It was a pure moment of everything that came together. For a moment it made the war around them disappear. All the pain, the distress and failures was forgotten about. Out of the mouth of the beast and on his back, Geus had only a moment to rest. Effectively out of any stamina built up.
Geus made eye contact with Best Jeanist and gave him a rickety thumbs up. His body ached, the amount of concentration through all this was on another level. Through the connection with his system, he could tell it would take a rest before it filled back up.
"The fight's not over, boy." Gaz radioed over. "More are coming in your direction."
Geus noticed the open hand Best Jeanist offered him and accepted it up. "Roger that."
"I was hesitant when UA told us during that meeting you were part of this whole infiltration." Best Jeanist placed a hand on Geus's shoulder. "But I'll admit it first that I was wrong."
"Nah it's alright." Geus massaged his jaw as he turned into the deepest of the city. "I'm not going to lie when I say I don't have much in the tank after that. I'm going to need a fiver."
The roar and struggle the gigantium gave off shook the heroes off their feet. Through all this warfare it still had more in the tank. It stretched out the seems and got back up to its feet with roars and spasms.
Best Jeanist grasped down on Geus's hand and yanked him out of the way, his full attention back on this beast.
"There's no way. It should be out cold." Geus gasped.
"More on your way kid!" Gaz radioed over. "Numus are on your way thanks to Shirigaki!"
"And where the hell are you old man!" Geus turned and could see the numerous black creatures after them.
"Who do you think is taking on the boss huh? Need some payback of my own!" A small freeze interrupted him. "Just take a deep breath and put your faith in me, boy." His tone was calmer. "We all trust ya."
Geus didn't respond back and dropped to a crouched position. His eyes closed and his breath slowed. "Come on suit, back me up here." Geus mumbled.
The gas flowed heavily around his arms to his fingertips. His hands stiffened hard enough for the slight cracks of his bones to echo. His body shook from the immense strain his quirk produced. His goal seemed to work as the gas broke through the concrete.
Suddenly his body went cold, colder than the sun should've allowed. His eyes shot open full bloodshot and burned from the air around him. The entirety of his face was crimson as the strain evaporated.
The soft eyes in front of him calmed him down. Momo looked into him with no sense of the fear she had earlier.
"Remember, we're a team. We got your back." Geus saw the duct work and the black sheet over his back. "Your quirk works better when your body temp is low, right?"
Geus looked out past her and saw the Numus ever so near. Geus flared out his fingers, dozens of purple spikes left the ground and impaled the creatures. Some went through their flesh as others were just knocked back. Whether they were impacted or not the tips started to explode. An artillery brigade exploded at the scene. Only for purple smoke to cover the area after.
Still almost a dozen from the crowd did not falter from the attack. They pushed through the smoke and right at them. Geus could feel his heart beat faster than ever before. His arms and legs struggled to hold their position even with the help.
Geus started to pat his mouth, his arm weak and mouth unable to talk. For a second Momo was confused, her mind looking for a reason to panic. Geus's pats became faster for Momo to understand.
"His mask! He needs his mask!" Jiro shouted out.
Momo quickly formed another with her quirk and placed it on his mouth. Geus took a long suck in and just as slow out.
"I can take these guys, just can't control it's toxicity any more." Geus pushed off of Momo's shoulder to his feet. Now his gas surrounded his ligaments and flexed his joints in and out.
"We got your back! Can't let you keep the show to yourself!"
"I'll leave the Numus to you." Best Jeanist pointed slightly off site of the monsters. "The league's trying to escape from this. I'll handle them."
Geus patted Kirishima's back before he enveloped his hand with gas. "That leaves them to us." He winked. "Just stay a few feet from me."
"Don't try to act like the only manly guy here!"
Geus pressed his foot into the ground and charged into the Numus with support fire from the back. The first one was in his sights and took the same liking to him. Geus came to a hard stop, his feet dug into the broken concrete and twisted his chest. His fist collided into the Numu's exposed brain. His elbow exploded the gas and drove his fist clean through.
Geus shook off the brain matter from his fist. "Plus ultra, bitch."
Another one crashed into his shoulder, but ultimately blocked the attack with his gas. Geus grabbed the Numus's school and surrounded its skull. Out of nowhere Kirishima jumped on the Numu's back and chopped down into its neck. Geus immediately followed up with an uppercut to its throat.
A random cannon ball blasted another one back inches away from Kirishima's backside. The rock solid redhead wasted no time and jumped.
The roars from Gigantium stopped, effectively took the attention from everyone around.
"Plus Ultra!" Geus sprung into the air. He noticed the Numu's and everything else around him slowed. This was the moment, the moment to end it all. All the power he could muster, the last amount of gas in his tank, everything he had left.
He looked like nothing but a muscular purple hulk without any legs. His weight took the momentum down, the resistance almost completely ignored. It was like an atomic bomb hit the ground. The gas spread all around and wrapped around every Numu in the area. His hand held out with a flat palm.
