I don't own a thing
"speech"
'thought'
'Tenno thinking'
emphasis/sounds/other such things
ps: if you see any mistakes please inform me
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Izuku stealthily escapes from the ruined beach, with Katsuki slung over his shoulder, he wants to ask Tenno about what he experienced during that fight but Tenno urges him to pay attention to his surroundings as a local hero jumps across the rooftops above him, heading towards the Dagobah beach.
After a while of sneaking through the late evening crowd of Mustafu, he finally got to Katsuki's apartment, looking up at the 8th floor balcony he knows the blond and his family lives in he can't help but sigh.
The emotional speeches and the brutal strikes that had happened earlier on the beach coming back up as he remembered all the times he and his mom visited the Bakugo family, or the times they visited the Midoriya's.
Way back when, Izuku and Katsuki used to be best friends, basically brothers in all but blood, and then when they turned four they and Katsuki's quirk appeared, they became just friends, when after a while Izuku's quirk didn't appear the relationship between them was merely friendly, and it only degraded after that year by year.
And now they'd beat the ever-loving crap out of each other, holding nothing back. He'd known for a while now that Katsuki no longer viewed him as anything close to a friend, but to truly meet that truth head on still hurt.
That comment in school that started this whole chain of events was hurtful but he'd thought it was merely a slip of the tongue, an edgy comment from an egotistical teen, but today, at the end of their tussle Katsuki attacked with the Intent to kill…
It hurt more than any of the hits he took.
"Izuku, while I can't say for certain that he didn't want to harm you seriously, I can tell you that the final attack was not made by that boy, at least, not intentionally"
'Later sensei, please.'
Shaking his head, Izuku ignored the groans of his unconscious passenger and begun steadily climbing up the apartment building, using windows and balconies to reach the Bakugo's apartment, avoiding any lit window on the way.
Sneaking through the window of Katsuki's room, he carefully places the blond down on his bed and turned to leave, when he heard the sound of his mother's laugh coming though from the other room alongside Mitsuki Bakugo's cackling voice, listening for a moment he couldn't help the sad smile that appeared on his face which only got more severe with the strike of nostalgia when he looked around Katsuki's room and remembered their history.
With a shake of his head, Izuku crawls out of the window and back down on the ground, heading home.
---
Finally home, he calls his mother telling her that he's back home and begins taking care of his wounds, though they aren't too severe they are spread across most of his body, too untrained many movement technique uses straining his lower body and lungs, the punches and explosions, what little that hit, bruising his body and leaving red splotches of light burning.
The most severe being the raw skin on his knuckles from punching explosions and his scorched forearms.
Entering a near meditative state while dressing his wounds, Izuku finally asks Tenno about the fight and what he meant when he talked about Katsuki's last attack.
"Do you recall the moment when you felt as if you were looking at a beast when you looked into Katsuki's eyes?" suppressing a shiver, Izuku gave his confirmation. "That was Intent." Izuku's curiosity was piqued "Intent is as the name implies intention, but one so focused, that it sharpens into almost physical effect. An Intent to kill would feel like a blade pressed against your throat, an Intent to protect would feel as if you are surrounded by a castle's walls.
But what Katsuki displayed there wasn't Killing Intent, it was something uncontrolled, raw, Primal. The boy flared with primal Intent which he had no control over and if it had lasted longer, had you not knocked him out, it could've ended up dangerous for Katsuki and everyone around him, possibly leading him to fully losing his mind to feral instincts and entering a permanent berserk like state where he'd be destroying his body pushing it and his quirk to the limit and beyond it, leading him to destroying himself alongside everything around him."
This time there was no hope of suppressing the shiver that flowed down Izuku's spine.
Feeling Izuku's trepidation, Tenno decide to switch the topic and distract the kid with something else, "Meditation taps into a calming and recovering type of intent that, that's why using his meditation is so helpful for healing. But its use requires a specific mindset, guidance and dedication, that's why people all over the world aren't meditating to recover from debilitating injuries.
But while it helps with recovery it isn't a cure all, intent isn't all powerful, it doesn't give you magical powers, only focuses your actions to perform marginally better than without it, basically allowing you to focus your conscious and subconscious onto a single task, going beyond your natural limits for a moment."
---
Days passed, Izuku was doing his regular patrol while keeping to shadows, helping fix a bike chain for a kid when a crash was heard from a street behind him, rushing towards the sound, Izuku spotted a large muscular spiky haired blond man walking out of a smashed bank wall, laughing and carrying multiple duffle bags under each arm.
The Bank's alarm blared across the street as the blonde bank robber, still laughing, started running away.
Izuku quickly chased after him, shouting a quick apology to the bike's owner.
Following the villain down the street and into a labyrinth of alleyways, Izuku used the walls around him to get ahead of the bank robber by jumping from wall to wall and over the robber.
