Volume 1.7 — He Who Kills Abominations III
"For all the fights I can remember seeing of the other members of the First Generation of Heroes, the Leader rarely ever touched the ground. He, instead, hovered above it all, imperial in his countenance as he watched the others fight."
— Kuroda Hisao, The Oldest Survivor of the Descension Era
- » ⊹⊱ «The Supreme One» ⊰⊹ « -
Strength was nothing without Skill, which was the first thing he was taught once he started the Art of Pugilism, or more commonly known as "Boxing" among most Humans. The Human who had instructed him in the Art was thorough, and ruthless. She was always forcing Izuku to operate within Human limitations for spars, and then making him drill everything at a Higher Level again, and again, and again until even his stamina was on the verge of giving out and he could slip in his sweat. Because of her, he had learned the Art quicker than he would otherwise, he could admit it in his own head at the very least. She had drilled into him the importance of dedication paired with Natural Talent, how that single understanding would get him further in his goals—whatever they may be—than just one or the other alone could get him.
When she had died, leaving him all her notes and journals she had spent years writing in about her style of combat from the very beginning to the end, he had taken it even more to heart. She was the only person he had ever fought in any capacity that could knock his shit in, make him bleed, make him feel like a Human that was out of their depth—Izuku had resolved to make sure she was the only one who could ever make him feel those things again. It was his way to Honor her memory as his Sensei, and as a secondary Mother-figure.
So it was that he only felt disgust as he weaved around the Abominations wild swings. It fought like a wild beast, a Berserker. Izuku did not write it off, however, something about the Beast made his body enter an Instinctual overdrive that he had seldom felt before and not to such a level that middled negligible and worth note. For all he wanted to believe that the Abomination was nothing but Strength, something within told him that he should not make that mistake—whether that thing be the Inner Voice of his mentor, or a natural Instinct deep within, he did not care as long as it did not hurt more than help during this battle.
Never releasing his form, Izuku dodged around the attacks with an ease borne from years of refinement and practice, trusting in his body to guide him when his mind moved just a tad too slow to ascertain the next move needed for him to avoid the coming strike.
- » ⊹⊱ «The Supreme One» ⊰⊹ « -
The Beast slobbered and roared, a rising fever following its strike. Anger fueled each attack, yet its target never failed to dodge, weave, and slip through each attack like its efforts were futile. The target would not get hit, but also refused to attack the Beast in any capacity. He simply stared, gold-emerald eyes glowing as he watched the Beast throw swing after swing, never giving up in its effort no matter how useless the task seemed to be.
It knew not Fear, Doubt, or Helplessness. Only a Rage that burned deep within, and Obedience guided it forward. The intelligence possessed was limited, yet enough for it to understand who it served, how it was to serve, and how to use the Quirks at its command—and that is all it needed.
It knew the moment would come in which it would be able to finally land a hit and shake its target to the core. It need only wait for that moment and use what limited intelligence it had to form a vague plan of attack once that moment comes.
For now, though, it swung, and swung, and swung thrice more. It was the Predator, and like one it would play with the Prey for just a bit before it snapped the neck quick and brutal.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
- » ⊹⊱ «The Supreme One» ⊰⊹ « -
There was no other trick present, Izuku was certain of it. The Beast had some kind of Heteromorphic Quirk that gave it increased strength at the cost of intelligence or something along that line. No matter how long he watched, he found no pattern nor plan within the movements and noises of the Abomination—all he found was the Rage of a Beast denied its quarry.
On some level, Izuku felt something that made him lose the Lust for Battle he knew was building up. Here he thought he had found someone that would fight to kill and would be able to make him experience an exhilaration he had never, someone that would allow him to Hope for a challenge that was not the Greatest Hero of Japan. Yet, he had only found an Abomination of a Beastly sort, and with that revelation the Hope he held was snuffed out and he returned to that dull state of thought in which everything flowed with him needing to fully be there, it was all so-
"Disappointing." He finished allowed as he ducked underneath a rising fist from the Abomination and sent forth a punch towards its center mass.
The punch would more than likely render the Beast broken, if not completely go through it. His fist could make mountains quake and break Lesser Beings with the mere act of placing it within their path. Imbued with the form taught to him by his Mentor, however? His fist traveled moved faster than even he thought it should, and carried enough force that he would break his hand were he not so durable. The Beast, basic in nature as it was, would surely never be able to handle such a for-
His fist struck, and he felt the attack transfer into the Beast and...dissipate? No, it was more right to say that it was absorbed and dispersed equally throughout the Beasts body to result in no more than a step back.
