Justice Across Space and Time: Year 2
Chapter 30
This'll be a bit more of the fights and a bit of the lead up to the final confrontation with the Wild Villains. And set a few stages for the future and into Year 3. Yes, I'm going that far because I really do think that's how it probably should have been for the manga. And a big part of that is reinforcing of my group of villains and the LOV. While also painting more of the frustrations of a certain group. But that's not the focus now. So back to the show.
(No POV)
Izuku's arms and body trembled as he maintained his stance and focus on keeping the kinetic energy amplified in his arms. "Whas da Hell?" Bearhead muttered through cracked teeth while Zookeeper also looked surprised. The hero needed a second to steady his breath while looking around to make his next move. "Other uses?"
(Flashback)
"That's right. You've already started figuring out how to do it. With the tendrils and heating and cooling tricks. I know you've already got a grasp on what you can do." John had said while he and Izuku were practicing behind the dorms. John's eyes were normal given he was currently in his drained state after the attacks during the internships. And he was trying to get used to his ki manipulating abilities again.
Izuku meanwhile was testing some of what he could do with kinetic manipulation. When his friend and mentor had brought up there were other ways to use his kinetic energy. "You just need to break away from a few of the mindsets when it comes to powers and energy. Though I can't advise you any more than that."
The green hero looked at him funny before asking why. "Is it because you want me to figure it out for myself? Some kind of test or trial?" Izuku asked with a tilt of his head. John snorted before saying, "oh Hell no. It's because I can't really advise you in any way on how to do more fine-tuned or advanced skills with energy."
This caused Izuku to face fault before looking at John in confusion. "I don't get it. I've seen you use and manipulate energy before. That whole magnetizing thing you did during the battle trials. And I don't think I haven't noticed when you sometimes heat up your hand to light the stove. Or just put a pot on your hand while others are using the stove."
John was surprised and had a laugh at Izuku noticing those little things he did from time to time. "Okay. Okay, fair. But it's not that simple. See I can't use anything more than little tricks and basic applications of those energies. You could call it a side effect of having too much power," he explained before going into more detail. Namely, how there were numerous heroes with specific energy types back in his world and all of them could do far more than him. And while he can pull energy to him, he can only do it from very short ranges. Compared to Izuku who could cover a large area with fog, not just smoke from Smokescreen.
"Creating weapons or items from energy. Turning into an energy form. Even becoming any element they touch. But I can't do that because I have way too much energy." John explained and noted that Izuku would be far stronger and better at manipulating kinetic energy than he could ever be. "You just need to think of how it feels right to use. Not just replicating what you've seen. But what feels right in the moment."
The green hero looked down before asking if that was like coming up with powers on the fly. And with another laugh John said it wasn't too far off. "But I think you'll know and understand when the time comes. And you'll do what it takes in the moment," he said with a shrug.
Before he turned to leave though, John had something else to tell Izuku. "Despite the roots being different and many times detrimental (not to mention far weaker) you could look more to quirks and their use and applications. It should help to give you some ideas. After all, that is some of how your own powers work now."
(Flashback end)
'I took some of that to heart after you left John. Shoto wasn't the only one I learned from. And this is just the first step towards that end. But man! This is hard to maintain!' Izuku thought while moving his hands down. The veins in his head bulging as he took on more of a grappling type of stance. Zookeeper narrowed her eyes at the change while Bearhead snarled in anger. "Youjff Battard! I'ss kirr you!" he roared before putting something he kept for extra dense foes in his mouth. A set of metal jaw braces that would increase his already strong bite strength.
But he wouldn't be able to see what they did to Izuku. While in this new stance and mode, Izuku had taken a different way of fighting. Keeping his breath and energy steady, Izuku focused on boosting the density of his arms with kinetic energy. Allowing him to not damage his arms while taking attacks or using a new trick he had only recently refined.
And that was done by using Danger Sense and his Kinetic "Vision". The latter being how he could sense and see the kinetic force of attacks coming at him and know which would hit. And by combining them he had a near perfect sense of everything around him and what attacks could be deflected.