"Hahaha! Hello little twerp, you are blocking Son Crete's way, you better skedaddle unless you wish to be trampled!" shouted the criminal when Izuku landed in his path, his face was uncovered exposing the giddy expression marring his face.
'Why is he talking in third person?' Izuku imagined a profoundly confused expression on Tenno's face.
"Stop right there criminal! Drop the bags and surrender yourself to the authorities, lest you suffer a worse fate!" Izuku shouted back, his body dropping into combat ready stance.
"Hah! Nothing stops Son Crete, twerp! Son Crete's will is rock hard like Granite!" the criminal announces with a boisterous voice, as his blonde hair spiked up and turned a bit gray. Tossing the bag straps over his back, he readied his fists.
"Then prepare thyself for Justice!" Izuku shouted back and dashed forward for a preemptive strike.
Tenno couldn't help but sigh at the byplay, why did the kid choose to be a Hero instead of a martial artist, it could've been so much simpler, just punch each other until one of you goes down no need for words or trying to deescalate the situation, but instead he has to listen to Villains monologue, and Heroes declare their intent and call to justice, attempt to deescalate before resorting to violence.
Son Crete didn't even have a chance to flinch as Izuku appeared inside his guard, fist smashing into his sternum, from merely the speed of that attack, he should've been folded like an omelet over the fist yet all that happened was the he let out a grunt as he was shoved back a few steps as Izuku pulled away from him and jumped back.
"Your fist is as strong as sandstone twerp, too bad Son Crete's chest hair is as strong as Marble!" Son Crete boasted and it was not a misconception, as Izuku had found out when he struck Sun Crete.
The moment his fist landed on Son Crete's chest, sharp spikes pierced his fist, looking down Izuku spotted short curly and broken rocklike spikes still embedded in his fist, looking back at Son Crete, the shirt he was wearing was ripped at the area he punched and underneath was his body hair, same color as the spikes.
"Did you just stab me with your chest hair?" Izuku gazed at his injured fist not with pain but mild disgust.
"Hahaha! Son Crete is never without armor as long as his manly physique is on display! My RockerHair Quirk extends to all the hair on my body, None can lay a hand on Son Crete without paying the price, Hah!" The boast was followed by his shirt and pant legs being shredded apart as his body hair spiked up.
"All the hair? Ew…" Izuku looked at the hair spikes in his fist with slightly less disgust as he realized what other fates he had avoided by being a gentleman. Looking back at the man as he rushed at Izuku, he took a breath to steady himself and analyze the situation.
Son Crete's quirk allowed all his hair to take on rock like properties, and he had hair covering nearly every part of his body, from head hair, facial hair, chest hair, arm hair and so on. Even his fingers had some strands on the backside… finding a valid target to strike would be hard and anything under the belt was not even considered for a single moment for numerous reasons.
Analyzing Son Crete's other physical capabilities, Izuku deduced that while the criminal was muscular and physically large, he didn't possess any physical enhancement or fighting skill that he'd need to watch out for, as the man looked like he was wading through water as he was lunging at Izuku, giving him plenty of time to continue his analysis.
Now, onto areas lacking hair. Eyes, Nose, Forehead, Palms, Inner Elbow and underside of his arms. He didn't get a chance to analyze Son Crete's back but if the front was any indication, the back would also be armored up. Only those six seemed like the most obvious and simple targets but even then, the eyes and forehead had had head hair and eyebrows to partially protect them while the nose had the eyebrows and facial hair protecting it from multiple angles, so that basically leaves the arms, which appear to be Son Crete's main form of attack, which means he was kind enough to deliver his weak points right to Izuku.
Still, it's a bit strange, he doesn't display any capabilities that would imply that he could take down a banks wall, he could've had an ally, used explosives or his quirk had more to it than he'd revealed.
'Eyes up, fight now, theories later.'
'Yes sensei!'
As all that analysis was happening, Son Crete finally reached Izuku and swung a wild haymaker at the smaller fighter. Izuku watched the haymaker fly towards him, lazily ducking under it, he struck out a quick jab at the hairless forearm that was now directly above him, and then quick strike hit the underside of his triceps
The sloppy swing lost all its rigidity, Son Crete's right arm flopping down like its strings been cut.
"Huh! What did you do to Son Crete's obsidian like muscles! The twerp possesses a paralysis quirk?! How cowardly!" Son Crete roared as he swung with his remaining arm, only to end up with both of them numb, within the same minute.
'That, Izuku, is what happens when you pay attention to your studies. A+ in High School biology, prepare yourself for advanced material.'
Izuku gulped as a shiver went down his spine, he thought that learning ahead of his years and finishing off high school material would've satisfied his teacher, but it appears there truly is no rest for the wicked.
Focusing back on the… fight, Izuku pulled out a cheap burner flip-phone his teacher told him to use and called the police.