It was through Instinct alone that Izuku was able to raise his forearm—strengthening its defense by bracing the forearm with his other arm—to block, if only slightly, the strike that shook his bones and rattled the side of his head that it hit. He was sent flying far into a wall, and laid there for a second, shock flowing through his brain as he kept his arm up in a no longer needed defense.
"▂▃▅▇█▇▅▇█▇▅█▇██!"
The Beast had a greater form of Resistance, was to physical attacks only? Or would laser eyes be as effective? Heteromorphic Quirks were always freer ranged than the other Quirk Types in terms of ability sets, but that? That didn't even fit the theme of what his Quirk seemed to do. Izuku was expecting some kind of Resistance Ability, yes, but on a more minor level, not whatever he had experience before. That level of Resistance was easily its own Quirk in and off itself.
Wait, is that what it was? Multiple Quirks in one body, resulting in a horrible Mutation of the Body?
He was right. Izuku didn't know how he knew he was, but something within him said he was, it was the same part of him that guided him on his info when it came to the FGH, so he was inclined to believe it. No wonder he considered the thing an Abomination, multiple Individualities in one body, forced to coexist with one another when they were never meant to, one could only recognize it as an Abomination and affront to the Natural Order of things.
The Supreme One reached up to trace the cut that had formed near his eye, tracing from the forehead down to his mouth. The Abominations knuckle was sharp enough, and large enough, to form such a large cut, almost covering the entire side of his face it had hit on. Izuku felt his exhilaration take an uptick as he finally found out that he wasn't invincible and could be harmed by sufficient force.
Heh, not invincible. Izuku laughed to himself. Something that he immediately felt concerned about, as it was out of character for someone of his nature. He could feel the way his Cultivation seemed to increase in speed but could not figure out what caused it to happen.
Moving his hand away from his head, Izuku stood up and dusted himself off. Ignoring the blood as it dripped down his chin, he prepared to face off against the Abomination once again. He knew not how he was going to beat it, nor how he would make it pay retribution for the wound upon his body, but he would do so no matter what. The wound didn't really hurt, it was more so a superficial wound. It might scar, but that was something he found irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
The Beast charged at him, raving at the mouth, and gnashing its teeth. Though, now that Izuku had an idea of what the Abomination was, he could only view it as the movements of a pained and feral animal. He didn't truly feel anything for the Beast, nor how it got to be so pained, but he would give it the mercy of being put down before the day's end. He would give the Beast that much for the sake of revealing to him his vulnerability and helping to spurn forth his Cultivation.
Slipping under a wild swing, Izuku sent out two jabs into the Abominations gut—the attacks were ineffective. Sliding to the side, moving out of the range of the returning swing, Izuku moved back in and sent a more forceful punch at the left knee—he felt the force dissipate upon contact, yet also felt something else. Before he could figure out what it was, he had to put his arms into a block, feeling the secondary fist crash into his block and send him flying backwards. Through subtle application of flight, he was able to secure a stable landing, which proved beneficial as he went straight into the defensive. Blocking, dodging, and backing away from attacks.
Realistically, he had only gotten hit by that attack from before because he was not expecting the Beast to just tank or outright absorb the force behind his punch. His average punch, without any real force behind it, had made mountains quake, and almost destabilized them. The form taught to him by his Mentor took that force and gave it speed that multiplied by at least twice its normal amount, so for the Abomination to have a Quirk that somehow countered it, was unexpected, and required some serious thought on how to manage it.
Using his forearm to have the Beasts blow glance off to the side, Izuku closed into the torso and put his weight behind the punch he threw this time. He could feel as the force behind the blow transferred into the Beasts body and how a lot of it was dispersed throughout. A lot of the force, but not all of it, however. The Beast was forced back two steps and Izuku had to slip back to avoid the flailing that followed in the wake of his blow.
Around...seventy percent. He surmised, dodging the retaliation from the Creature.
That was, roughly, the amount of force that was being absorbed and rendered null when Izuku threw a punch. He had been using too little force for it have been noticeable before, and that was something he could just contribute to its Inhuman Physique tanking the left-over force extremely well. Now that he was starting to put more effort behind the punch, Izuku was starting to see through the Individuality that was making things hard to deal with. Though, just because he knew it, did not mean he had found a definitive method that would let him beat the creature while working around it.
There is also the reversal problem. He grumbled to himself as he watched the creature.
