Author's notes : I AM BACK ! updates might be slower but not dead !

Chapter 43 : I-Island Crisis : Man or Beast?

Koda was one of the most dangerous students in the 1A, if not the most. The issue wasn't his power, it was incredibly powerful in an urban environment if there were enough animals.

I-Island was a man-made construct, and the people on that island did an incredibly good job at their job, not to mention local bots often had their AI trained by shooting pesky rodents. As a result, this was why Koda was hiding behind a trash can. Yes, with his physic he could usually punch, timidly, a thug. However, it was only true for the average thug.

Here, we had a supervillain that was fighting Yuga and Pony at the same time on one side, with his bandages attacking them from all sides, and using some of his tendril-like bandages to haul the various bots still online into the air to add their lasers and stun blasters to his arsenal for more firepower in his attacks.

On the other side, was this strange individual with a mask that was summoning more than one quirk at the same time, including apparently, thunder, barriers and laser fingers. The best he could do, was clearly not fuck up the battle. Him getting taken hostage was a loss condition, clearly. It was out of the question to do that, but… Koda never felt more helpless than at that time.

Meanwhile, Yuga was still smiling, as his uncle always told him a hero always smiled, even when the situation was desperate. There were multiple reasons for that : First off, it helped the civilians to not panic, as it seemed as if everything was under control, even when it wasn't. People then were less likely to run in a stampede, which could cause more death than the actual villain attacks. Another reason is hiding his emotions during the battle. It seemed dumb but people can read the face of their opponent to guess if they were going for the big move or not. Hence why so many people actually wore masks that hide their features, unless they were really good at keeping a poker face. Finally, it was a good way to destabilize your enemy, by making them think you had an ace up your sleeves.

As Yuga used another beam to destroy another bot taken in their enemy bandelets, Yuga was actually at his wits end. Thanks to the gymnastics and the training after school, his endurance was greatly better than when he entered UA. He could accurately change his power output and the shape of the beam to not destroy his stomach. However, it was quite intensive, and the man in front of them was pretty much playing. He was a grown adult, and apparently an experienced merc. Thankfully, Pony was here and her horns were doing most of the job.

The American girl was quite good at shooting her horn and using them to attack from all sides her opponent.

"*GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU TINY ASS BITCH!*"

The fact she was swearing like a sailor was awesome too, and Yuga smiled even more. Pony was truly american, not letting anyone think of her as a weak and frail girl. Their opponent might think they were easy prey, but they wouldn't go down easily!

They weren't alone after all and Koda's aunt wasn't a slouch either. Hopefully, they could last long enough for her to help them.

—--

Serafina was outgunned, pinned in an unwanted position and she didn't have enough strength to pierce her enemy's protection. Seriously, that strange energy wall tanked her hits as if she was just a child against an adult!

Nonetheless, she managed to actually stay pretty calm, as it was just a normal Monday, when she remembered the days when she was a revolutionary. Fighting as the underdog for years, before finally winning. If she yielded in front of the first difficulties, she wouldn't have held the line as she did before.

"Can you just surrender and die? If you do, I will allow the children to live."

Nine spoke almost softly behind his mask, with a voice not unlike Dark Vador.

That made Serafina smile even as lasers flew inches away from her head. She didn't know who that cocky bastard was, but he was mad if he thought she would believe that kind of speech. She heard it too many times, and she knew how it ended each time: in a blood bath, and no survivors.

However, she knew a thing: the stronger the quirk, the more tiresome it was. Quirks were like a muscle, even if the "how the hell does that work" wasn't understood. As a result, using too flashy moves makes you weaker quickly. All-Might was an exception, a bug in the matrix as he didn't seem to have an endurance issue. Passive quirks like the mutant quirks were another thing too.

She was now counting 4 quirks inside that man. The weather quirk, the protection, the laser, and at one point, he tried to use some hydra heads on his back but he quickly stopped that one. Why? Because Serafina grew some too, and proved to be more skilled at using them. Which meant it wasn't his quirk, but something stolen from an animal… Which also explained why she was targeted.

Serafina was a leader, a tactician and a survivor. She was outgunned and not in a favorable position.

But she knew it wasn't going to be like that for long. All she had to do was keep dodging and tire him so much he couldn't get it up.

