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[Go All Out]
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…
"What is that weapon?" Shigaraki squinted from his position, eyeing the saw cleaver in Taka's hand.
Was he planning on cutting the Nomu?
He let out a snort. "It seems he isn't as dumb as one would expect from a brat."
Shock Absorption only worked on forces that propagated through the body long enough to be absorbed. Blunt force was ideal in that aspect, impact waves spreading through muscle and bone; it was exactly what the Quirk specialized in.
Cuts and piercing attacks, on the other hand, delivered damage too fast. The energy didn't linger long enough to be properly absorbed, and although the Quirk certainly absorbed part of the damage, it was still more effective than just using blunt force.
Still…
'A weapon won't cut it,' Shigaraki grinned.
Even if the brat could swing it at absurd speeds with either his abnormal strength or his strange telekinesis and deal massive damage to the Nomu, the weapon itself would probably shatter after the first strike. No metal could withstand the level of force required to injure the Nomu effectively.
And even worse, the damage it would do would quickly get negated the next second, since Nomu had super regeneration—losing a limb or two meant nothing when they could be regrown in seconds.
And that was only if the weapon even landed.
Nomu was built to be comparable to All Might in physical prowess. Even if the kid swung it with all his might, the Nomu could easily grab it mid-swing and crush it barehanded.
"Unfortunately," Shigaraki muttered, his grin widening into something manic, "even if you found the type advantage, the stat difference is just too large!"
His excitement and laughter surged as the Nomu charged once more.
"Now—let me hear it," he hissed, pupils shrinking as he locked onto Taka, who was preparing to swing, "the beautiful sound of your hope breaking apart!"
Soon, both combatants were upon each other, attacks ready and wound up.
But that's when it happened… when he noticed a weird detail in Taka's weapon.
"Hold on…" His eyes narrowed, looking at the cleaver, dumbfounded. "... Why does that thing have no edge?"
—SHIIIIIIN—
The shrill sound of air being split apart screamed through the plaza, stabbing straight into his ears.
Shigaraki recoiled, face twisting as he struggled to keep his eyes on the battlefield through the sudden pain.
And that's when he saw it.
"N-no—"
Reflected in his widened eyes was the image of Nomu throwing a punch—
—Splat!—
Only for its arm to separate from its bodybefore it could even connect, falling uselessly to the floor.
And Taka—who had swung—now stood behind the Nomu, his arm still extended along the weapon, as if frozen mid-motion after his slash.
The saw cleaver was intact.
"That can't be!" Shigaraki roared.
Back to the clash, after the bloody exchange, Taka slowly turned, leveling the cleaver straight at the Nomu.
"Seems pretty effective, doesn't it?"
The mutant turned as well.
Then—its bisected arm began to regenerate.
Muscle, tissue, and bone knitted back together in seconds, flesh crawling unnaturally fast until the limb was whole once more. Soon, the Nomu stood complete again, posture steady, ready to continue as if nothing had happened.
"Partially effective, I suppose…" Taka muttered wryly, letting out a sigh.
—Swoooosh!—
The brief calm shattered instantly.
Both figures blurred, air screaming as they crossed the plaza like streaks of shadow and collided once more.
—CLANG!—
—CLANG!—
—CLANG!—
Metal struck flesh again and again, the sounds ringing relentlessly as they tore across the battlefield. The ground cracked beneath their feet, pressure waves rippling outward, whipping the air into violent currents.
Nearby, Shigaraki was forced to brace himself, digging his heels in just to avoid being blown away.
Farther above, the students were spared the worst of it—but even from that distance, the fierce winds reaching them made the sheer intensity of the clash unmistakable.
—Squelsh!—
Suddenly, something burst free from the center of the fight.
An arm.
Blood trailed behind it as it spun through the air.
The Nomu's shoulder had been bisected cleanly, the force of the cut lifting the severed stump upward—
But before the arm could even hit the ground, muscle and tissue surged forth once more.
Even as Nomu wound up a punch with the arm it had just lost, flesh regenerated mid-motion, reforming the limb in the span of a heartbeat.
—CLANG!—
—Crack!—
Taka blocked the punch with his weapon, the impact driving his feet into the ground as the earth fractured beneath him.
But instead of being crushed, he twisted.
Redirecting the force sideways, Taka slipped under the Nomu's guard in a single smooth motion.
—Slash!—
And once again, limbs were sent flying.
This time—both arms.
The Nomu barely seemed to register the pain.
Instead, it pivoted and drove a powerful kick straight at Taka.
—BAM!—
Forced on the defensive once more, Taka brought up his weapon just in time—only to be hurled backward by the recoil.
—Crckckck!—
His boots carved a trail of destruction through the concrete as he skidded across the plaza, a frown settling over his features.
Then—without even a breath to recover—the Nomu was already there.