"It's better to surrender now, I don't want to seriously hurt you, maybe take a seat while we wait for the cops?" Izuku offered to the criminal as he dialed on the phone.
"Son Crete is no coward like you! He surrenders to no one!" the criminal turned his body yelling sideways at Izuku as if he was going to run away. Izuku prepared to chase the criminal, only to jump back as something flashed in front of his face, carving through his mask and drawing a thin line of blood on his nose.
He had been expecting Son Crete to try and run away or resort to kicks now that his arms were temporarily disabled, what he didn't expect was for Son Crete's 'belt' to suddenly unravel and swipe at him.
The tail which before now appeared like a piece of golden yellow cloth, now possessed a dark glass like appearance with a spiked ball like tip, missing his head, it continued on its path and struck the alleys walls, shattering the concrete into powder.
'so that's how he broke the bank walls, good to know.'
Son Crete's tail kept moving without stop, the criminal's previous clumsy combat prowess transforming, now his large body was no longer doing things it was never meant to, instead it acted as an anchor for his tail, only taking small steps and swift twists of the body which made his tail act like a whip, striking in unnatural ways and with devastating power.
"Taste Son Crete's Ultimate Technique! Ryui Jingu Bang: Obsidian!!" His tail kept striking out, carving through concrete walls like it wasn't even there.
'Thank All Might he didn't call it his 'Power Pole' ' even while avoiding the deadly attacks, Izuku couldn't help but insert some humor into the situation.
'Joke later, for now focus on ending the fight as quickly as possible, you don't have much time till authorities come.'
Jumping back to make some distance, Izuku took a breath to steady himself and then the next instant he flash stepped under the tail's barrage feeling it slice through the air where his body was moments ago and slid between Son Crete's legs, coming out in front of him.
"huh! You dare escape my ultimate technique? You slippery son of a-" Son Crete didn't have a chance to finish what he was saying as Izuku chopped down onto the sides of his neck with both arms, Son Crete stood frozen for a moment, even his tail stopping mid motion before he fell down into a heap on the ground.
'One mustn't always face enemies in a head on challenge of wills, but instead use their wits to defeat an enemy without a fight. Stealth takedowns are important when one is in a rush.'
"Hai Sensei!" Izuku shouted as he struck his fist into his palm and bowed, wincing as he unintentionally pushed the rocky hairs still stuck to his fist deeper. Gathering the bags of stolen goods and the unconscious villain separately and binding him to a nearby trash can, he swiftly made his escape as the sound of hurried steps was heard from the nearby rooftops followed by approaching sirens.
---
Elsewhere Katsuki Bakugo punishes a training dummy for his defeat from the days prior.
"He beat me? Me?!" Explosive punch after explosive punch was released on the poor dummy, the power behind the strikes strong enough to echo even through the reinforced walls of the Quirk Training Facility.
"It makes no sense! He has no Quirk! I'm supposed to be stronger, faster, better! Why did I lose!?" with a final strike, the dummy exploded into junk, smoldering parts flying across the private gym floor.
"He won… why? He wasn't stronger, that was obvious. He was faster, in small bursts only but it didn't need much recovery. Was he more skilled? He ripped apart my strategy but no… he wasn't more skilled just more prepared, he knows how I fight, I don't know, didn't know how he fought, now I do. I tried to goad him into the fight, to aggravate him into a head on collision instead of his previous hit and run tactics but I failed, I let him get under my skin, I lost my focus."
"Someone so obsessed with Nothing" The words ringing in his head, he wasn't obsessed with that nerd. If not for the hag, he wouldn't have even cared to see that nerd that day. He's man enough to admit that he has an obsession, but it has nothing to do with that nerd, his obsession is to be the number one Hero. To be the strongest.
And to be the strongest, he must learn from failure.
"He won, how? He's got no quirk, so he cheated, used his own quirk against him. Took the force of his attacks and turned it back to him. I beat him in areal maneuverability but even then I wasn't as fast as him, especially not on the ground, how? The movements he did with his legs, the kicks, the steps, it wasn't a quirk obviously…"
Katsuki looked at another training dummy across the room.
"It was intentional movement, specific sets of motion for different directions and scenarios, all capable of being done without a quirk and with powerful effects, enough to appear like teleportation to the unprepared…"
Sparks ignited in his palms as he grinned.
"But what would happen if they were used alongside a quirk"
He disappeared-
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AN: Son Crete was brought to you by Lucksinia, a Son Goku lookalike with the power to give his hair the properties of rock(Lucksinia wanted the villain to be able to control the composition but idk crap about rocks so I simplified it), his name is Crete cuz das concrete baby!
Anyway, sorry for the late chapter, this whole month has been straight carbonated poop water to put it extremely lightly, but that is no excuse for tardiness.
~ Expect next chapter around July 27-31st ~
If you like my work and have the ability, please support me on Ko Fi (/rottensarcophagus) or Pa tre - on (/RottenSarcophagus)