His eyes were glazed over, head dropped back and only hung because it was attached to him. If not for his hardened legs from his gas, he'd be on the ground.
"Iron Maiden, Plus Ultra." Geus closed his fist, in one simultaneous second the gasses suddenly shot spikes from every inch. The Numu shells were like puffer fish's spikes.
Geus fell backwards, his quirk finally giving out and dispersed. Both his sight and hearing felt like what happened whenever he became emptied of his gas. He could feel his muscles constrict and tremble on their own. The familiar palpitations started, the only signal he needed to know this was out of his control.
He felt a cool sensation through his lungs, the feeling of a IV that normally ran through his veins. This time it ran through his lungs, it wasn't fast but his body started to recover. The sensations lessened to where he could control them. Both his vision and hearing returned at the same pace.
"B... Boy... Boy can you... Geus... Up!" The ringing voice came clearer by the second. The small and light slaps of his face became a feeling, along with the shaky vision.
"Stop." Geus grasped for a sound, he tried to move his arm to no avail.
"Thank God." The familiar embrace from his grandfather overpowered any rickety senses. "You're okay." The embrace was tighter. The high tone was hidden behind sobs as the body shook itself.
"I'm sorry, Grandfather." Geus smiled as his words came out. "I was such.. an asshole." Geus chuckled. The realization more powerful than the pain from his ribs. "To you."
"It's okay, for the love of God it's okay." Gaz wimpered. His tough guy appearance was shattered. For the first time he dropped the strong guy attitude. "As long as you're okay, that's all I care about."
"Fuck." Geus's body went limp, "So much for Midoriya's words of power huh?"
"Those are All Might's greatest sayings." Kirishima laughed. "You already forget your teacher?"
"Me and All Might didn't talk much. Besides." Geus coughed a bit of blood up and onto his chest. "Didn't really like many pro heroes before this. But now I understand." Geus's eyes locked with his grandfather's eyes. "I understand why things are done for what they are. And Momo... Good job."
His head finally reached the amount of impact his body sustained. Neither his heartbeat or blood froze in place, simply unconscious.
His eyes opened back up just about 24 hours after the assault. His limbs felt compressed and heavier than lead. Even his head became comparable to a new born baby, unable to maintain or move it alone. Under the familiar feeling of a hospital bed with a sheet of metal over the lower half of his face.
The man in the corner looked up from his tablet. Gaz didn't attempt to hide his smile or emotions. Whatever on it became just another thing to him, he placed it on his lap and grabbed Geus's hand. "Glad to have you back, boy."
"I wasn't dead." Geus joked back. "When we upgrading this thing on my back? Got to get those emergency vials in so I don't fall under cardiac-whatever."
"Cardiac arrest, son." Gaz chuckled and leaned back in his chair to grab the tablet. "I've been reading your charts and evaluation of the device. Everything is within expected ranges, even is maximum use of your quirk. But there's one thing I don't think is possible. That failsafe."
"Well shit." Geus grinned.
"It's not impossible, but at this current moment I don't think it is possible. Your quirk takes a different exit compared to mine. Mine comes from my heart so as long as my heart rate is low it can pump the gas all around my body and leave my veins upon command. I can stop or slow down at command at anytime, I just needed a heart beat monitor for years to calibrate myself."
"But mine is through my lungs so it's not based on bpm like you."
"Exactly, and you don't breath like a normal person so just going off how much oxygen you take in and out in nanoseconds can't be done in a day or two. It'll take years of tests and charts to get you on a limiter or an automated failsafe system." He playfully punch Geus's arm and stood up. "But doesn't mean we can't put a manual system in, in fact that girl with the cross hair eyes is already on it." A shiver went through Gaz's body. "Never thought I could fear a woman like that again."
"Not going to lie, completely forgot never to mess with Hatsume's babies."
"Oh that's what she was screaming about."
"It's weird I know, but everything she makes is her babies."
"Just rest and get better, after that and everything clears up I can work with her about incorporating a failsafe system. Since the lab is gone, I don't have my resources anymore." His eyes squinted down like a strike of soreness went through. "Or the ethics anymore."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Gaz slide the door open and poorly acted like a surprise was on the other side. "Oh look who's here? Girlfriend one and girlfriend two!"
Geus's face instantly became red and dropped into the covers. "I'm not dating anyone! I'm only a first year!"
Gaz laughed and ushered the two girls in. "Look at me boy, back in America you think I waited till college? One thing I'll never understand about this culture."
Kendo and Jiro both walked in, for a moment they were all smiles and polite. But once that door closed their smiles dropped, almost tearful eyed by the look of things. They each walked to a side of the bed and pulled the sheets down. Only for a swift slap on Geus's exposed cheeks to follow.
