MosesArk Reborn2000
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Chapter 6: Man within the Storm
🕑 Added 2023-11-02 15:40:50 +0000 UTCAs I said in the previous chapter, this is the divergence point, but also means that I'll be switching the update time as posting two different chapters on the same day gives me too much work to handle with everything else in my life. Because of that, I'll be reworking my update schedule so that More Than You Think will remain on Fridays, Path of Waves will also stay on Thursdays but Path of Storms will be moved to Wednesdays with Quirkless Existence taking up the Tuesday slot, but as that last one is ending soon, I might just keep it where it is.
Chapter 6: Man within the Storm
Even with Winter grip on the country only tightening, with snow already falling almost every morning and evening, storms were still a thing, winter storms that brought with them not just biting cold rain, but more snow and ice then most knew what to do with. Such weather phenomena could be seen as beautiful, graceful in its movements but at the moment, few at the docks had any such thoughts. Instead, to them, the storm hitting them was a nuisance and danger to life and property.
It had developed and fell upon then unusually fast, with a force akin to an angry child throwing a tantrum and destroying all they could get their hands on as smaller boats which were tied to the docks had either been destroyed or thrown into land, where they lay in all manner of positions and states of damage. Larger ones were continually tossed in the water, bashing into the concreate docks, cracking hulls and forming holes which allowed the ice-cold sea water to flood inside. Even the helicopters that flew overhead, assisting in the operation were not spared the storm’s wrath as their pilots strained just to keep airborne, their machines pushed to their limits.
One the ground, heroes and emergency services continued to move people away from the shore and towards safety. Polic and firefighters aiding them.
“How many people are left?” One of the heroes asked another, both in their winter gear and yet still feeling the chill and splash of the water from the sea not too far from where they stood.
“Just a few in this building! Then we move onto the next!” She pointed towards building, one of the warehouses that had been primarily for storage, but couldn’t house people in such conditions.
“Christ, did you suspect this would happen?” He asked.
“You kidding me, weather said that the storm was still a week out!” While the complained and carried on their duties, a little ways away from them, in a comfortable looking nook between two buildings, sat a cloaked figure, completely unphased by all that was happening.
They looked more like a traveller then a homeless person as they were too clean, too…put together to be unhoused. Despite the raging storm like conditions that brought wind, rain and snow in equal measure, they calmly sat with their hands together on their knees, letting the wind push back their hair while the snow fell onto their skin, no doubt chilling them to the bone but they didn’t act like they even noticed, or if they did, they didn’t care.
“The stronger the storm, the more it calms my heart.” The stranger softly spoke, their words lost in the raging winds around them. In this, the man took the opportunity to gather his thoughts about himself, about the situation, about the world and he couldn’t help but think to himself that society was weird, and wrong.
He thought on how they lived in a world where thanks to quirks, the possibilities of what people could were endless, anything that could happen-odds are there was a quirk out there they could achieve it. such things should have been praised, highly valued for what they could do both the user, and the world around them. If someone could rush from Tokyo to Kyoto in 10 minutes, they should. If someone could lift 50 tons over their heads, well they should. If someone could create literal tons of 24-carot gold, well then it would seem that Gold would become far cheaper.
But…that wasn’t how things worked, was it? Because those with power were still bond by the laws of times long passed, written by those without it. because of such, the speedster needed to take the bus or train. The power lifter couldn’t carry whatever he wished. The gold producer could face jail time if they attempted such and was caught. Even he, with all the power he had over the sky itself, was constrained by this, this fossil of a system and he couldn’t but ask, why?
Why did those with power grovel with those without it? Should it not be the other way around?
“No, that’s not completely true.” He thought aloud once more, mentally correcting his statement about how those with might that could rival stories of Gods and heroes, were controlled by mortal men. Society controlled everyone, both the weak and the strong from the moment they were born into it. It indoctrinated them to think all was right in the world, that they weren’t being railroaded into set paths, but that they wanted to do whatever it was society deemed they should. And any that didn’t comply, either by choice or circumstance?
They were ruthlessly crushed. But within such a system, it needed enforcers but police couldn’t do, too many people saw them as public servants that shouldn’t openly abuse their power. If they started acting like that they were, then more would realize the lie and remove their rose-tinted glasses, making more problems which would need more crack-downs, a cycle that would repeat till the entire thing collapsed under its own weight.