And this worked into his new style by letting him know and sense the directions of attacks. Letting him easily deflect the new biting blows coming his way. And further infuriating Bearhead as he kept attacking. 'Why isn't the trinket working?! It should tell me where to attack! Right?!' Bearhead thought as he snapped at Izuku. Only for the boy to easily push his head aside with one hand before using the villain's momentum and his own strength to send him spiraling.
It turned out that the monocle did not tell him the best places to attack. He hadn't noticed due to the advantage he had over Izuku's speed for a time, but the precognition spell only worked to warn of incoming attacks. And while it could give a heads up on counters, it was never done in enough time. Especially while Bearhead was in a rage.
And Izuku's smile sent the villain's fury into overdrive. Which was what Izuku was counting on. 'Just a bit more. And luckily, your quirk is working perfectly for this Bruce.' Izuku thinks as he repeats his movements to deflect Bearhead's attacks. Within the core of OFA, the third holder Bruce smiles. "Smart way to use both my quirk and your ability to absorb more kinetic energy. Without hurting yourself more," he says as they all can sense the energy building up in Izuku's arms.
With one last roar, Bearhead tries to crush Izuku in his bloodlust and fury. But Izuku is ready and with a crack of his neck he sets about making his move to finish the fight. This time by taking some of the bite from the attack to his arm. Smiling as the braces that Bearhead had on broke while he had not even a scratch on his arm. He moved the villain to the side and exposed him for the follow up. Using the energy built up by Fa Jin, Izuku was ready to concentrate it into an attack. One made stronger by his own kinetic powers transferring the energy from his deflecting left arm to his right.
"Have a taste of this! Kinetic! REBOUND!" Izuku called out while rapidly thrusting his palm forward. Impacting Bearhead's center mass and sending him through at least five buildings. As well as causing him to vomit from where he was struck as well as the pain.
Izuku let up his concentration and felt a stiff ache in his arms as he did that. As well as feeling like his hands were cramping from the released strain. "Not sure if that makes sense or if it's more like pulling a muscle." Izuku thinks aloud before staring down Zookeeper. Who was looking at him as unpassionately as before.
And then she suddenly rushes him with her broom. Creating the foam substance of her quirk on the brush while also using the staff section to attack. If she'd had the back up of Bearhead, this might have been more threatening. But with him out of play, Izuku had a somewhat easier time dealing with her. Evading her initial attacks as she swung at him.
'Just need to wait and whoa!' Izuku thinks before slipping and falling to his back. Having not noticed something important. Zookeeper had left puddles of her soap on the ground and it tripped Izuku up as he tried to speed blitz in for an attack. The boy yelping in pain as he slipped, did a flip, and then slid towards a wall on his head and back. "Okay. That was embarrassing," he thought aloud as Zookeeper kept spreading her quirk around.
Izuku hummed to himself before his smirk returned. He turned over onto his feet before putting his hand down on the ground. His smirk growing as he sensed the energy even within Zookeeper's secreted substance. 'And I'm willing to bet it dries her skin out like crazy.' Izuku thought before quickly linking to the kinetic energy around him. Especially what his hands were touching as he could feel the energy from the bubble patches.
"Time for a Cold Snap!" he says before gripping his hands tightly. Instantly pulling all of the kinetic energy from the floor and freezing the soap. "What? How is this possible?" Zookeeper asked as she now realized that the floor was more of a danger to her now. Since she couldn't run or land on the icy patches and floor Izuku had made. He then used his blackwhips and tendrils to restrain his foe while she seemed to be processing what to do next.
He then yanked her towards him and built up some energy with Fa Jin in his left arm. Before calling out, "Stanford SMASH!" and clotheslining the white-haired woman. Who coughs out hard as she's spun around and slammed into the ground. "Huh. That was a lot easier. Wonder why she waited until then to step in?" Izuku said to himself while wincing at a bit of pain in his arms. Questioning why Zookeeper had waited until Bearhead was defeated to attack him.