Yes, lightning was too fast to be dodged by any being on Earth, theoretically. However, it wasn't impossible to predict where the thunder would fall. Honestly, it was just like dodging a gun. Once you knew the trick, it was easier. Besides, while the man could manipulate more than one quirk at once, Serafina was testing a few theories.

She jumped back, her leg becoming more like a cougar in the process as she continued to tap into her friend's quirk.

She truly hoped they were safe: The issue about her quirk was it was actually siphoning the animals of their quirk. Koda needed the rabbit to stay safe, and while the rabbit was clearly powerful… Between Nine's barrier and Mummy ranged attack, he would be a sitting duck.

Also, rabbits were technically a rodent, and as such, the robots had him in high priorities for elimination.

So Serafina looked at Nine who was still standing in the middle of the broken pole she used to attack. It was pretty much the strongest she could hit him, and it barely phased him. However, she noticed the rain falling on him, pouring on his face and coats.

The Amazonian hero smiled, as she gathered more of the jump quirk in her legs

"Agora é a minha vez."

The attack was pretty straight forward, as Nine could clearly react to it, and raised his protection. She was a bit too close for comfort and he was summoning a shot from his fingertips, when he noticed her smile.

Did she understand he couldn't shoot if the barrier was up?!

"OPEN" The hero said, ready to pounce on him, and take him down.

She didn't know that Nine was actually smiling as he indeed opened the barrier. Then, as she jumped to beat him down, she felt a powerful impact, as if she got hit by a truck, sending her flying against a wall.

—--

Nine thanked the god for what Garaki offered him, power and purpose.

Nine was to do AfO's bidding there, in exchange of the final steps for stabilizing his body, "officially". He didn't know that Nine accepted a way better offer from someone that came to him with honesty, and truth.

Nine's crew was well known as mercenaries in the Middle-East and various parts of the world still suffering unrest. Rainmaker, God of Thunder, Thor. Many nicknames were earned in blood on the battlefield with his friends. Each of them became friends on the battlefield and during their post-missions breaks. Drinking to fallen comrades, exchanging stories… Running away from patrons that didn't want to pay them… And then taking back their pay from the cold and dead corpses.

Then the sickness came, and they tried to find a cure, to compensate for Nine's failing body. They were friends after all, and at this point, nothing could break their fellowship.

All For One, as usual, was the answer. Everyone knew him, as the asshole seemed to be everywhere in the world, though mostly active in Japan. A theory was he had a teleporting quirk, and honestly, Nine didn't believe in it. He had another one but he kept it for him, not wanting to be on AfO's hitlist for knowing too much.

Anyway, All For One proposed to Nine an idea. He was going to be the test subject of an experimental therapy, and he would in exchange do a few works for him. This was one of them: killing/disabling a few targets, while providing a big distraction.

Unknowingly to All For One, Garaki, the doctor, proposed to him an alternative. Nine's blood was special. Something that no one would have seen coming. After all, All For One was someone who tracked every move of his descendant to avoid missing an offspring of his plopping.

Nine's blood confirmed he was All for One's grandson. Garaki laughed, when he studied his background: One of All For One's children, apparently, had given some sperm to a sperm bank. Hence why All For One failed to see him.

All For One wanted Garaki to give Nine a failing version of his quirk to see if it was transmissible. Nine was to be discarded in the longer run. What All For One didn't see coming was the result of Garaki and his student's project: the artificial creation of a quirk and its transplantation without All For One, purely by human hands. Chisaki's quirk also greatly eased up the process (not to mention how Chisaki and Emilia were doing wonders for the High End project, who were already finished).

Nine was fully healed. He had a modified version of All For One that wasn't failed, though weaker. Ironically, he called it "All For Nine". Only nine quirk could be stored inside his body, though he could exchange them. Garaki had the biggest quirk collection in the world… And Garaki's proposal was too good.

Nine even stole a truth quirk to be sure of Garaki's goal. The man was mad, but genius and sincere.

Nine accepted the offer.

So, Garaki offered quirks to Nine from his own collection. To not tip All For One, no regeneration quirk, yet. However, two quirks in their combination struck Nine's eyes. One of Garaki's favorite combos, yet too powerful for his Noumus yet. However, with his All For Nine, Nine could handle it.