The Creature was taking the absorbed force and sending it back on him. Evidenced by its disproportionate strength, it had previously only cracked the ground, while it had just exerted a blow that pushed its hand right through the ground. It was more Instinct than habit that made Izuku dash forward while it was trying to get out the ground, though it was something else the made him flatten his hand and slash down towards the Beasts eye. He felt some force get absorbed, but it meant nothing as he still slashed straight through the Creatures eye, making fluids—aqueous humor and vitreous humor—burst out from it and splatter along his clothes.
It was disgusting, and Izuku showed as much by kicking off the ground and creating space between himself and the now bloodied Beast. Its pained roar meant nothing to Izuku as he removed the shirt U.A. had given him, leaving himself in sweatpants and a compression sleeveless shirt. Looking at his own hand, he was slightly relieved to see that none of the fluids had gotten on his hand, but he was consumed with the curiosity of how he was able to cut through anything with his hand like that. How deadly was his body? He was under the impression he had explored every way it could be used, but this new application proved him false.
Not that it mattered, since he was back to focusing on the healing Abomination as it stood up and unleashed a much more guttural roar at him, its damaged eye fully healed and glaring at him with such vitriol that the very pupil was straining itself and shaking.
The Beast charged at him, and Izuku entered a fierce series of defense. He placed both his arms to his side, blocking the hit aimed at him, rooting himself in place and refusing to be moved. The Beast was not even smart enough to think of swinging at his lower half, even if it did, Izuku would not cede another step to this creature unless it forced him to move. He slipped underneath a wild swipe and retaliated by using his new form of attack to cleave into the Beasts skin. His care for where he sliced mattered not, as he knew it would regenerate.
Izuku, admittedly, knew not how he would beat the Beast now. Because he had followed his instincts, he had missed his one opportunity to strike at the brain of the Creature. Now? He would have to suffer a war of attrition, hoping his eventual counter slashes would wear down the Beast, or force another chance for him to pierce the brain. Powerful Regeneration Type Quirks existed, but never could they heal fast enough for a death as instant as a pierced brain to be rendered null.
Well, no such Quirk existed unless one would compare the Phoenix of the FGH to Mortals, which most were unwilling to even consider doing. The Phoenix was a God, and the Mortals would be ridiculed and mocked for even thinking of comparing themselves to him, one does not compare crocodiles and geckos to one another.
He was getting off topic, however, and needed to focus back on which choice he would take. Though, in complete honesty, it was obvious which path was to be followed. Izuku was never one to let things drag out, or he thought he wasn't at least, so he would do what he could to create a chance to end this quickly.
I'll use dilation to give myself time to think of a plan, first. Without any thought, he let the mental shift of perception begin, like a cog slowing itself down within a system, causing a chain reaction.
Though, a problem was found in the fact that the cog stuttered, and stopped, and the sped back up. Izuku could not envision this process however, for him it was simply a minor conscious shift that caused a reaction where everything slowed within his perception of time. He watched in disconnected shock as his vision slowed, simply stopped, and then returned to normal. Such was his shock, that he could not find it in him to raise an arm to block the fist that crashed into his face and sent him flying to the right.
The blow barely registered beyond the feeling of a dull throbbing sensation, as he was more focused on trying to slow his perception again, and again, and again.
The fuck!? The swear resounded within the confines of his mind, a rare example of surprise taking its hold of him.
He grimaced at the uncouth reaction and used his flight to dodge the now chasing Beast. He took a moment to shunt away all emotion into the cage, centering himself in the action to regain his Focus. His grimacing face and a quick breath were all that physically showed of the turmoil he was facing.
Fine, things are malfunctioning, I will just find another way. Think! Think! He racked his brain for anything as he dodged the Beast.
Yet no solution came, his brain too focused on trying to understand why a staple of his Quirk was on the haywire. It had to be something specific, something new causing this unforeseen event. The Cultivation, it had to be the Cultivation causing it. Something about it was causing it to...what? Pull on other abilities present within his Quirk to develop itself? It was the only thing he could produce that explained things. He was nerfed, for how long? To what extent?
He did not know. He could not tell.
The Beast released a roar in the middle of Izuku's spiraling thoughts, and Izuku punched the creature in the lower beak with enough force to make it shut. Up. Properly landing on the ground via flight, Izuku felt his eyes impassively watched the Creature get ready to charge at him again.
"The ranting and raving of a mad dog should be silenced." he spoke, voice low and calm despite the situation becoming slowly disadvantageous.
