Hello there, everyone! I'm back! Well, for a little while at least. Sorry for taking so long to write another chapter! The manga took a few consecutive breaks, so I had nothing to write about for a while! But here we are. No, the story isn't being discontinued (for now at least), so you can relax.
Not that anyone likes this dumb story anyway.
Also, I'm kinda rusty at this, so if you spot any typos or whatever, go ahead and roast me for it... seriously, I think I forgot how to write properly.
But without further ado...let's get to it!
Kisses, and until next time!
~~~
"What!? You're crazy, dude!" Contested Kaminari. "Remember what happened the last time we tried to combine our quirks? Your gauntlets blew up!"
"Yeah, but it's different now." Replied the Flyboy.
"How?"
"We actually know what we're doing this time!"
"I thought you were back then!"
"Now it's different." Said Flydad, whipping out his notes.
It didn't take long for him to figure out something based on the boys' experiments what was going wrong.
"Instead of trying to make you, Kaminari, get more power to your quirk using Steam as a basis, you have to power up Kaito's quirk using your electricity. That's the only way it's going to work."
"So you really think it can work?!" He asked in excitement.
"It's worth a try!" Hatsume chimed in. "These new babies we developed should be able to withstand your electricity!"
"Alright! Let's do it!" Kaminari got ready to unleash his quirk. "Indiscriminate Sho-"
"Woah! Hold up just a second!" Flydad interrupted. "Before we get started, we're going to need one of your discs, if you focus your power it should work even better."
"Oh, gotcha. I got them right here." Kaminari grabbed one of the discs from his support items.
"Now, Kaito. Use your brass to make a suit covering your whole body."
"Mhm." Nodded Flyboy. He brought forward his brass, covering his body in a suit of armor that closed around his goggles. "Good enough?"
"It will work. Now..." Flydad grabbed one of the discs and handed it to him. "Hold this and don't let go. I mean it."
Hatsume and Flydad retreated behind a thick, bulletproof glass, observing the experiment.
"Now, Kaminari. Unleash your quirk focusing it on that single point."
"You got it. Sorry, Atsuhito, this might hurt a little."
"Heh, payback for last time."
"Now!"
"Focused Point of Shock! 3 million volts!"
The thundering sound of Kaminari's electricity sliced the air, heading straight to the disc made to focus his power. Kaito braced, expecting the worst, but to his surprise, his brass suit seemed to contain and keep the electricity at bay. He wasn't getting hurt even with all that power.
"Now, Atsuhito. Go Full Throttle. Bring up the heat!" Said Hatsume.
"Ookay." Nervously replied Kaito.
As he activated his Full Throttle, the brass suit, combined with Kaminari's quirk, seemed to overcharge his steam, that quickly burned even hotter than ever before. It seemed to be slowly turn into a bright, white glowing light.
"Alright, that's enough." Said Flydad. The boys withdrew their powers.
"What was that all about?" Questioned Kaminari in confusion. "It looked like you were glowing for a second, or maybe I'm crazy."
"You were right." Assured Flydad, joining the two.
"What was that?" Questioned Kaito.
"The next stage of your quirk!" Replied Hatsume.
"This didn't happen the last time we tried." Said Flyboy.
"It didn't happen because first - it was imprudent, and second - you were both doing it wrong."
"How so?" Both asked.
"You two were trying to get steam through electricity, instead of electricity through steam!" Said Hatsume.
"And you lacked a conductor back then, your brass did the job just right." Concluded Flydad.
"So our quirks can really combine! Who would've thought!?"
"Yeah, I told you the Powered Power Bros were going to beat All For One and his goons!"
"Don't get too excited thought, we still don't know the risks of doing that. It's best to hold on for a while, try to get more data on it."
"But you really think I can do it? My quirk can really "evolve" like that?" Questioned Kaito.
"Only one way to find out!" Said Hatsume. "But when it does, one thing is for certain..." She grinned. "You'll become unstoppable!"
* Back to the Present *
"PLASMA CASTER CANNON!"
Beam of solid white light split the sky in two, along with half the mountain of yucky fingers Shigaraki launched at the heroes.
"That was close!" Bakugo safely landed back on one of the floating platforms. "Steampunk!"
He looked at his classmate who was still floating in the sky, his obvious change in appearance surprised him.
"What was that? A new Super Move maybe?" Bakugo wondered. "What the hell was that creepy crap?!" He questioned.
