Shuzumu Honōmuchi
Quirk: Whips of Fthaggua
Description: Shuzumu can form two large flame-like whips fueled by his vitality. The whips hold an almost impossible level of dexterity, capable of precise movements even when stretched to an incredible length. Should the whips come in contact with a living organism, they will start to feed on its vitality, glowing brighter as they do so and transferring some of it back to Shuzumu.
Appearance: Shuzumu is a well-built man of high stature and intimidating features. His greasy black hair is usually tied into a braid that rests on his back, and he has a small mustache and goat patch on his chin. Usually, he tends to wear bright red and yellow clothing emphasizing the fire-like properties of his quirk.
(His design was highly inspired by the circus trainer from 'Appa's lost days')
Affiliation: Tōu Liè Zhě, Japanese branch.
Age: 37.
Birthday: 13/8
Height: 183 cm
Favorite food: Grilled steak (Preferably Bison).
Least favorite thing: Being told what to do.
Tidbit: After being pushed around by other people most of his life (His family, neighbors, heroes, etc.), Shuzumu joined the Tōu Liè Zhě out of a desire to escape that life. When he finally made it to the top of the Japanese branch, however, he discovered how little power he can have in the Tōu Liè Zhě and fell to depression, feeling like he as a person was insignificant.
After discovering the system of tunnels, he saw the opportunity to achieve what he joined the Tōu Liè Zhě for, giving him a purpose again.
Izuku weaved between the poachers as he made his way back to Chima and the animals, his shoulders brushing against their legs as he struggled to push his way through.
"GET THE BRAT!" He heard Shuzumu yell from somewhere behind him.
Ducking beneath attempts to grab him, the boy soon found himself under the protective shade of one of the Badgermoles, finally getting a chance to breathe a small sigh of relief.
Around him, the battle raged on.
The Catgators and Badgermoles were busy charging at the poachers from the tunnel they emerged from, coming out of it in hordes like ants out of an anthill. They tackled, bit, clawed, and blasted rocks against any target they had in line of sight, forcing out screams from the (not) poor men.
Unfortunately, the Shirshu did not enter the pens after them; every time one of the star-nosed beasts took a step in, they shook their heads and their footing faltered as if they were hit with a wave of vertigo.
'It's the smell!' Izuku realized, familiar with Shirshu anatomy, 'It overwhelms them! The only reason the other Shirshu are not is because they got used to it!'
Thankfully, even without the Shirshu's help, the animals were on the up and up.
In the mere seconds since they began their assault, the animals had already claimed a large chunk of the lower levels, pushing back against the poachers.
As a result, various animals who were previously held in that area broke free, Chima and his parents being among them.
The animals still able to fight joined back without missing a beat, teeth bared and nose scrunched. The injured ones, however, were carried back into the tunnels the reinforcements came from, protected, and carried on the backs of a few Badgermoles.
'We're pushing them back!' Izuku smiled, looking around the upper levels of the pens before a frown replaced it, 'But there are still a lot of animals in the cages… we need to free and get them out of here!'
"Chima!" The boy called out, garnering the attention of the Badgermole who immediately ran to his side. "I'm going to free the other animals, but I can't get up there when the villains block me!" To emphasize, he pointed to the closest ladder which was separated from them by forty or so men. "I'm gonna need a boost!"
Chima let out an affirmative snarl, giving Izuku all that he needed.
"Let's go!"
Together, Izuku and Chima began to run straight at the poachers, letting other animals deal with them while they built up speed.
Without warning, Chima jumped high into the air, slamming back into the ground with a loud and violent thud. A massive pillar of earth immediately shot out from under the still running Izuku, sending him sky-high.
"Whhhooooaaaaa!"
Izuku flailed in midair as he soared higher and higher, his body coming closer to one of the catwalks, 'Almost there… Got it!' The boy barely got to reach high enough for the first-level catwalks, managing to grip at its railing with one hand.
"Phew…"
With a small sigh of relief, Izuku climbed up the railing and found himself back on the first level. All around him small animals were held in portable cages, their usual once abandoned mid-cleaning. They all looked up at him with big, watery eyes, as if he was their salvation.
Unfortunately, they were not the only ones there.
"It's the kid!"
"Get him!"
Of course there were villains there too.
The boy looked around frantically, looking for a piece of rock in the maze of metallic catwalks. 'Crraaaappp… there's no earth here!'
Thinking quickly, he tore a metal rod out of the railing out and made a makeshift staff out of it, nailing the closest poacher in the face once he got too close.
"Gah! MotherFUcker!" The man held his nose in his hands, stepping back to nurse it.
The other poachers in front of Izuku got a familiar treatment. They were struck multiple times by his makeshift weapon: in the head, face, arms, and legs. Though it was usually the strike to the family jewels that did them in.
Without the borderline 'broken' awareness that his seismic sense gave him, the boy found himself rendered almost completely quirkless up on that catwalk. The only ability to his name being his capability to make makeshift weapons from the metal footholds.
Which was why he was not ready for an attack from behind.