What could he do? There was some Skill available to him that would allow him to bring the advantage within his hands. Something that would not use a force that could be dispersed and turned against him, would put him in a position to ram his hand through the Abominations brain, and allowed him to leverage the intellect he had over the Beast. Flight? No, it left him unable to exert the full brunt of his strength in any real capacity. Lasers? No, the beam was too precise, and he needed to destroy a large chunk of the brain, enough to disable the even subconscious level of thought that told it to heal, follow order, and whatever else let it work to the level it did. His brain was moving at a speed that it had not been at in a long time, splitting into multiple processes and looking for a way to bring this to an end befitting his Inheritance as The Supreme One.
Wait, his wording. Moving? How had he gotten the creature here in the first place? He had grabbed it and dragged it through the skies to put distance between them and the Lesser Lifeforms. Grappling? It could work, especially if he worked on using the Beast strength against it while exerting as little force on his part as was acceptable. It had the risks though and could result in him being subdued and pummeled by the Beast. It was a gamble more than a definitive plan, a fifty-fifty chance that held the consequence of him losing his life for the sake of checkmate.
A perfect situation for a Hero.
With renewed vigor, Izuku clapped his hands together, before opening his arms wide, as if inviting the Beast to give him a hug as his eyes glowed an ominous gold, the specks having taken over his eyes entirely. His eyes reflected nothing but pure Focus, and—for just this once—an emotion was able to fully escape the confines of Izuku's mental strength, as his all was based on the current moment. It was an emotion Izuku had long become unfamiliar with, for he no longer needed it. What use was it when everything was within his capabilities?
For the first time in his Existence, The Supreme One became acquainted with the feeling of Pure, unbridled, Determination.
The World awakened from a slumber once again, and beheld a Beacon of Determination, befitting of one who transcended Heroes and Villains. However, it looked underneath the surface, and found even more that constituted its Blessing, for it had once again met a blooming Divine One, slowing coming into their Name. Without waiting, The World exerted its Will, imparting a larger part of its Essence that it had previously, and thus it granted to the Beacon of Determination—
A Flow of Ice Unfeeling.
Izuku let out a deep breath, and from it came a long stream of frosty mist. Without his notice, the tips of his hair turned a snowy white, his pupils reshaped themselves into fernlike stellar dendrites, and tribal markings grew all over his body and face.
"▂▂▃▄▅..." The Beast roar sounded muted to his ears, his Focus and Determination so intense that the roar struggled to pierce it and reach his ears. Though, if he took a moment to think, he would have guessed the Beast was concerned by the sound of it.
The Abomination wasted no time charging towards Izuku, what little left of its Instincts ignored for the sake of its Order: Kill the Existence before it.
Izuku remained still, his body as still as a statue, the only sign of movement being the slow rise and fall of his chest, and the clouds of mist leaving from his mouth as he exhaled. His golden, snowflake pupiled eye watched the Nomu with such intensity that they shook as they absorbed every minute twitch of the Creature.
The Beast was upon Izuku, mere steps away, and yet he did not move.
The Beast raised its hand, nails as thick as three of his fingers ready to fall and gouge him. Izuku still did not move.
It was only once the open hand fell that Izuku showed even the slightest sign of moving. A twitch of his hands and his eyes zooming upwards to watch the hand get closer. It was only once the hand was just at his hair that Izuku swayed backwards, left eye closed in advance for what was to come.
Like the claws of a bear, three of the Abominations nails raked down Izuku's left eye, cutting deep marks down the left side of his face—going from the top of his head, down past his eye, and ending at his jaw as he finally left the reach of the Beast. The moment the Beast was trying to finish its swing, Izuku pulled his elbows inwards and dash into its guard, wrapping his arms around the Beasts waist. The Creature retaliated by stabbing its beak into the right side of Izuku's neck and using its other hand to grab his arm and start pulling.
The pain Izuku was in should have been immense. His arm was—despite his durable body—being torn off by the Creatures strength, his neck was punctured deep by the creature who was slowly trying to pull its beak out of the wound, and his face was bleeding furiously from the long and thick marks that covered his face. Even should the pain not be immense, the pure indignation that should be inside of him from such vicious wounds upon his Supreme Body should have made him lash out at the Creature with no rhyme or reason.
However, Izuku showed neither of these things: pain or anger. His eyes glowed an even brighter gold, and his snowflake pupils were blank and unperturbed. Izuku Midoriya was Ice Unfeeling, whatever he should be feeling was not there to be found in that moment, perhaps because his Determination overpowered it, perhaps because his Focus was so intense, or perhaps because of the Flow he had unknowingly gained, or perhaps it was all of these things together that allowed him to do what came next.
'Checkmate.'