"Are you an idiot! Running in like that when you know we have your back!" Jiro yelled out first.
"Not one text that everything is alright! Or where you even went without telling your friends!" Kendo yelled next.
"In my defense I told Jiro I was leaving."
Another slap came from Jiro right after. "You told me you were leaving with your grandfather for training, not no communication for those months!"
"I had my phone and computer on restricted access. If my grandfather didn't see it, it wouldn't go out."
And a slap from Kendo followed suit. "So text the girl you love!"
The room went silent, and both a red face Jiro and Geus faced Kendo. She looked awkwardly at the window, obviously embarrassed to let that slip. "You know?" Geus shook out the moment and looked down at his legs. "I never said I... I didn't confess."
"What do you mean you didn't confess!" Kendo twisted right back in position for another slap. But didn't, held her hand up but didn't swing. "You really are an idiot with girls you know."
"I don't even make the appointments with Becca anymore! But every week I still get that email reminder to show up. Before this school I knew like 5 women and all of them wouldn't hesitate to kill me." Geus shook his head and snarled at Kendo. "How did you know it was even her?"
Kendo crossed her arms and dropped her head. "You weren't exactly good at hiding it either. At the Christmas party I saw you two. And I understand. You're still my best friend." Kendo looked back up with a huge smile on her face. "But you're still an idiot."
"Guys! Geus is alive!" Kirishima smashed the door open as he shouted out. A crowd of the 1A students filled the room before they entered the room. "Jiro you were supposed to tell us if he was up!"
Neither Jiro nor Geus realized they had each other's hands locked. As soon as the did they separated and acted like it never happened. Seemingly nobody else has the attentive awareness to catch either.
Kendo rubbed Geus's head and let out a happy sigh. "Told ya you're bad at hiding it." She said before she walked through the crowd.
"You don't have to leave Kendo." Fumikage turned to her but didn't attempt a full stop.
"I have to see if all my classmates are alright still. I just wanted to stop by for a quick second." She replied back, still a smile on her face.
"Thank you for seeing your rival class as friends still. I know a lot of us need that right now."
"I'll see you guys later. Hopefully not in such a dangerous place."
"Never in my life would I think you'd yell out All Might's catchphrase!" Kirishima yelled out laughing. "Almost thought I was fighting with a imposter."
Geus awkwardly laughed back. "Yeah. Heat of the moment I guess."
Fumikage made it to the front. "I see the last month treated you well. Got you out of that dark place?"
Geus nodded in agreement. "I'm back and stronger than ever."
"But you're in a hospital bed." Mina noted.
Geus's head twitched. "I am. But I made sure a handful of villains would never get a second chance." Geus looked around the rest of his classmates. "What's the matter? Thinking I was going to die today or something?" He looked around some more. "Where's Midoriya."
"You are okay right?" Jiro asked, her voice barely able to hide the cracks in it. "You don't feel out of the normal, or anything? Right?"
"What the hell's going on? What did I miss?"
"The other teachers told us the League of Villains wasn't the only thing to worry about anymore." Iida chimed in. "Your communication with your grandfather was recorded and expressed after the mission."
Geus bit his lip, he faced Iida but didn't say anything. "We know about Irohc's underlings. Their attachment to the League and their attempt on UA." Momo added on.
"Their attempt on your life to be exact. It worried us as your friends that you never brought this up, and your encounter with their leader in the last fight... Many of us worried you wouldn't wake up today."
"She... She wasn't on the battlefield, just the kid that calls himself Iroh now. Whatever the hell his name was."
"Nobody knows how her quirk works with others. How far her influence can reach, if it's like Shino's or Aizawa's." Fumikage marked.
"Don't blame us for worrying about you." Jiro didn't hide her hand grab. This time tightly.
"I'm not." Geus removed his mask. "I didn't tell you because I got this. I can take them out. You all have what you need to worry about and I got this. They're after me, not because I can foil their plans, but because I was Iroh's finishing piece. There's no reason to put you under fire for this."
"Are you stupid or something?" Bakugo's voice yelled higher than anyone else's. A line opened up for the two to clearly see each other. How pissed he was at him compared to the other's embraced. "You think we're on a different level than? Dumbass!" He pushed off the wall and out the door. "We have your back, even if I have to beat that sense into you. Or do what you can't."
"A little more brutal than I would've put." Iida rubbed the back of his head. "But you're right. Midoriya paid the price for it. He's still in his bed, unconscious and in a worse state than you."
"I'm sorry guys. I don't do this because I think you're weaker than me. Would I really be in this bed all the time if I thought that?"
Fumikage placed a hand on Geus's shoulder. "We all have your side, you just have to let it sink in for a moment."
The crowd left one after the other, only to leave behind Fumikage and Jiro. Two of Geus's closest friends in his class. All that remained now was to see the aftermath of this, and for Midoriya to wake up.
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