"Gotcha!" A poacher exclaimed, charging straight at Izuku from his rearwards.
Startled, Izuku swiveled to face him, knowing he would be too late to block.
Luckily, he didn't need to.
*Trip! *
"What th- oooofff!" The man's eyes widened when he felt something tangle itself around his legs. Caught off guard he fell to the ground by Izuku's feet, just in range for a metal pole to the face.
"Aw, cra-!"
*Bam! *
The boy raised a curious brow at the unconscious man on the floor, questioning what happened to make him trip like that.
He looked further from the poacher's body, finding his answer.
Behind the poacher's body stood the Lop-eared rabbit Izuku rescued earlier, untangling its elongated ears from the knot she made around the man's feet.
"How did you get here?" The boy questioned, letting go of his staff "Weren't you with one of the Badgermoles a second ago?"
Izuku didn't get an answer, not that he expected any. 'She might've hitched a ride on the catapult I took up here, I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings…'
Deciding to leave it be, for now, the boy made his way and began freeing the small animals from the cages, the black & white rabbit sticking to his side, "It doesn't matter… could you still help me, though? Say something if you see a villain coming our way."
Shuzumu was one step away from foaming at the mouth.
Everything was beginning to fall apart.
One second the boy was held tight in place in front of him, he and the animals finally restrained after what felt like an eternity of fighting. The next, one of the walls of his pens exploded, and out came an invading force of monstrous beasts, all hellbent on destroying everything he worked towards.
And now, the brat was running away after one of his idiots dropped him, gaining distance by the second. "GET THE BRAT!" He barked, running after him, hoping at least one of his underlings listened and stopped the kid.
He had no such luck.
Shuzumu had to watch the kid get catapulted high into the pen's first level and away from his grasp, an earth pillar standing where he used to be.
"GGGRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, holding his head in frustration. "I'M GOINGAFTER THE KID!" He shouted at his underlings, "YOU TAKE CARE OF THE ANIMALS!"
Not stopping to even see if they followed his orders, Shuzumu bolted in the direction of the closest ladder.
He didn't make it there.
Instead, Shuzumu found a wall forming between himself and the ladder, blocking his way.
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" The man turned around, finding a group of Badgermoles all glaring at him in hatred.
The two they had already captured were with them, as well as the one they brought with the kid.
Those three were the most upset, the scowls on their faces menacing enough to cause even the likes of All Might to shudder.
"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Shuzumu roared, his quirk activating.
His flaming whips roared out as they sailed through the air, aiming at two of the Badgermoles who glared at him.
His targets stomped on the ground and erected a wall in the whips' path. The whips lashed out against the shield, living diagonal scorch marks as they went, but failing to break through.
Grinding his teeth together, Shuzumu tried attacking again, this time aiming at a different Badgermole. But just like before, he found a wall blocking his attack.
The Badgermoles weren't letting the man get a single hit on their bodies, one constructing a shield for the other as they began to close in on him.
"DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAAAAAMMMMIIIIT!" The space Shuzumu had to move in was getting smaller by the second, not even allowing him to see his targets properly anymore. Blocks and slabs of earth closed into each other around and above him, the Badgermole imprisoning him and casting him into darkness.
Chima heaved a sigh of relief once he was sure the ashen man was trapped.
He couldn't help it, that man scared the youngling to no end; having been plaguing and haunting his nightmares for three years now.
But, somehow, the man was way scarier than he remembered.
Back then, on the clearing three years ago, he remembered whimpering in fear as that monster stood atop him, dominant. He was the man who, in mere strokes of his arms, subdued his parents like they were playing toddlers.
Just from being near him, Chima felt oh so insignificantly small in comparison, as if the man was a towering, dormant volcano.
And, naturally, a volcano is at it's scariest as it erupts.
Chima shook his head, trying to rid himself of any thought that was connected to that man.
It didn't matter now. He was trapped.
The other Badgermoles began to turn tail from the prison they made and back towards the battles still being fought, leaving Chima behind to stay there alone.
With a massive weight of his chest, the youngling shifted his attention to the sounds that were coming from above, where he knew Izuku was.
From the sound of it, the boy appeared to be currently making his way to the Catgators on the second level, having managed to free all the animals on the first.
There appeared to be a small Lop-eared rabbit with him as well, judging by the constant squeaking she let out.
The animals Izuku had already freed were already making their way down to the escape tunnel. Those who could survive the fall jumped while those who couldn't had to climb down the ladders with cat-like reflexes and agility.
They were almost done. Just a couple more minutes of fighting before it was all over.
"STEP BACK BOSS! I'M BREAKING THROUGH!"
Too bad things couldn't go so smoothly for long.
One of the poachers, a huge man with a bald head and rash-ridded skin, charged at the prison of the ashen man, intent on smashing it to pieces.
"!"
Panic and adrenaline surged through the youngling's veins as he pounced forward from a standing position, leaving indents in the ground where he used to be.
Chima tackled the man, sending them both recoiling away from each other. Chima's claws dragged through the ground before he came to a stop, tightening their grip on it in a mix of apprehension and anxiety.