So, what did one do when they wished to trick people into believing something? Easy, you gave the lie a pretty face, and for them, that was the entire concept of the pro hero. By doing so, one could use their gifts to the fullest, be praised for all that they were, and never worry about being told otherwise. It was a race to the top, the higher your rank, the greater the perks and praises laid at your feet. With those within the top ten seen as Gods and Goddess among men, something that he respected as all of them certainly had the power and will, but he resented how blind they all were.
And to acquire such, all they had to do was crush any that didn’t fit into the mould, those that didn’t have the right quirk, those who had bad luck, those who society couldn’t or wouldn’t help fall any further, those who had power but no interest in heroics, those that society shunned and abused and therefore held no love for a flawed system. To a hero, they were all the same, and equally deserving of destruction.
What a farce.
What kind of world would be okay with such a system. Where it created heroes and villains in equal measure, either by chance or by intention and then made them fight while rooting for one to lose? Why glorify heroes that only role was to protect a flawed system and protecting sheep that couldn’t be bothered to think and act for themselves? What glory was there in fighting villains when the difference between them was so arbitrary. Heroes flaunted their power, they destroyed, they hurt, they killed. As far as he was concerned, the only difference between them was labels. Wrapped them around, given a villain a PR blitz and some heroic acts and most would forget they’re supposed to hate them.
Of course, he knew villains were selfish, most people were but they were a cut above the rest, either due to circumstance, obligation or desire, they were more open with that selfish desire. And really, was that a bad thing? Self-preservation and self-interest are core human qualities, even those he had seen that claimed to not be were either fools or lying to themselves. Most people gave to charity because they wanted to feel good about themselves, others helped others so that they’ll be known as good people, others refrained some sin did it to get into whatever heaven they believed in.
It was all self-serving, things that people wouldn’t do if they didn’t get something out of it. He knew first hand that when people believed there was nothing to be gained from a so-called ‘good’ act, or that someone else could do it, they wouldn’t. If anything, they’ll more likely to act cruel, to treat others they believed beneath them as dirt because it didn’t reflect poorly on them. He could count the number of ‘good’ people he encountered in his life on one hand, his own parents whose names escape him not being on that list.
The Baker that feed him when he was 7 after he hadn’t eaten in days.
The store clerk that gave him a new pair of free shoes when he was 9 after seeing the state of the ones he was using.
The gang-buster that let him crush with them when he was 10 during a especially cold winter.
The taxi driver that drove him away from a bad situation when he was 13 for free.
Against that, he could recall dozens-hundreds of instances of evil done onto him, onto those he saw. And never did anyone step in, never did a hero appear. There was a time when he hated it, where he cried for someone to do something, for people to be proactive but that time had come and gone, a distant memory to him as he had come to accept that a person’s power was theirs and theirs alone, what they did with it was their choice. Because of that, he wished to change the world, make it more honest, fairer in its depiction of the social order. He wished to strip the power away from those that restrained people like him, and allow them to truly be free, free of the abuse, free of the prosecution, free of the discrimination.
But, he would need allies for that, people that could understand him and his goals, people he could rely on, people that understood that this world so many believed to be perfect needed to change.
And maybe, he wished to have people to walk with, as while he might control the skies, even the clouds could get lonely.
The storm picked up as the man got up, reaching for his pocket and pulling out pieces of paper, a cut-out sections of a different newspaper’s front page.
‘Violent mutant flees scene after injuring 3 heroes.’
‘Bandaged villain seriously injures another 8 people, still at large.’
‘Local hero in critical condition after unidentified red head woman fills their body with hair needles.’
‘Teenage pyromaniac goes on fiery rampage, still at large’
Each one was from a different day, a different part of the country. But where others just saw news about another villain, he saw reflections of himself in them. In the first, he saw a powerful man that could no doubt have been praised as a top hero if not for the fact he was born a mutant in a rural area. In the second, he saw a man that clearly wished to just be left alone. In the third, he saw a woman lashing out at a pro that couldn’t-wouldn’t understand her. In the last one, he saw a boy finally expressing himself and being called a monster for it.
All people with great power, held down in the mud by those that feared them, couldn’t understand them, that hated them. He had leads on two of them, one of which led him into the mountains, his next destination. As he turned to leave, he wondered how intriguing it’ll be to see a serpent of fire and ash dance in a storm.
Line Break
“Young man, how can you walk around like that and not catch a cold?” The woman running the grocery store told him with a laugh. It wasn't even midday yet but he had been awake for hours, first handling his responsibilities in the temple before he came down to buy what he needed. Like always, he wore his shrine maiden uniform, with the sole change being the green wool-lined haori, it wasn't thick enough to be much help, but he didn't need it to be.