"I have no idea, but it's not a quirk!" Answered Kaito. "Monoma is still using erasure!"
"It's not a quirk?!" Edgeshot was surprised.
"This is... simply growth." Said Shigaraki, pulling back his gross mass of fingers and hands. "Just my body on it's own. The same way my hair or nails grow longer. The body must adapt to ever evolving quirks. This new form humanity acquires is the next step for a super powered society. In line with the singularity proposed by Garaki. You people who sweep it all under the rug and shy away from the inevitable future couldn't possibly comprehend it!"
Despite Steampunk literally vaporizing half the mass of gross fingers Shigaraki used to attack, what was left still managed to hit a few of the heros, Mirko taking the most damage. Luckily, it only damaged her support leg and arm, something the Support Course had prepared for before the battle.
"I need some spares!" Was all she needed to shout while sliding away from the villain.
From the ground rose a Support item "locker" of sorts, containing a few spares for the Rabbit Hero. Quickly she donned the items and was ready to get back into the fight.
"That was close! Thanks for the help weird glowing kid!" She thanked the Flyboy.
"Sorry, I should've been faster!"
"Dynamight! We formed this team for this fight! So get your act together!" She told Bakugo.
"The name's Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight! And you got a lotta nerve for lecturing me!"
"Huh?! You're kinda sassy, aren'tcha?"
"You have no idea." Added Flyboy.
"Oh yeah? You want some of this, bunny gal?!"
"Stay focused!" Yelled Best Jeanist.
"You want some too?!" Both barked back.
"Your reply ought to be 'sure!'"
Back in the other platform where Aizawa, Monoma and Manual stood, Aizawa quickly used his communication device to contact Midoriya, who was unfortunately snatched away by Toga and was on a completely different spot than he was supposed to be.
"We have to warp Midoriya back to us!" Said Amajiki.
"We can't." Answered Edgeshot. "Monoma can only activate one copied quirk at a time, switching from Erasure to Warp Gate to retrieve Midoriya would take around 10 seconds."
"Those innumerable growing hands. If all of them are capable of activating his Decay, then the moment Erasure is undone, we're finished!" Added Jeanist.
"We still have Steampunk." Said Aizawa. "His quirk just now managed to keep the hands at bay. Are you listening, Steampunk? You're our best chance right now. You have to keep Shigaraki at bay!"
"Yes sir!"
"I know this isn't the best time but." Flydad, who was observing the fight from the same place All Might and Tsukauchi overlooked the battlefields, joined the chat. "Your steam is still unstable, it will soon lose the power boost you've got from Kaminari. You've got a few minutes until your quirk returns to normal, maybe less, so if you're planning on doing something, now is the time."
"Heh." Smirked Kaito. "That will be plenty."
"Very well, we've got our plan." Jeanist took the lead of the team. "We must strive for victory without One For All! All heroes, support Steampunk!"
"Hell yeah!"
Shigaraki looked back at the heroes, who dispersed, ready to attack. He looked at Steampunk, who smiled confidently.
"A mere change in appearance isn't going to work. You die here." He threatened. "What can you possibly do?" Shigaraki launched his hands to attack the heroes.
"I'm glad you asked that." Kaito got ready to attack. "Allow me to fly through for a second." He said nonchalantly.
It was in the blink of an eye, Steampunk flew through the air in a flash of light, slicing through Shigaraki's hands with beams of plasma, the sheer amount of mass was enough to save the story from ending prematurely.
"That speed! He's even faster than that time!" Bakugo recalled the moment when both used their quirks to reach Midoriya, Kaito's Flank Speed, a technique that was powerful enough to keep up with his Cluster moves.
Best Jeanist dodged the mountains of gross hands that fell after Steampunk's attack while surfing on one of his steel fibers.
"Steampunk was able to completely avoid Shigaraki's offense while at the same time keeping his distance and nullifying the attack. If he destroys enough of these hands it will surely make things easier should Monoma's Erasure fail." He thought. "Keep up on the attack, support Steampunk in any way you can!"
Shigaraki flinched back, stunned by the sheer speed and power behind the hero's attack. For a second he showed genuine fear in his eyes.
"Damn brat! Without my Regeneration, this could be a problem. I can't let him get a hit straight on!" Shigaraki attacked once more, this time completely ignoring the other heroes, focusing his offense on Steampunk, who kept his distance.