To Chima's surprise, the bald man merely skidded a few steps from the tackle, quickly finding a balanced stance and looking at the youngling with a sneer. "Well, well, well…" He stared at Chima, his smile that of a bloodthirsty maniac. "What are you waiting for? COME AT ME!"
Growling at the bald man, Chima tried tackling him again, shifting his entire weight behind him. He ran straight at him, hundreds of thousands of newtons of force stored in a several-ton-body.
"Hehehe…" Chima's brows shot up when the man didn't even flinch from his incoming assault. He took Chima's attack head-on, holding his ground as the Badgermole pushed against him.
"Now's my turn…"
Wrapping his burly arms around one of Chima's legs, the man almost effortlessly lifted the youngling up. Spinning like a dreidel, the poacher dragged Chima through the air before letting go and sending him flying, forcing out a yowl of pain once he crashed back to Earth.
Chima struggled to get back on his feet, his heart beating loudly in his chest and his breathing labored. Gritting his teeth together, the young Badgermole dragged his claws through the ground, sending a wave made of earth at the bald man.
The poachers crossed his arms together, letting the wave hit him head-on.
Besides being pushed back the tiniest bit, the attack did nothing.
"Man, what a letdown…" The man grumbled, pieces of rubble falling off his shoulders. "I thought you Badger monsters were the strongest animals in the world..."
He walked casually towards Chima, a bored expression on his face. His glance focused on the earth prison of his boss before letting out a disappointed sigh "Guess they don't get that strong until they're adults…"
Chima's claws dug into the ground in frustration, looking around himself for anyone who could stop the bald man in time.
There were none.
There was nothing Chima could do. The bald man's strength was overwhelming, powerful enough not only to overwhelm Chima's physical strength but also his Earthbending.
He was fighting against an opponent who rendered his raw abilities obsolete. Just like… Just like…
Just like Izuku was against Badgermoles.
Chima's brow shot up.
Izuku was always in the exact same position as Chima was now when he sparred against Badgermoles in his training, most times he was even worse off!
Not only most of the Badgermoles he fought against were better Earthbenders, but they also held an astronomically high advantage over him in the form of raw strength.
Yet as the months flew by and Izuku's skill grew, the boy found himself starting to keep up. Not because his Earthbending grew more powerful, even though it did.
Rather, it was how he used it.
Early on, Izuku found out that while the raw power behind his quirk was (currently) much weaker than that of the Badgermoles, he had some advantages of his own.
Unlike the beasts, he had a much more delicate control over the earth he bent, allowing him to pull off moves that were nigh impossible to Badgermoles.
One of which just might be able to help Chima in his current predicament.
Chima closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steeling his expression before charging at the bald man again.
"Oh, brother…" The bald man sighed in annoyance, prepare for a repeat of Chima's last attack.
Only it wasn't one.
Concentrating on the tiny shards of earth around him, Chima willed them to conglomerate around one of his claws, mimicking Izuku's signature move.
It was harder to do than it looked. All Badgermoles didn't have a very delicate hold over their powers, rendering most efforts of handling minutes amounts of earth worthless.
But, then again, there was one main difference between Chima and the rest of his kind.
They weren't the partners of one Izuku Midoriya.
Numerous shards of earth clung to his claw, forming a layer of armor around it. Chima roared, using his powers to accelerate his attack to an unnatural speed as he slashed at the poacher.
"*Gasp! *"
The man's breath left his lungs from the force of the attack, his body pushed away like a rag doll. He fell to the concrete floor, his right shoulder throbbing in pain where a deep cut was present, "What the hell?" he groaned.
Chima growled at the bald man again, the paw that was covered in armor and blood raised like a knife.
Before the poacher could even get up, Chima was atop of him. The Badgermole swiped down the man one blow after the other, each attack sending him rolling, reeling, and hurting.
One after the other, each strike elicited a pain-filled cry from the man, accompanying another broken bone or a gash on the skin.
"RRRROOOOAAAA!"
With a mighty roar, Chima coated his other frontal paw with earth and joined the appendages together, sledgehammering the bald poacher.
The man's body collapsed to the ground like he was shot out of a rocket, a cobweb of cracks decorating the crash site.
He did not get up, merely laid on the floor, unconscious.
Snarling at the fallen man one last time, Chima turned away from him, content and relieved that he prevented disaster…
Only to see the earth prison of the ashen man was breached, molten rock dripping off a hole in one of the walls.
Shuzumu himself was nowhere in sight.
"All right, *pant* I think that's everyone." Izuku gasped as he carried the last injured Catgator on the catwalks with the help of some more of it's kind. They all gently dropped the reptile on a raised earth platform to the catwalk's side, a construct made specifically for them. The structure's creator, a female Badgermole, was awaiting patiently by its base, lowering it back to the ground once she got the go-ahead.
Izuku and the rabbit watched from above as the pillar grew shorter and the animals atop it grew smaller, shortly touching the ground and allowing the animals to disembark. "One final check and we're out of here!" The boy picked up the rabbit and placed her on his shoulder, now the only other living being on the catwalk with him.
