We're back with a new chapter that went through the complete Grammarly premium treatment. I only recently got it working for me again, for the first time in nearly a year. The chapter is shorter than most, but I didn't want to stretch things out too long as it's just a single battle between teammates. Someone in a review mentioned how Izuku was being written, that he's chaotic neutral. Yeah, that's what I'm aiming for, as he's not necessarily evil like Dabi or Tomura, but he's far from good, either. He wants to build a better world but has a warped sense of the world because of his quirk. He's not insane, but it does lead to issues like that. He's close to Toga, which was part of why I wrote this: I wanted to explore that character.

Also, I will wait to post anything next week as I'll be working on another story. It won't have a set upload data, but I will upload new chapters when possible. I decided to take the week off to ensure that I don't mess with the uploads of other works. When it's out, which I'll announce on my Twitter, I would appreciate it if you all check it out.

Chapter 14: Battle! Beasts and Flames

"Ready?" Kon asked him, finishing his cigar with one final drag before tossing the bud to the side.

"Of course." Midoriya crouched low, his hands close to the ground as his body started to heat up; his eyes began to glow as he called on his inner fire.

Kon saw this and yelled out with a savage grin. "Then let's have some fun!"

Kon didn't give him much time to prepare for him as he shot towards him, his right fist pulled back. Midoriya brought his arms up in the classic x guard to block the strike; upon contact with him, his boosted physical prowess, he was sent flying as he had to flip mid-air to ensure he landed on his feet. Feeling the ache in his arms from that strike, he realised Kon was far more robust than he had thought, but this only made me all the more eager to battle him.

"Nice punch, let's see if I can't match it, Boiling Mountain: Hachimantai!" Midoriya yelled, his body temperature shooting through the roof as his stream output quadruped, not only causing his clothes to billow in the rising air around him and his veins to bulge along his limbs, neck and chest as his blood expanded as it got hotter but also shooting steam out of his ears, nostrils and mouth. He could feel his body burning, but he also felt the ache in his arms fading as he healed the damage inflicted.

"Nice look, brat. But can you back it up?" Kon raised his hand and told him to come closer, an instruction he was more than willing to follow as he rushed him much faster than the man expected. he instinctively blocked Midoriya's overhead arc kick with his arm, his knees bending slightly from the force.

"How was that?" Midoriya smiled at him; his face might have been flushed red with blood and heat, but his eyes were filled with emerald joy as he smiled at him, his canines more akin to snake fangs as he jumped off, using his still raised arm as a springboard. "Let's keep going!" He rushed him around, moving in a zig-zag to keep Kon from guessing where he would head up. Dodging under a swipe, he back-flipped away into a crouch before jumping towards him. He aimed a kick for the taller man's leg, which he blocked with a hiss, having also felt that blow, even through his thick fur and dense, thick muscle.

Midoriya blew steam out of his mouth, using it as both a propulsion and a smoke scream to get distance before running in circles around him, the snow not slowing him. Kon kept his eyes on him, his nose wrinkling as he snarled but not out of anger; instead, he was impressed with the boy as even if that was far from what it would take to beat him, he was no slouch. Seeing what he thought was an opening, Midoriya bent his neck at a near-impossible angle to blast steam out of, shooting him forward like a human cannonball, a kick aimed for Kon's sternum, but he was intercepted by Kon, who grabbed his leg and slammed him into the snow-covered earth, said snow doing little to lessen the impact before he tossed him aside and rushed him, jumping into the air with his fist pulled back.

Seeing him coming right for him, Midoriya turned his head to the side and blasted out some steam, digging into the snow to throw himself; he got him out of the way as Midoriya fired a blast of stream at Kon,, who blocked with his arm. "Tickles, maybe you can be the team sauna or something." Kon mocked him as he charged once more, his jaws open as if he was planning on devouring him whole.

And that was the way the fight went between them, as Kon used his superior strength and experience to keep Midoriya on the backfoot, with only his healing factor and speed keeping him in the fight as where he took blows, he could shrug them off till they healed, while moving in for quirk jabs and kicks where he could, trying to weaken him. Both noticed but paid no heed to the fact that a haze was forming as the ambient heat Midoriya was giving, combined with his steam blasts and how much snow both combatants were kicking up, led to some of it evaporating.

This didn't slow the two down, as Kon could rely on his animalistic sense of smell and hearing. At the same time, Midoriya kept his eyes on his foe, using his speed to move even when he only had a moment to see what was happening.

