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Jiro sat rigidly in her seat, her eyes fixed squarely on the glowing screen of the rectangular glass-like tracker. The small golden ping pulled rhythmically, showing the exact coordinates they were speeding towards. Every second felt like an eternity as the location drew closer, yet still far away.
"Will he…will he be alright?" Jiro asked softly, her hands white as she gripped the edge of her shirt. She couldn't wipe the image of fresh blood from the previous scene from her head. It tore her just thinking that it could be his.
"Max will be fine, Jiro." Eleanor replied, her eyes fixed on the road. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. "I'm sure of it."
Jiro gulped, giving a tense nod.
BOOM!
A thunderous sound echoed in the distance. On the dashboard, the tracker pings became more erratic.
"W-What was that?!" Jiro asked, her eyes widened.
Eleanor's expression hardened as her hands tightened around the wheel. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it seems Max is right at the center of it. Hold on."
She slammed her foot into the accelerator, the engine roared as the car surged into the evening.
'Just hang on, Max,' Jiro thought, her hands clenched in a tight ball, praying the car could go faster as the seconds ticked by agonizingly.
***
Max gritted his teeth, forcing his aching body to his feet. Kyodai was bigger, much bigger now. A writhing forest of tendrils flared from the man's body, shadowing them out.
'He must be pushing his quirk. He won't be able to maintain it for long.' Max analyzed quickly, but he needed to confirm it.
Eyes of Truth flared up, his eyes straining slightly as his vision shifted, the world becoming a view of transparent gold. Kyodai's 15-foot frame dissolved into golden lines, revealing a single golden point right in the middle of his chest.
The weakness was still the same, but getting there was another story.
"Darling," Vox groaned, pushing herself up with a shaky breath. "He's the size of the warehouse now. Do tell me you have a brilliant plan that doesn't involve us getting squished?"
Max glanced at her left arm hanging from an unnatural angle.
Noticing his gaze, she offered a casual shrug. "My Quirk has limits too. If the impact exceeds what my body can handle, it breaks. But on the bright side, I absorbed a massive amount of energy. So I'm still ready to go, no need to get worried."
Using her teeth, she ripped a long strip of cloth from her jacket. She wrapped and tied a makeshift sling around the arm without flinching once. She rolled her good arm. "So what's the plan?"
Max turned his attention back to the monstrosity looming over the street. "His weakness is still his chest."
"Right. But getting past the forest of tendrils isn't exactly a stroll in the park." She quipped.
"He's weak to my quirk's attacks." Max continued, "He'll hyper-focus on me, which means I'll take the blunt of his attack. But blunt attacks won't work."
"Great." Vox grumbled, "But how do you plan to reach his chest while taking a beating, Darling?"
Max's eyes swept across the environment, his gaze landing on a row of cars along the curb.
"I don't need to." he said, "We burn him. While I draw his attention, you puncture the fuel tanks of those cars."
Vox's eyes widened slightly before her smile stretched into a maddening grin. "Rupture the tanks…you want me to fling the cars at him and douse him in gasoline?"
"He won't dodge. Physical attacks don't damage him." Max said, he clenched his hands, materializing his sword and shield. "The second he takes the hit, I light the fuse."
Vox let out a laugh. "Turning him into a bomb. Darling, you're a far more violent knight under that noble mask."
She flexed her good arm, her eyes burning with chaotic energy. "Alright darling, let's go smoke this lunatic. Don't go dying before the fireworks." she added with a grin.
Kicking off the pavement, the two broke into a full sprint, charging straight into the fray.
Kyodai clutched his head, his eyes rolling erratically in his head as his sanity slipped away. His gaze snapped down to Max and Vox charging towards him.
"You unbelievers…" he growled, his voice coming out like rusted iron grinding against each other. "To force me into such a state…I WILL TAKE JOY IN PURGING YOU FROM THIS WORLD!"
A colossal forest of pure shadow tendrils erupted from his spine, streaking into the sky. The mass of shadow cast a sprawling blanket over the street before plunging down in a terrifying rain deadly iron spears
"Hahaha!" Vox's maniacal laughter rang out from his side. "Now what, Darling?!"
Eyes of Truth blazed to life in his eyes, pushing the vision harder than he had ever done before. The world turned into a familiar transparent outline. Every single tendrils striking point marked.
"Keep charging! And don't die!" Max shouted. His vision snapped back to normal as his muscles exploded with power as his strides increased, dodging the spears.
"Haha! Wonderful!" Vox cackled, ducking and weaving through the spears with terrifying grace.
Max weaved through the storm, ducking, leaping, and twisting barely past the deadly tendrils. He clenched his sword, bringing it down upon an incoming tendril.
CLANG!
The steel blade bounced uselessly against the shadowed tendril, sending a harsh shockwave vibrating up his arms.
'T…too dense.' Max gritted his teeth.
Before he could adjust his stance, the tendril swiped at him across the pavement. Max whipped his shield to brace himself.