Or at the least the only being that should.
"You snotty, little, son of a BITCH!"
Izuku's heart sank.
The boy slowly turned around, gulping when his fears were confirmed.
On the other side of the metal bridge stood Shuzumu Honōmuchi, an expression locked on his face that could give people nightmares. The veins in his temples had long since popped, forming a vast and colorful landscape on his forehead. His hands looked like a hellscape taken straight from purgatory, sporting bright red and pustular blisters. Patches of dry skin crumbled off his ruined hands like snowflakes, catching fire as they slowly wafted down.
But despite all of this, all the pain he was visibly in, the man before him didn't seem to care about it at all. "I had enough of your shit!" Shuzumu barked out, spit flying from his mouth.
"AAAAAHHHHRRRGGGG!" It was with a bloodthirsty howl that Shuzumu raised his arms into the air like a raging gorilla. Lashes of fire materialized in an instant, coming down on the boy following their master's command.
"*Gasp! *" Izuku jumped back in the nick of times, the fire almost grazing his skin.
The whips mauled the ground on impact, lighting up a fire that now separated Izuku from his attacker.
"Run away!" Izuku instructed the rabbit, feeling the weight on his shoulder lighten up a second later.
"YOU AIN'T GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!" Shuzumu's face broke through the fire, soon followed by the rest of his body. Flames engulfed the man's fist as he wound back to strike, aiming to attack with a haymaker.
"Whoa!"
Rolling to the side on the last second, Izuku was mere centimeters from getting singed. His footing now lost; the boy stumbled backward, his spine impacting a wall. He found himself pressed against a cage's door, panting and looking at Shuzumu like he was about to murder him.
"RAAAAAHHHHGGGG!"
Izuku ducked, dodging a horizontal lash from the poacher. Thinking quickly, he grabbed two of the bars from the cage behind him and dislodged them from their place, arming himself with two make-shift hanbo staffs.
The boy kicked himself off, meeting a charging Shuzumu halfway. He brought one of the staffs down on the man, hitting his forearm and forcing the whips out of the way. With the attack deflected, Izuku brought the other staff upwards, nailing a strike against Shuzumu's armpit.
"GGRRR!"
Shuzumu received the attack with a grunt, snarling at the boy. He swiftly kicked Izuku in the chest, creating a distance for just a moment before charging again.
Seeing another fiery attack coming his way, Izuku did the same as his opponent and charged as well. He got right in front of the man as soon as he could, escaping the whips' extensive range. Each of his staffs met one of the man's arms, holding them in place preventing him from bringing them down.
Too impatient to overpower the boy' Shuzumu ended the brief stalemate by kicking Izuku's feet from under him. "Gah!" Izuku yelped when he touched the ground and his left elbow took the brunt of the fall. Rolling to the side and dodging a downwards slash, the greenette rose to his feet again and charged.
Holding his two staffs against each other like a broadsword, he tried to go for a heavy attack on the man, missing his mark as Shuzumu backed away.
Izuku did not let up. He pounced at the man, again and again, remaining in close quarters as he circled him. He stabbed forward with the tip of the staff, from there swiveling it in an arc to gain momentum before whacking away Shuzumu's arms. He had an opening. He charged forward, body catching some lingering cinders in the air as he did. He used his other staff to jab Shuzumu's stomach, following up with a double strike to the shoulders, the first strike flowing into the second.
With rage clouding his judgment, Shuzumu raised both of his hands, trying to swat away the staffs that attacked his upper body.
And the wrong call was swiftly exploited by Izuku, using his staff like a bat to bludgeon the man's side.
"Gah!" Shuzumu groaned, hand automatically coming to nurse his side.
He glared at the kid in front of him, gritting his teeth together.
"FUCK YOU!" Shuzumu screamed when Izuku tried to attack again. The man swatted to staff away with a flaming fist, having expected the boy to come close. Caught off guard, Izuku barely managed to sidestep an incoming flaming fist. The man's fire brushed against his shirt, painting patches of once vibrant red a charcoal black.
With Shuzumu's extended fist so close to him, Izuku attempted to strike his forearm down, an effort to give himself some room to breathe.
His opponent, however, saw the attack coming and didn't even budge when his arm was smacked.
The two were locked in a close-quarter fight. With each strike, Izuku attempted to swat away one of Shuzmu's flaming hands; each time failing to do so as Shuzumu intercepted each of them. Flaming hands met warm steel that only got hotter and hotter as the exchanges persisted, soon growing into an uncomfortable heat that the boy had to bear.
Izuku's movements were getting sloppier after each exchange of blows. His clothes got singed more often, some so bad that a hole was burned through, revealing a burn. More and more of those appeared on his arms and chest, the raw, pink, skin a sharp contrast to his usual complexion.
Despite that he persisted, gritting his teeth together and remaining as close to Shuzumu as possible. After all, any other distance was much worse.