Flipping in the air and landing on his bare feet, having lost his sandals sometime in the high-speed melee, Midoriya took in what he learned so far to try and figure out an attack plan, as Kon wasn't talk, being one of the, if not his strongest opponent yet as he didn't just fight like a man, but like a beast-relying on instinct and his superhuman senses to move, dodge and strike in ways he could only dream of imitating, his movements reminding him of Koharu's in that regard.

Midoriya wasn't the only one briefly pausing to observe his opponent. He was a fast one who was clear from the start but also a quirk learner, adapting quickly to his attacks and movements. At the same time, he was not the strongest to face him, but he was definitely not some weak brat in over his head. A smile formed on his face, with battle hunger, malice, and a piece of the inner hate he'd carried for years as he charged him again. Halfway to him, he jumped into the air and slammed his feet into the earth, kicking up a large amount of snow. Midoriya blasted it with the stream to try to clear it by forcing it to rise, but he wasn't fast enough as Kon closed in on him.

Jumping back, he's too slow as Kon manages to grab onto his leg again, squeezing it as his muscles scream and his bones creak under the pressure. Making a split-second decision, he didn't try and fight out of it as he built up as much steam in his gut as he could, his innards protesting as they were burned to create it before he blasted Kon right in the face. The heteromorph cursed as he was forced to let go of Midoriya to cover his eyes from the hot gas.

Midoriya landed, his right leg useless for the moment as he propelled himself forward with his one good leg and right arm, pulling back his left before driving a punch into Kon's liver; it didn't matter how strong; everyone flinched when it hit there, which proved to be accurate as Kon coughed and wheezed from it, his arm swinging to strike him blindly as he leaned back as far as he could, the taloned hand missing his head by a few hairs before leaning back it right to the liver again, followed by a quirk 3 hit combo up his side before he jumped away, landing in an awkward roll as his leg was still healing from that.

Looking at his opponent, Midoriya knew he shouldn't have been surprised, yet he was. As before him, with the steam cleared, Kon looked no worse for wear, as if all that did nothing. The only thing he could see was that the man's eyes were red from that blast of steam to the face. Kon looked back at him with his smile still on his face, eyeing him like an especially tasty-looking gazelle. Finally, he felt his leg heal to the point he could stand on it as he met that excited hunger with one of his own.

Neither needed to say it; they could feel it from the other and agreed that for people like that, there was an instinctive joy in battle, in testing your strength, experience and skills against another. Perhaps it was a joy born from the animals his body was an amalgamation of, many of which were predators. The source may be fire's innate drive to burn everything to fuel itself. Neither knew nor cared as Kon roared while Midoriya yelled, the two dashing towards the other, their fists pulled back.

Watching the two duke it out from a nearby incline, the three found themselves impressed with what they saw, even if the haze made it hard to see certain parts of it. "Those two are going at it," Hasaki noted, Koharu lazily moving around her shoulders, her head pocking out from her hair, which she left relaxed so the snake could use as a refuge from the cold. However, why she didn't do it? She didn't know, as the supposedly cold-blooded reptile felt warmer than she should.

It's like watching two animals fighting over a chick. Makihara joked, wishing he had popcorn for this as it was better than most TV shows.

Looking at her teammate, Hasaki asked him a question. "Why a female of all things?" She crossed her arms when he turned to her.

"They tend to fight harder to bang than to eat. Haven't you watched Net Geo?" The bandaged man replied as if it was common knowledge, while also throwing in a little jab at the fact she hadn't had a working TV in a couple years.

"Despite that comparison," She glared at the man who shrugged his shoulders. She'll have to cut some holes in his tent later, but then he shared with someone else, didn't he? She could settle for his sleeping bag, maybe fill it with snow. "They're putting on quite the show. Midoriya hasn't managed to knock him down, but he's not been taken out yet." That was an impressive feat, as she had seen what one of Kon's blows could do to the environment and people.

"Not for lack of trying, he's picking up the pace. Midoriya should do as well." Makihara noted as Kon jumped into the came down like a meteor, nearly crushing Midoriya as he rolled to the side. He didn't seem to be finished as he used that immense strength to pull a chunk of frozen earth the size of a small car and threw it at Midoriya, who, on his end, didn't run and instead shattered the incoming projective with a well-placed kick.

