The Original work was written by Op Taipan.

Believe it or not, this is the first time I was a Beta Reader for Op Taipan, good times.


BOOK ONE:

EARTH

CHAPTER TWELVE:

ORIGINAL EARTHBENDERS, PART 4:

BATTLE OF THE BEASTS


Izuku made his way through the Tōu Liè Zhě base, walking through corridors that seemed to stretch on forever.
They took sharp turns often, sometimes converging into each other for no apparent reason, creating a labyrinth for any outsider or intruder.
He had no true idea of where he should go, only that he could find Chima somewhere at the base's bottom levels.

If not for his seismic sense, he would have been caught already as numerous members of the poaching organization were darting about none stop, carrying out their duties.
He was forced to make multiple detours because of that; hiding behind corners and sometimes even being forced to climb to a higher floor, slowing his progress towards his goal.

Currently, he was hiding behind such a corner, listening in on a dull conversation of a few poachers and waiting for them to go on.

He had to will his feet to remain frozen in place, using way more mental constitution than should be necessary to avoid tapping the ground. His hand was covering his mouth, muffling his hard panting.

It was probably late into the night by now, much later than the time he usually went to bed. Despite this, he didn't feel tired at all. The opposite in fact.
He never felt antsier than he did now, his heartbeat drumming against his ribcage and his instincts on overdrive.

Finally, the men moved on and Izuku stopped himself from heaving a big sigh of relief. He moved around the corner and continued, using his seismic sense to determine the way down.

When he finally made it to the lowest floor, his first impression was that it looked different than the other ones. The corridors' walls were still a dirty white, the paint peeling off and the floor was just as dirty; painting his feet black after he walked on it barefooted for so long.
The only real difference he could pick up on was that the lowest floor was probably the smelliest one by far. It reeked of spoiled meat, rotten vegetables, and animal feces, a deadly combination that caused the boy to hide his nose beneath his shirt.

It almost reminded him of the natural odor of the caverns, with one key difference. Unlike the caverns, which were brimming with life, this place smelt almost dead, as if whatever lived here was left suspended on the brink; forced to never cross the border but at the same time being pressed against it.

Izuku gritted his teeth together as he followed the abominable scent. He continued down the hallways, knowing the scent will lead him to what he was looking for.

Something he would've preferred to go his entire life without seeing.

Izuku found himself at the edge of the far most hallway on the floor, gaping at the sight with an expression that could pass as the epitome of revulsion.

The narrow corridor ended in a balcony, looking over an open space that could've acted as a hangar for the largest of planes. Cages were built into the walls on the boy's right and left, appearing no different than prison cells. A massive crane was mounted on the ceiling, more than likely responsible for moving cages and supplies through the underground facility.
Two levels of catwalks had enabled access to the cages on the walls. They were connected to the balcony Izuku stood on with even more metal bridges. Every cage was filled to the brim with different animals, almost all of whom Izuku saw before in the caverns.

On the upper level, he could see Singing Groundhogs, Badgerfrogs, and Lop-eared rabbits held in portable cages as at least ten men were spraying water into the built-in cages with hoses. A bit lower in the middle level, he could spot Catgators and Wolfbats crammed together like sardines, barely having enough room to move.

The boy had to squint to see what was in the third and lowest level, making sure his head was low so that he wasn't spotted. The entire bottom floor was littered with different crates of various sizes, ranging from big to small, and holding things Izuku probably couldn't even name. The largest cages in the facility were also there, embedded into the metal walls. Their cold metallic sheen almost mocking, taunting Izuku about his situation. Through the bars of some of the cages, Izuku could spot the trademark brown and black fur of Shirshu. They were all backed into the wall as much as they could, staying quiet as to not draw the poachers' attention.

He didn't see Chima, but he did find that there were three large metal containers at the far reaches of the lowest floor, just like the one that used to hold him.

'That's where Chima is!' The boy realized, prepared to sneak through the catwalks undetected and making it down.

*WHEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *

'What?' Izuku's heart dropped when suddenly the wail of a siren screamed throughout the entire base, startling many of the poor animals.

"THE KID HAS ESCAPED!" The boy heard the voice of the chubby man who captured him boom out, "HE'S IN THE PENS!"

'How did they find me?' Izuku panicked, darting his head from left to right. 'I kept away from them all! If someone was close, I would've felt it!' The boy looked behind him and suddenly, he knew how.

Aruku was levitating on the other side of the corridor, talking into his communicator and his hand pressing on an alarm lever.

The forest at night was no safe place for a rabbit to be in, quirked, or otherwise. Predators such as snakes and birds of prey wouldn't miss a chance for a potential meal, leaving the poor Lop-eared rabbit on high alert at all times.

After escaping the base, the small rodent ran through the forest as fast as she could, making sure to stay under the shade of trees and away from any burrows.
With her long ears flapping behind her, the rabbit was guided by her nose towards the tunnel system, where she would be safe.

There was only one problem.

To enter the cave and escape she had to go through the clearing, an area under the constant watch of the Tōu Liè Zhě. One wrong move and the humans would capture her again, sending her to their facility.

She hid in one of the bushes at the edge of the clearing, looking at the cave at its edge in longing.
While no human, or anything for that matter, were seen in the clearing itself, the rabbit knew better than to just waltz through. That's what got her captured in the first place; causing her to end up in the sweaty hands of a poacher and shoved forcefully into a reeking cage.

So she circled the clearing, instead. Hiding in a bush before going on to hide in the next one, slowly closing in on the cave's entrance.

She looked at her next hiding place. A large bush, easily capable of hiding her and an ideal place for her to catch her breath before moving on.
Looking around just to make sure, the Lop-eared rabbit bounced from her cover and dove into the hiding place, appearing as just a black & white streak to anyone who might've seen her.

"Huh? What was that?"

The rabbit's small heart sank when she heard a human speaking above her. She shook in place, slowly looking up to see one of the poachers staring her down, both of his eyebrows raised in surprise.

They stayed silent for a couple of seconds, one too surprised to move while the other was paralyzed with fear.

*JUMP! *

It was the rabbit who got ahold of her senses first, bolting it out into the clearing in panic and heading towards the cave, kicking off crushed leaves from the ground in her haste.

"I FOUND ONE!" The man she ran away from yelled out, causing multiple heads to perk up from behind cover. "IT'S IN THE CLEARING NOW!"

The area around the rabbit suddenly got illuminated by a white, blinding light. She accelerated even further, trying to shake off the spotlight off her. The men began shooting nets at the rabbit, forcing her to zigzag from left to right to dodge.

"YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY!" One of the men yelled out and gave chase to her by foot, tired of missing with the nets. He intercepted the rabbit in her path, tackling her and grasping her small body in his hands.

The small rodent squirmed, trying to free herself but the difference in strength was too much. In an act of desperation, the rabbit clenched the muscles in her ears and slapped the man's face with them, the sound of impact audible from afar.

"Gah! Fuck!"

With his grip now loose, the small rabbit broke free and bolted, passing under the cave's entrance in just a few seconds.

"IT'S NOT GETTING AWAY!" The man who had the rabbit in his hands barked, running after it.

"STOP!" One of the poachers behind him called out, "DON'T GO IN THERE, YOU'LL DIE!"

The man didn't heed the warning and entered the cave. With his flashlight always pointed at the fleeing rabbit, he paid no mind to any of the turns they made, focused solely on the small creature.

"GOTCHA!" The man yelled out, bouncing forward and dropping the flashlight. He caught the rabbit again, this time making sure that her ears were secure and pressed against the ground.
The flashlight flopped to the floor and rolled away, now pointing at a random granite wall. The poacher and rabbit were cast into complete darkness; the weight of the poacher almost crushing her.

The poor rodent shivered in fear, frustrated tears in her eyes.

They got her.

"Hehe… Thought you could get away, did ya?" The poacher chuckled, unaware of the fact he was lost in the tunnels.

Nor of what was in front of him.

*Huff… *

The poacher felt a gust of warm air hit his face. Surprised, he raised a brow. He looked around him, finding the flashlight he dropped pointed at one of the walls. The man took it and pointed it to his front, illumining the space.

He found himself staring into a pair of milky white eyes, surrounded by a patch of white fur in the shape of a domino mask.

"Don't make this hard on yourself, kid. Put your hands in the air and give up." Aruku demanded, his taser aimed directly at Izuku's chest.

Izuku complied, raising his arms above his head with a frown on his face. He turned his head from side to side, assessing his surroundings.
The boy stood at the balcony overlooking the pens, a metal railing behind him, and catwalks starting to his right and left. The metal bridges continued straight until they reached the walls of the hanger-like structure, stretching across them. Ladders were installed into the catwalks that were attached to the walls, leading to the other levels of the pens.

A dozen or so poachers were positioned across the facility, all of whom looked at Izuku. For now, they were quite far from the boy, standing still and watching the scene unfold.

The balcony was connected to a long and wide hallway, many other corridors "flowing" into it. Aruku was currently the only man there, but Izuku could already feel the stampede of poachers coming their way. In less than a minute he would be surrounded, a little boy against hundreds of adult poachers.

'Why was I so stupid?' He berated himself, ' There was no way they wouldn't find me! I can't fight them all by myself!' He looked at all the animals held in cages, silently asking for forgiveness for not rescuing them.

'I… can't fight them… all by myself…' The boy's eyes widened when he got an idea.

"Oi! What are you looking at, brat?!" A new voice called out from the hallway. The boy jumped, startled, before turning towards the voice.

Two poachers made it here already. Tekubi Jū stood at Aruku's side, a frown on his face and wrists already pointed at the boy's stomach, ready to shoot him.


(Song start: My Hero Academia – Iron Battle)


Next to him was another man, one the boy wasn't familiar with. He was a large man with a shaved head and muscles as wide as Izuku's whole body; his skin was unhealthy and was littered in rashes, making Izuku feel his skin itch just by looking at it.
Pants were the only article he wore; as if the poachers didn't have one of their brown jackets for someone his size, exposing even more of his nasty-looking skin. The man stared the boy down with a grin that caused Izuku to shudder, reminding him too much of the Ussuri bear he encountered on the day he met Chima.

"Nowhere to run, brat." Jū told the boy, "Should've escaped when you had the chance, cause we won't make the same mistake again."

Izuku turned to look behind him, looking at the poachers on the catwalks. They were still watching, not moving too close in on him.

.

.

.

With his hands still raised, Izuku stomped the ground as fast as he could, erecting an earth column between himself and the three men.

The sudden action prompted the poachers into gear. Startled, both Aruku and Jū fired at him at once, almost managing to hit Izuku if the column he constructed hadn't saved him in the last second.