Its arms, mostly regenerated, came down in a storm.
—CLANG!—
—CLANG!—
—CLANG!—
—CLANG!—
—CLANG!—
"Kgh—!"
A blindingly fast barrage of fists rained down. Taka barely kept up, blocking each strike with the saw cleaver by instinct alone, the impacts rattling his bones through the handle.
Then, Taka found an opening amidst the barrage.
He slipped past a punch by a hair's breadth, blade flashing as he passed.
—Slash!—
Both arms came apart again.
This time, however, he didn't stop there.
As he moved, the cleaver carved lower—severing a leg—before Taka vaulted upward and repositioned himself atop the Nomu's back.
Outside the creature's field of view, aura surged into the palm of his hand.
Then he struck.
—BOOOOM!—
A burst of raw kinetic force detonated against the Nomu's spine, launching the monster bodily across the plaza and into the outer wall of the USJ.
A distant explosion echoed as concrete collapsed.
Repositioning himself, Taka let out a weary sigh.
"Damn that guy's tricky," He muttered as he glanced at the distant figure get swallowed by a dust cloud. He dragged a thumb across his cheek, wiping away the blood splattered there.
Then, he surveyed the surrounding battlefield after their exchange; plenty of arms and a few legs were sprawled around, making him wince slightly.
"That's one nasty view. Good thing the smell's slower than both of us, or I'd be gagging by now."
At least the Nomu was zombified enough that guilt didn't factor in.
If this were anyone else… he might hesitate—Or not, he still didn't know.
His gaze dropped to the saw cleaver.
Tiny dents had begun to form along its surface.
Thankfully, the Even a Stick Is Enough skill didn't just grant sharpness; it reinforced durability as well, letting the weapon survive the recoil and, as he had done, use it to parry attacks, which lessened the danger of not having too many points in defense like right now.
Still, it seemed that despite the skill's durability reinforcement, the Nomu's strength was beginning to break through what it could handle, as seen by the dents.
And not only that, but…
'It broke, huh?' Taka realized.
His eyes shifted from the blade to his arm.
White peeked through torn flesh. A pretty little bone waving at him amiably from there.
It was a jarring pain he hadn't even noticed until now.
Clicking his tongue, he shoved it back into place with his aura and funneled his healing skill into the injury.
Two thousand aura vanished in an instant.
The arm knitted itself back together, although not perfectly, just the part where the bone was shattered, fusing both parts back together.
A full-on heal of muscle, tissue, and bone would take too much aura that he wasn't willing to spend right now.
He flexed it once. Although there was pain and strain, it worked.
'Still… this isn't looking good.'
Taka kept his eyes on the distant dust cloud, fully expecting the Nomu to burst out of it at any moment—good as new.
The gap in physical prowess was too wide.
Let's Dance was doing its job: sharpening his instincts, accelerating his decision-making, letting him move wilder and faster with the blade than he otherwise could. Combined with the enhanced durability of his weapon being used for blocking, it was the only reason he was still standing.
But even then, the fight had a clear rhythm now.
He was blocking, sure.
But with every block, as he'd already learned when bone had peeked through flesh, he too received part of the brunt, getting injured.
They were injuries he could heal and waste aura on.
Or injuries he could ignore, and lose functionality against a monster that already outmatched him physically.
And worse still—
The Nomu regenerated far more easily than he did.
This wasn't a battle of strength anymore. It was a battle of attrition.
One he was losing quite clearly.
"Haaah…" Taka let out a long breath, more troubled than afraid.
'I wanted to keep this under wraps for later…' he admitted inwardly, eyes flicking briefly toward the stairs above, where he could still make out the silhouettes of his classmates. He clicked his tongue. 'But if I don't want to have my spotlight stolen by All Might—'
His gaze snapped back to the dust cloud as his aura flared.
'—then I'll have to go all out.'
This time, something changed.
The crimson aura still surrounded him—but it wasn't alone anymore.
—Crackle!—
Electricity began dancing through it.
Thin arcs of lightning crawled along his body, snapping and hissing through the air.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[Aura Projection - Master of Elements Mode] (ACTIVATED!)
Description: In his wake, the aura farmer shapes the world around him.
Thunder rains down once he gets serious.
Fire swallows his surroundings in his anger.
Ice freezes the very ground once his calmness spreads.
Mountains and earth itself part before his pace.
Because what kind of aura farmer would he be, without the very elements helping him look cool?
▸ Allows the user to imbue aura with elemental properties
▸ Higher aura output increases intensity and/or destructive potential
▸ Elemental byproducts dissipate as aura regenerates
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Behind his mask, Taka smiled faintly.
He began walking forward.
"... Now then," he murmured, electricity crackling louder with each step. "Let's see how far your regeneration gets you…"
At that moment—
A shape erupted from the dust cloud.