"You believe so?" Nine asked them, his gaze never leaving the two as they continued to spar, the man having to resist his urge to surrender to his battle lust like they did and join the fray. "I see them tasting the waters, trying to learn more about committing more power into this." He replied, suspecting there was much more for Kon to reveal than he already was.

"You can't be serious," Makihara asked him.

"As Midoriya transformed yet?" The bandaged man remained silent at Nine's counter as Hisaki turned the action as the two fighters met in another clash. Still, Midoriya was forced back, with a notably increased amount of steam coming from his right arm, which must have taken some severe damage from that.

Regardless, he was back at it in seconds, favouring his left side while the right healed. "It's a high-risk play. He must be using his healing factor to keep him in play."

"Kid can burn himself to ash and rebuild a new body in under a minute. I doubt a few broken bones even register as much." Makihara snorted, that explanation of how his quirk worked still in his mind. He had heard of quirks that required self-harm; he had fought more than a few dudes like that and seen how little they cared. But there was needing to jug hot sauce or break bones to use them as weapons, and there was turning yourself to ash.

"That is an advantage Midoriya has over Kon. He might be stronger and more experienced in brawls, but Midoriya can get back up from close to anything you throw at him." Nine stated. "His flames are to be envied, like a phoenix's."

Back with the two, Midoriya just knocked aside a tree that Kon had thrown at him, his hand, wrist and forearm breaking from the deflection. Still, the boy ignored that as it healed up, steam bursting off the injured limb as Kon nodded, a wild glint coming to his eye. "Not bad, kid. You're a hell of a lot better than most."

His arm healed up, Midoriya flexed it a couple times before he clenched his hand into a fist and brought it forward, his clothes torn and dirty, but the boy was very much primed to fight as he returned the compliment. "Trust me, I can keep going. I've not had such fun in a long time. Not since I started to practice with my quirk in the mountains." That felt like a lifetime ago when he would need to hide and train at night to avoid being seen, with only Koharu to keep him company.

Kon laughed, but while it was somewhat amusing, it also had a foreboding sense. "I'm having fun too, but what do you say we turn it up a notch?" His body started to shake as it grew, as its muscles were bulging or being grown from nothing. First, bird-like wings tore out his sleeves along his forearms while his talons grew. But it didn't stop there. His size and muscle mass grew like he had eaten an entire bull; horns sprouted from his head while his feet mutated into bird-like talons.

In those few seconds, it took to transform, the beast of a man was replaced with the closest thing to a chimera to work the earth. Midoriya knew he was for it even from a distance as he raised his hands. "I've seen what made you a monster; let me show you why they call me one!" Kon seemed to teleport, as one moment he stood at a distance from him, the next there was a plum of snow and dust, and he was near the top of Midoriya, who had no time to do more than raise his hands in an x block. When Kon's blow landed, Midoriya bit his tongue from the shock and pain as his bones nearly exploded from the force.

He was sent flying back, his arms useless as they dangled at his sides as he rolled to a stop in the snow. "What power!" He forced himself up but was off balance by the lack of the use of his arms, which, while healing, were healing far slower than his body as muscles were shredded and bones destroyed. 'My arms are broken-not shattered!' Hearing him coming again, he jumped into the air to avoid another attack that crashed right where he had just been, the force of the punch going all the way to the complex, frozen earth and kicking up dirt along with snow.

Kon didn't stay stationary; before half the snow and dirt had even returned to earth, he jumped right after Midoriya. 'He's too fast!' Midoriya screamed in his head as he fired a full-powered steam blast at Kon. Still, he met it with a surprise fire breath that easily defeated his attack, crashing into his gut and forcing the air from his lungs.

He had been burned dozens of times but never by someone else, which left him stunned as his burns started to heal. Still, Kon didn't stop as his jump hadn't ceased. He punched him right where he was burned, making him throw up his breakfast and bending him over his fist for that moment. The next, he was sent flying even higher into the air before gravity took hold again, and he plummeted to earth.

'He can't keep up with him like this!' He aimed his head towards the ground, and despite the severe pain it caused, he took a deep breath, heated that inside him, mixing it with whatever steam he had left and fired it fight before Midoriya crashed, softening his landing even if he landed with a wet splat in the now puddle.