He looked surprised to see the hero not keeping up his attack, instead Steampunk hunched over, looking at both of his gauntlets.
"I see... what unbearable pain! The same principle behind my steam applies to plasma as well. If I lose focus for a second I can end up hurting myself." He felt the burns on his arms from his own plasma. "I can do this! This time I won't go easy on you!" He declared.
Again, Steampunk dashed forward with great speed, Shigaraki, afraid of getting seriously hurt by his attacks, this time focused on defense, using his yucky hands to hide under them while at the same time using the sheer size of the things to attack the heroes everywhere.
"The coward! He's hiding his main body!" Said Flyboy.
"Then what you did must've worked!" Replied Bakugo. "Let's dig through all that and blast the bastard to hell!"
Together, the heroes pressed on the attack, hitting Shigaraki with everything they had. Every little piece of his crusty, yucky hands that could be sliced, smashed, blasted or outright burned away, was one less layer they needed to go through to reach his main body.
"These annoying flies are in the way!" Shigaraki sent a HUGE boulder of yucky hands to smash Jeanist, luckily for him, a well placed blast of plasma cut the thing right straight through the middle, saving the Pro.
"I'm getting really tired of all this!" Steampunk flew upward. He then clasped both hands together, gathering as much energy as he could. "Everyone, get back!" He warned the heroes, who after a glance, noticed he was about to attack.
From his back rose a row of canisters pointing at the villain.
"Steam-Storm ROCKET BATTERY!"
A dozen brass rockets shoot out heading straight to Shigaraki, clearing the path for the upcoming main attack.
~~~
Meanwhile, at a bunker, safely hidden away.
"YEEEEEEAAAH! ARE YOU LOOKING AT THIS!?" Kyotoku pointed at the TV screen showing the fight going on. "THAT'S MY DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND! HE'S LIKE A STEAM-POWERED ROCK STAR!"
"I thought you didn't like him." Said Mika.
He shylily waved his hand dismissing that statement. "Doesn't mean I can't think he's cool!"
~~~
"Alright, I hope this works!" Though Kaito. "Plasma Caster... STAR DESTROYER!"
Steampunk blasted another beam of pure energy, the amount of power this one Super Move packed was enough to completely bypass U.A's barrier, slicing the skyline in half.
The entire building, which was already floating, shifted with the enormous blast of energy. The blast also sent Kaito flying backwards, luckily he was able to recover before hitting the barriers himself, his gauntlets in ruin, that attack used all he had left of his plasma charge.
"That did it?" He asked, catching his breath again.
After the dust settled, it seemed like the heroes had won from the lack of gross hands and fingers everywhere. For a second it seemed like victory was at hand.
But it wasn't going to end that easily....
"Too much power..." Shigaraki was still alive. Barely, but alive. "I should've stole YOUR quirk instead of your father's. Oh, well..." Once again his gross hands grew. "Want to try that again?"
Half his body looked burned up from the attack, and even worse, he just ended up growing even more hands.
"How are we going to stop this guy?" Asked Bakugo.
"You tell me, I'm running out of steam here." Kaito checked the amount of plasma he had left through his helmets HUD. Only enough for one more big attack.
"He hid under his annoying hands and threw off your attack." Bakugo noticed Kaito's attack had grazed the villain. "You'll need to get another one of those, and this time hit the bullseye."
"I can't carve up a path myself, you'll have to do it."
"I've got a few ideas!" Grinned Bakugo.
"Poor little Steampunk..." Said Shigaraki. "Trying so hard to become a main character, and now thay you had your chance, you flunked it!"
"Is this just a game to you?!" Barked Flyboy, jumping straight at the villain.
"Hah, I'll let you into something...your little girlfriend... isn't doing too well right now." Menacingly said the villain.
A chill ran down Kaito's spine as he heard those words.
"...K-Kyoka?!"
"Why am I not in your team again? I gotta look after you guys!"
"You worry too much. Tokoyami and I will be just fine! You just focus on taking care of that jackass Shigaraki, alright? Leave old Potato Head with us!"
"Kaito, watch out!" Bakugo tried to warn him.
"Side characters always die at the end!"
The hands grabbed the hero in the air, throwing him into the barriers that surround U.A.
"Steampunk!" Yelled the heroes.
Before they could act, Shigaraki pressed on the attack, not allowing them to get close. He laughed as all the heroes could do was dodge away.