The Nomu launched skyward like a missile, fully regenerated, before immediately diving back down toward him, winding up a monstrous punch.
In the blink of an eye, the mutant was already there, just some meters from crashing down.
But Taka didn't raise his weapon, didn't shift his stats.
He simply lifted his palm.
"—when you can't even move."
—CRACKLE!—
Aura surged, taking on the shape of lightning and tearing forward.
In an instant, it struck.
The lightning slammed into the Nomu mid-motion, freezing its punch halfway through.
What should have been a devastating, meteor-like blow never landed.
Instead, the Nomu dropped—uselessly—crashing into the ground, and rolling uncontrollably past Taka.
Taka calmly stepped aside as it did, the uncontrolled fall of the mutant cracking the floor in its wake.
As the creature skidded past him, he moved after it, already accelerating.
The Nomu tried to move, to get back on his feet and respond to its chaser.
But its body only betrayed it—violent spasms wracking its frame as electricity tore through its nervous system.
That was enough.
Taka vanished.
Red streaks carved through the air where his eyes had been only a moment before—
—and then—
—SHRAK! SHRAK! SHRAK! SHRAK!—
Four blinding flashes.
Limbs flew.
Arms and legs were severed cleanly, spinning away before hitting the ground in a series of dull, wet impacts.
—Thud—
Deprived of articulations, the Nomu collapsed in a heap, blood pooling beneath it.
Taka winced faintly at the sight—but didn't hesitate.
He raised his hand again.
This time, his aura surged forward not as lightning—
—but as fire.
—FWOOOOSH!—
Roaring flames engulfed the Nomu in an instant, swallowing it whole.
Seconds later, the inferno died down as Taka whipped his arm sideways to shake any ember or remaining smoke away.
Then, he squinted at what remained.
The Nomu wasn't dead, but it certainly wasn't in a pretty condition.
Its flesh was charred and blistered, regeneration sluggish and uneven. Whether its healing had hit a limit or was simply being disrupted no longer mattered.
Either way, this was exactly as Taka had expected.
As a reanimated corpse, with its brain exposed to top it off, the lightning had struck its brain directly, frying its nervous system and preventing the Nomu from responding properly to the threat.
The fire followed, interfering with regeneration—whether by cauterizing tissue or simply overwhelming the process with damage. Taka wasn't entirely sure which.
Not that it mattered.
As expected, the skill was brutally effective.
'Well,' he thought dryly, 'it damn well better be. I spent ten thousand aura on those two attacks alone.'
His remaining aura sat at twenty-six thousand. It was regenerating quickly once the lightning bolt and fire did their job—but the number remained low for his taste, considering what it had taken to put the Nomu down.
His pew pew mode could have probably done the job much better, literally burning the Nomu to a pile of ash, but he wasn't about to show that skill here and now.
There would be a better moment for it.
Still.
The threat was effectively neutralized, and that's what mattered.
From what he was seeing, what once took mere seconds to regenerate now required nearly a full minute per limb.
Even if the Nomu managed to stand again, Taka could deal with it easily.
Humming under his breath, he turned toward Shigaraki.
The villain froze the moment their eyes met.
And for good reason.
-Swoooosh!-
In the blink of an eye, Taka vanished—and reappeared right in front of him. The sudden displacement of air slammed into Shigaraki, forcing a grunt out of him as he staggered back.
"Y-you...!" The villain spoke with hatred, but was cut off as he saw Taka's threatening figure lock eyes with him.
"If I take you down, that thing won't move anymore, will it?"
Anger flared across Shigaraki's face.
"You—damn it—WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU COME FROM?!"
He lunged, Decay bubbling across his palms as he reached for Taka.
But just centimeters before contact—
"Urgh—y-you…?!"
His hands stopped.
No—his whole body did.
Shigaraki's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.
The aura surrounding Taka had already spread over him as well.
It pinned him in place, locking his body to the ground as Taka stepped closer.
"An arm should be enough to knock you out," Taka said, raising the saw cleaver.
Panic flashed across Shigaraki's eyes.
"Shigaraki!" Kurogiri shouted.
Dark mist surged forward, rushing toward Taka in an attempt to separate them—
—but it stopped.
Taka's aura expanded outward, forcing the mist back and freezing Kurogiri in place in the process.
For a brief moment, both villains were caught within his control.
Taka adjusted his grip, preparing to strike.
"NOMUUU!" Shigaraki screamed.
A distorted roar answered him.
Taka snapped his head to the side.
The Nomu—mangled, legs only half-regenerated and arms barely restored—was charging toward them with reckless desperation. Even in that state, its speed was still impressive.
—BAM!—
Its punch landed on Taka's weapon, forcing him several steps back. The pressure broke his hold, the aura restraining Shigaraki and Kurogiri pulling away.