Kon came down as well, laughing as he flexed his fist as it had been years since he had last broken this out; Kon forgot how much fun it was to use it as he looked towards where his opponent had landed in a pile of pain and broken bones. "Is that all, kid? I know you have more in the tank." He waited to see an explosion and those emerald flames as the snake infernal raised from the pit to challenge him, but that wasn't what crawled out. "Hmm?"

Midoriya, still in his human form, battered, wet, dirty and beaten human form, crawled his ass out of the puddle. Forcing himself to his feet, Kon could see that his arms were still useless, same as his gut, which was exposed thanks to his top being burnt and torn, revealing that his mid-section was still stealing as the bruised red flesh put itself back together. Despite that and all the pain he must have been in, Midoriya smiled like he had walked into his favourite candy shop with enough cash to get whatever he wished.

Through pained breaths, he spoke a deep-seated joy in his eyes. "A-amazing…I knew you were strong, but that quirk…it's mind-blowing." Kon blinked, as for all he had heard through his life, he had never heard someone speak of his quirk with such enthusiasm and honesty.

"Such speed, strength, jumping ability…all of it is on another level…" The steam coming off his beaten body increased, joined by embers of smoke as he started to laugh, his joy bleeding out of him. "I…I honestly can't imagine why someone would call that a monster's quirk, villainous or any other mean thing!" At that moment, if such fools were in front of him, he would have yelled their heads off as how could they call what he had seen, what he had felt to be villainous? How could something so beautiful and wonderful be evil? It couldn't!

"That was awe-inspiring, Kon. And that's why I want to keep fighting you, to beat you, to burn you!" His body burst into flames, his flesh and bone replaced with lava and fire before he had transformed into his infernal form. "Let us be consumed by the flames and the beasts! Let's dine in battle!" He roared at him, running at him like a bat outta hell; as he moved, he blasted Kon with a much more enormous fireball than his normal one. Kon rushed through it, the flames singing his fur but not much else as the two met in another clash between their fists. Unlike the other times, while Midoriya's hand did crack, it didn't break.

Midoriya tried to hit him with his other fist, but Kon caught it. With the two locked hands, they tried to force the other to submit through sheer power. Kon had the advantage, levying his more considerable bulk and frame against his smaller foe. Still, Midoriya didn't buckle as he didn't give him anything while pushed. If anything, he used his hands being cooked by the lava that flowed under and next to his stone-like scales like blood to press Kon as the chimera could feel his hands start to burn as Midoriya increased the heat.

Kon needed an opening and suspected that his fire breath wouldn't work on a being made of the stuff. Still, he did have another ace up his sleeve as his tail shot out from between his legs and pierced clean through Midoriya's torso. The lapse in his concentration was enough for Kon to break the hold by ripping his hands clean off his arms, leaving stomps that bled lava as he pulled his tail out and punched Midoriya in the jaw with a right hook that didn't so much break it, as it sent it flying along with Midoriya.

Tossing his severed hands aside, he was about to press the advantage when "Boa Flame!" A massive serpent of emerald flames roared as it flew towards him; having seen what it could do, he dodged it and flew right by.

He heard a laugh and saw that Midoriya was already on his feet, his jaw repaired as the lava flow leaking out hardened into scales to replace the lost one, the same with his torso and hands as in less than 20 seconds, it was like he hadn't just suffered injuries that could kill most people. "Smart play, using your tail like that. I don't think I could, as most foes aren't like me because no harm will stick as long as they burn." Midoriya seemed so happy despite Kon abusing the fact that he could regenerate.

"Let's test that so-called immortality then!" Kon yelled back at him.

"Lets!" Midoriya replied as the two got back into it, trading blows like two beasts. Flames shot around whenever they missed the mark, while trees and the frozen earth were tossed, dodged and destroyed like sticks and stones. Kon picked up pretty early in their exchange that his blows weren't doing as much damage as before while Midoriya's body was developing cracks and chips; it was a fry cry to the beginning as if his stone was adapting to his blows.

Trying to use his tail once more, Midoriya countered it with his own, the two appendages interlocked as Midoriya blasted Kon point blank with a Serpent's Fireball, the attack being the first to send the more prominent fighter tumbling back, burnt but not out as he quickly back unto his feet, wiping the blood from his cut lip, his exhilaration as high as the clouds as he had wondered if they were kidding when they said this kid was a match for him, if not stronger but after all this, he was pleased to be wrong.