"O'Clock" and "Overoxygene".

Emilia loved to refer to it as Za Warudo. Even Chisaki, despite now dining with her some evenings, grumbled.

—--

"I have to admit, I didn't expect you to force me to use that special combo. It was my secret weapon against All-Might." To run away, went unsaid from Nine's mouth. He was pretty certain All-Might could react to this and punch him while he was moving. After all, unlike The World, time didn't stop. It was simply the user who moved faster.

"What…" Serafina still had her back in a correct shape thanks to her weaker barrier. Thanks Franklin the tortoise.

"Now, die…" Nine said softly, raising his finger as if it was a gun, as the woman was still trying to get her breathing back to roll and dodge. Shit, it was becoming redder ! Nine smiled with a sadistic glee…

Before being hit by a trash can, thrown by a powerful shy mutant. Koda wasn't going to let his aunt die, even if it cost his life. Sadly, the Rabbit of Caerbannog only managed to hit the barrier, as Nine activated it again to prevent further attack.

Serafina groaned, while pulling herself back. The hit was slowly dissipating and she got back on her feet… Meanwhile the rabbit quickly disappeared again, as the robots began to target it again… And the rabbit led them away.

"Well, time for both to die then, I guess."

Nine said as he got ready again for the fight and the thunder came closer and closer. Shit, that was also getting intensive on his body and even with the heal, that was hurting him more and more.

Because of his condition, despite Chisaki healing him, he could hardly use more than three quirk at once. One of them was the Weather Manipulation, his main one. Now, he was going to be careful about his combo for the rest of the battle…

But he always liked a good battle from time to time after all.

—--

While the thunder became louder and louder around them, Yuga and Pony had a new issue. The rain. The clouds were becoming stronger and stronger, making as if the sun was already gone and as a result, the diffraction impacted Yuga's laser, and each hit became more and more erratic.

Mummy was also part of Garaki's project. However, he had something different from his team. Rather than a new quirk, Mummy tried a quirk enhancing procedure… With better bandelets too. Gone were the semi carbon, hello platinum and gold alloy for his suit. Seriously, that Chisaki fellow was overpowered to create stuff and heal. How did no one hear of him before? Nine's crew offered him a colossal fortune in exchange for his help.

Mummy was indeed playing with the kids, as he didn't want to have "Child killing" on his records. Seriously, unless you were a fucking psycho like Muscular, it was a black mark you avoided the most possible. A lot of criminals, on principle, hunted child killers or refused to work with them. You were either incredibly powerful and influential or scary, if you wanted to keep your old connections and still work with child killers.

Mummy still used his "tentacles" with more strength than before and kept calmly an open space between him, Pony and Yuga.

Now, people might be wondering how Pony, with her horns, could cut bandelets who had an alloy in it? The answer is : Mummy was smart about his new quirk. He could control his bandelets, even if they were removed from his main body, as long as they were in his range.

Yuga and Pony, because of the thunder creating shadow and darkening the scenes, were missing the parts coming as if they were snakes, to them, to ensnare them.

It wasn't even remotely a fair fight.

—--

"There is no place detected to land safely because of the storm!"

"Then get close enough for Cathy and I to jump. That's an order!"

"Yes, sir! However I am not sure you are ready for that yet! It hasn't been field tested yet!"

"THEN I WILL DO IT THERE, RIGHT NOW.

One reason Cathleen voted for her guest? The man had guts and he did what he had to do, himself. He was his own test subject for his project that would probably change the world.

"I got a message from the ground. Apparently, the rogue robots are a diversion, and we detected a few supervillains attacking various places. Amazonia's delegation is under attack, and… The little miss too, sir." The pilot added, as he managed to use a secondary canal to get more information on what was going on, rather than simply the Architect's warning.

"...Let me guess, same position?" SS was too used to her job now, and how so many coincidences keep happening.

"Yes. But we can't get next to them, sir, from any side on the clock!"

The guest puffed on his cigar, before adjusting his glasses on his face.

"Well then Cathleen, we will hit the SONS OF A BITCH FROM ABOVE!"

—--

"WHAT ARE YOU MADE OF, PURE METAL?"

"Negative, Bismarck is one hundred percent german ingeniery."

Izuku was seriously wondering about the implication of his quirk, if they were beings with a soul. He was more and more sure they had one, now.