"Rrrggghhh! Fucking brat!" Jū cursed when his gaze locked on the onlookers in the pens. "What are you waiting for, fools?! Get up here!"

As if broken out of a trance, the men shook their heads. Those who were on the same level as the boy headed towards the balcony while the others on the lower levels went for the ladders.

Izuku himself hid behind the column he made, his back pressed against it. The boy pressed his hands against the concrete floor, curling his fingers and breaking the earth into pieces; The shards adhered to all four of Izuku's limbs, equipping him with his trademarked Earth Gauntlets as well as a pair of concrete boots.

"Step back, you two." The bald man stepped forward, now standing in front of Aruku and Jū. Jumping forward and with a maniacal smile, the man struck the earth column, shattering it and hitting Izuku in the back.

"Gah!" The boy cried out, sent flying into the railing, his chest hitting it.

Dazed for just a moment, Izuku got a good look at the pens before Jū's voice snapped him back to reality. "Good job! Now move aside so we can hit him!"

The boy bolted it to the right catwalk, where he saw the least poachers. The concrete floor of the balcony gave way to metal, his earthen boots clanking against it.

"After him, he's heading for the ladders!" Jū called out, running after the boy with the bald man right behind him. Aruku followed as well, levitating slowly in their direction.

Izuku reached the right wall without anyone getting in his way. He ran on the catwalk that stretched across it. His gaze lingering on the small animals for just a moment before moving on.

He would come for them later.

'Almost there…', the ladder was just a few steps ahead of him now, almost within reach.

"BOO!"

"Ah!" Izuku yelled, backing away from the ladder and the man who was climbing it.

"Hehehe…" The poacher chuckled, standing between Izuku and the ladder. The poachers were closing in on the boy; Jū, Aruku, and the bald man almost upon him from the left.

"Out of the way!" Izuku barked, pouncing on the man and punching him in the face. Sent flying and face caved in, the poacher could do nothing to stop the boy from going down the ladder. The boy went down the ladder as fast as he could, jumping off a few rungs early and landing on the catwalk of the middle level.

He quickly scanned through the different cages, heaving a sigh of relief upon finding what he was looking for.

'There!'

(Song end)


The cage held about a dozen Wolfbats, all of whom were of a relatively healthy state. They look at the boy apprehensively, as if fearing he was one of the poachers.

"Don't worry…" Izuku soothed, "I'm here to help…". He clutched two of the cage's bars with his hands, reaching for the earth within them. Izuku pulled against the bars with all the strength he had, using the new skill he had acquired. It took a few seconds longer than Izuku was comfortable with, but the bars eventually did get bent away from one another, leaving behind a hole large enough for the Wolfbats to escape. "…But I need your help to rescue everyone, can you do it?"

For a moment, the Wolfbats all stayed there in silence, staring at the boy. Then, at once, all twelve of them flew through the hole and into the open air. Shrieking loudly, the Wolfbats cried in the triumph of being set free before they began to dive down, tackling into the poachers.

Every animal in captivity perked up as soon as the first Wolfbat shrieked. They all howled together as the Wolfbats dove to attack, cheering the flying creatures on.

"GGGGAAAAHHHHHH! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" A poacher yelled as a Wolfbat was busy attacking, clawing, and biting his face.

Another Wolfbat stayed on the ground and attacked from below. He ran between and under the feet of the poachers around him, biting into any poacher unfortunate enough to be in his way, leaving behind ripped clothing and bleeding gashes.
"GGGAAAHHHHH!" A poacher screamed as the Wolfbat bit into his calve, refusing to let go.

Izuku repeated this process four to five times on the second level, releasing more animals to help fight the poachers. He made sure to release only the animals fit to fight, leaving the injured and crippled in relative safety.

It was at this point that the first influx of poachers made it into the corrals, stumbling onto hell on earth once they entered.

Wolfbats were everywhere, flying in a swarm. They had dived onto the sea of poachers, biting and clawing at their heads before flying off to find the next target.
The bravest of those creatures didn't stop there, they clung on the poacher's head once they landed, staying there to inflict pain for as long as possible.

A small battalion of Catgators swarmed the second level of catwalks, protecting Izuku as he opened more and more cages. The trio that was after him from the beginning was currently fending off a group of them, not making any headway in bursting through.

"There! Now go!" Izuku had opened yet another cage, letting loose a flock of Wolfbats into the fight. He stopped for a second to look where things were at the moment, eyes scanning the battlefield.
His efforts weren't enough. While the animals he released thus far were putting up a valiant effort, the sheer number of poachers swarming into the corrals began to overwhelm them.

The Wolfbats could only target one man at a time, leaving them useless against a group that dwarfed them in numbers. The Catgators were also being pushed back, unable to handle all the men.

Izuku peered into the other side of the room, where an identical wall of cages was located. He couldn't get there now. A horde of poachers was blocking his way there, being halted from reaching him only by the small Catgator army.

But the Catgators weren't enough to win, and Izuku knew it.

That left only one option. He had to get the heavy hitters; because if quantity wouldn't win this battle, then he would need to rely on quality.

He peered over the edge of the catwalks towards the third, and lowest, level of the pens. The Shirshu were still in their cages, clawing fruitlessly at their cage's bars. Izuku then looked around himself, there was no ladder in reach.

The boy took a deep breath, knowing what he had to do. Grasping the rails of the catwalk, Izuku vaulted over them, jumping down to the bottom floor.

He landed on a pile of wooden creates feet first, smashing them apart.

"Uggghhhh…" Izuku groaned as he climbed out of the ruins, looking up to see only a few noticed him jump. They were struggling to reach the ladders in the commotion, their shouts muffled by the uproar of the fight.

Wasting no time, he made his way to one of the cages holding the Shirshu, having a first proper look at them. Much like all the other animals here, they were extremely malnourished, appearing much weaker than their healthy and free brethren.
The poachers had also installed muzzles on all of them, not allowing the Shirshu to open their mouths.

Probably so they couldn't whip their toxic tongue at them.

Opening the cage as he did for all the other animals, Izuku then walked slowly into the cell and extended a gentle hand. "I'm going to take that muzzle off of you, hold still…" Using his new skill, Izuku severed the metal chains holding the muzzle together, freeing the Shirshu. The smallest one nuzzled into him in gratitude, enticing a small giggle out. "Think you can help us?"

In response, one of the Shirshu in the cage whipped its tongue in Izuku's direction.

"Whoa!" Acting quick, the boy ducked; dodging the tongue that went on to hit a poacher that was sneaking on them.

"T-thanks!" Izuku stuttered out, hand over his heart.

He released the rest of the Shirshu from their cages easily enough, letting the large beasts deal with the trickle of poachers making it to the third level while he worked.
After he finished, he let his focus shift to the trio of container-like cells at the very back of the room.

"Chima…"

Trusting the Shirshu to keep putting up a good fight, Izuku sprinted forward with nothing to hold him back, his friend almost in reach...

*Bbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...*

...Only to be stopped by a sound he knew all too well…

He didn't like that buzzing sound. Not at all.

Acting on pure instinct, Izuku raised an earth column to his right with a light stomp of his foot, blocking the projectile aimed at him in the last second.

Looking up, he saw two of his least favorite people in the world.

Tekubi Jū and Aruku Kūki stared him down from the second level, taser, and wrist-gun ready and aimed. They both jumped down to meet him and block his way, the latter of whom levitating gently while the former landing on his feet with a small thud.

"You caused quite the ruckus here, brat." Jū glared, cracking his knuckles.

Shuzumu Honōmuchi was perhaps in the best mood he was ever in.

After sending Jū to the pens to do a commodity counting, he split off from the man. Now, the Japanese leader was walking at a brisk pace towards their main warehouse/loading bay. The place where they currently held the kid prisoner.

'It's all finally coming together!' Shuzumu hummed to himself a playful tune, 'By the time the sun rises, I'll be rid of the kid's disobedience! And then it's straight to work for him!'

Shuzumu had finally completed the journey from his office to the warehouse, something that felt like it took an eternity with how anxious he was to get there. He opened the metal door that led inside, a hint of a smile on his face, "All right, Detarame! Mukankei! You two are free to go for now! I'll take care of the ki-"

Shuzumu stopped talking, a smiling expression frozen on his face.

The warehouse looked like a warzone. Multiple protrusions of earth specked the storing space, toppling some of the crates or even piercing through them. The two guards he left there were currently trapped in mounds of earth, thrashing violently and trying to get free, their mouths gagged.

The muscles in Shuzumu's face twitched and scrunched as his expression morphed into a furious scowl, "What. Happened. Here?"

*WHEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *

Before he got the chance to un-gag the two and demand an explanation, the alarm suddenly went off, the siren echoing throughout the entire compound.

"THE KID HAS ESCAPED!" He heard Aruku boom out, "HE'S IN THE PENS!"

"That fucking brat…!" Both trapped men whimpered in fear as violent sparks began to crackle from Shuzumu's hands, forming miniature versions of his whips.

He didn't even bother to free them; turning around, Shuzumu dashed out of the room and towards the stairs. His face a crimson red and at least 20 of his veins threatening to pop.

"You just had to complicate things, didn't you?" Aruku grumbled, standing next to Jū and facing the boy that had caused them so much trouble, "Couldn't just sit around in the cell and do nothin'…"

Izuku glared at the two men, his body in a perfect stance. Both of his arms were angled like sickles, his knees bent, and legs astride.

The other two showed no such discipline in their stances, one of whom didn't even try. Instead, both aimed their ranged weapons at the boy, their posture unrefined, and fired.

Acting quickly, with rigid and precise movements, he shot a small rock into the air, blocking their attacks.


(Song start: Avatar OST: YuYen)

"Tch!"

Thrusting both of his arms in opposite sides, the poachers yelled out in surprise as two earth columns burst from under their feet, sending them flying in opposite directions.

"Gah!" Jū scrambled in midair, spinning without any control and crashing into the ground.

Aruku fared much better. Having been used to staying airborne; it didn't take much for him to reorient himself. Nor did it take much to re-aim his taser and fire at Izuku.

Shifting the ground from beneath his feet, Izuku slid to the side and dodged the attack, not appearing to have taken a single step. With deadly accuracy, Izuku sent a small cluster of rocks at Aruku, nailing him in the stomach and forcing him into a wall.

The fat man wheezed and held his stomach, flying higher and out of range for a chance to catch his breath.

"Goddamn it, Brat! Just give up already!" Even without the yell, Izuku knew the gun-wristed man got up and was ready to shoot him. He formed a barrier, blocking the multitude of bullets heading his way before sending the block of earth back at his attacker.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Jū grumbled, ducking to the side to avoid getting squashed. Turning back to face the kid, he widened his eyes when he no longer saw him.