However, he saw that Midoriya had a hand raised as he brought it down; Kon realised what it was when he recalled that the Boa Flame Midoriya had used hadn't exploded like it normally did. Looking up, he saw it streaking towards him like a lightning bolt as he dodged it yet again; this time, the snake exploded on impact with the earth, covering the area with dust and stream from all the snow that instantly evaporated.

Growling at that, he decided to give the boy a taste of his own medicine as he built up flames in his throat, the orange and yellow turning a bright, dangerous red before he blasted the boy with a stream of fire, more like a laser. Midoriya, upon seeing this, didn't dodge or counter as; instead, he opened his mouth and, to the shock of all those watching, he performed a repeat of what had happened when he confronted the slime villain to save Kacchan; he consumed it. Seeing this, Kon cut the attack, but could only watch as the last bits of his most potent breath attack weren't just negated by being eaten like a midnight snack as Midoriya's jaws snapped shut like a bear trap.

Chuckling softly to himself, Midoriya soon broke into joyous laughter before his head snapped towards Kon, who flinched at the look in his hollow eyeholes as the flames behind them only seemed to be stronger than before, brighter. "Before, you managed to burn me because I was still flesh and blood, but now?" His body put out a heatwave that melted the snow around him, the rising steam masking his form and leaving only those emerald eyes visible. "No fire can hurt me, and all the world will share in my joy."

"Starting with you," In quick succession, he fired off 5 fireballs, each flying towards Kon from a different angle. The man dodged the first two but was hit in the leg by the 3rd while the 4th and 5th struck his sides, sending him to his knees; looking up, he saw that Midoriya had clapped his hands together before his jaw opened up and let him see the sun. "Majestic Serpent Flame!" A wave of fire came barrelling out from his mouth, tall enough to engulf buildings and wide enough to ensure he had no escape. The flames were so hot that the snow over 5m in front of it instantly evaporated as Kon braced for the strike.

When it hit, it wasn't so much an explosion as it was closer to a literal ocean wave. Kon was swept up in it, tossed and spun around as he fought to keep his head above it all; all the while, he burned as the flames ate away at him like tens of millions of piranhas. All as he couldn't hold back the screams.

By the time the flames burnt out, there wasn't a single speck of snow or water left in the clearing, all having evaporated. The earth wasn't spared the destruction either, as the massive wave had torn through it like hammers through wooden planks. Midoriya had reduced the clearing to a worse state than what they had left the last one in just a single action. And laying in the middle of it all, badly burnt and barely conscious.

He looked up to the cloudy sky, the remnants of the massive steam burst that had just happened dissipating in the wind as he tried to get up, to move to do anything, but found himself too injured for any of it. In this realisation, he heard Midoriya slithering over, his body too burnt to feel most of the warmth the walking volcano gave off as he came to stand over him. "Do you give up?" Midoriya asked, no arrogance or pity in his words anything. He seemed eager to continue.

That insanity made Kon just laugh, as excruciating as it felt as this kid was something else as he merely closed his eyes, a smile ever present on his muzzle. "…Yeah."

"That means I'm the winner!" With that surrender, Midoriya celebrated his win, jumping around in the clearing of hell before he calmed down enough to heal Kon up; the man hated that all he had on after that fight was his pants, which were torn, but he figured it could come to that between them as they left to join the others. Walking up to them, Nine seemed pleased with the outcome of the battle, praising both for their efforts before he stated that he'll go next against Makihara, the bandaged man being less than happy with that decision as he grumbled all the way down, giving the two monsters a wide breath which Kon laughed at. At the same time, Midoriya cocked his head to the side, confused by it.

And that is that. Again, it's shorter than usual, but I wanted to avoid dragging on the fight any longer. For the two new moves Izuku has, Boiling Mountain: Hachimantai is a fire-based version of the full cowling, as it ups his base states without needing him to fully transform. That last move, "Majestic Serpent Flame is based on Madara's move from Naruto, as it won't be the only thing that Izuku shares with him, unlike in More than You Think, where I took aspects of Hashirama, both paths of Emerald Furnace storylines will borrow from Madara was he was the most substantial fire style user. The next chapter will be out on February 28th.

Special thanks to my Patrons(s):

King

ShelDrake

Demir1123

Yvetal247

TheCoolest7248

Hiquake

Uknown Grimoire

Sit Lord

Austin McConnell

p a t reon . com (slash) Ducksmakegreatminers