Izuku tightened the muscles of his neck, trapping the Beast beak within, he turned his head to face his own shoulder, and a blue glow slowly overtook his eyes as he used the force from the Beasts missed attack to flip it over him and into the ground. As he sent the Beast down, he used his laser vision to weaken his own shoulder and let the Beast finish pulling off the entirety of his arm as it flailed while being sent into the ground.
Without any sign of the immeasurable pain he was supposed to be in, Izuku thrust his remaining arm forward towards the exposed brain of the Beast,
The Creature just barely managed to stop the thrust in time, digging its nails into the arm and stopping it. However, it did not expect Izuku Midoriya to release his laser vision one last time and cut off the Creatures sight.
Not wanting to risk his trump card acting up in this crucial moment, Izuku chose to force his hand through the Beasts arm, digging long furrows in his arm as he fully stabbed the beast through the head.
The Creature thrashed one final time, hitting Izuku weakly with his own arm, before finally dying and breathing its last breath. Izuku released panting breaths, the adrenaline within him mixing with a budding sense of elation that he could not keep down and leaving him breathless.
Slowly, Izuku stood up from his crouched position over the Creature's body and stepped back without stumbling. Looking down at the Beast he had beaten, Izuku felt something swell up deep within his stomach, slowly trail itself up to his chest, and then crawl up his throat and punch through his mouth.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄!" A roar like the one the Beast had released left his mouth, shouting his win to the World.
The elation inside of him was incomparable to anything he had ever felt before. He had beaten the first thing that he could consider stronger than himself, regardless of the wounds incurred and the sacrifices made. He would learn from it and grow, coming out the better for it and much more capable than ever before.
'And It was all thanks to this Crea-' He stopped himself mid thought, rethinking his wording. 'Nomu. It was all thanks to Nomu.' He finished to himself.
"Well fought, Nomu" He spoke to the carcass, a smile gracing his face and his eye holding a hint of respect, "You were a magnificent Berserker. I shall remember the Might you displayed until the End of Eternity."
With his words of Respect said, Izuku heard the entrance of All Might, and finally let himself fall onto his back, leaving the Waking World for a well-earned rest.
- » ⊹⊱ «The Supreme One» ⊰⊹ « -
Word Count — 5,162
Hello, my beautiful Subjects! I know, I know, it has been a bit, but let me explain.
This chapter has been the hardest one to write for me, just because of the pure nature of the fight here, among another more inheritance-based kind of reason. I knew that writing out this fight would be difficult to some degree, but I did not expect to spend months on the first four paragraphs just trying to figure out how to start it. It only got worse the further I went, because I kept having to rethink how to approach the fight the more it changed course and the more it started to look like Izuku was going to win. Originally, he was supposed to lose and be saved by All Might, then he was going to beat Nomu through fighting it alongside All Might, until after a few more times rewriting, it led to him beating it with severe damage. I do think it makes sense the way I wrote it out, and the Flow thing will be explained... eventually. Yes, eventually. Izuku had things that would enable him to win the fight, even with the Cultivation causing them to act up(based when they would act up through a simple flip of a coin to get rid of writer bias), but the Nomu was equal to even a Lesser version of All Might, so I had to give it that respect, thankfully it being of the Berserker Classification made things a little easier for Izuku, as it was too mindless to really bring out any tactics that would guarantee a loss for Izuku.
Secondly, I do not think most of you know this, but The Supreme One is a rewrite. It was originally called Deku of Steel, and I wrote when I was in middle school and posted it on Wattpad. It was a generic and amateur level fanfic that religiously followed plot beats to a point and then swerved into something else without any build up. TSO is my attempt to give it the justice it deserves, and I have been doing well at it, I feel.
Now, onto business: Now that Volume One is finished, I am going to stop writing without any kind of Outline for what I want to happen in chapters, and how I want the Volumes to progress. Everything you folks have been reading has been largely off the top of my head without any attempts to go back and change anything unless I was writing that chapter and wanted to change something. That changes now though, as I am going to start creating Arc Outlines, largely because it is necessary for the stuff I want to test out, and the plot points I want to fully dive into. I will not lie, this story is going to get more complicated, and I am going to try out different things in each Arc to keep evolving my writing and whatnot.
Anyways: Hope the chapter was enjoyable, I am always open to critique, though only the constructive kind, and find joy in laughing at comments that offer nothing but a negative statement in poor taste. Look forward to the next arc, and pray for me, cause Izuku was not supposed to end up damaged and it severely affects future developments. Bright side: scars and diverse kinds of character beats.