Chimera was pissed off, and he barely sniffed in time Tooru to avoid a hit on the weakest point of men, as her kick almost connected with his little Chimera Jr. Shit, that girl was fighting really dirty.

Chimera truly didn't want to use his gift from Garaki, as the man explained to him the risk. It was, honestly speaking, a huge bet. Would Chimera be strong enough to handle it? His body, certainly. The mental, that was another thing. Garaki openly admitted he didn't have the time to test it.

However, Chimera accepted that procedure because he suffered in the past from his appearance, be it from the CRC or some idiots in the S.M.A.S.H. that tried to recruit him and kill him when he refused.

The only thing people understood was power and the quirk offered to him was one of the most powerful physical enhancement quirk known to man. On his mutant body, the effect would be terrifying.

The issue was it was Muscular's quirk and his soul might still be with it.

However, Chimera was getting shelled by the ship girl, without respite and the invisible one kept trying to pass.

Like a wolf air-dropped into Yellowstone, it was time to adapt a bit.

Chimera had one of the most versatile mutation quirk on earth: While most people had only one mutation, he could change what part of his body was in what animal. Arms? Armadillo or turtle. Face? Wolf. Legs? Rabbit.

Now, time for the eyes. Frog eyes.

Frog are predators who live in water. As a result, their sight is a bit special: most of them can see… Heat.

While Tooru was indeed cooler than most, she wasn't cold. Now, he could see her.

His smile tipped off Tooru, who retreated in time to dodge a powerful kick from the wolf, who managed to solve the Ship girl issue: There was a window.

Gravity was a bitch, even for ship Girl, as he managed to throw Bismarck through it, even though it destroyed his mantle.

"FUCK! THAT WAS AN ARMANI!"

"Why are you bringing an Armani during a fight?"

"Without style, the power is nothing."

Also, the wolf mutant liked the good things he didn't have when he was younger…

"Izuku, is your next card ready?" Tooru asked, as she readied her fist, not sure if she could manage to pass or win.

"I have an idea… But I need you to trust me." Izuku whispered to her, taking a Yu Gi Oh card from his leg pouch. Always prepared, as Compress said, and you were never surprised. Sure, it wasn't his most powerful deck right now, but it was far from being useless. This card, especially, was one of his favorites, and he was collecting as many of them as possible. Hell, he was actually trying to convince the Yaoyorozu to print more of them.

"Always."

"Then rush for Mei." Izuku said, before throwing his cards, as Tooru decided to obey and ran as fast as her legs allowed her. Thanks to Midnight's intensive training, the young girl was way stronger than when she entered UA. Her sprint speed was now way more impressive than before entering UA. Midnight herself said it was most likely because Tooru was a mutant, and the regimen was the best way for her potential to explode.

Chimera, of course, saw her moving and began to move to stop her. His fist hurled in the air, as they almost reached their target. The girl had some kind of protective suit, something quite impressive, but he was a mutant, and there was a reason why Mutants were the #1 cause of quirkless vigilante death. The strength difference was that significant. Considering the girl was a mutant too, though, she would survive that punch.

"NOW IT'S SHOW TIME!" Izuku yelled, fully assuming his magician persona, smiling with a mad glee.

Then, two things happened. First, Chimera's fist got stopped by a hairy ball that exploded instantly afterward. It didn't hurt him, but the impact was nullified by that weird creature. The invisible girl continued to run, and turned her palm towards him. Meanwhile, the girl smiled, as she had her own idea to add to Izuku's act.

"FOR OUR FIRST ACT, A FAVORITE OF OUR! LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

Frog are capable of seeing heat. However, too much luminosity could blind them as well as anything else.

Tooru, thanks to Izuku's innocent teasing and their dates, mastered her flashbang perfectly. She focused all of it in her hands and smiled, thinking of Izuku taking a picture of both of them, smiling. Truly the best memory.

The light almost permanently blinded Chimera that day, as the light emitted by the young girl burned as bright as a young love.

"FUCK!" The wolf yelled loudly, as he reached for his eyes, covering them too late. Izuku tried to use the diversion to run away too, joining Tooru. Hey, their win condition wasn't to beat the wolf, but to save Mei and Melissa, clearly. Staying with the blinded wolf wouldn't achieve much.

