Listen to Red Swan by Yoshiki, Hyde while reading this chapter, it will make it 100x better.
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Toga lunged at Kazuya. Faster than he'd expected, she moved even faster with her blade out, aimed at his throat. Kazuya shifted his weight sideways, his armoured forearm deflected the blade with a loud CLANG! Before she landed, he drove an armoured knee into her gut and launched her into a weight rack, the rack collapsing completely under her weight.
Next came Dabi, his shoulder down to his hand coated in blue fire. Kazuya dashed forward, weaving through any stray fire aimed at him. He took a burn across his arm, his skin charring despite the golden armour, but he didn't stop. A golden elbow smashed into Dabi's ribs, then a spinning kick caught his jaw, sending him skidding across the floor.
Spinner, despite the injury, rushed forward with his sword drawn. Kazuya ducked down and grabbed the blade mid swing. Sparks flew. He twisted, disarmed spinner and landed a ruthless palm time to his sternum. Bones cracked. Spinner was out for good now.
But as for the others…
Toga emerged from the side, bloody but grinning. She attacked from the low, it was a feint, then she darted up, knife aimed at Kazuya's eye. He managed to lean back just in time, but out of nowhere Dabi unleashed a sudden blast of fire toward Kaijin?! Kazuya snapped his head that way, realising what they were pulling. He took off the armour on his forearm and threw it to intercept the fire before it reached Kaijin.
"Too many fronts…"
He was powerful, sure. But he couldn't keep up a perfect defense against two ruthless enemies.
Kazuya's breath grew heavier as he summoned another sleeve of armour, eyes darting between his opponents. "Hmm let's kick it up a notch."
Dabi just smirked, wiping blood from his lip.
Kazuya dashed in.
He and Dabi collided, his fists moving through the fire despite the burn. His golden knuckles met his schorched skin and the sound of each impact were heard from even outside the gym. Dabi was definitely the most dangerous of them all. While Toga harassed from the besides and Spinner was down on the floor, Dabi's fire kept Kazuya on a constant defense. Burns now lined Kazuya's back and legs. His movements were still sharp, but the gold was melting, slowing him down.
Toga managed to slash his thigh. Spinner slashed the back of his leg from the ground. Kazuya spun and stomped spinners head into the ground, his leg turning fully gold and slamming down. Another burst of fire from Dabi singed Kazuya's shoulder as he turned, trying to shield Kaijin again.
They were pushing him to his limits.
Toga rushed in again, knife aimed for his chest, but this time Kazuya caught her by the wrist. His entire arm turned into gleaming gold, no more armour. "We're done." He growled and with a violent twist, he flung her to the ceiling, knocking her breathless.
Then he caught her mid fall and threw her into Dabi. The two crumpled into a heap.
Kaijin watched from the wall, a faint grin despite the blood on his lips. "Guess you weren't so behind after all, kid…"
Kazuya turned back toward the three, all struggling to rise. Blood and burns stained every inch of him. He panted, chest heaving. He couldn't activate his full body gold because Dabi's fire could melt him, that wouldn't be good.
But then—Dabi's comm device crackled. Shigaraki's voice filtered through, faint but urgent.
"Abort. We're done. Evacuate now. We've encountered an… issue."
Dabi's eyes narrowed. He looked at Kazuya. "Damn it… Plan B."
Kazuya didn't know what plan B was but he had a weird feeling.
Dabi's flames suddenly exploded toward Kazuya, way hotter than anything Kazuya had ever felt, twice as hot as Dante's. The floor started to blacken beneath his feet, the walls starting to warp from the heat.
Even the air was warping.
Blue flames fully engulfed the gym. Everything that wasn't metal, concrete or gold turned to ash's Kazuya stood between the inferno and Kaijin's slumped body, unmoving, Unshakable.
Dabi's arm outstretched, his own skin startling to burn from his quirk. "We're leaving! Grab Spinner and get out!" He barked to Toga, barely on her feet.
But Kazuya wasn't going to let them.
"Over my dead body."
He stepped into the exit doorway of the back training room just as Dabi's final inferno crashed forward.
For a split second—
Time slowed.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears. The searing heat stung his burnt skin. His muscles trembled with exhaustion, but he didn't move. Something deep in his chest stirred. Something unshaken. Something unyielding.
Suddenly—
His eyes snapped wide, glowing bright with radiant, five pointed stars at their centers.
His hair flowed upward, shifting into a brilliant mane of metallic gold.
The countless scars etched into his body, each one a reminder of years spent bleeding, training, protecting—they began to glow. Not because of the fire. Not with heat.
They glowed with purpose.
They glowed with his willpower.
And then—his will manifested.
A shockwave of gold burst from his chest, rippling through the room like ice. The wall around the doorway froze mid crumble and started to shimmer. Gold crept from his feet outward like roots through soil, coating the walls, the floor, the ceiling. The very structure of the gym transmuted, layer by layer, into an unbreakable golden fortress.
Kazuya's body transformed, from flesh to gold. His chest, arms, face, all gleamed like a warrior cast from the sun itself. His skin cracked with glowing seams of molten brilliance, each beat of heart like the beat of a war-drum.
He stood in the center of the doorway, arms spread out, fists clenched, becoming a human barricade.
The inferno crashed into him.
And it stopped.
Dabi's fire slammed against the wall of gold with a roar that could be heard for blocks down. But it didn't break through, the gold didn't even melt.
It had met something far stronger.
Inside of the golden barricade, Kazuya remained locked in place, his body now fully fused with the transmuted wall. His mouth barely moved, but he managed to whisper something only the flames could hear. "I… won't let you hurt any more people… I'll hold you off… for as long as I can."
Toga stared in awe. Spinners eyes were wide. Dabi's fire beam to waver.
"What the hell is this…?"
Shigaraki's voice came through the communicator again, distorted but sharp.
"Make an opening or something so Kurogiri can get you."
Dabi cursed under his breath. There was only one way left, and it wasn't through Him. He turned, grabbed the others and aimed a full force blast of fire through the ceiling, hoping to create a small opening.
Behind them, The Great Golden Lion stood silent and unmoving, eyes still glowing faintly beneath a now solidified, indestructible armour.
A sacrificial shield.
A living monument of his resolve and willpower.
"…Thank you… Kazuya."
And then, silence.
The fire faded.
And Kazuya remained, a golden statue in the doorway, unmoving, unbreathing… but victorious.