Dante forced himself to stand up. His ribs were most in agony from the guys strikes, but his mind was trying its best to think of a way to win.
'He's way too fast, too precise.'
Every moment Dante tried to counter, the guy was already a step ahead. It wasn't just skill, it was definitely something else. A kind of awareness Dante could not match.
'Tch. No point dwelling on it.' He was still far from done.
Dante stepped back and flicked his arm forwards, keeping his stance loose, hoping to adapt. He needed a way to predict the guys moves just like he was doing to Dante.
But Dante noticed something.
When his arm extended into sludge, he noticed something that was unusual to Dante. A faint sensation, like ripples in water, whenever the guy moved around near the sludge.
Dante blinked, and froze for a split second. 'What was that?'
The guy dashed in again, and Dante reacted on instinct. Instead of dodging with his eyes, he followed the ripples.
He moved before the punch was even thrown.
'Huh. That worked…?'
The fist completely missed.
Dante's eyes widened. 'Ha! No way!'
When Dante's arm returned to normal, the sensation disappeared.
So he turned his arm to sludge and stretched it forwards again, this time making the sludge way bigger. The sensation returned, like invisible signals feeding him information about his surroundings.
'I can… sense through my sludge? I guess that makes sense since what would happen if I stretch out of view… Would I just be blindly stretching around?'
His mind whirled. He had an idea.
Without hesitation, his head began to shake, forming two dark red thin antenna like extensions on the top of his head. They twitched slightly in every direction, reacting to the smallest disturbances in the air.
Dante cracked a smile. 'Let's see you catch me now.'
The guy lunged at Dante again, this time faster. But Dante had no problem getting around it.
He weaved effortlessly around the strike, feeling the motion before it even came. He knee then shot towards his ribs. And Dante sidestepped right on time.
The fight had shifted in Dante's favour.
Now it was Dante's turn.
Dante countered instantly with a spinning kick with his leg enlarged and hardened. It connected, the guy staggered back.
Dante kept it up, his movements were sharper, smoother and almost instinctive. His antenna twitched with each motion the guy made, feeding him information like a sixth sense.
The guy exhaled sharply. "Well, you're certainly something."
Then the guy reached for his hoodie.
He pulled it off in one motion, tossing it aside—revealing his face.
Dante's eyes narrowed. White hair. Golden eyes. Scarred lip and a jagged burn on his left cheek.
Before Dante could process it, the guys body began to change.
A deep breath. Then, his skin began to shine, almost metallic, turning rough, like solid gold.
Dante's stomach twisted.
'Well shit.'
Now this would get a whole lot harder…
Dante moved quickly, he dashed forwards and let his arms morph.
His forearms expanded, stretching into massive jagged claws of hardened skudge. The air crackled as they solidified, dark and sharp like obsidian.
The guy who was now covered in what looked like gold plated skin rolled his shoulders, testing his movement. "Nice… that's more like it!"
Then he charged to meet Dante's.
They met head on.
The moment they clashed, the force shook Dante's bones. His clawed hand slammed against the guys reinforced forearm, and for a moment, they were locked in place. Strength against Durability.
Dante gritted his teeth. His claws weren't strong enough to pierce the armour.
The guy twisted, suddenly throwing his weight into a shoulder check. Dante barely managed to shift his stance, skidding backwards as his ragged sneakers scraped the pavement.
"Tch…" he exhaled sharply. 'So that's how it is?!'
This guy was not just strong, he knew how to fight and use his quirk effectively. Unlike those thugs Dante had beaten earlier, this guy could effectively use his quirk in combat.
Dante struggled a smirk. "Fine then, I'll just have break it."
The muscles in his legs expanded and he flew forwards, leaving a small crater in the floor before swiping his claws down on the guy.
He barely dodged, Dante's sludge tipped talons scraping sparks against his golden skin.
Then the guy countered, throwing a hook aimed at Dante's ribs.
Dante felt it coming though…
He shifted his weight, and the punch missed.
Dante retaliated with a vicious upwards slash. His claws raked against the guys chest but still didn't cut through. The impact sent the guy stumbling back, but his armour held.
Dante exhaled, flexing his fingers. "I can't break you with brute force eh?"
Then he grinned, blood trickling down his chin.
"I won't need to."
He flew forwrsss once more, this time feinting an attack.
The guy reacted, throwing his guard up to block, but Dante wasn't aiming for him.
Instead, he slammed both claws into the ground.
The claws pierced the pavement, sending cracks splitting outward. Shockwarved rippled through the surface beneath them.
The guy lost balance for only a moment. But that was all Dante needed.
Dante spun, bringing his leg which had morphed into a spiked ball down in a devastating axe kick.