However the wolf decided against it, hearing him loud and clear before trying to kick him hard, losing any restraints because of the pain.

The strength of it cuts through the air, and Chimera felt an impact under his new goat leg. Something that could rip apart most being in the world, he knew it.

"Kuriboh!"

Then the monster exploded, once again. Izuku sighed, as he didn't manage to go past Chimera, but at least, he was intact. Thank god for this monster who could stop any attacks.

"Your girlfriend managed to pass, but you won't!"

Shit, Chimera couldn't delay this longer than he already has. It was time to do it seriously, especially if this kid had some kind of barriers now. He had to go seriously against him.

"Yes… Use me… Kill him to do your mission"

Izuku nearly shat himself when suddenly, Chimera's skin got covered in muscle tissue, exactly like a certain infamous killer from Japan.

Chimera growled, clearly unhappy, as he flexed his arm, "Seriously, kid, you should have surrendered earlier. Now, you will be lucky if you end up with only a few broken bones."

Izuku answered that with an uneasy smile, pulling two cards.

"But, my dear public, what would be a show without assistants? Come here!"

Muscular growled, as he felt a kneeling presence in front of him and he tried to smash it. Well, he actually succeeded and broke her skull in one shot, but the barrier held well for a second.

"Well, there goes the Mystic Elf, but she was only doing the entracte anyway. Your real issue is rather her friend over there. Gardevoir, move him away, if you please."

Currently, Chimera was still using only slightly Muscular's quirk, because of Garaki's warning. Barely a few layers, to increase his resistance and strength. However, he suddenly felt a force that was pushing him away, slowly, on all of his body.

"You need more power… To rip this bitch apart."

How did he know it was a she? He wasn't certain but he needed more of this quirk. Chimera raged away from Gardevoir's psychic power, as he doubled the number of layers on his body. The pokemon clearly panicked for a second before not truly feeling anything anyway.

Being ripped apart, her upper body from her lower, tended to be deadly, after all. Her blood only touched a bit of Chimera's face, before the summon disappeared.

It felt good. It was what he was looking for…

Then he snapped back when he got it by a giant stone sword.

"GIANT SOLDIER OF STONE! Eject him out of this building!"

Izuku, to be fair, wasn't really happy with the situation. This man in front of him had two quirks, and honestly, he was pretty sure that his Mutant quirk would allow him to follow wherever Izuku would hide or run away..

Or worse, he could run after Tooru and the girls. Combined with his absurd strength and resilience now, Izuku was pretty sure that his win condition actually changed. He had to defeat Chimera here, if they wanted to live another day.

"No more jokes, kid? This thing is barely bothering me!"

Worst thing, Izuku had to agree with Chimera, as the man stopped the blade with barely one hand. Then, he pressed harder his palm against it, and ripped it apart.

Chimera sounded a bit disappointed. "Tsssk, the only issue with that one, is there is no blood or meat to destroy. Is it pure stone? It doesn't smell like flesh."

"... It is pure stone." Izuku confirmed, noting that apparently his summons also had a particular smell. Always good to know. Anyway, his hands weren't idle, while they were speaking. Hopefully, the wolf man was too distracted since he activated his new quirk, and forgotten Izuku was a menace the longer he had time to prepare bigger and bigger summons.

"Thanks for the information."

Chimera then casually smashed the giant of stone, reveling in his new strength, his quirk moving with his body.

"I am still going to make you SCREAM, CHILD!"

"I CAST FOURTH KINDS!"

The young magician was still trapped with Chimera, as he felt his reserve quickly draining. Seriously, why had he only brought his emergency deck? Oh right. They were supposed to be safe. Fuck.

The hero with four arms quickly got dismembered in front of Izuku who finally managed to find one of the cards he needed.

It was time, as Chimera was on him, salivating and Izuku actually saw his eyes changing color. Ok, that one was anormal.

"SWORDS OF REVEALING LIGHT!"

Suddenly, three swords of light appeared, trapping Chimera inside them… Making the mutant rage against them, hitting them. Izuku didn't have to be a genius to see the cracks appearing after each crack.

Still, now, Izuku had an idea, he needed to test… So while he was still catching back his breath after so many successive summons, Izuku calmly chose two heroes from his Hero cards.