"W-what?!" He gaped, confused, and on guard, "Where did h-?"

*Grab! *

"WHAT THE-?!" Jū hollered when a felt something crawl up his legs. Looking down, he saw two grey concrete-covered hands grasping at his calves, sticking out of the ground like a zombie. Before he got the chance to fight back, the hands pulled him down, pushing his body into the earth as if it was quicksand.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK!?" The grey-haired man screamed; body buried neck-deep into the ground. Just next to his head, a hole was torn open in the floor, and out came Izuku, dusting off his torn and bloody shirt.

(Song end: Avatar OST: YuYen)


The kid ignored the buried man who was cussing at him with fervor, opting to focus on his other opponent.

Aruku came back down and was floating in the air in front of him, assessing his surroundings. The battle with the animals was still ongoing, the mustached crocodiles fighting on the second level; the giant star-shaped nosed quadrupeds fighting on the third, and the bats with the scary faces dive-bombing any target in sight.

Add to that the fact that Jū was trapped and it appeared it was just him against the boy.

'It's a repeat of the fight in the park!' Aruku greeted his teeth, remembering how that fight ended, 'I can't take him from afar, He'll just do what he did last time!'

The fat man looked around him once again, seeing his fellow poachers, most of which held tasers in their hands or tucked in holsters against their waists.

He smirked, 'That'll work.'

He then looked down at the kid that caused so much trouble for them, "Last chance kid, give up and I'll go easy on ya!"

The kid only returned his gaze, his expression unwavering, "I'll only stop once all the animals are free! What you are doing is wrong! You are worse than any villain!"

Aruku merely shook his head at the boy's naïve and cliched speech, "Well, I did give you an out." The fat man fired his taser at the boy, smirking in victory when Izuku raised an arm and a slab of earth blocked the attack, 'Hook…'

The fat man dove down towards the boy, letting gravity accelerate him past his quirk's limit, '…line…'

Izuku was still behind his barrier, having no reference to Aruku's position in the air. So when he peered around the slab of earth, only to find himself face to face with Aruku, he was completely caught off guard, '…And sinker…'

The fat man outstretched his hand forward, grasping Izuku's foot. The boy's eyes widened, surprised by the attack. He tried to jump back and gain distance, but that only worsened his situation. Aruku did not let go of him, and Izuku found himself falling to the ground, his back hitting it and almost losing his hold on the earth-appendages he wore, "Oooooofff!"

Smirking in victory, Aruku began ascending into the air, still holding onto the boy.

Izuku found himself suspended in midair, held upside-down by his foot. "Let me go!" He yelled at the grown man, his fists flailing futilely; trying to hit the man who held him.

"NOW!" Aruku yelled out, garnering the attention of multiple poachers, "SHOOT THE BRAT!"

The poachers didn't need to be told twice. All at once, at least a dozen poachers left their fight with the animals. Perked on the various catwalks of the pens, they all aimed their tasers at the forest-haired kid.

'Crap!' Gravity pulled down blood to Izuku's head as he overlooked the sight below him, 'We're too high up! I can't reach for enough earth from here fast enough!' He was almost ready to accept his fate, earth-covered fists already shielding his face when he got an idea.

"FIRE!"

All at once, at least a dozen metallic cables sailed through the air, all aimed at one target. But before any got to hit their marks, the target, alongside the man who held him, suddenly jerked to the side, narrowly dodging.

"Hey, what's the deal, man?" One of the poachers yelled, "I thought we were supposed to shoot him, right?!"

"It wasn't me!" Aruku yelled back, "What in the world happ-?" The fat man looked down at the boy, seeing him grinning in triumph despite his beet-red face. With a flick from Izuku's wrist, Aruku found himself and the boy hurtling uncontrollably through the air, now an unhittable target for his allies.

'It's the kid!' Aruku realized, looking at his earth-covered foot, 'He's using his quirk to push us both in the air!'

"STOP IT BRAT!"

"NO!"

The two continued to jolt in the air, one trying desperately to keep them afloat and remain in control while the other pushing for the opposite. Refusing to let go, Aruku had to suffer as they both went around each other in circles, left and right, up and down, spinning like a merry-go-round.

"WILL YOU STOP THIS ALREEEAAADY?!" Aruku cried out as they both span around each other, struggling not to puke with how queasy he felt.

Izuku ignored his pleas. Instead, the boy was trying his hardest to get a hit on the fat man, only adding to the jumble of flailing limbs in the air that was comprised of himself and Aruku. The decisive moment in their struggle came not long after. Now somehow face to face in midair, Izuku wasted no time and delivered a palm strike to Aruku's face, gripping it when his hand made contact.

"Mmmmmffffff!" Aruku's voice could not be deciphered behind the gag, his mouth forced shut. Startled, the man grasped at the appendage with his free hand, losing his focus and beginning to fall to the ground.

Capitalizing on Aruku's loss of focus, Izuku freed his leg from the man's hold and dislodged his arm from the armor he had created. Both now fell to the ground as separate bodies, Izuku directly above the fat man.

*BOOM! *

Aruku crashed into the hard ground, his back aching from the impact and the earth-appendage on his face shattering into rubble.

Izuku, on the other hand, landed much more gently.

As in 'on Aruku's soft stomach' gently.

"Graaaahhh!" The fat man gasped out, clutching his belly in pain as the boy jumped off his stomach like a trampoline. He didn't even register the fact the light around him was fading, a result of Izuku trapping his body in a prison made of blocks of earth.

*Huff…*

*…Puff…*

*…Huff…*

*…Puff…*

*…Huff…*

*…Puff…*

Izuku panted, leaning on his knees.

The boy waited just one second to appraise his work. Now both poachers were trapped, cussing at him from their prisons. And while normally an overly-innocent eight-year-old like him would gasp in horror for the use of such language, he couldn't bring himself to care about it at the moment.

Without even looking back, the boy bolted towards the far reaches of the pens, where the cell that held Chima was located.

He reached the closest cell, digging his hands into it and tearing the door open, looking inside and hoping to see his friend.

Chima wasn't there.

Instead, Izuku found another Badgermole.

The female Badgermole was at least twice as large as Chima was, with a unique black outline wrapped around the white fur surrounding her eyes. She has clearly seen better days. The poor beast was severely malnourished, her muscles deteriorated from years of inactivity and lack of proper food. Scars riddled her body. Her paws were a mess of dark gashes and calloused skin, the tissue having suffered through intense trauma. Her fur was a mess; It was short and hard like the stubbles of a drunk man, some patches of it much longer or shorter than the others.
Cuffs were locked around her legs, connected via chains much like how the boy was restrained earlier.

Izuku felt something within him break when he saw this sight.

Badgermoles were his ideal for years, ever since he met Chima. They were strong, proud, caring, ferocious, and unwavering. They were everything he aspired to be, both in spirit and power.

But looking at this Badgermole, so defeated and broken, shattered that perfect image.

The Badgermole bared her teeth and growled at the boy, warning him to not come any closer as she backed herself into the cell's wall. Unlike the rest of the animals, she did not witness Izuku's effort in freeing them, the metal not allowing her to 'see' at all.

To her, Izuku was an enemy.

The boy tried to extend a gentle hand forward, to signal he meant no harm. But the Badgermole wasn't having any of it. Her growling only got loader, her scowl deepening and her muscles twitching in apprehension.

The boy was stumped. He couldn't get near the Badgermole and rescue her as she was now. He had no food, and he doubted that showing her his quirk would work in this situation.

Desperate, he searched his memories for something he could do, anything


1 year ago:

The Matsuri, or Summer Festival, was in full swing in Musutafu. Little kids played different festival games, fighting with each other for who would get to go next. Fussing mothers took pictures of their sons and daughters in yukatas, whilst fathers were busy raiding the various food stalls.

Amongst the various festivalgoers were also the class 1-1 from Aldera Elementary, invited to go with their homeroom teacher. But not long after they all made it, it became apparent each wanted to do his/her own thing.

And so, naturally, they split up.

Izuku himself wasted no time and charged at the food stalls, spending every yen his mother had given him for the festival when she dropped him off.

Dango, Karaage, Yakitori, Taiyaki, and even a rare mini-Watermelon were quickly wrapped up and stuffed into the bag he had with him, garnering him a lot of odd looks from the other festivalgoers.

Not that he really cared.

With the bag held over his shoulder, he slipped away into the nearby park, finding Chima in their usual meeting spot.

And so, while the rest of his class spent their time playing festival games with each other and talking, Izuku hung out with his best friend. They shared the food Izuku brought, leaning against each other, and enjoying the other's company.

Izuku was quite glad, not even caring his green yukata was splattered with dirt and crumbles. He initially thought that the loud noise the festival made would frighten Chima, for never so many humans were so close to him. But the youngling took to it rather well. He almost appeared docile, in fact.

Especially when the music of the festival took over the sounds of the people.

'Guess Chima's a music lover…' Izuku smiled, looking at said Badgermole who purred to the music's beat.


Present:

"…Leaves from the vine… Falling so slow…"

This was a long shot, and Izuku knew it.

The boy uttered the words of a long-forgotten song in a soft voice, each line recalled from the memory of a distant dream.
The language he spoke in was foreign and unrecognizable, even to him. And while it sounded similar to Japanese, no word could be attributed to Izuku's mother tongue.

Unlike in his dreams, he had no exact idea of what he was saying, his seemingly magical translator ability gone.

But it didn't matter in the end.

All that did was the fact the Badgermole began to relax her tense muscles by the tiniest bit, her scowl weakening.

"…Like fragile, tiny shells… Drifting in the foam…"

So he continued to sing the song, taking a step closer with every verse. The Badgermole appeared more serene as he went on, losing her scowl completely by the time the song had reached its end.

"Brave soilder boy… Comes marching home…"

Now face to face with the beast, Izuku placed a gentle hand on one of her paws, asking for permission to continue. Receiving no negative answer, he gripped at the cuffs around her leg, the metal creaking as it got bent.

It only took a minute and now the Badgermole was free. Satisfied with his work, the boy stepped back giving himself room to spare just in case something unexpected happens.

*LLLIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK*

Though that something certainly wasn't getting licked by her massive tongue out of the blue.

Wiping his face of her drool, Izuku wasted not a second longer and went out the cell, making sure to widen the gap in it so the Badgermole could walk out.

He then went to the next cell, opening it and finding another Badgermole there.

It wasn't Chima either.

It was a male Badgermole, larger than the female that was currently exiting her prison. Much like her, he too growled in warning at the boy, his bared teeth promising an agonizing end should he come too close.