Chuckling, he combed a hand through his hair, which he had allowed to grow to shoulder length and was kept in a finely kept bun with a comb through it, keeping it all in place. “I have a naturally high body temperature. It’s not so bad for me.” Koharu’s head popped out from his haori, to say hello he was sure which the woman returned with a wave. She had long gotten used to seeing the lad with his pet snake wherever he went, it only made sense that when it was so darn cold, it would stick close to him.
Though if she was seeing things right, that snake of his had gotten bigger again. When she first saw her, she was maybe 90-95cm long but now, she was at least 1.7m long. If she didn't look so healthy, she would have perhaps advised him to take her to the town vet just to be sure.
“Heavens, I wish I had that. I would save an arm and a leg on heating.” She continued to scan the things he picked. It wasn’t much and if not for the regular checks, she would have suspected it wasn’t enough for him. But in this chilly weather, he seemed to have picked out quite a lot of fish to eat.
"I would just start a fire in my backyard if I ever got hot, or pray by the shrine to keep me and Koharu warm.” Izuku casually replied, Koharu nodding with him as she had come to appreciate the flames almost as much as he did.
“The boy and his snake, there is a story there, I tell you.” She said to herself as she finished scanning and started ringing him up. “Speaking of, I hope you’re taking care of yourself up on the mountain.”
“Why’s that? It’s not like I’ve seen any predators to worry about.” He did see plenty of deer, more than normal these days but he suspected that was because he set up a little feeding station for them. it helped make the place feel less isolated as if he couldn't live with people, then he'd leave live with the animals.
"Not predators, but there's been sightings of fire." She didn’t see it, but he stiffened a bead of sweat formed on his brow. “People say it’s like watching an inferno raging in the dead of night, my grandson compared it to that Endeavour fellow, like he’ll ever come out this far.” She muttered at the impossibility of a big-shot hero deciding to grace them, what was he supposed to do? Help Granny Mikasa find her cat? Help ensure kids got home from school on time?
Meanwhile, Izuku had to wipe away his nervous sweat before she saw it. dammit, he trained at night deep in the mountains so that people didn't see him. Most folk should be inside when he starts. “Either way, it’s got people scared. Even the local fire chief has done a view drills to make sure we know what to do if it ever came down the mountain into town.” He had met the man, he was nice even if his fire truck made him nervous, the sensation of cold water hitting him was never nice to him, it was quite the opposite.
“I wouldn’t know much about that, I’m in bed pretty early you see. Need my sleep so I can wake up bright and early for my duties in the temple.” He hoped that she would buy that excuse, as he thought now would be a good time to finish up and leave he got out his frog purse and collected the cash he would need.
“That's a good trait, my grandson could do well to learn it instead of staying up late playing video games." Lucky for him, she didn't pick up on his behaviour as she took his money and completed the transaction.
“Well, he's young, why not enjoy his freedom? Anyway, thank you, have a nice day!" He quickly grabbed his stuff and left the store, walking to the side where he had left his craft, filled with his other shopping and untouched by others. If nothing else, he didn't need to worry about thieves as much in such a small town.
Putting the bag into it, he looked into his frog purse and saw that he had just a single banknote and coin. "Down to just 1,500 Yen. Hopefully, nothing will come up." If not, then he'll just have to make do with what he had. Taking the reigns of the cart, he started pulling it as he made his way back home, waving at people as he went. Most didn't know all that much about him other than his first name and that was fine with him, the less they knew, the better. To them, he was just the strange kid who cross-dressed and managed a temple.
It was the tourists that gave him the biggest issue where most people went south for winter to try and have some fun on a beach, maybe even left the country, they dealt with people who wanted their slice of a winter wonderland. This meant that he had to deal with them walking up, getting surprised when they heard him speak and either awkwardly walking away, asking for a picture together, or getting even more excited as that one couple did.
It was far more than he was used to doing in terms of social interactions with strangers. But soon enough, he was out of town and on the road back to the temple. Around 15 minutes after he left, the door to the store slid open as another customer entered. The old lady turned to greet them with a smile, but that smile turned to confusion before it became fear.
The screams started not long after that.
Line Break
Midoriya hummed a mantra as he pulled his cart, its weight barely affecting him thanks to all the manual labour and training he had been doing. Even with the cold wind hitting him, he couldn't bring himself to stop smiling as he thought of what he planned to make for dinner. He didn't just buy all that fish for nothing-okay, he did but it was special and he and Koharu could eat like kings tonight. He would have gone for pork as even just roasting it over an open fire would leave him a happy boy, but alas, she didn't have any.