"I SUMMON… THE WATER HOSES!"

Two heroes, with suits not unlike Sentai Heroes appeared, readying some water blasts in their hands. In their eyes a determination could be seen, especially after seeing the opponent chosen for them to fight.

Yet, before they could unleash any attacks, their simple sight seemed to cause the monster in front of Izuku to scream so powerfully the sonic blast harmed the sword.

"I KNEW IT! Muscular is taking over!"

Izuku had already seen the Noumus after all. People with two quirks, artificially or thanks to something wasn't impossible. Hell, some people deemed the existence of the Quirk Thief as a myth, but considering Monoma's quirk, it was totally possible the man had truly existed.

However, considering Muscular was supposed to have been atomised by Endeavor and his wife, seeing him here was bad.

"SO WHAT, KID?! I AM GOING TO RIP EVERYONE AND BASK IN YOUR BLOOD, BITCH!"

Meep. Big Meep.

"You shall not harm this teen, Muscular! We stopped you once! We can do it again!"

The heroes said in perfect synchronicity as Izuku decided to go fuck it and actually burned as sacrifice a third of his cards. Which was roughly 40 cards… But once again, the summon was going to be worth it. He simply needed time.

Muscular then exploded the barrier, enjoying his body, and the world once again.

"You got killed, and I had a subpar body. NOW I HAVE THE SUPERIOR MODEL!"

He got water in his eyes for monologuing like a villain, as the heroes began to summon together water. The two of them were in perfect harmony and created a powerful geyser from the pipe in the kitchen, to blow their enemy away.

"A killer! Mindlessly reaping adults and children… Disgraceful…"

"SHUT UP!"

Paradoxically, while Muscular clearly had a better hang on his quirk, Izuku had almost no issue to dodge the hit. Well, to be fair, he was good at dodging hits, but there was another reason.

The Ginyu Syndrome, as a quirk expert called it, in reference to an old manga. When people like the Dictator controlled mutants with a different body than them, they often had issues with the motor part, because their brains were bipedal or used to have a tail to balance them.

Muscular had to deal with having a wolf body, goat leg, a snake tail and weird arms.

In addition, unlike Chimera who was a professional, Muscular had no training in close combat, and only relied on his instinct.

This new body wasn't doing any good for him, and it was honestly Izuku's only saving grace.

Each attack was far too close to Izuku for his comfort, but he managed to do it with grace and some moves from the gym or Compress's teaching, bending his body to absurd angle, before repositioning himself with a few backflips. Keep on moving, because you don't, you will break!

"STOP MOVING LIKE THAT FUCKING COMPRESS!"

"Sorry, but if you stopped to press your attack, I would be happy to comply!"

Quip, quip. An angry enemy in a body they didn't understand was prone to error. Especially as the Water Hoses often forced him to protect his eyes… Probably because of the time they ripped apart one of his eyes.

Also apparently, Muscular had an issue with Compress' dodging style. It was good. Good, very good. Continue to get on his nerves.

"I WILL BREAK YOUR BO.."

Suddenly, Izuku knew he had a way better odds at surviving his situation than before, as Muscular's arm punched slightly too much to the left of Izuku to hit him. This actually stopped the fighters, before Muscular roared again… Before yelping, as Izuku summoned a Death Arms in close combat, and let his summon punch Muscular in the manly part of himself.

Still, the monster was down for a few seconds now, and Izuku had the time to summon his real attack. Unlike for Stain, there was no time to think about the destruction.

"I SUMMON YOU! OPTIMUS PRIME!"

"... WHO?"

Then, Muscular got punched into one of the parks inside the giant building. Hard. Actually, so hard he felt some of bones break from the impact, despite his heavy protection, making him cough blood.

"ME."

From the dust emerged a giant robot, blue and red and towering above Muscular, before smashing him again, forcing him to dodge… Except this time, his body refused to move. Another punch connected, sending the monster, the killer flying.

"STOP IT!"

"An Autobot shall never stop fighting evil, Monster!"

"I AM NOT SPEAKING TO YOU, IDIOT!"

Muscular yelled back, before feeling his consciousness snapping… And then the dark came.

—--

In a spirit world he knew all too well, Muscular faced Chimera, while the darkness surrounded them.

