My Hero Academia: Nightfall

Adjusted Mentality

11:12

Muscular glared at the figure in the distance while smiling, knowing instantly who the person was. The apparition towered over the actual person, and seemed to darken the heightening sun with its purplish black coloring.

"Why should I be afraid of you?" taunted Muscular, flexing his arm muscles at his opponent. "I've beaten challengers much stronger than you."

Eri ran toward the figure, facing no opposition from Muscular or Yotanaba. Kirishima still stayed still on the ground, not wanting to die unexpectedly. He tilted his face slightly upward to see Eri running away from the scene.

"You're only wasting time," the villain sneered, waiting for the apparition or figure to approach him. If they tried to run, he was confident that he could catch up effortlessly.

When Eri finally got within a few feet of the figure, she realized that the apparition looming above was a shadow, which seemed to stare upon her like a guardian.

She looked below the shadow, and smiled when she noticed the familiar tilted beak of Fumikage Tokoyami.

"I thought you were gone," whispered Eri, looking back to see the grinning Muscular in hot pursuit.

"I thought I was gone," responded Tokoyami, remembering the incident that had occurred the night before. The second he had chosen to jump from the bridge, he was stopped by Dark Shadow, who supported him below before he could hit any of the decorative rocks inside the shallow river. 

After he realized what happened, Tokoyami lay in the river for multiple hours to think about his mistakes and to pull himself together. He knew that Hawks would forgive him, as saving a group of heroes would always be more important than one person's safety, or at least, that was what a proper hero would think. 

"Can you beat them alone?" questioned Eri, as Muscular kept advancing toward them. Tokoyami didn't know how powerful Muscular was, but he wasn't going to stop because of that. He was prepared to sacrifice everything if it meant redeeming himself, and proving that he did have kindness in his heart after what he'd done. 

"I'd like to think so," he replied, releasing Dark Shadow from his control. The beast plowed into Muscular, slowing him down immensely. The villain pushed back ecstatically, revealing his quirk in the process. It was called Muscle Augmentation, which allowed him to increase the strength in his muscles to give him more physical power. 

"Nice try," winced Muscular, overpowering Dark Shadow in about ten seconds. He rushed toward Tokoyami, but the non-hero dodged, causing the villain to skid and turn around unexpectedly. Tokoyami didn't predict this, and was caught off-guard. 

Muscular punched Tokoyami with his enhanced fist, sending him across the area and next to Slovachi Yotanaba. The brainwashed hero touched the ground with her hand, turning the floor from concrete to a floaty, balloon-like substance. This bounced Tokoyami into the air, giving Muscular a target. 

"DID YOU THINK YOU COULD WIN THIS FIGHT?" roared Muscular, pouncing from his grounded position and into the air, with both arms far above his head. He slammed both of his fists into Tokoyami's chest, making a severe stream of blood spurt from his beak. 

Tokoyami plummeted to the ground, which shattered his spine and broke both of his legs. He glanced upward, and saw Muscular still in the air, and coming down straight for him.