Fists Collide

*Bam!*

Kirishima went flying through the air, crashing into the roof of the aquarium. He muttered something before pulling himself out of the rubble.

Shaking his head, he adjusted himself as a shadow blurred past him. Reacting in time, he blocked the blow with his arms, the force of the attack slamming him into the pavement.

"Gh!" with a grunt, he stood up.

Spitting out some blood, he raised his left arm, blocking another blow from Skark King. This time, not being blown back, he grabbed the mutant's fist, "Ha!" with a shout he threw him a distance away.

"Haha! You're nothing but a punching bag!" Shark King twisted himself in the air, landing softly.

Kirishima stood without care.

'His blows are tough,' he breathed out to ease the building strain.

That was shortlived, however, as the Shark King dashed forward, slashing at Kirishima with his claw.

Scraping sounds followed, 'fuck!' Kirishima dodged his hacks and slashed, often blocking most of his onslaught.

Avoiding a blow to his face, he reeled back, putting all his weight on his right arm, and launched it forward in an uppercut.

*Bam!*

He drew blood! "You fucking insect!" Shark King roared, grabbing him by the face. He lifted him and landed a solid blow to Kirishima's hardened stomach.

'!!' Kirishima couldn't scream; only muffled groans left him.

"Think your hot shit!" Shark King said, slamming him into the ground before grabbing him by the leg and launching him sky-high.

'It hurts,' he thought, seeing King Shark below with a grin taunting him and Gang Orca, who waited aside witnessing the fight.

'But compared to Gang Orca's training, I can win!' With a grin, he took a deep breath.

"Is that all you got? Come on!" He said, descending downwards.

Another vein popped on Shark King's face, and with a beastly growl, he leapt up, aiming to punch through him in his descent.

Kirishima, with a larger grin, hardened himself even further, 'to my limit!' His boots whirled as compressed air shot out, accelerating him further.

Both let out a cry as their fists clashed!

*Boom!*

An explosion of air followed, and another flow resulted in another explosion.

'Now!' Kirishima threw a feint. He avoided the clash, crouching on Shark King's enlarged fist, and dashed, kneeing the villain in the face!

"Gaah! Fuck!" He screamed, clutching his eyes and blood dripping out of them. Kirishima landed safely with the aid of his boots, while Shark King fell hard.

"You!" He removed his hand, revealing bloodshot eyes. "I've had enough of this sh*t! You die now!"

Kirishima, flexing his fingers, rolled his eyes. Smashing his fists, he kicked off, as did Shark King.

"Then try it!" He roared as they both reached each other.

'Here we go,' Gang Orca thought.

*Boom!*

Their fists collided, the ground shook, Kirishima's armour cracked, and Shark King Grinned went in for another blow.

Another powerful clash. Again and again, they swung at each other. Kirishima avoided hits, constantly landing body blows due to the height difference.

This meant his head, was an easy target, but his defence held on, and the wind shook from their blows, 'compared to nomu!'

He took the blow to the face, staggering back only for a second before headbutting another punch and sliding past it, landing a jab at Shark King's ribs.

"This is nothing!" He screamed his thoughts as their brawl continued.

*Woosh!*

Shark King punched empty air, 'what!?' Kirishima ducked lower than before.

He jumped, landing a right hook on his ribs. He felt it crack. "Yes!" He didn't stop unleashing a barrage of blows at the exact spot.

"Fuck!" Shark King swatted Kirishima away into a nearby stand, clutching his ribs. After a quick examination, he felt and saw the various cuts across his midriff; he was bleeding.

'This makes no sense! I'm stronger! And I'm losing to an intern! A nobody!'

The rage accumulated; his muscles bulged, and his height grew slightly more.

Kirishima waltzed out of the stand, cracking his neck. His whole body was riddled with cracks, but he still stood.

He never felt better; with his heart drumming and ears ringing, he felt he could take on the world, not aware of the faint glow emanating from his chest, the source of this warmth and adrenaline.

Good thing Gang Orca was witnessing the fight unfold.

"Heh, I can do this all day," he said.

Shark King stared blankly at him. It took a moment for his words to register, but when they did, he let out an unearthly roar!

'Finally!' Kirishima's gaze lit up.

Shark King, no longer in control, leaps forward with more speed and force than ever before.

Smiling, Red Riot opened his arms to the incoming fist, no hesitation in his crimson pupils.

"DIE!"

Kirishima let out a calm breath, clutching his fists. He turned his back to the incoming fists and let out a cry, "Raaaah!"