"WE NEED TO RIP THIS MACHINE IN PIECES!"

Muscular beings grew in size and power, feeding on his own anger at being bullied by that giant robot. He needed full control to win! The world would hear about his carnage again!

"We need to think about how to beat him and join SLICE!"

Meanwhile, Chimera seemed to puff on an imaginary smoke, appreciating it, quite calmly. He was a professional, and honestly, while he did enjoy a good fight, it wasn't his greatest pleasure. The smoke hit Muscular again, who yelled once again with a murdering rage.

"WHO CARES ABOUT THE WOMAN? OR THE OTHERS? THEIR ONLY PURPOSE IS OUR PLEASURE!"

"Shut up. You care for blood. That's your thoughts. I care for the mission and my goals… and my team."

Slice was a pain in the ass, but the woman was always there to drink with him after a mission. Mummy was a weirdo, with a strange fixation for painting, but the man always had your back when the shitstorm began. Nine… The man was strong, both in mind and body. His goal was also his, and Chimera followed him out of loyalty, and respect.

"What's wrong with admitting your darkest desires? YOU ENJOY THE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!"

He wanted to be free. When the wolf activated his quirk, it seemed to Muscular that he woke up from darkness once again. Never more. NEVER MORE HE WANTED TO GO BACK IN THAT PLACE. Truth to be said, Muscular was not afraid of the dark… But now he was afraid of what was living in it, and was waiting for him to return.

Taking control of this body was possible. He knew it. Muscular already tasted him. Now, he only had one thing to do to fully assume control of this body and it was either convincing the wolf they were the same… Or devouring him. After that ? Muscular would have words with Garaki, for using his soul as an experiment!

"I do. But that's not what defines me. That's what defines you."

Chimera was someone astonishingly calm, for many reasons. First off, you don't live long if you act only with your instinct (or you have crazy instincts). Second, he was too often called a beast, to accept being a mindless one such as Noumu or Muscular.

He wanted to prove them wrong. All of them. The CRC and the stupid dumbass in the ISP his brother founded. Fuck Beast..

Third, one of Chimera's hobbies to destress from the warzone was actually to use some herbs from a Native American Shaman he knew to discover his inner-self.

When your quirk was basically to summon the inner beast inside of you to morph your body, learning to know it was a good move.

Point being, for Chimera, being in his spiritual world was something more normal than most people. He was used to that place, and he was smoking the old memory of his last pipe.

"I WANT THIS BODY, I WILL HAVE IT!"

Fuck diplomacy! He would have it alone! Even if it means not having access to Chimera's memories.

"Last chance. Surrender."

"FUCK YOUR SURRENDER! I AM THE BEAST WHO SLAYS, FEAR MY ANGER!"

"I Am The Beast That Keeps Inside The Dark. Welcome Inside Me."

Muscular barely had time to register, while jumping, the shadow wolf who grabbed him, before putting him between his teeths. If you were to compare size, Muscular was roughly four times his host's size. The wolf was ten times him.

Chimera, below, puffed sadly. The man there was a sad reflection of what he could have been. What his big brother, now dead, was.

"Being a beast is easy. Pretending to be the monster everyone thought I was would have been the easiest. But being a man… That's what is hard, bitch. I am one. This? This is what is keeping all of my bad days inside me."

"I AM CARNAGE!"

"No. You are nothing more than a beast."

And Muscular was once again in the dark.

And he heard all of them laughing again in the dark, while the chains were coming. Familiar voices he dodged two times were resonating. Unlike the first two times, he ran like hell, as a prey.

—--

Optimus Prime was an honorable being, thinking living beings deserved a chance. However, from what the two other heroes accompanying him explained, it was a being actually far more evil than most Decepticons he knew. Something that was actually a menace for everyone in the building.

As a result, he prepared his arms while his enemy was down… And failed to execute his enemy.

The ground broke around the wolf, because of his robotic enemy's strength, but with his two arms, he held Optimus's arm.

"Sorry… I am back in control. The other one won't be here again."

"Will you kill the kid?"

"I might make him unconscious. I still have a job to do."

It was honestly harder and harder to speak for Chimera.

Then Optimus used his other arms to bitchslap him.

"Then, I shall stop you, criminal."

"Well… That's your job, machine."