"It would have been harder if they'd attacked together. Like they did earlier when I was using my….. what do I call it? Full Cowling Normal Mode? Accelerator Cowling? No wait! Full Cowling: Accelerator Mode!" Izuku analyzed while coming up with a new description for his usual Full Cowling. But before he could get caught up in new ways he could use both of his modes, he heard a groan from Bearhead and refocused on restraining the villains.
Once they were bound with some gear that Melissa had given him, Izuku could report his success to the rest of the teams fighting and intercepting their own villains. With a few of them congratulating him on his victory. Though Justice wasn't one of the one's who was saying anything now.
That was because he was busy with his own fight and sets of troubles. The first being knocking out several werehyenas and others who were attacking him and the officers. Luckily, many of the police had been given scaled down or specialized Gadget Gloves by Melissa. Namely, most of them came with taser blasters, deployable shields (solid types), and expandable bindings made from condesium. So, they were able to put up a fight much better than with just guns or normal SWAT gear.
Clearing and capturing most of the attackers wasn't the worst problem though. Instead, it was catching a couple of officers who were taking out frustrations or disgust of heteromorphic types in the group. Forcing Justice's hand as he had to tap the top of their head to knock the officers in question out and have the other officers restrain them. "Every dimension. Not to mention almost every planet. I swear this is too common of an issue. Well at least the good news is that it's not just a human thing," he thought aloud before hearing his second issue.
That being the bellow of the Erchitu as it rushed through a wall and charged the hero. As well as blasting magic from a special pair of gloves he was wearing. He grunted as the bull with burning horns put his head down and drove into the hero's side. Forcing Justice to cry out as the magical flames and horn points bypassed most of his defenses.
But his adrenaline started rushing enough that he was able to ignore the pain and grab the bull man by the horns. Ignoring the flames, he twisted his foe's head and tossed the bull to the side. Shaking his hands Justice said, "why do you seem to enjoy what you can do in this form? What does being a werebeast or an Erchitu mean to you?"
"It means I control fate! And that is exactly what I did when I came upon how the curse works! But I found other ways to use it and make it work for me," the Erchitu says sinisterly. Before firing a few blasts of magic from the gloves it was wearing. Justice evaded this but was unfortunately forced to endure the nonstop talking of his foe.
His bragging about being able to speed up the "winds of fate" to kill those who heard his bellow sooner. The talk of being able to make it apply to not just the head of a house, but everyone within said home. And not being slave to the cycles of the moon. "You'd make an exceptional researcher. If it was not for your clearly lacking sense of anything resembling ethics." Justice said while trying to think of what to do next.
And was hit by a bellow once again from the monster. He shook his head as his ears bled for a moment before being healed. 'Okay….. might have to use a little bit of that. Especially oh crap!' Justice was thinking before the ground under him was broken apart by the slamming of the Erchitu's fists. He quickly arrested his momentum with his flight before figuring out what the magic gloves his foe had could do.
"Channeling a mix of destructive magic, and…. Aha. Fate or time magic. So that's how you made it work." Justice says while landing. Tightening and relaxing his hands a few times while narrowing his eyes at his foe. Instead of his typical hand to hand stance, Justice moved his hands in preparation for what would come next.
The Erchitu let out a cruel laugh before saying, "and it will be how I put an end to another hero!" Firing off several blasts from the gloves in Justice's direction. But the hero doesn't move to dodge. Instead, he redirects or catches a few of the blasts sent his way. Wincing in pain as some of the magic injures his hands, but he presses on for what he wanted to do.
And that was send the magic right back at his foe. Knocking the Erchitu through a wall before getting in close with a few punches to his body. After taking a few the werebull shoved Justice to the side and tried to bellow out again. But was stopped by something he didn't expect. A couple of bands of magic wrapping around his mouth.
While he struggled to pull them off, Justice answered how it was possible. "I may not be truly skilled or well versed in magic. But I can manage a trick or two." Justice says while holding up a hand. One with magical energies pulsing through it. The Erchitu growls before firing off more magic from the gloves and then charging when he saw that Justice was again deflecting and redirecting the magic away.