"Gah!" Izuku yelped when Shuzumu's hand brushed against his left shoulder. Pain shot up the shoulder blade. Another burn. Blistered skin poked out of a tear in the fabric, white smoke wafting in the area of the wound.
Izuku blinked away forming tears, fighting back the urge to nurse his shoulder.
Instead, Izuku forced himself to glare at the villain in front of him. The man had obviously seen better days, it was apparent the boy did some damage to him. Shzumu's arms, biceps, and face were an abstract painting of purple, yellow, red, and blue bruises he sustained from each bludge he received from Izuku. Somehow, his hands had only got more disgusting during the fight. The Epidermis on his palms was completely gone by now, the Delma close to following suit. Boiling, bubbling, blood dripped from every blood vessel on his hand, pooling on the ground and hissing against the cool metal.
In some ways, Izuku fared even worse, since the damage on him wasn't self-inflicted.
The boy's hair was singed in a couple of places, once curly hair now dry and flaky. Ash was smeared over every patch of exposed skin. It lingered in the air around him, agitating his throat and lungs every time he took a breath. The metal staffs were burning hot, painting the hand that gripped them a bright red.
He was burned everywhere. His arms, chest, hands, and feet were all screaming at him, begging him to drop the staffs and flee with his life.
But all the pain was nothing in comparison to the fatigue.
Each time the tiniest flick of flame grazed him, Izuku had felt his energy being drained away. And as the fire took away that vitality, it only got brighter, and Shuzumu stood taller, stronger, scarier.
It was a miracle he didn't faint, let alone stayed standing and fought for this long.
But now Izuku felt all the energy drain catch up to him, he was on the brink of buckling over. He was panting as if his life depended on it, needing to lean on one of his staffs to remain standing.
Shuzumu was walking right towards him, his pace slow, like he knew it was already over.
Heaving out one last huff, the boy's grip on his staffs strengthened. He wound both of his hands back, intent on keeping going.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" He screamed, his hands coming forward and the staffs coming with them.
"..." Shuzumu merely caught the sluggish attack, ripping the weapons out of the boy's hands before using them to strike him in the abdomen.
"Gah!" Izuku cried out, nursing his hurt stomach and backing away.
The poacher did not let out, whacking the boy in the waist. He watched the boy curl in further, before striking him at the knee.
"Gya!" Izuku buckled over, his eyes closed and his hands the only thing stopping him from completely laying on the ground.
"It's over!"
*Stomp! *
"Ooooff!"
Izuku felt the man's foot stomp on his back, pushing him down and pinning him to the catwalk's floor. The boy wheezed out for air, the weight on his back making it hard to breathe, and squirmed in place, fighting to get free.
It was of no use, he couldn't even budge.
"You're not getting away from me this time!" Izuku heard the man grumbled out, gritting his teeth as he tried pushing himself up.
He couldn't.
It was at that moment that he opened his eyes, getting a look at the lower floor through the gaps on the catwalk's grating.
The metallic catwalk's grating.
Grinning, Izuku brought both of his hands underneath his stomach, causing Shuzumu the go on high alert.
"STOP THAT!" He barked.
Too late.
Tapping into the impurities in the metal, Izuku tore open a hole on the floor, letting himself (and Shuzumu) fall through it.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Izuku tucked his knees together as he approached the ground, rolling away from Shuzumu who crashed without any grace to his fall. Quickly stumbling to his feet, he only had enough time to hastily construct two Earth Gauntlets around his arms before the poacher stood up.
It was by far the shoddiest work he had done in well over a year. The gauntlets were thin and cranky, chunks of it falling off when he clenched his fists.
Numerous patches of skin poked through it, the biggest of which was on his left forearm, where a massive hole was present.
"BBBRRRAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT!"
Shuzumu rose and glared at Izuku, his flaming whips burning bright like two scimitars made of fire.
The boy had no time to upgrade his tacky defense; Shuzumu charged at Izuku, his whips flailing behind him like the tail of a scorpion, ready to strike.
"AAAAAAAAARRRRR - Gah!"
Shuzumu coughed, something sharp and hard had hit him; sending his body flying.
Where he once stood was now Chima, his armored claw outstretched.
"T-thanks, *huff* Chima…" Izuku heaved, struggling to stay standing and too tired to notice his friend copied him.
The braided man skidded to a halt a few paces from the duo, glaring at the newcomer, "Now you too?! JUST GIVE UP ALREADY!" Shzumu brought down his hands like he wielded a war hammer, sending a lash of flames at both Izuku and Chima.
"Look out!" The boy brought his hands up, forming a thin barrier that shook and cracked under the force of Shuzumu's attack.
Chima used his armored claws to bat the whip away, chunks of earth falling off after the collision.
"I had enough of this, YOU'RE BOTH GOING DOWN!"
He lashed out against the youngling, his flames a bright and hungry yellow. Once again, Chima chose to intercept the attack, his armored paw closing in to deflect it. Sparks flew into the air as a result of the collision, and for a brief moment, it seemed like the tongue of flame in front of Chima recoiled back towards its master.