"With the time, we should have time to relax for a bit before I need to get to any of my chores. Maybe I can get some reading down while I cosy up the fire with a cup of tea, that sounds nice, doesn't it, Koharu?" He asked, to which his friend bumped her head against his cheek, making him laugh, his earlier tension absent from his body.
“Yes, I’ll make something for you as well, how could I think I wouldn’t.” Koharu seemed super happy about that, he didn't think that snakes would like tie, but he did try and add boiled leftover meat to it so perhaps that was the reason. It was at that moment that the wind shifted as before, it had been coming down the mountain, but for a moment it changed directions as it first died down, then came back by now racing up the mountain.
This would have normally not gotten much of a reaction out of the two, they understood that wind changed direction but this was not a normal day as Izuku's nose twitched. “You smell that?" He asked, Koharu nodded as she turned to face where the smell of smoke was coming from, freezing when she saw the source. Izuku did so when he turned and saw the town he had worked in, filled with people who helped and looked after him.
It was burning. "What the…fire…" Seeing that blaze, even in the distance sent a spike of ice through his heart, his hands dropping to his sides, along with the pull bar of his cart. His legs followed afterwards as they lost strength, sending him to his knees. He didn't even register that he was dirtying his clothes and that he'd need to wash them quirk to make sure they didn't get stains. That much smoke, that much fire could only mean one thing.
Villain attack.
B-but that was impossible! The place was so far away from anything, why would a villain show up? What would even attract them? it was a small town where being rich meant you had two cars for both working parents. There was reason for a villain to appear, one hadn't in the months he had been living in the area.
So why today if all days did one decide to change that?!
Before he knew it, he was back up on his feet, ready to rush over and help them-
Just like the last time
That memory, the image of seeing people angry, afraid of him more than anything left him rooted to the ground, his knees growing weak once more but he managed to stay standing, barely. Hugging himself, he could barely feel Koharu trying to get his attention as he got lost in his head. He hadn't thought about it for so long, he had thought he got past it but…but that was just him lying to himself.
He had tried to be a hero, tried to save someone and all that did was force him to flee, made so many people fear him, made All Might fear him. What sort of hero did that? None, they brought joy, they brought laughter, they brought….they brought…good things.
He didn’t. He only made people feel bad, he did bad things. Just like a villain.
“I don’t want to be a villain, I’ve been good, I’ve been good, I swear. I say my prayers every morning, do my chores, and even try to keep up with schoolwork. I'm not bad, I'm not, I’m not, I’m not! I’m not!! I’M NOT!!!”
“Ow!” He hissed, seeing that Koharu had bit his hand, and got pretty deep. Releasing her jaws now that he was back in the present, she looked at him with sad, worried eyes. Why…oh, she was worried for him.
“Koharu…I’m…I’m sorry.” He didn't want to look at her and perhaps see disappointment in her eyes as he looked away. “I know that I should go and help…but am I the right one for the job?” She shifted her position so that she was back in his line of sight, her tongue flicking out. conveying words and feelings that only he could feel, almost as if he was having an entire conversation with her.
Shaking his head, he tried to grab the pull bar and start moving again. “Someone will come…right? When villains appear, heroes also appear to that stop, they…they’ll…” He couldn’t do it. he didn’t need to see it; he didn’t need to hear it as his mind conjured up a scenario in his head about what could be happening. “They aren’t here yet.” A villain wouldn't have appeared unless they were fleeing the heroes, how long would it take for one to arrive? An hour, or 2? How many people would be hurt, if not worse by them?
Koharu licked his cheek, drawing his attention to her as she looked back towards the town, her message clear as day. Fire…he had been told so many times that it was bad, that he was bad for using it, for loving it, for wishing to see it spread but… He spared Koharu a glance, recalling how he healed her. He remembered how much the fires around the temple didn’t just calm him, but made him so happy. He remembered how he felt when he trained, so much so that not even the threat of someone discovering him could discourage him from doing it.
Fire… could do so much good too, it can help people. It was a part of him, a part that he cherished.
That nugget burrowed deep into his head, banishing his hesitation and fear, and with it he moved, slowly but quickly gaining in speed as he ran back to town, stream starting to leak out of his nostrils and mouth as he increased his body’s performance. Soon enough, he was a steaming projectile speeding down the mountain back towards town, Koharo wrapped tightly around him but not burning from his inhuman body temperature.