Just as he was about to impact, Justice teleported with an "ole!". As the Erchitu embedded his head in the wall. And this would happen two more times before he finally managed to pull the magic bindings off. "I thought you were just a true meta! How can you use magic?!" he roared in anger.
Justice smirked and noted that it was still energy. "And my whole power is about absorbing energy to make me stronger. Of course I can't absorb everything about magic, only parts of it. So it still can hurt me, as you've seen." He lets out another steadying breath before preparing a special spell that Sahiraah had taught him long ago. 'I have to use this once I extinguish his horns. If I can stop him for a moment, I can do just that.' Justice thinks before reaching out with his senses to find what he was hoping for in the ruined section of the construction area.
And when he does find it, he tosses, guides, and tricks the Erchitu there. Making his foe crash into a pillar and caused a cement mixer to turn on and dump a pile on the werebeast. "Time to finish this!" Justice says while the creature was trying to break free from the quick drying cement. He caught one of the creature's arms with his left, before throwing a punch forward. Right at the horns to extinguish the flames.
The beast's eyes were wide as it happened, and the transformation came undone. Reverting the man back to what Justice assumed was his original form. That being a normal man, but much shorter. In fact, he was probably shorter than Izuku. A far cry from the beast that had been towering over Justice previously. Though this form still had horns. Just funky looking goatlike ones. With apparently no extra functions or abilities.
"Well that's done. Now I just need you to and you're not giving up that easy are you?" Justice starts before he feels the magic rise and burst out. Knocking him backwards with a groan. "You might have taken my transformation! But I've still got power!" the villain shouts before focusing more magic into the his gloves and firing a beam of burning destructive energy at Justice.
Who holds his hands out to the side at first before rotating one forward. Intercepting the beam with his hand. Or rather with the sigil he created in his hand. "Your justice will come not just from me this day," he said dour faced. In his palm was a disk like shield that had the Libra symbol upon it. He chanted for a second more before holding his hand downward. Creating a spectral magic pan from his hand. Before moving his other hand to the side and making the same.
Justice's eyes crackled with energy before a few beings seemed to appear behind Justice. One a woman wearing a blindfold and holding a sword. The others looked to be of Egyptian origin, given the appearance of their clothing. From the scales, the hand that caught the magic was instantly weighed down and impacted the ground. Showing all of the sins the man had committed with it. While the other held the few kind things or reasons that might have pushed him to this path. However, these barely moved the pan from the ground.
"The guilt is apparent. And the judgement will be rendered." The deities announced and the next step of the spell was enacted. Rushing towards the goat like man and ripping into his body. He screamed as he felt a burning within his body, as the magic caused more damage than most could imagine. But he wasn't dead, just unconscious. "It would be too easy and too kind of a judgement to let him die. Better he live with nothing and suffer like that." Justice said as the beings behind him disappeared.
And once they had, Justice all but passed out as well. "Ow. Ow. Owowowo. Seriously. That is why I don't use that very often. Not to mention it only really works if the opponent uses magic or has used magic in a truly evil fashion." Justice says while feeling searing pain through his body as he sat down to rest a minute. Feeling the Greek symbol of Libra dissipate from his hand.
To help his senses relax a little, he focused on his ears and listened to the fights going on. Smiling as he heard Melissa giving the two technology users a hard time, Majestic being smart and trying a different approach when it came to intercepting the werehyena leader. And lastly the fights between two special pairs. Kemono Master and Ellie vs Markus Aoi and Hanabi.
Kind of a lame set up for the next chapter, but I think it will work. Because yes, it will be time to see what happens for the rest of the heroes and fights going forward. I hope you guys liked seeing some more of Kibou's new mode. I kind of wanted it to be more like the hardheads and maybe Fatgum. With a focus on defense and countering. While at the same time, he'd be able to pull kinetic energy from foes as they fought.
Justice's meanwhile was a bit lamer honestly. But I'm hoping I gave enough of a reason why he doesn't use magic unless absolutely necessary. Or if he's up against an evil enough of a foe. I'll eventually explain what happened with the spell. Please review!