with his middle finger, stunning the surrounding witnesses.
It makes sense now, Black continued to think, approaching the existential answer he sought. Being a god living amongst mortals could never make me ever more angry. This anger, hate, and rage was transferred to all the combatants I fought, empowering me despite the extremely low amounts of power. Rage fueled my movements, hate gave me the strength I needed, and anger brought me my body's salvation.
Black then flicked his wrist, sending the creature flying extremely high. The Saiyan smiled, feeling at peace with the answer he found.
"I thank you, creature," Black said, as the Nomu reached terminal velocity before descending down to the ground. "I should return the favor now."
The Saiyan got into a stance with his hands brought back on his torso. An orb of dark purple light started to be produced from his hands.
"Ka-"
"How the hell did that happen?" Shigaraki said, desperate to find the truth.
"Me-"
"Did we miscalculate Nomu's strength?" Kurogiri assessed, still very confused as to the sudden disadvantage.
"Ha-"
"Holy heck, we're saved!" a purple ball head child excitedly said, clutching onto a girl in green next to him in the pond adjacent to the fight.
"Me-"
"Mineta, please stop," the girl said, drowning the purple ball child. "And what happened to us having to hide?"
"HAAAAAAAA!"
A giant dark purple beam shot out from the hands of Goku Black, pushing Nomu away from the ground, even crashing through the ceiling, causing a massive explosion. Within seconds, Nomu got disintegrated by the Saiyan.
Goku Black stood from his spot, still in Kamehameha position, madly laughing with his new resolve. His reflection was more than right; anger, hate, and rage served to be better friends than even Zamasu could ever have been. Each move he made that was infected with fury would empower him, helping him gain power even faster than his original pace. This held even truer against the creature he just murdered, feeling the newly regained power coursing through each cell in his body. He smiled, having felt the strongest he has ever been in this realm. In a universe full of small bits of pyrite, he was the one gold bar in the midst of it.
"N-Nomu is-" Kurogiri choked up.
"H-He's gone!" Shigaraki screamed, messing up his hair. "I don't know what his deal is but I'm ending him now!"
"No, Tomura!" the portal man advised. "If he took such a beating to receive no injuries AND defeated Nomu so easily, we don't stand even the slightest chance. Our best bet is to retreat at the moment."
Shigaraki scratched his neck even more aggressively. Messing his hair around, he seemed to have gotten to a conclusion.
"Fine, we're leaving," Shigaraki said as he got blanketed by Kurogiri's warp gate. "Another time, UA." His eyes gave a deathly stare towards Black.
As the villains left, Black looked at the three children hiding by the pond. He knew they were there the whole time but prioritized the villains above them. Seeing a familiar face, Black gave a greeting in his signature glare.
"Ah, Midoriya," Black greeted. "So here you are."
"Uh, h-hi Goku," Midoriya replied to the surprise of the two other kids next to him. "So what are you doing here in the USJ?"
"Your teacher ordered some food from the cafe," Black answered. "I should probably attend to him.
Black z-vanished towards Aizawa, still lying on the ground, bruised and bloodied up.
A shame I'll have to do this but I need him to be as strong as possible for now, Black thought, extending his hand to Aizawa's face.
In a golden flash of light, the eraser hero felt all the pain go away. Even though all his wounds and injuries were still present, he had more than enough strength to stand up and walk or even run if he wanted.
"Well, that was useful," Aizawa said in his usual pessimistic tone as he stood up. "You and I are going to have to talk after all the other villains are dealt with here. I'll need to keep you surveyed under my watch"
"Fine," Black reluctantly agreed. "Here are your desserts by the way."
"I don't want them anymore," Aizawa responded. "They're yours to keep."
"I'll take'em!" Mineta said, drooling. Black rolled his eyes and tossed them over to the small child, who got out of the water with the others and bent down on his knees.
"Oh, sweet Tsuyu," the child began to muse. "Would you have the pleasure of enjoying these cakes in the swamp with me?"
At the sound of this, Tsuyu extended her tongue and smacked Mineta's left cheek.
"W-well, I tried," Mineta commented.
"Heh," Black chucked, giving an actual friendly smile.
"But that fighting prowess was incredible," Tsuyu remarked to Black. "Goku, was it? What kind of quirk training did you do to get to that level?"
"Oh I know!" Midoriya excitedly butted in. "He has some weird quirk that's a mix of super strength and energy manipulation and-"
Midoriya droned on for what seemed like forever.
Like mother like son, I suppose, Black thought, actually feeling amused by hearing this. It is adorable to hear mortals talk about divine powers as if they understand it. He has a keen eye for this sort of thing.
Black mentally paused, feeling conflicted. On the one hand, he actually felt like he was enjoying a conversation with mortals. On the other hand, he required raw hatred to gain the strength he once had.
I suppose that someone would have to be the last to die, Black reasoned, justifying their company with him.
Suddenly, the door of the USJ slammed open. Everyone turned to see who opened it with such force.
Him, Black observed, recognizing the figure that just entered very well.
The figure was a muscular behemoth with blonde hair that perked up, sunken eyes, and tan skin. Only this time, instead of his signature smile, it was traded with a rare frown.
"Fear not, students," the voice bellowed.
Black gazed at the man with utmost intensity.
"FOR I AM HERE!"
Author's Note: So there you have it! Chapter 7! I honestly thought I'd do the USJ arc a bit shorter but I just didn't think it would work out too well. There's still a fair bit in that arc so I'm not sure how I'd put it in a single chapter unless y'all want it to be like 4-6000 words.
Also a powerscaling clarification: Nomu's hits aren't strong enough to even hurt Black at all. It's like how Zamasu is completely invincible yet you still see him be moved by impacts of punches and stuff. Except here, Black basically let himself be applied using ragdoll physics. So no, Nomu isn't suddenly even at the league of universal.
And again, thank you all for the support!