He repeated the process he did with the female Badgermole, singing the song again and eventually freeing him as well.

Getting another gratitude-orial lick, the boy stepped out from the compartment, followed quickly by the escapee Badgermole.

It was in the light of the facility's fluorescent bulbs that he finally got a good look at the two Badgermoles he rescued, noting how familiar they looked as they nuzzled into each other like a married couple.
The female's head was in the same shape as Chima's, from the frame of her nose to the way her ears curved. The white fur on her chest was the only real difference that Izuku could spot, but then again, that was the only Badgermole he ever saw with this attribute.
The male shared some features with Chima as well; The white fur dots around the male's snout were identical to Chima, the black stripes on his back the same unique midnight black, and the chest an identical walnut brown.

"You're Chima's parents…" Izuku murmured, his mouth agape in both awe and realization. The two beasts stopped nuzzling each other for just a moment, humming at the boy as if they understood what he said.

Izuku was sure of it, the resemblance was too uncanny for it to be a coincidence.
Chima was basically a carbon copy of the two of them!

It had made way too much sense. From his time in the cavern, Izuku knew Badgermoles lived in small communities as a collective, but as individuals, they lived as small families. They mated for life, their offsprings staying with them until they reached adulthood; something he knew Chima was nowhere near. Not once nor twice had he wondered about it, but only now had he got an answer.

And that answer only made his rage against the Tōu Liè Zhě burn hotter and brighter.

"They separated you…" Izuku whispered as he patted Chima's father on the nose with his un-gloved hand, the Badgermole purring at his hand's warmth. "… No more!" He declared.

Izuku ran towards the last cell, his bloody knuckles turning white from the force. He ripped open the cell as if it was made from aluminum foil, creating a massive gap in the metal wall.

Large enough for a certain someone.

*THWOMP! *

Chima burst through the hole, tackling Izuku and wrapping his legs around the boy's body in a hug.

"Chima! "

The two fell to earth, Chima on top of Izuku.

Izuku pressed his cheek against Chima's snout, shedding tears on his fur, "I-I *sniff* I was s-so scared that they hurt you…". Chima purred in content, leaning on Izuku as much as the boy did him, sighing in the relief of seeing him again. Chima's parents joined in as well, nuzzling into the youngling's sides.

*Hmmmmm? *

Chima's heart skipped a beat when he felt his parents pressed against him. He let out a confused hum, refusing to believe what he felt until he confirmed it.

In response the two adults rested their heads on Chima's, confirming to him that they were there.

Izuku was the first to notice the tears that spilled from Chima's milky white eyes, the water dripping down his snout, joining his own, before dripping to the ground.
Izuku smiled, gently wiping off Chima's tears. "It alright now, we're here" He soothed, looking up at the Chima's parents 'I need to name them after we get out of here.' he decided.

For just a moment not a thing in the world mattered to any of them. The small family of Badgermoles stayed huddled there together, finally reunited after three long years, their newest and unorthodox addition with them.

If only it could last...

*Sniff...*

Izuku smelt it before he saw it. The sour stench of ash and smoke wafted in the air, causing the quartet to scrunch up their noses.

They all needed not to look deep into their memories to know what that smell reminded them of.

Izuku looked up, a worried expression on his face, bordering on frightful.

Two scorching tongues of flames danced across the catwalks on the second level of the pens, warping around the neck of a poor Catgator like a python before extending further and moving on to the next.

"RRRROOOOOAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The reptiles roared in pain, the whips around their neck growing in brightness for just a moment before fading back to a dull red, eventually disappearing completely.
As one, almost every single Catgator on the second floor dropped to the ground, not able to lift a single limb in both exhaustion and pain.

Standing tall on one of the catwalks was the perpetrator. He was dressed in the same fiery clothes Izuku saw from their first encounter a couple of hours ago, but everything else about him seemed different.

The man's muscles, that before were developed but lean, seemingly bulked in size two-fold, arteries pulsing from within them.
His face was the worst change by a long shot. It was a sick red, veins sticking out like sore thumbs all over his forehead. His eyes were burning like two miniature suns; not the warm and gentle kind, but the kind that burned whoever dared look at it.

The men's soft musk from their first encounter had evolved into a full-blown miasma, coalescing with the stench of the corrals into an unholy and malodorous abomination.

"You fucking varmint!"

Shuzumu Honōmuchi, quirk: Whips of Fthaggua

Shuzumu can form two large flame-like whips fueled by his vitality. The whips hold an almost impossible level of dexterity, capable of precise movements even when stretched to an incredible length. Should the whips come in contact with a living organism, they will start to feed on its vitality, glowing brighter as they do so and transferring some of it back to Shuzumu.

The man glared down at Izuku with the fury of a mad predator, violent wisps of flame escaping from the whips he wielded.

Under that gaze, Izuku and the Badgermoles felt tiny, like mice cowering before a cat.

The boy held his nose beneath his forearm, desperate to not breathe in the suffocating scent of smoke that filled the air.
He tried to avert his gaze away from Shuzumu; instead, getting a better look at what was happening on the second level.

The Catgators now laid defeated on the catwalks, the poachers tying them all with ropes and throwing them back into cages. Taser shots sailed through the air, hitting the Wolfbats and knocking them out, leaving them to crash to the ground.

By this point, almost all the poachers had made it to the pens. About a couple hundred men stared Izuku down, perched on the various metal bridges and balconies.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?!" Shuzmu barked, "GET DOWN THERE AND CAPTURE THEM!"

The boy had to his name only himself, Chima and his parents, the Shirshu, and a dozen or so Wolfbats left in this fight. The poachers were coming down towards them, climbing down ladders, or simply jumping down without a care for the consequences.

"FUCK'EM UP!"

The poachers began to surround the Shirshu, at least a dozen on one. Even with their toxic tongues, there was little they could do against so many humans.
The criminals blocked the tongue's strikes with the hardened sleeves of their brown jackets, throwing metal cables over their bodies and trying to subdue them.

The Wolfbats dove in on them, trying to help the struggling Shirshu. They aimed their strikes on the Shirshus' attackers, trying to ease the pressure off them; but they too had worries to be addressed. The flying mammals couldn't afford to stay on one target for too long, they had to keep on a constant move, for not for even a second were they not shot at.

This resulted in them being a mere annoyance, getting shot down one by one at the hands of irked poachers.

"Get ready guys!" Izuku and the Badgermole stood at the pens' edge, the boy taking a stance while the beasts lowered themselves to the ground and growled. They were prepared to fight the horde of poachers making its way, the unwavering glare of an Earthbender in their eyes.

They all stomped on the ground at once, sending a hail of boulders at the approaching poachers.

The earthen projectile struck true and rammed into the poachers, pushing them back and causing major damage to those without a defensive quirk. It was just their first attack, but already a dozen villains laid on their backs. All having been unfortunate enough to be hit in the head or by a particularly large boulder.

"Hurry!" Someone yelled, understanding how dangerous was their situation "Don't let them attack again!"

They attacked again.

"RRROOOOOAAAARRRRRR! "

Chima's parents roared and slammed their paws against the ground. Numerous pillars of rocks shot from the floor like geysers, smashing into any poacher unfortunate enough to be in the way.

"You need to separate them!" Jū yelled at them from his prison, silently praying that no poacher that was sent flying would crash onto him. "There's no way you can take them when they work together!"

"R-right!" A poacher, who had the head of a Chameleon, jumped into the front of the group and shot out his tongue.

"Huh?" Izuku widened his eyes when felt something sticky and wet hit his chest. Looking down he saw the tongue of a Chameleon stuck to it. He gripped the slimy appendage with disgust evident on his face, trying to pull it off with little success.

The Chameleon-headed poacher yanked his head back, using his tongue to send the boy hurtling through the air.

"Whooooaaaaa!" Izuku cried out, dragged through the air like a rag doll. The poacher let go of the boy when he built enough momentum, letting him fall back to earth.

"Gah!"

Izuku landed on his back in the middle of the pens, his body rolling on the ground until he came to a stop. He groaned in pain as he struggled to get up, one of his knees noticeably bloodier and more bruised than before.

"Hehehe… look who's here boys!"

Izuku gulped, darting his head from left to right frantically. He crash-landed in the middle of a group of poachers, not a friendly face visible between all the smiling criminals.

He was surrounded.

"GET HIM!"

The poachers all pounced on him at once, intent on subduing the boy. Thinking quickly, Izuku raised his arms and formed a pillar underneath himself, boosting himself up and away from their range.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Now safe, Izuku didn't waste a second and began to attack. He slammed columns of earth against the poachers with arm thrusts and kicked those who tried to climb up on his pillar with his earthen boots.

"Take this!" Izuku yelled as he nailed a tall poacher in the face, knocking a tooth out.

"Gya!" The criminal yowled, a hand over his bleeding mouth.

"We aren't getting anywhere like this! Get him off that pillar!" Someone yelled.

"That's easier said than done!" Another criminal replied, "He's too high up and he's also out of the range of the tasers!"

"No worries..." A nonchalant voice came from the back of the poacher group. The man who spoke was the largest man out of them all, 2.3 meters of muscles upon muscles. He only wore tight leather pants to cover himself and his bald head shined ominously in the fluorescent light.

"I'll take care of that…"

Izuku's eyes narrowed, the man's pink and rash ridden skin hitting a cord within his mind, 'Him again…'

"GRAAAHHH!" With a mighty battle cry, the large man punched the pillar with his fist, smashing it to pieces.

The pillar began to break off. Izuku scrambled from his perch on top, his footing on it lessening. Gasping and disoriented, Izuku found himself falling off the pillar, landing harshly on the floor.

"Ooooff!"

"We got the kid!" The bald man exclaimed, hand around the boy's neck and lifting him off the ground.

"*Cough* Ack- *Cough*" Izuku choked and thrashed in the air, trying to escape the man's grasp.

"Give it up squirt! You're not breaking free!"

He was right. Even if Izuku wasn't currently being choked, the difference in strength between them was too vast. The boy gripped the bald man's arms in a futile fight for air, unable to even call out for help.

With lungs burning with the need for oxygen, shriveling up in his chest, Izuku was left to stare helplessly at the scene around him, his eyes watery.

Things were at their worst. The Shirshu were defeated, held down by multiple men as they were being tied up and muzzled; the Wolfbats flew no more, laying unconscious on the ground. Metal cables draped over the Badgermole's bodies, pushing them down to the ground. Chima thrashed against his restraints, trying to break free. His parents were already done in, their weakened muscles giving in on them.

"Chi-*cough*-ma…" Izuku coughed, eyes locked on his best friend even when his peripheral vision started to go black.