Only to catch the youngling completely by surprise when, as if they were a lasso, the flames coiled around on of his paws.
The flesh that wasn't covered by earth swiftly caught ablaze, adopting a red hue in the blink of an eye. The cub roared out in pain, fighting fruitlessly against the stream of flame that trapped him, his cries echoing throughout the corrals.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOHHHHHH!"
On the other side of the battlefield, two sets of Badgermole ears perked up to the sounds of the cry. Faces morphed into ferocious snarls; the two beasts galloped their way to its source.
"Chima!"
Izuku yelled, his eyes wide. Arm outstretched, he reached out to help his friend, leaving the cover his barrier provided.
"GOT YA!"
Izuku screamed as the fiery whip warped itself around his left arm, searing the skin that poked through the holes of his gauntlets.
The world around him ceased to exist. He could only feel the pain on his left arm as Shuzumu's fire ate away at his skin, drinking his vitality.
The fire cremated the membrane of the cells on his forearm, breaching it and killing them instantly; he had to fight the urge to grasp his left arm with his right, for fear of it also getting burned. The boy's cries joined Chima's in the open space, both crying and squirming from the worst pain they have ever felt.
Izuku could feel his grip on conciseness fading, something inside him bubbling up and taking over.
(Song start: Avatar State OST)
"GGGGGYYYYAAAAAAAAAAÄ𝓐Ã𝔸Å𝔄Â𝒜Å𝔄ÀÁ𝔸Ä𝔄𝒜AÅÃ𝔄ÀÃ𝔸𝓐ÀÄ𝔄ÄÃ𝔸Á𝔸Ä𝔄Ã𝔸Å𝒜𝓐!"
The boy's scream morphed into a monstrous roar, thousands of voices echoing out and screaming with him.
"W-What the-?" Shuzumu stumbled back, suddenly feeling a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt pressing him down.
The boy's roar revibrated through the air, stopping the entirety of the fighting as every single soul stared at the holler's source in fear.
Eyes an ethereal white, Izuku yanked his arm back and broke free of Shuzumu's fire lash as if it was made of paper. The two flaming whips burst into smaller embers instantly, losing their shape as they all flickered through the air aimlessly.
That, however, lasted only for a second. Shuzumu watched as the remains of his weapons began to coalesce around Izuku's outstretched arm. A sizzling inferno was soon formed in the boy's palm, it's brightness only outclassed by the white glow of Izuku's eyes.
Slashing the air, Izuku sent forth a blazing ball of fire. The flame consumed Shuzumu, his body blasted away with it.
The fireball sailed through the air and hit the pen's walls, exploding upon impact with a bright flash of light.
Black smoke wafted off the sight of impact, small patches of fire doting the area.
"WHAT THE HELL?! FIRE?!" A poacher yelled, his eyes wide and his body shaking.
"I thought the kid had an earth quirk!" Someone else screamed, coming under Izuku's gaze for just a second.
"!i!⭄i!i!i!i!"
Bile churned and turned in the poacher's stomach as an ungodly fear took hold over his body, 'Wha-what is this?! What in the world is happening to me?!' The muscles on his legs began to fail and the poacher fell to his knees. He felt the air in his lungs being squeezed out, his diaphragm refusing to budge, and not allowing him any intake of breath.
He grasped his throat in terror, his eyes wide and bloodshot, catching the white glow of Izuku's 'What the hell is he…?!'
The man fainted.
"𝓡Ｒ𝕽ʀ𝐑ℝᴿℜ𝘙𝑅𝕽ʀＲA𝓐Å𝔄𝔸Ã𝒜Â𝔄ÀÄÁ𝔸𝓐A𝔄À𝒜ÅÂ𝔸ÃÄ𝔄Â𝒜𝔸𝓐ÄAÀ𝒜ÂÄ𝔄𝐻ℍℌʜ𝐇𝕳Ｈ𝓗ᴴ !"
The boy roared out again, the white glow in his eyes intensifying before he clenched his fist and hurled it at the concrete floor.
The concrete under the boy's fist began to crack and crackle under the impact, the ground itself groaning under the pressure Izuku produced. Cracks and fissure began to spread out like a tidal wave, forming a spider-web pattern on the floor of the pens.
The ground underneath the poacher's feet collapsed into pieces. Startled, the men lost their balance and watched helplessly as their feet sunk into the various crevices now doting the area around them.
The fissures did not stop there and spread out to the walls, climbing them up at an alarming rate. In mere seconds the entire structure was ridden with cracks and fracture from floor to ceiling, its ability to support itself weakening as a result.
The entire facility groaned under the force of the earthquake. Bolts came loose, the catwalks' chassis' caved in, and soon, hunks of metal dislodged themselves from their place, falling on the scene of battle.
A poacher looked up at the ceiling, his pupils shrinking once he saw what was happening.
"RUN!"
As one, poachers and animals began to flee. Men hid in the empty cells of the Shirshu while the beasts made a run for the cave, the smaller animals hiding protected under the Badgermoles.