*Poof!* *Shunk!*

The piercing of skin and snapping of muscles and bones mixed with the booming winds.

"AAH!" Shark King Howled to the night, reeling his right arm back, mangled and destroyed, it was no longer usable.

"Your body grew taller, stretching your skin," Kirishima said calmly, walking forward. Slowly turning off his hardening, his body sizzled with steam evaporating off him.

The shock and pain brought Shark King back to his senses. He began to retreat, panicked, sweat dripping down his body, no longer feeling the support of his second quirk.

"It made it easy for me to cut even with my punches; all I needed was for you to charge at me blindly. Pissing you off was easy."

"G-get back. This," he said, looking at his mangled hand, pain shuddering through him, and red hair as strong as steel, if not stronger, punching through his hand and arm.

"They won't come out if you pull them," Kirishima said.

"What happened to your confidence? I thought you were going to prove me wrong as a man. You shouldn't back down just because things got hard."

Shark King gulped in fear and weighed him down like a ball on a chain. 'Easy for you to say you're stronger than me! I need to run.'

"I mean, you can try and run, but I'll catch you, and Gang Orca is still there in case you've forgotten."

Heavy footsteps reached them. Gang Orca stood behind Shark King, and the villain, now back to his original size, shook while turning back.

"You are under arrest," was all Gang Orca said before unleashing a sonic black that knocked him out.

"What would you have done if your plan hadn't worked out?"

"I would've kept fighting. He was strong, but not as strong as you were underwater, and I can take beating from you fine, so I can win either way."

With a chuckle, Gang Orca gave Kirishima the task of watching over the three villains; he had gone over and knocked out the other two.

"I need to sit down. Fuck me. This is going to be a long night, won't it?"

"Yes, it will! Hahaha!" Gang Orca answered, bursting into laughter.

...

It was a very long night.

First was restoring communication to the mainland; after that, the rest was easy; reinforcements arrived, and with Kirishima and Gang Orca briefing them on the situation, things were taken care of slowly.

The gas machines, people count, villain apprehension, imprisonment, and aquarium fish reposition

"So Mark is dead..." Kirishima, sitting across from Gang Orca, hung his head low.

The police sirens blared around them. "Mark must've been aware of their quirks in the last moments and worked to lessen the number of memories they could copy to replace him.

If not for that, then none of us would've seen this coming."

Kirishima nodded, his mind repeating the question, 'Why didn't I go with him?'

"Nothing can be done to change the past; right now you must think about what you could've done differently, but in this line, you'll come across death and every time wonder what you could have done differently.

I'm not saying to forget; I'm saying do not let the fire eat you; instead, it fuels you to be better the next time you have to act. We're almost done accounting for everything; return to your dorm."

Kirishima was about to leave before asking about Mark's family.

"That's not something you are ready to handle yet." He said, walking away, 'Breaking the news is the most tasking part of this job.'

Kirishima, seeing nothing more to do, returned to the worker's building and said, 'I should've done. Something.'

His mind felt weighed down, and despite the satisfaction of stopping the villains and returning the aquarium fish, he couldn't help it.

Along the way, he smiled and nodded to the workers who went past him to help ensure the island's safety.

Slowly dragging his feet, he opened the door to his room and, upon entering, was met with the sound of his ringing phone.

It was Mina. "Right, reporters came to the island. Everyone else probably knows about this as well."

Kirishima didn't talk to them. With a tranquil smile, he answered the video call, making sure to angle it right.

"Eijiro, are you alright? I just heard what happened." Her voice was soaked with worry.

"I'm alright," he said, sitting on the bed. With turtle movements, he removed his gear. Belt and gadget clanking to the floor.

"Eiji..."

'Of course, she can tell.' Just knowing she knew him brought a sense of calm.

"I wish I was there just to hold you."

"It's alright, Mina; I just need to rest. Oh, how'd the arson case go?" He asked, removing his thick boots.

Mina thinned her lips before answering, "It went alright; do you want to talk about this?"

'Right back on topic,' he smiled, "not right now, I'm sorry."

Nodding, she didn't push further. "I'm still here if you need anything, alright?"

Kirishima thanked her, promising to call her tomorrow. It wasn't long after he received a joint call from his parents, and like Mina, he assured them he was fine.

"I'm fine. I just need to rest a bit."

Kushina on the other side didn't seem happy with that answer, but she didn't push her son. "If this is too much for you, then come back, son. We love you."

After talking to his father, Kirishima fell on the bed. There were more messages from the group chat, which he answered all the same.

Right now, he just wanted to rest.