While in the air, Izuku slowed to a stop high above the city, boots hovering inches above the rolling cloud cover.
The wind rushed past him in violent streams, tugging at his suit as Hosu stretched out below like a living circuit board of light and shadow.
'I genuinely would love to have flight… but fuck it,' he thought dryly.
He didn't need it. Gravity was just another tool.
His eyes narrowed as he focused, vision sharpening past distance, past walls, past streets. Sirens flared somewhere west. Civilians screaming northeast. Structural collapse south.
Then—
An explosion erupted.Bright. Violent. Near the train lines. He locked onto it instantly.
Without another thought, he tipped forward and dropped.
The fall wasn't slow. It was a bullet. His body tore through the air, ripping apart the cloud layer above him. Moisture soaked into his hair and shoulders as he burst through the mist, droplets trailing behind him like silver streaks.
Rain clung to his suit.
Below, the railway system came into full view — smoke rising, sparks flying where metal scraped against metal.
BOOOOM.
He landed directly onto the tracks.
The impact blasted dust, gravel, and loose bolts outward in a violent ring. The rails buckled slightly under the force, screeching in protest before settling.
Smoke and debris swallowed his figure.
When it cleared, he stood upright at the center of a fresh crater in the steel and concrete.
A derailed train loomed ahead. Several cars had jumped the tracks, one of them hanging dangerously over the edge of an elevated rail bridge. Its weight shifted with every tremor, metal groaning as if seconds away from snapping.
Loud screams from passengers.
And on top of it—
The Nomu.
Massive.
Black skin stretched over coiled muscle. Blank eyes fixed forward. It roared as it slammed its fist into the train roof, crumpling metal inward like paper.
Passengers inside screamed. The hanging carriage tilted further. The first thought that crossed Izuku's mind was absurdly calm.
'Wow… Japanese engineers aren't a joke. Damn. How did this even support my fall?'
The bridge hadn't collapsed under his landing. Which was Impressive. But that analysis could wait. The train car shifted again. Metal screeched.
Izuku exhaled once.
Then he moved.
The gravel beneath his boots exploded outward as he sprinted forward toward the Nomu standing on the tracks.
The rain still clung to him as steam rose faintly from his shoulders.
The Nomu turned just in time to see him coming.
It roared — a guttural, distorted sound that rattled the train windows and sent loose metal clanging down the tracks. Its massive arm swung forward, aiming to swat him out of the air like an insect.
That wasn't going to stop him.
Izuku accelerated.
He leaped and caught the creature by the head mid-motion, fingers digging into its skull. Using its own forward momentum, he yanked it downward and drove his knee up with brutal precision.
BAM.
Bone met reinforced muscle with a shockwave that bent the steel rail beneath them. The Nomu's head snapped downward violently, the impact compressing its neck and sending a spray of dark saliva across the tracks.
It roared louder, more furious now.
Its massive hands shot up instantly, wrapping around Izuku's waist. The grip tightened with crushing intent — fingers digging in, muscles swelling as it attempted to compress his ribs inward.
Concrete beneath Izuku's boots cracked from the pressure.
But he didn't even wince.
The Nomu strained harder, tendons standing out like cables. Its arms trembled from the effort.
Izuku simply exhaled.
"Not happening."
He planted his feet firmly on the rails, pried one of the creature's hands loose with raw force, then seized it fully by the throat. His fingers sank deep enough to dent flesh.
With a smooth pivot of his hips, he lifted and hurled it down the tracks behind him.
CRASH.
The Nomu slammed onto its back, rails bending under its weight as sparks erupted in a bright shower. The shock rattled the nearby bridge supports.
It lay there for only a moment. Izuku already knew that wasn't enough. But it wasn't his priority. Behind him, metal screamed.
He turned sharply.
The derailed train carriage had fully separated. The coupling snapped, and the front car began tipping forward, hanging precariously over the edge of the elevated track.
Passengers inside screamed. The entire carriage shifted.
"Fuck!" Izuku shouted.
He launched himself instantly, vaulting over the collapsing section and dropping beneath the falling train.
For a split second, gravity claimed it.
Then Izuku did.
'Alright… what did we learn in physics.'
He shot upward and caught the front of the carriage with both hands.
The full weight crashed into him.
BOOOOOOM.
The ground beneath his boots exploded outward in a spiderweb of fractures as he absorbed the downward momentum. The impact drove him knee-deep into cracked concrete, rails buckling around him.
The carriage shook violently, metal shrieking from the stress.
His arms flexed — veins rising beneath his skin.
He reduced the descent gradually instead of stopping it dead, controlling the force distribution. The screaming inside began to lower from panic to confusion.
Slowly. Carefully. He descended with it.
Another heavy boom echoed as the carriage touched ground in a controlled drop. He held it steady for two extra seconds to ensure the weight fully settled before easing it down onto stable support.
Passengers were shaken — but alive.
Izuku stepped back, rolling his shoulders once as cracks spread beneath his feet.
'Alright. Time to finish this guy off.'
He leaped back up onto the elevated tracks in one clean motion.
The Nomu was already standing again.
Steam rose from its body where bone had reset itself with sickening snaps. Its jaw had shifted back into place. Its neck muscles thickened unnaturally.
Then its arms began to swell.
Muscle density increased visibly, fibers tightening and layering over each other. Veins bulged and pulsed violently, crackling faintly with unstable energy that sounded like distant thunder beneath skin.
It roared again — louder this time — the sound carrying across the city blocks.
Izuku stepped forward calmly, rainwater still dripping from his hair, emerald eyes steady.
"Good," he muttered.
"Lets see if you can handle this" his fist tightening.
TO BE CONTINUED