Through all of this Chima refused to move away from Izuku's side. With his parents now with him, having made their way over, the three stayed next to the boy-turned-force-of-nature, erecting a shelter made of earth over them.
Metal chucks clanked and banged against the earthen roof, small chunks of it falling off. The family of Badgermoles stayed huddled together in their shelter, bracing themselves for impact should their first line of defense fail.
Luckily, it didn't need to come to that.
When the quaking stopped, and the dust settled the four of them were the only ones left standing on the battlefield. The animals had all already escaped into the tunnel at the pens' edge, watching over the ruins of the place and the defeated poachers.
Piles of rubble and metal poked their way out of the cracked concrete floor; groaning poachers, either crushed by debris or exposed, laid amidst the ruins.
Satisfied, whatever was currently controlling Izuku's body exhaled one last time before closing its eyes. Still in the pose of punching the earth, the boy's body suddenly became limp and he fell to the ground, groaning in exhaustion.
(Song end: Avatar State OST)
"Wha-? What happened? " Izuku croaked, his eyes fluttering open. The boy found himself laying on the concrete floor. He was exhausted beyond comprehension, with a throbbing, burning, pain on his left forearm.
Feeling a gentle pat on his head, Izuku turned to his left and found Chima looking at him apprehensively, nudging his head with his nose. "Chima…" Placing his left palm on the ground the boy tried to lean on it and get up only for a sharp pain the follow through. Hissing, the boy collapsed back into the ground before trying to get up again.
Getting up (this time leaning on his right hand), Izuku found himself almost unable to stay on his feet. With his knees ready to buckle under the strain of his body weight, the boy leaned against Chima to stay standing.
But even with Chima's support, he wouldn't last long. The boy's limbs shook weakly as he panted, beads of sweat dripping off his face.
Izuku was an absolute mess. Numerous bruises and lacerations specked the boy's body, some having dried up while others were still fresh, dripping blood.
His hair was burned at the edges, tips of the strands a charcoal black and with a flaky texture, losing the fluffiness it was once known for.
His clothing was shredded; his redshirt was almost more holes than fabric with burned patches and stains of blood littering it. Ash and soot were smeared over his entire body, masking his pale skin behind grim and dust.
Finally, small burns littered his arms, calves, and chest; a reminder of the fight he had with Shuzumu. The worst of those burns were on his left forearm, where a patch of a violent crimson and blistering skin was.
He was in no position to walk, and they knew it.
Chima coiled his tail around Izuku's waist gently, slowly lifting him up and on top of his back. The boy didn't resist, flopping down on Chima's back, even the simple act of sitting up straight almost too much for him.
Despite his situation, Izuku still smiled weakly when the four of them got out from under their shelter, seeing all the animals in the tunnel waiting for them and the poachers defeated.
They won.
" *Huuuuuuffffff* *puuuuuuuuffff* "
Izuku and Chima's hearts froze when they heard heavy, labored breathes accompanied by the sound of small debris falling to the ground.
Out of the black crater he was flung to, Shuzumu's body slowly rose, charred debris falling off it. The man was severely burnt, almost all his exposed skin a bright pink and his clothes shriveled and charred.
Ruby red orbs feverishly burned their gaze on the four of them, the man which they belonged to stepping out of the crater with a crazed expression.
"Youuu'reee *huff* not going any-wheeere…!" Shuzumu ground his teeth together, flames building up in his palms, "… YOU DON'T GET TO JUST WALK AWAY!"
"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Chima and his parents had no choice but to jump to the side as a scourge of fire was slammed against the ground.
Chima had let out a pained yelp when he stepped on his injured paw, the limb buckling and taking the rest of the body with it.
The ground cracked and splintered under the force of the attack, fissures spreading out of the impact zone, adding to the facility's instability further.
"S-stop!" Izuku croaked, barely managing to stay on top of Chima's back, "The building will collapse!"
The ashen man showed no sign he had heard the boy, continuing to thrash with his whips unabated. They struck the floor, walls, catwalks, and support beams without discrimination, sending more and more chunks of rubble in the air.
The facility began to shake again as it began to fail to support itself, startling quite a few of the poachers who began to get up.
"We need to get out of here! Now!" Izuku coughed.
Cracks began to appear on the pen's ceiling, small chunks of it already beginning to fall off and smash into the ground. The screams of panic from the poachers got drowned out by the thunder of the crumbling facility as they ran away for dear life.
Chima tried to get up and run away, but as soon as he put pressure on his injured limb he fell again; he couldn't walk, much less run.
His parent immediately noticed, stopping their strides before they took them.
Refusing to leave Chima and his friend behind, the two adults each took one of the younglings in their mouths; one holding Chima by the scruff of his neck and the other holding Izuku by the hem of his shirt before pouncing away towards freedom.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"
Knouts of flames found themselves wrapped around the two adult's necks, halting their stride and locking them in place. The two hissed as the fire singed their fur, still holding onto Izuku and Chima.