"*Kehehe* Looks like you finally gave up…" The man who held Izuku chuckled, watching the armor that covered the boy's limbs beginning to crumble and fall off, exposing bare skin.

It was over.

"KEhAhAHaHa!" Shuzumu laughed manically; having made it to the bottom level himself. "You gave me quite the scare! For a moment, I thought you ran away on us!"

The tall man now stood face to face with Izuku, the world's largest scowl on his face as he glared at the kid.

*SLAP! *

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU LITTLE SHIT! YOU ALMOST RUINED EVERYTHING! " Shuzumu screamed at the boy, his nose mere centimeters away from the spot where he slapped Izuku, the skin on his cheek an aggressive red.

The boy only let out a choked sniffle, whether it was from despair or pain Shuzumu couldn't care less.

"

*HuFf*

*PUFf*

* hU F F*

*PUfF*

*HufF*

*puFf*

"

Shuzumu panted, his voice hoarse from yelling so loud. "To think you managed to pull all of this off…" The man gestured to the battle-torn pens, almost sounding impressed.

Like a box of matches, Shuzumu's hand lit aflame, the fire in it hissing in a low voice as it got ignited. He held out that hand in front of Izuku's sweaty face, the heat painting his skin a sick orange. "You won't get to do that again, brat. I'll make sure you don't even THINK about doing this again!"

The man's flaming hand got closer to Izuku's face, the dry heat forcing his eyes shut.

The pain never came.

The ground began to shake.

Shuzumu stopped, the fire in his hand sizzling out.

"Huh?"

"An Earthquake?"

The entire underground facility shook and rumbled. The catwalks clanked, the animals howled, and the men lost their footing as the sound of the Earthquake dominated the space.

"Wohohooaaaa!"

In his panic, the bald man who held Izuku dropped the boy. Landing on the shaking ground with a small thud, Izuku immediately breathed in precious oxygen, coughing, and caressing his sore neck.

That was when he felt it with his seismic sense, joining Chima in smirking in victory.

Why?

The back wall of the facility exploded out abruptly; A cloud of dust was released into the air and shrapnel of earth were shot in every direction.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?!"

The poachers watched with mouths agape as the dust cloud cleared, revealing what it was that broke into their base.

Badgermoles burst forth from the wall in a horde, stomping on the concrete floor and trampling unassuming poachers as they went.
A battalion of Shirshu and Catgators followed soon after, baring out their teeth.
Up above their heads was a large flock of Wolfbats, wailing out their unique cries which echoed in the large space.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" One of the poachers yelled out their collective thought, staring at the small army with wide eyes.

Izuku face broke into a gleaming smile at the sight of reinforcements, looking at them and coming across someone familiar.

Sitting perched on the head of a Badgermole was a small black & white Lop-eared rabbit, squeaking out in fervor that matched that of an army commander.

'It's her!' The boy realized, getting up and running in Chima's direction while the poachers gaped at the invading force.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

The animals all roared together, creating the world's mightiest battle cry. The poachers all backed away in horror, the thundering roar ringing in their ears as the beasts charged at them with bloody murder in their eyes.


Shuzumu Honōmuchi

Quirk: Whips of Fthaggua

Description: Shuzumu can form two large flame-like whips fueled by his vitality. The whips hold an almost impossible level of dexterity, capable of precise movements even when stretched to an incredible length. Should the whips come in contact with a living organism, they will start to feed on its vitality, glowing brighter as they do so and transferring some of it back to Shuzumu.

Appearance: Shuzumu is a well-built man of high stature and intimidating features. His greasy black hair is usually tied into a braid that rests on his back, and he has a small mustache and goat patch on his chin. Usually, he tends to wear bright red and yellow clothing emphasizing the fire-like properties of his quirk.

(His design was highly inspired by the circus trainer from 'Appa's lost days')

Affiliation: Tōu Liè Zhě, Japanese branch.

Age: 37.

Birthday: 13/8

Height: 183 cm

Favorite food: Grilled steak (Preferably Bison).

Least favorite thing: Being told what to do.

Tidbit: After being pushed around by other people most of his life (His family, neighbors, heroes, etc.), Shuzumu joined the Tōu Liè Zhě out of a desire to escape that life. When he finally made it to the top of the Japanese branch, however, he discovered how little power he can have in the Tōu Liè Zhě and fell to depression, feeling like he as a person was insignificant.

After discovering the system of tunnels, he saw the opportunity to achieve what he joined the Tōu Liè Zhě for, giving him a purpose again.


Izuku weaved between the poachers as he made his way back to Chima and the animals, his shoulders brushing against their legs as he struggled to push his way through.

"GET THE BRAT!" He heard Shuzumu yell from somewhere behind him.

Ducking beneath attempts to grab him, the boy soon found himself under the protective shade of one of the Badgermoles, finally getting a chance to breathe a small sigh of relief.

Around him, the battle raged on.

The Catgators and Badgermoles were busy charging at the poachers from the tunnel they emerged from, coming out of it in hordes like ants out of an anthill. They tackled, bit, clawed, and blasted rocks against any target they had in line of sight, forcing out screams from the (not) poor men.
Unfortunately, the Shirshu did not enter the pens after them; every time one of the star-nosed beasts took a step in, they shook their heads and their footing faltered as if they were hit with a wave of vertigo.

'It's the smell!' Izuku realized, familiar with Shirshu anatomy, 'It overwhelms them! The only reason the other Shirshu are not is because they got used to it!'

Thankfully, even without the Shirshu's help, the animals were on the up and up.

In the mere seconds since they began their assault, the animals had already claimed a large chunk of the lower levels, pushing back against the poachers.
As a result, various animals who were previously held in that area broke free, Chima and his parents being among them.

The animals still able to fight joined back without missing a beat, teeth bared and nose scrunched. The injured ones, however, were carried back into the tunnels the reinforcements came from, protected, and carried on the backs of a few Badgermoles.

'We're pushing them back!' Izuku smiled, looking around the upper levels of the pens before a frown replaced it, 'But there are still a lot of animals in the cages… we need to free and get them out of here!'

"Chima!" The boy called out, garnering the attention of the Badgermole who immediately ran to his side. "I'm going to free the other animals, but I can't get up there when the villains block me!" To emphasize, he pointed to the closest ladder which was separated from them by forty or so men. "I'm gonna need a boost!"

Chima let out an affirmative snarl, giving Izuku all that he needed.

"Let's go!"

Together, Izuku and Chima began to run straight at the poachers, letting other animals deal with them while they built up speed.

Without warning, Chima jumped high into the air, slamming back into the ground with a loud and violent thud. A massive pillar of earth immediately shot out from under the still running Izuku, sending him sky-high.

"Whhhooooaaaaa!"

Izuku flailed in midair as he soared higher and higher, his body coming closer to one of the catwalks, 'Almost there… Got it!' The boy barely got to reach high enough for the first-level catwalks, managing to grip at its railing with one hand.

"Phew…"

With a small sigh of relief, Izuku climbed up the railing and found himself back on the first level. All around him small animals were held in portable cages, their usual once abandoned mid-cleaning. They all looked up at him with big, watery eyes, as if he was their salvation.

Unfortunately, they were not the only ones there.

"It's the kid!"

"Get him!"

Of course there were villains there too.

The boy looked around frantically, looking for a piece of rock in the maze of metallic catwalks. 'Crraaaappp… there's no earth here!'

Thinking quickly, he tore a metal rod out of the railing out and made a makeshift staff out of it, nailing the closest poacher in the face once he got too close.

"Gah! MotherFUcker!" The man held his nose in his hands, stepping back to nurse it.

The other poachers in front of Izuku got a familiar treatment. They were struck multiple times by his makeshift weapon: in the head, face, arms, and legs. Though it was usually the strike to the family jewels that did them in.

Without the borderline 'broken' awareness that his seismic sense gave him, the boy found himself rendered almost completely quirkless up on that catwalk. The only ability to his name being his capability to make makeshift weapons from the metal footholds.

Which was why he was not ready for an attack from behind.

"Gotcha!" A poacher exclaimed, charging straight at Izuku from his rearwards.

Startled, Izuku swiveled to face him, knowing he would be too late to block.

Luckily, he didn't need to.

*Trip! *

"What th- oooofff!" The man's eyes widened when he felt something tangle itself around his legs. Caught off guard he fell to the ground by Izuku's feet, just in range for a metal pole to the face.

"Aw, cra-!"

*Bam! *

The boy raised a curious brow at the unconscious man on the floor, questioning what happened to make him trip like that.

He looked further from the poacher's body, finding his answer.

Behind the poacher's body stood the Lop-eared rabbit Izuku rescued earlier, untangling its elongated ears from the knot she made around the man's feet.

"How did you get here?" The boy questioned, letting go of his staff "Weren't you with one of the Badgermoles a second ago?"

Izuku didn't get an answer, not that he expected any. 'She might've hitched a ride on the catapult I took up here, I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings…'

Deciding to leave it be, for now, the boy made his way and began freeing the small animals from the cages, the black & white rabbit sticking to his side, "It doesn't matter… could you still help me, though? Say something if you see a villain coming our way."

Shuzumu was one step away from foaming at the mouth.

Everything was beginning to fall apart.

One second the boy was held tight in place in front of him, he and the animals finally restrained after what felt like an eternity of fighting. The next, one of the walls of his pens exploded, and out came an invading force of monstrous beasts, all hellbent on destroying everything he worked towards.

And now, the brat was running away after one of his idiots dropped him, gaining distance by the second. "GET THE BRAT!" He barked, running after him, hoping at least one of his underlings listened and stopped the kid.

He had no such luck.

Shuzumu had to watch the kid get catapulted high into the pen's first level and away from his grasp, an earth pillar standing where he used to be.

"GGGRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, holding his head in frustration. "I'M GOING AFTER THE KID!" He shouted at his underlings, "YOU TAKE CARE OF THE ANIMALS!"

Not stopping to even see if they followed his orders, Shuzumu bolted in the direction of the closest ladder.

He didn't make it there.

Instead, Shuzumu found a wall forming between himself and the ladder, blocking his way.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" The man turned around, finding a group of Badgermoles all glaring at him in hatred.
The two they had already captured were with them, as well as the one they brought with the kid.

Those three were the most upset, the scowls on their faces menacing enough to cause even the likes of All Might to shudder.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Shuzumu roared, his quirk activating.

His flaming whips roared out as they sailed through the air, aiming at two of the Badgermoles who glared at him.

His targets stomped on the ground and erected a wall in the whips' path. The whips lashed out against the shield, living diagonal scorch marks as they went, but failing to break through.