He might not have it in his cards to be happy, but he could at least ensure that others did.
Line Break
Back in town, the scene was a mess as people ran away from the fighting and chaos. Fires had broken out almost as fast as the villains' attacks thanks to stray fire hitting a small gas tank and spreading from there. While the local firefighters dealt with that growing problem, law enforcement and others helped get people away from the thick of it. They had tried to stop the villains earlier but had been rebuffed by them.
With the villains, the gang of 11 are scattered across the main street, looting what they can from the stores and homes. “Have you found anything?” The biggest among them, a man who was at least 2.2m in height and could weigh as much as 130kg asked one of the gang members next to him.
“Just canned food and some camping supplies.” The smaller man replied as he looked through the stuff they had stolen, nothing of real value, aside from a few laptops and a phone.
“That’ll do, we’re getting the hell outta here. I don’t need the damn heroes chasing us.” The leader replied, wishing to get out of this nowhere town and move on to bigger things. It was already humiliating enough that they had been forced out of their territory, now they'll have to move to another city and set up shop there, at the very least, he'll have the chance to fight his way to the rightful place.
“Hold it! Hands in the air, now!” He turned to see something that made him laugh. Some no-name cop was trying to arrest them, seriously? The man looked like he was close to crapping his pants even with that little gun in his hand.
“Oh, this is cute.” He cracked his neck, the cop looking like that act alone scared him which only made the villain smile. “Where’s the heroes, copper? Sorry, this is above your pay grade!” His arm turned into a rocky mess before he swung it at the cop, pieces of it flying out towards the man who dived for cover along with the rest of the cops that he knew were ‘waiting for their chance.’
“Watch this.” One of the others created a small ball of energy in their hand, shaping it onto a disk before he tossed it at the police. The attack missed and instead struck the side of a building that was already close to toppling over. This was dangerous as there were still people in the area, with a small group right in the crossfire.
“Oh no!” The police screamed out as the people crawled up into balls and hoped that would save them.
“Serpent’s Fireball!" However, their end was averted as a voice that sounded like a volcanic eruption mixed with rocks being pummelled to pieces of a drill was heard, at that same time, a massive fireball the size of a car come barrelling in, slamming into building, causing an explosion of fire and heat that destroyed most of it, with the pieces that remains harmlessly to the street. From the direction of the fireball, a creature coated in fire and ash was fast approaching, jumping from rooftop to rooftop before landing in the middle of the new ruined street.
With the smoke clearing from their form, they could all see that appeared to be a mutant class of quirk user, as their entire body was covered with purple stone-like scales with what looked to be flowing green lava in between the cracks, their lower half was just a serpent-like tail, with the tip giving off a consistent, small but bright green fire like a freshly lit match. Their fingers were long, clawed with glowing tips.
Their head was covered by a flaming cobra-like hood which formed from their back and shoulders, atop it were two green and white spots that looked like eyes. Their face, like their body made from stone, shaped to look like snakes with scaled patterns covering the entire thing with bright green flames leaking out of the divide that served as their mouth and the two holes that formed their eyes. Coiling around them, was an actual snake, which was quiet and muscular, almost like a baby constrictor which despite the heat the newcomer was putting out, hadn't hurt by being in contact with them in the slightest.
“Are you…okay?” The figure asked, their voice so off-putting when compared to anyone else's, same as their appearance while Endeavour was covered in fire for intimidation purposes, one could still see him as a man underneath it. Whoever this was seemed to be made of fire and earth.
“W-we’re fine!” With their attention on them, the people shakily waved back at them.
The newcomer smiled, or at least, they appeared to smile. “…Good…” Izuku had been worried that he had taken too long helping others, he had been rushing things as he did it, which meant he burned a few people but they would be fine, once a couple hours passed, the marks would fade. He had prioritised rescue so much that he had nearly been too late to save those latest people from that falling building.
Turning to the villains, they couldn’t help but flinch, all but the leader who glared at Midoriya like he was insulting him by standing there. “Boss, who the hell is this guy?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. He’s just another hero wannabe.” He cracked his neck, he didn’t know who this punk was, but there was no way this nowhere town had a local hero. So either he was some nobody sidekick that happened to be there, or was a local that thought he was the shit.
Line Break
‘Interesting.’ High above this, Nine watched the commotion, using his quirk to essentially float over the town, unbothered by the frigid winds and unseen thanks to the ‘noise’ happening on the ground.