Like a wounded animal, the Nomu attacked wildly.
It wasn't trying to kill Taka anymore.
It was trying to keep him away.
Their clash resumed immediately, but this time Taka blocked each desperate strike with ease, reading every movement of the halfway regenerating Nomu.
As they fought, Kurogiri turned sharply toward Shigaraki.
"Shigaraki Tomura, we must retreat. The Nomu won't be able to hold him much longer."
"Why…. why?! A… damn sub-boss," Shigaraki muttered, scratching at his neck as he glared at the fight. "Of all things… why the hell did it have to be a sub-boss? We had everything, but he ruined it all!"
A portal opened beside him.
"Let's go," Kurogiri said firmly. "There's nothing more we can do here."
Shigaraki clenched his teeth.
After a moment, he exhaled sharply, his scratching stopping.
"…Fine."
He stepped toward the portal, expression vacant.
But before he could fully cross it—
"Shigaraki Tomura, watch out!"
Kurogiri's shout reached him too late.
Shigaraki's head snapped back—
—and the world seemed to slow.
Taka was already there.
The saw cleaver was swinging straight toward him.
For once, it wasn't just panic.
As those red eyes locked onto him, cold and focused, and the weapon descended toward him, Shigaraki felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.
Fear.
—BAM!—
The moment was shattered as the Nomu suddenly appeared and slammed into Taka with brutal force, sending him flying several meters before crashing into the fountain at the center of the plaza.
Debris and water erupted from the impact, a dust cloud swallowing Taka whole.
Even so, the feeling of fear lingered.
Cold sweat soaked Shigaraki as he retreated into the portal, never taking his eyes off the dust cloud, half-expecting Taka to burst out of it and dash at him.
Kurogiri followed close behind. For a moment, he glanced at the Nomu, which was already moving toward the fountain to continue holding Taka back.
He briefly considered retrieving it.
But the mutant was the only thing keeping the boy occupied.
Shaking his head, Kurogiri stepped through the portal. A moment later, it closed behind him.
Thus... putting an anticlimactic end to the villain attack.
Soon after, the dust cloud began to settle, revealing Taka lying amid shattered stone and splashing water, blood trickling down from his forehead.
"Took them long enough."
With a grunt, he pushed himself upright, brushing debris from his clothes before looking ahead.
The Nomu stood there, unmoving. Its gaze was vacant, no longer aggressive.
Whatever connection Shigaraki had used to control it was gone. Now it was just the mindless corpse it had always been.
Taka groaned softly and sent a wave of healing aura through his body—enough to mend fractures, but not enough to erase every wound.
"Putting on a show really takes a toll," he muttered as the pain fully set in without adrenaline to dull it.
He had deliberately gone out of his way to scare Shigaraki badly enough to force a retreat. In the process, he had allowed himself to take hits from the Nomu, just to sell the idea that he had been "stopped."
If he truly wanted to, Shigaraki could have died here—or at the very least, lost the hands that gave his Quirk meaning.
'But your usefulness isn't over yet,' he thought, squinting at the spot where the villains had disappeared. 'You'll get me plenty of aura from now on.'
He snorted, eyes gleaming with a calculating light.
'So grow stronger, Shigaraki—oof.'
A sharp wince followed as pain surged through his body again.
He had dumped a good portion of his stats into defense to make sure those last hits from the Nomu wouldn't kill him—but that's all they did, not kill him.
The damage was still substantial.
Annoyed, he glanced at the Nomu.
—BOOOM!—
A burst of aura slammed into it, launching the creature toward the mountainous section of the facility and embedding it in the rocks.
'Doesn't feel good, does it?'
He was petty like that.
Satisfied, Taka turned and headed toward the stairs leading up to the students ' area, retrieving his coat and hat along the way.
Once there, he looked up at them.
And not just them.
Standing at the edge was another figure, staring down at him with an unreadable expression—one that made Taka grin.
The Symbol of Peace, had arrived.
But, as it seemed...
'Too late, All Might.' Taka chuckled in a low voice.
Then he blinked as a bead of blood slid past his eye.
'…Looks like those last hits did more damage than I thought.'
Smiling wryly, Taka closed his eyes and slicked his hair back, the blood keeping it in place.
He felt awful.
Sticky. Dusty. Every movement sent a dull ache through his body.
He could've cleaned himself up with his skill.
But sometimes—
A little blood after a battle just looked cooler.
...
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: Thus, the USJ finally ends. I considered making it one chapter longer, but that'd just be mean on my part. So here it is, Taka handled everything himself, and we got to see what the last skill he had unlocked was all about.
Now, it's time for consequences to catch up.
And, of course, to reap the benefits of all this. Cause just the little aura his classmates gave him of course isn't enough.)