SLIPPING

Well, I read a ton of webnovels but all of them decided not to update today. Or maybe I'm just to early but regardless, I'm in a great mood. Here's a chap to share the love. Hope you like it

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No need to waste any time, the faster this started, the faster it would finish. Hopefully. They made their way up straight to the third floor at a steady pace. Whether it was a trap or the villain team was there mattered little. If this was to end, it'd be better if they took the fight to them in Maru's opinion. There was power in initiative. Approaching this more stealthily could work. Then again, neither of them had a quirk geared towards that. They could try it but he doubted it would change anything. As they neared the third floor, both of them paused and took a deep breath. Their gazes crossed, communicating silently. Whatever lay ahead, they'd have to react and respond as quickly as possible. Time remained a factor.

It was completely open. There were few obstacles between himself and the missile. A perfect stage for a straight forward brawl. The missile was still fully encased in ice. A smart move on the villains' part. Figuratively speaking, no matter how much force was used, the missile would remain unaffected and to some degree protected. This was a test after all. It'd be dumb to negate all your effort just because you didn't really view the model as an actual missile. That worked for the heroes to.

Maru quickly made some distance between himself and Ken as Ken activated his quirk. Almost instantaneously, a hard set of pale white bones formed around him, covering the majority of his body. His costume was simple. A white vest, with a zip right down the middle, further tightened by a series of brown buckles running from the top to the bottom. His lower body was covered in navy military pants tucked into black battle boots. The fit was neither tight nor loose, simply covering his body and offering an additional layer of defense to the exoskeleton beneath it. It didn't seem as strong as his actual quirk but sometimes, it was the little things that made the difference. The fingerless gauntlets and steel heeled military boots were the only things on his costume that did add to his offensive power.

Less than 10 meters away from them stood the villains, not quite at the center of the room but close. They moved in, circling the villains in opposite directions while maintaining the distance between the two. Youta, had his quirk fully activated, black covering the entirety of his arms where it tapered off at his shoulders, showing faint hints of red tattoos that looked like a mix of his veins and some techish pattern stabbing down along his arms. He had no time to think further as he saw Youta smile slightly before charging right at him. The ground shook at the force of his take off as he rapidly approached Maru. Ken could only watch in shock, only able to follow his movement with his eyes, his mind and body still trying to process what his eyes were seeing.

Maru ducked fast, dodging the fist to his face by tilting his head back as he raised his board with one hand to ram it into Youta's face in line with the existing motion of his body. Youta saw it coming, responding similarly as the skate board drew an arc backward only to see a kick aimed right at his chin. He immediately put his guard up as Maru kicked forward in a burst of ice, using Youta's guard as leverage to create some distance between them again.

His guard had been frozen together but that made no difference to Youta. The chill wasn't pleasant but the amount of power his quirk produced did generate some heat countering any possible side effects. The ice shattered as he pulled his arms apart before lunging for Maru once again. Maru used his skateboard as a medium to attack, fully aware that his quirk did not give him super strength but could be used to reinforce his blows.

Youta was fast, very fast. Each new blow came faster than the last. If not for his incredible reaction time, he probably would have been knocked back and injured by now. He traded blow for blow, switching between attacking with his skateboard to his ice coated fist or legs. Aiming for the difficult to reach parts on Youta's body with the intent to force him to guard and slow down his attacks. It had the opposite effect. It was like fighting a battle maniac. Someone that grew with every attack he took. Youta was moving faster and faster in response to his attacks and Maru reciprocated. Youta wasn't the only battle hungry maniac. He dodged faster, shifted back and forth like a game character programmed to win. He watched every bit of movement from Youta's body and reacted. The blows came faster and at this point, were borderline lethal, targeting acupoints in the body which, if they did hit, could possibly cause permanent damage to the other. He was sure it wouldn't though. Something in his gut told him that all it would do was briefly slow Youta down. But only if it hit.

For regular people, their movements were impossible. The immediate temperature around them was low by virtue of Maru's quirk. The amount of ice forming around Youta should have slowed him down, limiting his movement and forcing his muscles to freeze up and contract to some degree. However, with his quirk, it was like fighting in ideal conditions. His quickening movements reflected this. The faster he moved, the more heat he generated. With his higher-than-average internal temperature, fighting long term at his current pace would not be recommended. At worst, he'd get a heat stroke from excessive internal heating. At best, his stamina would run out faster. But then there was Maru keeping things nice and cool, eliminating the possibility of hypothermia.