He hadn’t been far when the attack started, having planned to just stop in the town for a meal, before containing his search through the mountains for boy, only for these pests to start making noise. He had been tempted to smite them himself if for no other reason than they were annoying him and hampering his search but the reason he was even in the area presented himself. He had watched as the boy went about saving people, moving quickly and with clear intention in every movement.
Even from this height, he could see the steam billowing off of him as he moved, most likely an application of his quirk to heat himself up to increase base physical characteristics. He was surprised by the fact the boy had looked to be a constrictor wrapped around him but the snake seemed intelligent as at one point, Izuku placed it down, and it slithered under some debris. When it returned, Izuku shifted to focus on a different part, pulling someone free of the debris.
Then that building looked set to collapse and taking some people with it, a tragedy but nothing much to write home about when villain attacks were such a common thing. The boy didn’t seem to see it like that as he transformed into his other form and blasted out a impressively large fireball. A powerful one too as it did short work of the building. So this is what he looks like in person, quite impressive.’ He thought to himself as the boy was proving the stories about his strength had some merit.
Line Break
“Leave, you’re not wanted here.” Midoriya told them, clearly and blunt which caught them by surprise as that wasn’t what a hero would say. They’ll say some shit about surrendering or how they’ll defeat them.
“What?” One of the asked, dumbfounded while the leader realized that this wasn’t a hero, but most likely a local.
“Is this guy for real?” Another asked, smirking as they outnumbered this newcomer 11 to one. Even if he was covered in rock, so was he and this punk didn’t have the benefit of back-up either.
“Hold on, look at what she’s wearing,” One of them spied some pieces of clothing still clinging to his form, enough of it to spot the white and red before busting out in laughter. “She’s a damn shrine maiden!” The others caught onto this was well and started to laugh as well, with the leader being unamused that some shrine maiden had come to waste their time.
“Get out of out face, girl and maybe we’ll pass by and drop a coin at temple after this.” He waved her off, turning to continue the attack but Izuku didn’t move, he didn’t care that they thought he was a girl. He cared about the fact they were messing with the lives of others just because they could. Even Koharu seemed upset with them, glaring at them like she wanted to kill them, not for a snack but as a pest.
“Leave. Now.” He repeated himself, louder as he took a step forward, drawing their attention again which changed from amusement to annoyance at his insistence.
“Get outta here, you brat!” The man yelled at her, swinging his arms to send another barrage of rock, this one aimed at Midoriya who didn’t flinch and only blocked the attack with his tail, which whipped out in front of him and either blocked the attacks or smacked it away. Seeing this, the villain turned around fully, giving him his full attention. “Oh?”
“What the heck, she blocked that?” One of his grunts asked.
“What the heck is she?” He felt like he should hit them over the bloody head for their pointless commentary. He was powerful, he knew that but he wasn’t so dumb to think he didn’t have people close to him that could shit like that.
“You got some moves, girl. But if you think that’ll be enough, then I’ll prove you wrong!” He replied as he started to change, his entire body growing as the rock covering him increased, going from his arms to his chest and soon his entire body, increasing his weight and height. When the change was done, the villain had grown to nearly 3m and put in another 90kg. He was already far taller then him, but now even with Izuku in his flame serpent form, he was tiny compared to the villain who seemed to take pride in his increased size and bulk.
“Koharu…Leave this to me.” Izuku asked his friend who looked at him for a moment before she followed his request and slithered off him, and moved to hide among the buildings, away form the fight that was about to happen. The villain took some steps forward, seemingly try and intimidate him, throw his weight around or merely close the distance between them so that he could make full use of his increased durability and strength.
“Serpent’s Fireball!" Izuku didn’t give him the chance to do either as the villain’s surprised eyes saw him taking a deep breath before he breathed out another car sized fireball which rapidly closed the gap between the two. He bared his teeth and brought his arms up to block and attack which struck him like a explosion. His harden stone skin protected him from the heat and possible burns, but he could see feel himself being pushed back by the blast. When it finally dissipated, he was surprised and enraged to see that he had been pushed at least 3m just by the skid marks his shoes left in the road. More then that, his favorite jacket was reduced to ash, leaving him with a shirt that was covered with burns.
Seeing that Izuku was already preparing to do something else, he wasn’t going to let him catch him off guard twice. With a roar of rage, he charged the boy, ready to pummel him into the ground for this slight.
Line Break
Villain: *About to do something evil*
Midoriya: I don’t have time for this *Shoots fireball*
Eren: Good, now if he learns to attack mid-transformation, he’ll be unstoppable.
