Dragon's Pride

Prelude

On top of a mountain, located in the middle of a forest, a young boy by the name of Kota Izumi stares up at the smirking form of a villain. This villain's name is Muscular, and he is the man who murdered Kota's parents. Kota has tears in his eyes as he stares at the villain looking around the cliff they're standing on, seeming especially curious about some sort of stalagmite standing by the decorated entrance of a cave.

"This is one fancy rock. You do this yourself, brat?" Muscular asks curiously as he knocks on the stalagmite, and getting a surprising noise from it. "The hell? Is this thing made from gold!? Well, other than the weird green parts. Or maybe it's colored gold or something?"

He smirks at the thought of selling such a thing, and how much money he could get for it. The design itself is basic, simply an alternation of gold and dark green swirling around it from the base to the tip. Though there is an odd pattern etched closer to the base. "Forget the League of Villains, I can just bribe some big shots to turn some town into my own personal murder resort!"

As he speaks, he lets his quirk engulf him, bulging muscle fibers spreading across nearly every inch of his body until he's grown several sizes bigger. He wraps one hand around the top of the stalagmite while kicking at the base with his strengthened foot. The clanging from the impact resounds across the cliff. And down into the depths of the cave, where a predator's rage grows with each reverberation.

Eventually, Muscular manages to snap the stalagmite, grunting as he lowers it to the ground. "Damn thing is heavier than I thought. Might actually have to use them to get back to the city so I can sell this. Hmm?" It's only after he goes to wipe the sweat from his brow that he realizes that the child he'd come across has been using his quirk to coat him in water.

"The hell? Fuck off kid. I'm in a good mood, so I'll let you live. But if you keep annoying me..." He trails off leadingly as he shows the boy a savage grin and flexes his quirk, bloodlust oozing from every fiber of his body.

Kota, blinded by rage, doesn't back down, instead focusing his weak water blasts at the villain's artificial eye. The villain scowls as he covers it. "Watch it brat, it's annoying having to deal with the water that gets in there. Last warning."

Unable to take the casual disregard the villain shows him, Kota screams, giving vent to the feelings he's harbored for two years. "Shut up! You're the one who killed my parents, the Water Hose heroes! You're the one who made them break their promise that they'd always come back! You're the one who deserves to die!"

Slowly, Muscular's scowl turns into a smirk, widening as he stares at the kid. "Oh really? Well now, that's quite the treat. They're the ones who took my eye and gave me this scar, you know. So believe me, I'm more than happy to reunite the three of you in the afterlife!"

With each sentence, he takes a threatening step forward, while Kota takes a fearful step back. With each motion, it starts to dawn on him the situation, his overpowering emotions vanishing to nothing as the feeling of death approaches him with a grim certainty.

But they're both brought to a stop when a voice of barely restrained fury sounds off from the cave. "Who. The. FUCK. Broke. My. Art."

Muscular turns, surprised at seeing someone around his height shadowed just beyond the light from the forest fires. He can catch a faint glimpse of motion behind the figure, but his focus is on where a clawed and scaled finger is pointing. "That stalagmite? You made it?" He laughs. "Well it's mine now. If you have any complaints, then I'll kill you!"

He launches himself forward, a murderous glint in his eye as excitement runs through him. If they made this and they live in that cave, then they probably have more of it! I'll have enough money that I can do whatever I want for the rest of my life without any worry!