Chima's parents pushed against the restraints, groaning in an effort to break free. Rubble fell on their backs and head, stone shattering on it and metal scraping it; the flames only grew brighter, feeding off the two Badgermoles.
The two did all they could to stop themselves from grinding their teeth together, careful to not injure Chima and Izuku.
The exit was in a direct line of sight from them, dust and debris occasionally falling in the path towards it.
Chima and Izuku were holding them back, they couldn't get away in time with the two younglings with them.
They had to decide.
So they did.
"Huh?" Izuku gasped when he felt his body move backward, the Badgermole holding him cocking her head back. From the corner of his eye, he could see Chima's father doing the same for his friend.
"Wait! What are y-?!"
He did not have enough time to finish the sentence before he and Chima were flung into the air, away from Chima's parents and towards the tunnel. They both landed inside it with a loud thud, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop, nursing a few new bruises.
Pivoting in their spot, the two beasts faced the ashen man with growls on their faces, fighting off against their restraints like rabid dogs against a leash.
"GGGGGRRRRRRRR…"
Flickers of flames began to spark off the whips the more they struggled, the captor burning off everything he had in order to win. Sparks hit the wooden remains of crates on the floor, igniting a wall of flames that surrounded the fight.
"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Chima's parents roared out in pain when the whips' heat grew, the fire charring the hide around their neck.
Izuku and Chima struggled to get back up on their feet, hissing in pain at any weight that was put under their limbs.
Neither of them could move, they were forced to watch and listen from where they laid, powerless to do anything.
Chima's parents slammed their paws into the ground, raising a tidal wave of earth around them. The wave rammed into Shuzumu, knocking him back along with the splinters of burned wood, spreading the fire further.
The building groaned louder after their attack hit the wall. Heavier chunks feel and the quacking got stronger.
Their earthbending made things worse.
Their path was now unabated and their time was short. The two pounced forward with everything they had, running towards their breath-hitched cub and his friend.
"THIS ISN'T OVER…" Shuzumu coughed as he stood up, glaring at the two retreating Badgermoles.
"I REFUSE TO LET THIS END!!!"
"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Fiery scourges weaved violently through the air, dragging across the floor and walls, setting everything they touched on fire. Massive cracks began to form on the ceiling, the entire building shaking with the force of a magnitude nine earthquake.
"S-stop…" Izuku grit his teeth, his voice low and his hand outstretched in vain.
Chima's parents darted left and right as they ran, dodging piles of rubble the size of trucks as they made their way to the tunnel's entrance.
*CRACK! *
Izuku's heart dropped when he saw a chunk of the ceiling the size of five adult Badgermoles dislodge itself. The piece of the ceiling fell to the ground, among a hail of many more, it's decent almost playing out in slow motion.
*BBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM! *
The sound of two mountains colliding was heard throughout the corrals as the cliff sized boulder crashed into the ground. A large cloud of dust was raised into the air, completely engulfing both of Chima's parents before entering the tunnel, engulfing the boy and the escaped beasts.
" *Cough! * *Cough! * *Cough! * " Izuku hacked, remnants of dust stuck in his mouth.
Vestiges of dust still clanged in the air, making it hard to breathe; slowly dissipating and relieving what they had hidden.
Izuku's eyes widened, taking a sharp intake of breath.
Both of Chima's parents laid beneath a mountain of burning rubble, pinned to the ground. Metal debris was stabbed into their backs, blood dripping off unto singed fur that was still burning, the sound of sizzling coming from where the two met.
Both of their heads were drooped on the floor, the sound of labored breath barely audible as specks of blood dripped between their lips.
"No…" Tears dripped off Izuku's eyes, silently tapping against the ground.
Chima was devastated, slowly dragging his way to both of his parents. He tried to shake both of them awake desperately, his paws pressed against their bodies. Fat tears caused his eyes to shimmer as he wailed, the cries of a child who had their worst nightmare come to life.
Coughing blood, the two injured Badgermoles lifted their heads, the strain causing the metal debris on top of them to creak. They both looked defeated as they laid there, mourning the future with their cub that was lost.
For a moment, they both appeared to be looking straight at the downed Izuku who still tried desperately to get up, wanting to use whatever he had to at least give them a chance to be saved.
Their expression said otherwise, Izuku recognized that, even though his vision was obstructed with tears.
But their expression held something else as their gaze was locked on Izuku, a request.
Just one.
'Look after him…'
The boy felt his stomach churn at how similar their mannerism was to that of Chima's. The way their ears twitched, the fading twinkle in their eyes, the movement of their burned whiskers, they were the same. He understood what they conveyed to him, just like he could understand Chima.
Sniffing a couple of times, Izuku faintly nodded to the two of them, he couldn't bring himself to speak anymore.
Despite being blind, they seemed to have understood what the boy conveyed. Satisfied, the two turned back to their sobbing cub, tears of their own in their eyes. They pressed their snouts against his, purring as they held contact for the last time.
The moment took both forever and an instant, but, sadly, it came to an end.
Both beasts' heads fell to earth, exhaling a breath of air as they collapsed.
They did not inhale after that.