Grinding his teeth together, Shuzumu tried attacking again, this time aiming at a different Badgermole. But just like before, he found a wall blocking his attack.

The Badgermoles weren't letting the man get a single hit on their bodies, one constructing a shield for the other as they began to close in on him.

"DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAAAAAMMMMIIIIT!" The space Shuzumu had to move in was getting smaller by the second, not even allowing him to see his targets properly anymore. Blocks and slabs of earth closed into each other around and above him, the Badgermole imprisoning him and casting him into darkness.

Chima heaved a sigh of relief once he was sure the ashen man was trapped.

He couldn't help it, that man scared the youngling to no end; having been plaguing and haunting his nightmares for three years now.

But, somehow, the man was way scarier than he remembered.

Back then, on the clearing three years ago, he remembered whimpering in fear as that monster stood atop him, dominant. He was the man who, in mere strokes of his arms, subdued his parents like they were playing toddlers.
Just from being near him, Chima felt oh so insignificantly small in comparison, as if the man was a towering, dormant volcano.

And, naturally, a volcano is at it's scariest as it erupts.

Chima shook his head, trying to rid himself of any thought that was connected to that man.

It didn't matter now. He was trapped.

The other Badgermoles began to turn tail from the prison they made and back towards the battles still being fought, leaving Chima behind to stay there alone.

With a massive weight of his chest, the youngling shifted his attention to the sounds that were coming from above, where he knew Izuku was.

From the sound of it, the boy appeared to be currently making his way to the Catgators on the second level, having managed to free all the animals on the first.
There appeared to be a small Lop-eared rabbit with him as well, judging by the constant squeaking she let out.

The animals Izuku had already freed were already making their way down to the escape tunnel. Those who could survive the fall jumped while those who couldn't had to climb down the ladders with cat-like reflexes and agility.

They were almost done. Just a couple more minutes of fighting before it was all over.

"STEP BACK BOSS! I'M BREAKING THROUGH!"

Too bad things couldn't go so smoothly for long.

One of the poachers, a huge man with a bald head and rash-ridded skin, charged at the prison of the ashen man, intent on smashing it to pieces.

"!"

Panic and adrenaline surged through the youngling's veins as he pounced forward from a standing position, leaving indents in the ground where he used to be.

Chima tackled the man, sending them both recoiling away from each other. Chima's claws dragged through the ground before he came to a stop, tightening their grip on it in a mix of apprehension and anxiety.

To Chima's surprise, the bald man merely skidded a few steps from the tackle, quickly finding a balanced stance and looking at the youngling with a sneer. "Well, well, well…" He stared at Chima, his smile that of a bloodthirsty maniac. "What are you waiting for? COME AT ME!"

Growling at the bald man, Chima tried tackling him again, shifting his entire weight behind him. He ran straight at him, hundreds of thousands of newtons of force stored in a several-ton-body.

"Hehehe…" Chima's brows shot up when the man didn't even flinch from his incoming assault. He took Chima's attack head-on, holding his ground as the Badgermole pushed against him.

"Now's my turn…"

Wrapping his burly arms around one of Chima's legs, the man almost effortlessly lifted the youngling up. Spinning like a dreidel, the poacher dragged Chima through the air before letting go and sending him flying, forcing out a yowl of pain once he crashed back to Earth.

Chima struggled to get back on his feet, his heart beating loudly in his chest and his breathing labored. Gritting his teeth together, the young Badgermole dragged his claws through the ground, sending a wave made of earth at the bald man.

The poachers crossed his arms together, letting the wave hit him head-on.

Besides being pushed back the tiniest bit, the attack did nothing.

"Man, what a letdown…" The man grumbled, pieces of rubble falling off his shoulders. "I thought you Badger monsters were the strongest animals in the world..."

He walked casually towards Chima, a bored expression on his face. His glance focused on the earth prison of his boss before letting out a disappointed sigh "Guess they don't get that strong until they're adults…"

Chima's claws dug into the ground in frustration, looking around himself for anyone who could stop the bald man in time.

There were none.

There was nothing Chima could do. The bald man's strength was overwhelming, powerful enough not only to overwhelm Chima's physical strength but also his Earthbending.

He was fighting against an opponent who rendered his raw abilities obsolete. Just like… Just like…

Just like Izuku was against Badgermoles.

Chima's brow shot up.

Izuku was always in the exact same position as Chima was now when he sparred against Badgermoles in his training, most times he was even worse off!
Not only most of the Badgermoles he fought against were better Earthbenders, but they also held an astronomically high advantage over him in the form of raw strength.

Yet as the months flew by and Izuku's skill grew, the boy found himself starting to keep up. Not because his Earthbending grew more powerful, even though it did.

Rather, it was how he used it.

Early on, Izuku found out that while the raw power behind his quirk was (currently) much weaker than that of the Badgermoles, he had some advantages of his own.
Unlike the beasts, he had a much more delicate control over the earth he bent, allowing him to pull off moves that were nigh impossible to Badgermoles.

One of which just might be able to help Chima in his current predicament.

Chima closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steeling his expression before charging at the bald man again.

"Oh, brother…" The bald man sighed in annoyance, prepare for a repeat of Chima's last attack.

Only it wasn't one.

Concentrating on the tiny shards of earth around him, Chima willed them to conglomerate around one of his claws, mimicking Izuku's signature move.

It was harder to do than it looked. All Badgermoles didn't have a very delicate hold over their powers, rendering most efforts of handling minutes amounts of earth worthless.

But, then again, there was one main difference between Chima and the rest of his kind.

They weren't the partners of one Izuku Midoriya.

Numerous shards of earth clung to his claw, forming a layer of armor around it. Chima roared, using his powers to accelerate his attack to an unnatural speed as he slashed at the poacher.

"*Gasp! *"

The man's breath left his lungs from the force of the attack, his body pushed away like a rag doll. He fell to the concrete floor, his right shoulder throbbing in pain where a deep cut was present, "What the hell?" he groaned.

Chima growled at the bald man again, the paw that was covered in armor and blood raised like a knife.

Before the poacher could even get up, Chima was atop of him. The Badgermole swiped down the man one blow after the other, each attack sending him rolling, reeling, and hurting.
One after the other, each strike elicited a pain-filled cry from the man, accompanying another broken bone or a gash on the skin.

"RRRROOOOAAAA!"

With a mighty roar, Chima coated his other frontal paw with earth and joined the appendages together, sledgehammering the bald poacher.

The man's body collapsed to the ground like he was shot out of a rocket, a cobweb of cracks decorating the crash site.

He did not get up, merely laid on the floor, unconscious.

Snarling at the fallen man one last time, Chima turned away from him, content and relieved that he prevented disaster…

Only to see the earth prison of the ashen man was breached, molten rock dripping off a hole in one of the walls.

Shuzumu himself was nowhere in sight.

"All right, *pant* I think that's everyone." Izuku gasped as he carried the last injured Catgator on the catwalks with the help of some more of it's kind. They all gently dropped the reptile on a raised earth platform to the catwalk's side, a construct made specifically for them. The structure's creator, a female Badgermole, was awaiting patiently by its base, lowering it back to the ground once she got the go-ahead.

Izuku and the rabbit watched from above as the pillar grew shorter and the animals atop it grew smaller, shortly touching the ground and allowing the animals to disembark. "One final check and we're out of here!" The boy picked up the rabbit and placed her on his shoulder, now the only other living being on the catwalk with him.

Or at the least the only being that should.

"You snotty, little, son of a BITCH!"

Izuku's heart sank.

The boy slowly turned around, gulping when his fears were confirmed.

On the other side of the metal bridge stood Shuzumu Honōmuchi, an expression locked on his face that could give people nightmares. The veins in his temples had long since popped, forming a vast and colorful landscape on his forehead. His hands looked like a hellscape taken straight from purgatory, sporting bright red and pustular blisters. Patches of dry skin crumbled off his ruined hands like snowflakes, catching fire as they slowly wafted down.

But despite all of this, all the pain he was visibly in, the man before him didn't seem to care about it at all. "I had enough of your shit!" Shuzumu barked out, spit flying from his mouth.

"AAAAAHHHHRRRGGGG!" It was with a bloodthirsty howl that Shuzumu raised his arms into the air like a raging gorilla. Lashes of fire materialized in an instant, coming down on the boy following their master's command.

"*Gasp! *" Izuku jumped back in the nick of times, the fire almost grazing his skin.

The whips mauled the ground on impact, lighting up a fire that now separated Izuku from his attacker.

"Run away!" Izuku instructed the rabbit, feeling the weight on his shoulder lighten up a second later.

"YOU AIN'T GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!" Shuzumu's face broke through the fire, soon followed by the rest of his body. Flames engulfed the man's fist as he wound back to strike, aiming to attack with a haymaker.

"Whoa!"

Rolling to the side on the last second, Izuku was mere centimeters from getting singed. His footing now lost; the boy stumbled backward, his spine impacting a wall. He found himself pressed against a cage's door, panting and looking at Shuzumu like he was about to murder him.

"RAAAAAHHHHGGGG!"

Izuku ducked, dodging a horizontal lash from the poacher. Thinking quickly, he grabbed two of the bars from the cage behind him and dislodged them from their place, arming himself with two make-shift hanbo staffs.

The boy kicked himself off, meeting a charging Shuzumu halfway. He brought one of the staffs down on the man, hitting his forearm and forcing the whips out of the way. With the attack deflected, Izuku brought the other staff upwards, nailing a strike against Shuzumu's armpit.

"GGRRR!"

Shuzumu received the attack with a grunt, snarling at the boy. He swiftly kicked Izuku in the chest, creating a distance for just a moment before charging again.

Seeing another fiery attack coming his way, Izuku did the same as his opponent and charged as well. He got right in front of the man as soon as he could, escaping the whips' extensive range. Each of his staffs met one of the man's arms, holding them in place preventing him from bringing them down.

Too impatient to overpower the boy' Shuzumu ended the brief stalemate by kicking Izuku's feet from under him. "Gah!" Izuku yelped when he touched the ground and his left elbow took the brunt of the fall. Rolling to the side and dodging a downwards slash, the greenette rose to his feet again and charged.
Holding his two staffs against each other like a broadsword, he tried to go for a heavy attack on the man, missing his mark as Shuzumu backed away.

Izuku did not let up. He pounced at the man, again and again, remaining in close quarters as he circled him. He stabbed forward with the tip of the staff, from there swiveling it in an arc to gain momentum before whacking away Shuzumu's arms. He had an opening. He charged forward, body catching some lingering cinders in the air as he did. He used his other staff to jab Shuzumu's stomach, following up with a double strike to the shoulders, the first strike flowing into the second.
With rage clouding his judgment, Shuzumu raised both of his hands, trying to swat away the staffs that attacked his upper body.