BOOM!
The guy hit the ground, hard, cracking the pavement beneath him
Dante landed in a crouch, his claws retracting slightly as he panted.
The guy groaned and rolled into his side, but he was grinning. "Damn…" he muttered, rubbing his jaw. "You're hella strong kid!"
Dante stayed silent, watching him carefully.
Then the guy laughed. "Man! That was fun."
Dante narrowed his eyes. "…You're weird."
The guy smirked, sitting up. "Maybe. But you're something else kid!" He cracked his neck then held out a hand.
Dante glanced at it.
"…What?"
"Name's Kazuya." The guy grinned. "And I think we should do this again sometime, how about joining my gym? I would love to help you develop that poor attempt at fusing Muay Thai and Krav Maga."
Dante's face flushed red, 'poor attempt? Seriously… is it that bad?! What's with this guy, he just picked a fight with me, now he's acting like we're pals?'
"Here." He flicked a small rectangular card towards Dante, who caught it midair.
He glanced down at the card. 'Kazuya's Underground Gym' was printed in bold letters followed by an address and contact number.
Kazuya smirked, "You should definitely drop by, I could really help you out."
Dante twirled the card between his fingers before tucking it into his pocket. "Hmm… Maybe, who knows."
Kazuya just chuckled and then turned to leave, but before he could take a step, Dante continued.
"I'll go… If you quickly buy me a meal first."
Kazuya stopped, raising an eyebrow.
Dante stretched his arms above his head, rolling his shoulders while yawning. "I just used my quirk a whole bunch. And that drains my calories like crazy, I'm starving." He patted his stomach. "And I have no money! I left my bag filled with food and money far away!"
"I literally just saw you steal from those gu—"
"Ahhh my stomach reeeaaaaally hurts~"
"Dude you have three wallets in that pocke—"
"I'm soooooo hungrryyyyy~"
"Kid yo—"
"Ahhh if only someone was so serious about wanting me to go to their gym! If only there was someone here to feed me!"
Kazuya blinked. Then, after a brief pause… He burst out laughing.
"Okay then, you've got yourself a deal."
…
Minutes later, they were sitting inside a small late night diner. He place wasn't too fancy but it had big portions and was open 24/7, perfect for refueling and night owls.
Dante wasted no time whatsoever. The moment his food arrived, he dug straight in.
Kazuya had expected him to eat a lot after that fight, but this?
'He's like a pig! What the hell…'
Dante was demolishing plates like a black hole. Rice, noodles, meat, GONE! Within seconds! The waitstaff had to come back three seperate times just to keep up with him.
Kazuya leaned back, arms crossed behind his head watching in amusement. "You sure you're not a pig, kid?"
Dante paused mid-bite, then shrugged. "Debatable." Then he went straight back to eating.
Kazuya snorted. "Alright then, since I have to pay for all of this, care to answer some of my questions?"
Dante didn't stop devouring, but he waved his hand, signaling for him to go ahead.
Kazuya rested his head on his palm. "Where'd you learn to fight like that, you must've been trained in both Muay Thai and Krav Maga right?"
Dante swallowed a spoonful of rice before answering. "Self-taught. Learnt it from a book."
Kazuya raised his eyebrows. "No formal training? From a book?!"
"No formal training, and from a book."
Kazuya smiled in disbelief, "Damn." He exhaled. "And how old are you anyways? I'm 27."
"Nineteen."
Kazuya choked on his drink. "Bullshit."
Dante smirked at Kazuya choking, "Yeah I'm just messing around, I think I turned Nine a few days ago?"
Kazuya just stared in shock.
Dante just kept eating.
"…You're messing with me, right?"
"Nope."
Kazuya rubbed his temples. "Jesus. I just picked a fight with a Nine year old? Either way, Nine years old and fighting like that? Aren't you too tall to be Nine?"
Dante just shrugged and kept eating and eating.
Kazuya eyed him. "Where do you live?"
Dante chewed on a piece of meat, then waved his chopsticks vaguely. "Here and there."
Kazuya frowned. "You homeless? At nine?"
Dante didn't answer right away. He just finished his bowl of rice, stacked it on top of the other 7 bowls and then reached for another plate. "It's not bad, I get by. Do wish I had a shower though."
Kazuya studied jim for a moment but didn't push further.
Instead, he just smirked at Dante. "Well if you ever wanna get better—" he tapped the buisness card that Dante had placed on the table. "You know where to go. And there's a shower there that you can use, totally free of charge."
Dante licked his chopsticks clean and grinned. "Hmm… we'll see, yeah?"
Kazuya just groaned and rolled his eyes.