The impact hit like a truck. He blocked the attack but the sheer force sent him flying.
Using the momentum, Max flipped mid-air and rolled onto the pavement in a smooth crouch.
Without a second's hesitation, he cut off the strength in his muscles, channeling his quirk into his blade. His sword ignited brightly with brilliant golden radiance. The surrounding shadow tendrils hissed and recoiled violently from the sudden light.
"BLASPHEMY! TO USE SUCH HOLY LIGHT AS AN UNBELIEVER!" Kyodai screamed, snapping his attention to him.
'That's it. Keep your eyes on me.' Max thought, preparing for his next attack.
He swung down, his sword slicing through an incoming tendril. Like moths to flame, more tendrils streaked towards him. Slower without Knights Armor enhancing his muscles, Max forced himself to endure the onslaught. Ducking when he could, parrying when he couldn't, and slashing at the rest. Deep wounds opened up more across his body, but he gritted his teeth and pushed past his limit.
The light in his blade burned lighter than ever.
Dispelling his shield, Max clenched the hilt with both hands, raising the flaming sword above his head in an overhead strike.
.
"Golden Arts: Apex Verdict!"
.
A massive crescent of dense golden energy tore across the street, tearing through the numerous tendrils like butter. The wave shooting straight for Kyodai's chest.
Kyodai shrieked in terror, frantically pulling all his tendrils back to weave a shield to block the attack.
BOOM!!
The golden arc detonated against the shadowy shield in a blinding flash of light and smoke.
Dust hung in the air until a massive, shadowed hand cut through it, violently blowing it away.
Kyodai glared at Max with pure, unadulterated malice. His giant frame trembled as steam hissed from the deep lacerations in his arms. The wound was so deep, they exposed the bone underneath. The shadow mass tugged frantically at the openings of his flesh, desperate to knit the wounds shut.
But the attack had done more damage than Kyodai expected. His regeneration was slowing.
Kyodai growled, his massive body shaking with agony and pure hate. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!"
He thrust his arms forward, swarms of shadowed tendrils surging straight for Max.
"Ignoring a lady, how impolite of you, you freak!" Vox's voice cut through the air.
Kyodai's gaze snapped to the side of the road.
A strained, maniac grin stretched across her face. Balancing on her shoulder was a full-sized car, her muscles hummed with overflowing strength.
She pivoted on her heel, winding her torso back like a discus thrower before hauling the vehicle straight at the behemoth.
Without pausing for a breath, she grabbed a second car, then a third, throwing them in rapid succession. Having absorbed a massive energy from taking the brunt of his previous attack, the very attack that snapped her hand, her body was overflowing with so much energy that her muscles groaned from the pressure.
Driven by all her accumulated strength, the three vehicles shot straight through the air like bullets.
Kyodai snarled, casually raising a shadow tendril to block the incoming attack. The vehicles crashed uselessly into his armor one after the other, crumpling like cardboard
But as the vehicles dropped on his feet, a liquid sprayed across his chest and tendrils…
Gasoline.
Taking advantage of the split second of distraction that Vox bought him, Max pushed his body further than he had ever done before. Knights Armor flowing through his body once again as his body exploded with immense strength as he exploded forward in a burst of speed.
Covering tremendous distance, Max felt the energy in his muscles drain as his blade ignited to life, flowing with tremendous energy for his final attack.
.
"GOLDEN ARTS: IRA REGIS!"
.
Max brought his blade down in a devastating full-body downward slash. A blinding crescent of golden energy erupted from the sword, tearing through the pavement.
Kyodai didn't even have time to register the attack before the golden wave struck him, detonating the gasoline dousing his body.
KA-BOOM!!!
A colossal explosion roared through the street, consuming the fifteen-foot behemoth in a towering inferno of flames.
Max shot back from the shockwaves, skipping against the pavement before coming to a stop. His body trembled as he let go of his weapons, his sword and shield dissipating into shimmering light before forming his pendant and bracelet as he just laid there on the pavement.
"That was certainly a hell of a first mission, darling." Vox laughed out, limping towards him.
Max let out an exhausted sigh. Kyodai was most certainly dead, which meant his closest clue to finding Raphael was up in flames. Frustration burned in his chest.
"Honestly? I need a long nap," Vox said, coming to a stop at his side.
Before another word could be spoken, thick grey cloth bindings shot out, whipping around the two of them securely.
A man stepped out from the smoke. His dark eyes glowing red as his messy, shaggy black hair floated on its ends, defying gravity. His hands gripped the capture weapon as he glared at them.
"Resting isn't on tonight's schedule," the man, the Hero known as Eraser head, spoke coldly. "You two are under arrest."
Vox groaned under her breath, "Of all the heroes in this damn city, we just had to get Aizawa."
Max strained under the bindings, preparing to use his weapons, until a soft, trembling voice froze him in his tracks.
"M…Max?"
Max's head snapped to the side, his heart dropping straight into his stomach, eyes wide.
"J…Jiro."
***
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