And the wrong call was swiftly exploited by Izuku, using his staff like a bat to bludgeon the man's side.

"Gah!" Shuzumu groaned, hand automatically coming to nurse his side.

He glared at the kid in front of him, gritting his teeth together.

"FUCK YOU!" Shuzumu screamed when Izuku tried to attack again. The man swatted to staff away with a flaming fist, having expected the boy to come close. Caught off guard, Izuku barely managed to sidestep an incoming flaming fist. The man's fire brushed against his shirt, painting patches of once vibrant red a charcoal black.

With Shuzumu's extended fist so close to him, Izuku attempted to strike his forearm down, an effort to give himself some room to breathe.

His opponent, however, saw the attack coming and didn't even budge when his arm was smacked.

The two were locked in a close-quarter fight. With each strike, Izuku attempted to swat away one of Shuzmu's flaming hands; each time failing to do so as Shuzumu intercepted each of them. Flaming hands met warm steel that only got hotter and hotter as the exchanges persisted, soon growing into an uncomfortable heat that the boy had to bear.

Izuku's movements were getting sloppier after each exchange of blows. His clothes got singed more often, some so bad that a hole was burned through, revealing a burn. More and more of those appeared on his arms and chest, the raw, pink, skin a sharp contrast to his usual complexion.

Despite that he persisted, gritting his teeth together and remaining as close to Shuzumu as possible. After all, any other distance was much worse.

"Gah!" Izuku yelped when Shuzumu's hand brushed against his left shoulder. Pain shot up the shoulder blade. Another burn. Blistered skin poked out of a tear in the fabric, white smoke wafting in the area of the wound.

Izuku blinked away forming tears, fighting back the urge to nurse his shoulder.

Instead, Izuku forced himself to glare at the villain in front of him. The man had obviously seen better days, it was apparent the boy did some damage to him. Shzumu's arms, biceps, and face were an abstract painting of purple, yellow, red, and blue bruises he sustained from each bludge he received from Izuku. Somehow, his hands had only got more disgusting during the fight. The Epidermis on his palms was completely gone by now, the Delma close to following suit. Boiling, bubbling, blood dripped from every blood vessel on his hand, pooling on the ground and hissing against the cool metal.

In some ways, Izuku fared even worse, since the damage on him wasn't self-inflicted.

The boy's hair was singed in a couple of places, once curly hair now dry and flaky. Ash was smeared over every patch of exposed skin. It lingered in the air around him, agitating his throat and lungs every time he took a breath. The metal staffs were burning hot, painting the hand that gripped them a bright red.
He was burned everywhere. His arms, chest, hands, and feet were all screaming at him, begging him to drop the staffs and flee with his life.

But all the pain was nothing in comparison to the fatigue.

Each time the tiniest flick of flame grazed him, Izuku had felt his energy being drained away. And as the fire took away that vitality, it only got brighter, and Shuzumu stood taller, stronger, scarier.

It was a miracle he didn't faint, let alone stayed standing and fought for this long.

But now Izuku felt all the energy drain catch up to him, he was on the brink of buckling over. He was panting as if his life depended on it, needing to lean on one of his staffs to remain standing.

Shuzumu was walking right towards him, his pace slow, like he knew it was already over.

Heaving out one last huff, the boy's grip on his staffs strengthened. He wound both of his hands back, intent on keeping going.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" He screamed, his hands coming forward and the staffs coming with them.

"..." Shuzumu merely caught the sluggish attack, ripping the weapons out of the boy's hands before using them to strike him in the abdomen.

"Gah!" Izuku cried out, nursing his hurt stomach and backing away.

The poacher did not let out, whacking the boy in the waist. He watched the boy curl in further, before striking him at the knee.

"Gya!" Izuku buckled over, his eyes closed and his hands the only thing stopping him from completely laying on the ground.

"It's over!"

*Stomp! *

"Ooooff!"

Izuku felt the man's foot stomp on his back, pushing him down and pinning him to the catwalk's floor. The boy wheezed out for air, the weight on his back making it hard to breathe, and squirmed in place, fighting to get free.

It was of no use, he couldn't even budge.

"You're not getting away from me this time!" Izuku heard the man grumbled out, gritting his teeth as he tried pushing himself up.

He couldn't.

It was at that moment that he opened his eyes, getting a look at the lower floor through the gaps on the catwalk's grating.

The metallic catwalk's grating.

Grinning, Izuku brought both of his hands underneath his stomach, causing Shuzumu the go on high alert.

"STOP THAT!" He barked.

Too late.

Tapping into the impurities in the metal, Izuku tore open a hole on the floor, letting himself (and Shuzumu) fall through it.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Izuku tucked his knees together as he approached the ground, rolling away from Shuzumu who crashed without any grace to his fall. Quickly stumbling to his feet, he only had enough time to hastily construct two Earth Gauntlets around his arms before the poacher stood up.

It was by far the shoddiest work he had done in well over a year. The gauntlets were thin and cranky, chunks of it falling off when he clenched his fists.
Numerous patches of skin poked through it, the biggest of which was on his left forearm, where a massive hole was present.

"BBBRRRAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT!"

Shuzumu rose and glared at Izuku, his flaming whips burning bright like two scimitars made of fire.

The boy had no time to upgrade his tacky defense; Shuzumu charged at Izuku, his whips flailing behind him like the tail of a scorpion, ready to strike.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRR - Gah!"

Shuzumu coughed, something sharp and hard had hit him; sending his body flying.

Where he once stood was now Chima, his armored claw outstretched.

"T-thanks, *huff* Chima…" Izuku heaved, struggling to stay standing and too tired to notice his friend copied him.

The braided man skidded to a halt a few paces from the duo, glaring at the newcomer, "Now you too?! JUST GIVE UP ALREADY!" Shzumu brought down his hands like he wielded a war hammer, sending a lash of flames at both Izuku and Chima.

"Look out!" The boy brought his hands up, forming a thin barrier that shook and cracked under the force of Shuzumu's attack.

Chima used his armored claws to bat the whip away, chunks of earth falling off after the collision.

"I had enough of this, YOU'RE BOTH GOING DOWN!"

He lashed out against the youngling, his flames a bright and hungry yellow. Once again, Chima chose to intercept the attack, his armored paw closing in to deflect it. Sparks flew into the air as a result of the collision, and for a brief moment, it seemed like the tongue of flame in front of Chima recoiled back towards its master.

Only to catch the youngling completely by surprise when, as if they were a lasso, the flames coiled around on of his paws.

The flesh that wasn't covered by earth swiftly caught ablaze, adopting a red hue in the blink of an eye. The cub roared out in pain, fighting fruitlessly against the stream of flame that trapped him, his cries echoing throughout the corrals.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOHHHHHH!"

On the other side of the battlefield, two sets of Badgermole ears perked up to the sounds of the cry. Faces morphed into ferocious snarls; the two beasts galloped their way to its source.

"Chima!"

Izuku yelled, his eyes wide. Arm outstretched, he reached out to help his friend, leaving the cover his barrier provided.

"GOT YA!"

Izuku screamed as the fiery whip warped itself around his left arm, searing the skin that poked through the holes of his gauntlets.
The world around him ceased to exist. He could only feel the pain on his left arm as Shuzumu's fire ate away at his skin, drinking his vitality.

The fire cremated the membrane of the cells on his forearm, breaching it and killing them instantly; he had to fight the urge to grasp his left arm with his right, for fear of it also getting burned. The boy's cries joined Chima's in the open space, both crying and squirming from the worst pain they have ever felt.

Izuku could feel his grip on conciseness fading, something inside him bubbling up and taking over.


(Song start: Avatar State OST)

"GGGGGYYYYAAAAAAAAAAÄ𝓐Ã𝔸Å𝔄Â𝒜Å𝔄ÀÁ𝔸Ä𝔄𝒜AÅÃ𝔄ÀÃ𝔸𝓐ÀÄ𝔄ÄÃ𝔸Á𝔸Ä𝔄Ã𝔸Å𝒜𝓐!"

The boy's scream morphed into a monstrous roar, thousands of voices echoing out and screaming with him.

"W-What the-?" Shuzumu stumbled back, suddenly feeling a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt pressing him down.

The boy's roar revibrated through the air, stopping the entirety of the fighting as every single soul stared at the holler's source in fear.

Eyes an ethereal white, Izuku yanked his arm back and broke free of Shuzumu's fire lash as if it was made of paper. The two flaming whips burst into smaller embers instantly, losing their shape as they all flickered through the air aimlessly.

That, however, lasted only for a second. Shuzumu watched as the remains of his weapons began to coalesce around Izuku's outstretched arm. A sizzling inferno was soon formed in the boy's palm, it's brightness only outclassed by the white glow of Izuku's eyes.

Slashing the air, Izuku sent forth a blazing ball of fire. The flame consumed Shuzumu, his body blasted away with it.

The fireball sailed through the air and hit the pen's walls, exploding upon impact with a bright flash of light.

Black smoke wafted off the sight of impact, small patches of fire doting the area.

"WHAT THE HELL?! FIRE?!" A poacher yelled, his eyes wide and his body shaking.

"I thought the kid had an earth quirk!" Someone else screamed, coming under Izuku's gaze for just a second.

"!i!⭄i!i!i!i!"

Bile churned and turned in the poacher's stomach as an ungodly fear took hold over his body, 'Wha-what is this?! What in the world is happening to me?!' The muscles on his legs began to fail and the poacher fell to his knees. He felt the air in his lungs being squeezed out, his diaphragm refusing to budge, and not allowing him any intake of breath.
He grasped his throat in terror, his eyes wide and bloodshot, catching the white glow of Izuku's 'What the hell is he…?!'

The man fainted.

"𝓡𝕽ʀ𝐑ᴿ𝘙𝑅𝕽ʀA𝓐Å𝔄𝔸Ã𝒜Â𝔄ÀÄÁ𝔸𝓐A𝔄À𝒜ÅÂ𝔸ÃÄ𝔄Â𝒜𝔸𝓐Ä𝒜ÂÄ𝔄𝐻ʜ𝐇𝕳𝓗 !"

The boy roared out again, the white glow in his eyes intensifying before he clenched his fist and hurled it at the concrete floor.

The concrete under the boy's fist began to crack and crackle under the impact, the ground itself groaning under the pressure Izuku produced. Cracks and fissure began to spread out like a tidal wave, forming a spider-web pattern on the floor of the pens.