With the Water Hoses blocking the exit, Chimera knew he was blocked.

"...Let me guess, the kid ran after his girlfriend?"

The three summons nodded, and a heavily wounded Chimera groaned.

"Well, I CAN'T AFFORD TO DISAPPOINT MY FRIENDS! COME AT ME, FUCKERS!"

Chimera, protected by his new, fully absorbed quirk, attacked while using his main quirk to increase his attributes.

He finally found another thing he was looking for: A war stranger than him, and companions for whom he would fight for.

"Here I come!"

Chimera left a crater behind him, as he jumped toward a Water Hoses. First thing in a battle: destroy the support. Both Water Hoses were only reasonably strong heroes when they were alive and they had to die to actually damage enough Muscular for other peoples to take him down (Compress who was notified too late of what was happening).

Meanwhile, Chimera had changed his eyes to chameleon eyes, to have a better vision against Optimus Prime, the robot would probably not let his companions get slayed without saying anything.

The fact the robot's eyes were shining and his arms cannons too, was a good hint about the balls of energy coming for his wolf's ass.

Thankfully, the goat legs allowed Chimera to run almost vertically on the walls, hence why he chose them instead of a jaguar.

When the first volley hit behind him, Chimera didn't even look behind to know they were closing on him. However, that didn't mean the Water heroes were sitting ducks. Both of them were using the water in the garden to actually attack him from afar.

Chimera, with a smile, took a bet… And jumped inside the river in the garden. There, he swiftly changed his body to have the hand of an otter, the lower parts of a crocodile, and sped up under the water.

Considering how only Optimus prime was shooting the water now, it means the Water Hoses didn't know what was in the water below them. Which was his only opportunity to win. If he managed to kill the summons, and thank god they didn't appear to be true living beings, he could rush for the exit, leaving the Robots behind him.

Hey, sure, he had a body count, that didn't mean he was looking for killing two heroes who died in the line of duty, again.

Swimming at a blinding speed under the water, Chimera ended up jumping outside of water to attack the two summoned heroes. Falling from above, he quickly changed his arms for ourang-outang arms. Longer, stronger, deadlier especially with Muscular's quirk.

The couple barely had the time to slide to safety in a graceful dance, before Chimera ran belly against the ground to avoid the incoming volley ball from Optimus Prime.

No time for words or taunt, he needed to get faster.

"FASTER!"

Optimus Prime, despite the fact his opponent was a bad guy, was forced to admit the man was good. His own system was still booting up and was soon to be perfectly operational, but the man had good moves for a human. Since when Earthlings have improved to be that strong? He always felt they had a potential, but this was something else.

The water heroes knew however they were in a pickle. While Muscular was someone who overwhelmed you with brutal strength, unadulterated rage, he was also someone too straight in his fights.

The man in front of them was also someone working on pure instinct but… Unlike Muscular who honed his bloodlust rather than fighting skill, the mutant in front of them was a survivor who fought for his own life on a daily basis. Each of his moves left nothing as an opening for them…

The Water Hoses, while having decent combat skills, were Rescue Heroes. Their role was to hold the line for the heavy hitters, as they were stronger for Crowd Control. Unlike some heroes like Manual, who could, if they had enough time, do a water cutter, they needed to work perfectly together to do that one… And it was a perfectly linear attack. Something easy to dodge for the man in front of them.

Hell, they managed to get one or two good hits, because he was injured. When the wolf got closer to them and decapitated them in a swift movement, it was clear: he was a villain above them…

Chimera didn't look at the disappearing corpses. It was no use, but honestly, he was happy they weren't real people. One of the rules in a warzone is "You don't hit the rescue heroes, unless they are specifically from the enemy camp" and even then, you tried to avoid that. You never knew when you would be the one to be dug up and saved by them. Honestly, fighting them still felt… Wrong.

The wolfman then coughed some more blood, as he had pushed his body to his limits, with the broken ribs and the mindfuck he had earlier.

Then Chimera saw the shadow under him and barely could say… "Fuck me".

Optimus Prime smashed him in the ground, strong enough to make him fall in the ballroom, to everyone's surprise.

Now, back to protect the young summoner…Mmmh…

Optimus Prime had a new issue: the alleys weren't made for someone his size. That was going to be annoying, wasn't it?