Maru on the other hand had a body fully adapted to his quirk and use making him move and function better at lower temperatures. He was like a moving air-con so the heat had never bothered him when using his quirk. In fact, he preferred it. When all you generate is cold, warmth becomes a truly welcome feeling. However, his disposition had always been for the cold. Now, back in his elements, his movements were sharper, his reactions faster and his attacks just as fast. The students watching them in the observation room couldn't even follow their fists. Only seeing the impact.

Neither had any glaring advantage. If Maru punched, Youta punched. If Maru blocked, Youta punched. If Maru used his board, Youta punched. With his quickening movements, Youta was no longer bothered to block, after all, he trumped Maru in durability yet not a single attack fully connected. Either diverted or countered by Maru. A fire was being lit.

Youta paused briefly, shifting his stance simply to punch harder. Maru saw the opening and lunged, grazing Youta's cheek with his ice covered bored. He had drawn first blood but Youta remained unfazed. Each blow had started to produced small shockwaves like little explosives. At this point, Maru had noticed that the skateboard had started slowing him down. But there wasn't a chance to switch tactics without creating an opponent. Regardless, wielding the skateboard did create an opening and Youta noticed. The heavy kick to his chest felt like a head on collision with a truck, vicious in its accuracy and mighty in force. He spat whatever remained in his gut at the impact. Ice had formed at the point of contact, encasing his opponent's foot in an attempt to stop the backward motion by pulling Youta along with him. It was a tad too late. He flew back, like a limbless body heading straight for the large windows encasing most of the building.

Youta didn't stop, charging right after the flying Maru, grabbing his face and slamming him down on the concrete. Hard. The ground caved at the impact, breaking apart as Maru's body skidded across the ground, ripping tiles and the hard concrete beneath. The action slowed their motion as they skidded to a stop a few steps away from the windows. It wasn't a move made to stop him from flying out the window. It was an attack. There was no time for thought or consideration. Worrying about his opponent would do him no favors in this fight. He too could tell, that he could push further, punch harder, and Maru could take it.

Ice spear shot at him and Youta flung himself back, pausing momentarily to take a look at his arm, completely encased in ice. On the ground, he watched as a mishappen dome of ice broke apart to reveal Maru, slowly lifting himself off the ground. There was no evidence of a single injury. Youta started to pant slightly. He couldn't help it. Not once had he ever had such an exciting battle. The power he showed, though not completely unexpected was something he had ever seen. He knew. He'd always known that he could do so much more. He just never dared to. The ice on his arm shattered as he flexed his muscle and focused his eyes on his opponent. No, his friend.

Maru didn't rush himself. Different from before, he saw no need to immediately pursue and attack. He lifted himself off the ground slowly, his board shattered somewhere. The armored sleeve on his dominant arm, his right arm, was shredded leaving his pale hands exposed. His fair skin tone however could not detract from the hidden muscle on display with neon blue veins running up and down his hands. A snowflake momentarily taking form behind. Like some kind of symbol of his relationship with his quirk spanning three times his existing body height in both length and width. He looked down at his arm, briefly watching his blood pulse through his veins. Then he turned to face Youta.

The look on his face made Youta freeze in place. Maru's eyes were cold, completely uncaring. As though what stood before him wasn't a human being of flesh and blood. Like his blood wasn't as red as his and just by looking at him, he would be inclined to agree. But that look just had his heart beating faster. There was more to it. A fire reflected in the stilling gaze that viewed him as though watching a moving corpse. A euphoric feeling of release spread through his entire being and he had a feeling the look in his eyes was just as unhinged as Maru's. There was no smile on Maru's face but he could feel it. Something no one but those in the same space could experience. An unmatched ecstasy at simply being able to move without fear of the repercussions of using their quirk. And for a second, a terrifying thought ran through Youta's mind. The thought that he wouldn't mind dying like this. It shocked him, how neither of them noticed just how far from sanity they were slipping. At that moment, neither of them really cared.