The ground underneath the poacher's feet collapsed into pieces. Startled, the men lost their balance and watched helplessly as their feet sunk into the various crevices now doting the area around them.

The fissures did not stop there and spread out to the walls, climbing them up at an alarming rate. In mere seconds the entire structure was ridden with cracks and fracture from floor to ceiling, its ability to support itself weakening as a result.

The entire facility groaned under the force of the earthquake. Bolts came loose, the catwalks' chassis' caved in, and soon, hunks of metal dislodged themselves from their place, falling on the scene of battle.

A poacher looked up at the ceiling, his pupils shrinking once he saw what was happening.

"RUN!"

As one, poachers and animals began to flee. Men hid in the empty cells of the Shirshu while the beasts made a run for the cave, the smaller animals hiding protected under the Badgermoles.

Through all of this Chima refused to move away from Izuku's side. With his parents now with him, having made their way over, the three stayed next to the boy-turned-force-of-nature, erecting a shelter made of earth over them.
Metal chucks clanked and banged against the earthen roof, small chunks of it falling off. The family of Badgermoles stayed huddled together in their shelter, bracing themselves for impact should their first line of defense fail.

Luckily, it didn't need to come to that.

When the quaking stopped, and the dust settled the four of them were the only ones left standing on the battlefield. The animals had all already escaped into the tunnel at the pens' edge, watching over the ruins of the place and the defeated poachers.

Piles of rubble and metal poked their way out of the cracked concrete floor; groaning poachers, either crushed by debris or exposed, laid amidst the ruins.

Satisfied, whatever was currently controlling Izuku's body exhaled one last time before closing its eyes. Still in the pose of punching the earth, the boy's body suddenly became limp and he fell to the ground, groaning in exhaustion.

(Song end: Avatar State OST)


"Wha-? What happened? " Izuku croaked, his eyes fluttering open. The boy found himself laying on the concrete floor. He was exhausted beyond comprehension, with a throbbing, burning, pain on his left forearm.

Feeling a gentle pat on his head, Izuku turned to his left and found Chima looking at him apprehensively, nudging his head with his nose. "Chima…" Placing his left palm on the ground the boy tried to lean on it and get up only for a sharp pain the follow through. Hissing, the boy collapsed back into the ground before trying to get up again.

Getting up (this time leaning on his right hand), Izuku found himself almost unable to stay on his feet. With his knees ready to buckle under the strain of his body weight, the boy leaned against Chima to stay standing.

But even with Chima's support, he wouldn't last long. The boy's limbs shook weakly as he panted, beads of sweat dripping off his face.

Izuku was an absolute mess. Numerous bruises and lacerations specked the boy's body, some having dried up while others were still fresh, dripping blood.
His hair was burned at the edges, tips of the strands a charcoal black and with a flaky texture, losing the fluffiness it was once known for.
His clothing was shredded; his redshirt was almost more holes than fabric with burned patches and stains of blood littering it. Ash and soot were smeared over his entire body, masking his pale skin behind grim and dust.
Finally, small burns littered his arms, calves, and chest; a reminder of the fight he had with Shuzumu. The worst of those burns were on his left forearm, where a patch of a violent crimson and blistering skin was.

He was in no position to walk, and they knew it.

Chima coiled his tail around Izuku's waist gently, slowly lifting him up and on top of his back. The boy didn't resist, flopping down on Chima's back, even the simple act of sitting up straight almost too much for him.

Despite his situation, Izuku still smiled weakly when the four of them got out from under their shelter, seeing all the animals in the tunnel waiting for them and the poachers defeated.

They won.

" *Huuuuuuffffff* *puuuuuuuuffff* "

Izuku and Chima's hearts froze when they heard heavy, labored breathes accompanied by the sound of small debris falling to the ground.

Out of the black crater he was flung to, Shuzumu's body slowly rose, charred debris falling off it. The man was severely burnt, almost all his exposed skin a bright pink and his clothes shriveled and charred.
Ruby red orbs feverishly burned their gaze on the four of them, the man which they belonged to stepping out of the crater with a crazed expression.

"Youuu'reee *huff* not going any-wheeere…!" Shuzumu ground his teeth together, flames building up in his palms, "… YOU DON'T GET TO JUST WALK AWAY!"

"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Chima and his parents had no choice but to jump to the side as a scourge of fire was slammed against the ground.

Chima had let out a pained yelp when he stepped on his injured paw, the limb buckling and taking the rest of the body with it.

The ground cracked and splintered under the force of the attack, fissures spreading out of the impact zone, adding to the facility's instability further.

"S-stop!" Izuku croaked, barely managing to stay on top of Chima's back, "The building will collapse!"

The ashen man showed no sign he had heard the boy, continuing to thrash with his whips unabated. They struck the floor, walls, catwalks, and support beams without discrimination, sending more and more chunks of rubble in the air.

The facility began to shake again as it began to fail to support itself, startling quite a few of the poachers who began to get up.

"We need to get out of here! Now!" Izuku coughed.

Cracks began to appear on the pen's ceiling, small chunks of it already beginning to fall off and smash into the ground. The screams of panic from the poachers got drowned out by the thunder of the crumbling facility as they ran away for dear life.

Chima tried to get up and run away, but as soon as he put pressure on his injured limb he fell again; he couldn't walk, much less run.

His parent immediately noticed, stopping their strides before they took them.

Refusing to leave Chima and his friend behind, the two adults each took one of the younglings in their mouths; one holding Chima by the scruff of his neck and the other holding Izuku by the hem of his shirt before pouncing away towards freedom.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

Knouts of flames found themselves wrapped around the two adult's necks, halting their stride and locking them in place. The two hissed as the fire singed their fur, still holding onto Izuku and Chima.

Chima's parents pushed against the restraints, groaning in an effort to break free. Rubble fell on their backs and head, stone shattering on it and metal scraping it; the flames only grew brighter, feeding off the two Badgermoles.

The two did all they could to stop themselves from grinding their teeth together, careful to not injure Chima and Izuku.

The exit was in a direct line of sight from them, dust and debris occasionally falling in the path towards it.

Chima and Izuku were holding them back, they couldn't get away in time with the two younglings with them.

They had to decide.

So they did.

"Huh?" Izuku gasped when he felt his body move backward, the Badgermole holding him cocking her head back. From the corner of his eye, he could see Chima's father doing the same for his friend.

"Wait! What are y-?!"

He did not have enough time to finish the sentence before he and Chima were flung into the air, away from Chima's parents and towards the tunnel. They both landed inside it with a loud thud, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop, nursing a few new bruises.

Pivoting in their spot, the two beasts faced the ashen man with growls on their faces, fighting off against their restraints like rabid dogs against a leash.

"GGGGGRRRRRRRR…"

Flickers of flames began to spark off the whips the more they struggled, the captor burning off everything he had in order to win. Sparks hit the wooden remains of crates on the floor, igniting a wall of flames that surrounded the fight.

"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Chima's parents roared out in pain when the whips' heat grew, the fire charring the hide around their neck.

Izuku and Chima struggled to get back up on their feet, hissing in pain at any weight that was put under their limbs.
Neither of them could move, they were forced to watch and listen from where they laid, powerless to do anything.

Chima's parents slammed their paws into the ground, raising a tidal wave of earth around them. The wave rammed into Shuzumu, knocking him back along with the splinters of burned wood, spreading the fire further.

The building groaned louder after their attack hit the wall. Heavier chunks feel and the quacking got stronger.

Their earthbending made things worse.

Their path was now unabated and their time was short. The two pounced forward with everything they had, running towards their breath-hitched cub and his friend.

"THIS ISN'T OVER…" Shuzumu coughed as he stood up, glaring at the two retreating Badgermoles.

"I REFUSE TO LET THIS END!!!"

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Fiery scourges weaved violently through the air, dragging across the floor and walls, setting everything they touched on fire. Massive cracks began to form on the ceiling, the entire building shaking with the force of a magnitude nine earthquake.

"S-stop…" Izuku grit his teeth, his voice low and his hand outstretched in vain.

Chima's parents darted left and right as they ran, dodging piles of rubble the size of trucks as they made their way to the tunnel's entrance.

*CRACK! *

Izuku's heart dropped when he saw a chunk of the ceiling the size of five adult Badgermoles dislodge itself. The piece of the ceiling fell to the ground, among a hail of many more, it's decent almost playing out in slow motion.

*BBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM! *

The sound of two mountains colliding was heard throughout the corrals as the cliff sized boulder crashed into the ground. A large cloud of dust was raised into the air, completely engulfing both of Chima's parents before entering the tunnel, engulfing the boy and the escaped beasts.

" *Cough! * *Cough! * *Cough! * " Izuku hacked, remnants of dust stuck in his mouth.

Vestiges of dust still clanged in the air, making it hard to breathe; slowly dissipating and relieving what they had hidden.

Izuku's eyes widened, taking a sharp intake of breath.

Both of Chima's parents laid beneath a mountain of burning rubble, pinned to the ground. Metal debris was stabbed into their backs, blood dripping off unto singed fur that was still burning, the sound of sizzling coming from where the two met.
Both of their heads were drooped on the floor, the sound of labored breath barely audible as specks of blood dripped between their lips.

"No…" Tears dripped off Izuku's eyes, silently tapping against the ground.

Chima was devastated, slowly dragging his way to both of his parents. He tried to shake both of them awake desperately, his paws pressed against their bodies. Fat tears caused his eyes to shimmer as he wailed, the cries of a child who had their worst nightmare come to life.

Coughing blood, the two injured Badgermoles lifted their heads, the strain causing the metal debris on top of them to creak. They both looked defeated as they laid there, mourning the future with their cub that was lost.

For a moment, they both appeared to be looking straight at the downed Izuku who still tried desperately to get up, wanting to use whatever he had to at least give them a chance to be saved.

Their expression said otherwise, Izuku recognized that, even though his vision was obstructed with tears.

But their expression held something else as their gaze was locked on Izuku, a request.

Just one.

'Look after him…'

The boy felt his stomach churn at how similar their mannerism was to that of Chima's. The way their ears twitched, the fading twinkle in their eyes, the movement of their burned whiskers, they were the same. He understood what they conveyed to him, just like he could understand Chima.

Sniffing a couple of times, Izuku faintly nodded to the two of them, he couldn't bring himself to speak anymore.

Despite being blind, they seemed to have understood what the boy conveyed. Satisfied, the two turned back to their sobbing cub, tears of their own in their eyes. They pressed their snouts against his, purring as they held contact for the last time.

The moment took both forever and an instant, but, sadly, it came to an end.

Both beasts' heads fell to earth, exhaling a breath of air as they collapsed.

They did not inhale after that.


I actually cried when reading this for the first time.