"So, all you can do is flee?!" He mocked.
"Kaito!"
"Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight! Keep focused!" Jeanist pulled Bakugo away using his fibers.
"But he's-!"
"There's nothing we can do yet! Don't be reckless!"
Using a brass sword to cut himself out of the hands grasp, Kaito slowly got up, heavily damaged by the attack. His brass armor managed to save him from the worst, but not from everything.
"Helmet malfunction." Warned his costume giving away all sorts of alerts, it wasn't able to work properly anymore. The left side of his goggles were completely destroyed. His worried eyes looking through the cracks at the fight going on above.
"What did he mean by that... Kyoka?"
"Kaito! Are you okay? Talk to us!" Father asked, a mix of scared and worried in his voice.
"Been better..."
"Thank God! You gotta get outta there now and go see Recovery Girl! You're in no condition to fight!"
"Not yet.." He got up, ready to fight again. "I still have a little bit of power, I have to do something!" He struggled to get back up.
"Atsuhito! No!" Aizawa tried to stop him, to no avail. "You need to stay back! Help is on the way!"
"Your resistance is futile!" Shigaraki relentlessly attacked. "The more the All For One quirk takes root within me, the more my body adapts to the legion of stockpiled quirks within, along with various environmental factors! My body is searching, groping around for its ideal form, don't you understand, Atsuhito Kaito! With this body and this power, all will come to rest on the palm of my hand, to a world of my own, or beyond me entirely! Appearance, form, function... for a world split beyond any hope of a status quo, all that awaits is schism and destruction!"
"You really think you'll reach all that? You're a lunatic!"
"Heh. These massive disparities give rise to incomprehension, and that lack of understanding, in turn leads to dread and rejection. That's the Present state of the world, no? But under my rule all will be united as the exploited class! All will be equal! Don't you heroes yearn for world peace? Is it that hard to imagine taking a step towards that?!"
"Look, I dunno if that's Shigaraki or All For One droning on right now..." Said Bakugo as he dodged around. "But either way, I'm about to hurl from hearing it! Ever since Kamino it's nothing but yap, yap, yap!"
Bakugothen took a page off Kaito's book. In order to open up a path he needed toBLAST a path forward.
Bakugo blasted open a path towards Shigaraki with explosions everywhere, literally turning all those gross hands into mincemeat.
"Thanks anyway, but you can shove your sermon, ya nutsack-faced handyman!"
Now with a clear target ahead, Bakugo went for another Super Move.
"Howitzer Impact: CLUSTER!"
A HUGE explosion, rivaling Steampunk's STAR DESTROYER, shook the scenario once again...
And once again, Shigaraki was unfazed.
He grabbed Bakugo's arm, BREAKING it in the process.
"Truly wonderful...that's why I had to break it! I'm sorry, but I stand by what I said last time. I continue to have no interest in you."
"BAKUGO!"
"Dynamight!" The Pros immediately jumped in to try and help.
"Now... who was the genius that thought the best course of action against me was to get upclose and personal? The only thing that you'll get is a first hand of what it's like to get smashed by a power that rivals All Might!"
Shigaraki simply swatted away the heroes with what was left of his hands.
"It's not your ideals or dreams that interest me, Katsuki Bakugo. The only thing that ever piqued my interest in you, is the fact that you're Midoriya's close friend."
Bakugo was helpless, on his knees, a broken arm, not a single hero around to help him.
"Jeanist, Mirko, Edgeshot! Someone! Please, save Bakugo!" Pleads Aizawa, watching helplessly the villain slowly walk up to his student.
"Sorry I took so long, Mr. Aizawa... I'm all ready now."
"Atsuhito!"
Shigaraki stopped, surprised to hear his voice. He then turned around to face the Steam Powered Hero, who hovered high above in the sky. He held his arm up, holding what looked like a brass bladed sphere, spinning at incredible high speeds, glaring menacingly through the hole in his helmet, straight at Shigaraki's soul. The sphere seemed to draw energy from the atmosphere itself, to create it's own steam, to power the small turbines that made the sphere spin. To his surprise, the sphere also glowed with the same shining light from the plasma he had faced a minute ago.
"What is that?" He wondered. The amount of energy building up... will it be as powerful as that last attack? If I get hit by that, even in this body... I'm finished."
"Flashfire Steam: Hero's ENGINE!"