I'm spat out of the darkness, alone. As I look around, I see the Mountain Zone to my right and the Flood Zone close to my left. Surrounding me are about half a dozen thugs.
Breathe. Breathe.
"Hey, I didn't think we'd be getting any action, just being dudes to clean up stragglers!"
"You complaining, knucklehead? This is a straggler!"
Breathe. Breathe.
"We need to be ready for when All Might turns up."
"Let's get this done. I doubt the boss and the Nomu will take long finishing off that Pro."
Breathe! Aizawa will be fine, don't listen to them. He'll be fine, your friends will be fine, you'll be fine. Breathe, Kurono, breathe. Everything will be fine. I'm okay. Breathe, Kurono. Count to five.
"C'mon, let's get her!"
In...one, two, three, four, five. Out...one, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. One two three four five. One two three four five. Onetwothreefourfiveonetwothreefourfiveonetwothree-
Zero.
One two three four-
Six.
One two three-
Eight.
One two three four five-
Seven.
Kill. I've got to kill them. I've got to kill I've got to kill I've got to kill! They'll catch me - what if they catch me they can't catch me! I can't go back there - they'll kill me! No, they won't, they'll continue testing, I don't understand what do they want with me why don't I remember anything I can't take anymore Quirks! No more, no more Quirks. Leave me alone, I want to go home where is my home I don't know where I am who am I?!
I am 0687.
Kill kill kill kill kill.
"I won't let you take me."
My eyes emanate a dark, purple mist as I look around. Kill kill kill. A powerful shockwave of darkness, something I thought out of my capabilities, strikes the monsters around me. The group of thugs that encircle me are thrown back as multiple tendrils of shadows extend from my back and slam into them.
The closest man is directly in front of my, attempting to stand. I dive into a shadow, speed towards him, and launch myself onto his body. He shouts out in terror as I land on his chest, eyes wild and baring my teeth.
"You're not taking me back there!" I punch his face twice, then strike his lower jaw with my palm, dislocating it. There! To my right! Another threat has stood up and is facing me. I leap at him, grabbing his clothes as I use them to hold myself onto his form. He too yells out in shock as I sink my teeth into his shoulder. Kill kill kill.
He tries to throw me off, but as he leans forward, I just jump up. His imbalance leaves him falling forwards onto the floor, where I land on his back. As I bring my hand arm, I solidify the shadows around my fingers into wicked claws and plunge them into his back, raking them through the muscle. I then grab his head and slam it into the floor.
I dive into the floor and speed towards another thug with snakes for hair; I jump out behind her, spinning as I do, and kick her around the head, my heel cracking against her cheekbone. As she falls I jump to the next to her, using his clothes to swing around his front, over his shoulder and onto his back, raking my claws across his face as I do.
"Wha-what is this kid?!"
"She's a fucking animal!"
I dig my claws into the shoulder of the man I'm currently standing on, then leap to another. "I was designed to tear people apart, rip them to shreds before they even knew I was there!" I launch myself from person to person, attacking them with claws and tendrils of shadow. "I was made, designed, to be a weapon. To kill, kill, kill!" I pin down thug, their panic-stricken eyes meeting the mad look in mine. Kill, kill, ki-
Kurono!
I grab his hair and hiss through my teeth, "But heroes don't kill." And I knock him unconscious.
What just happened to me? What the fuck just happened to me? I almost killed them, I almost killed them all! I could do things, so much power I never knew I had...I almost killed them…
I look around at the unconscious bodies, bleeding from the claw and teeth marks, broken from the force the tendrils hit them...what am I?
I'm a weapon, but I'm not their weapon. I'm a weapon for the people, I can keep them safe, I can defend them.
Running, I look around for more people, friends to regroup with. To my left, I see three figures on the edge of the Flood Zone, half submerged in water. As I get closer, I identify them as Mineta, Tsuyu and Midoriya.
"Hey guys!"
"Kurono?"
"Kurono!"
"Are you guys okay?"
Midoriya nods. "We're fine, are you okay now?"
I avoid looking at him. "Kinda…"
"Kurono," Tsuyu says. "You're covered in blood."
I hadn't realised. "It's nothing." I wipe the blood from my face, but it just smears. "Where is everyone else?"
"We're not sure," Midoriya responds. "I think we've been split up around the facility. Iida just managed to escape but…" He trails off as he looks behind me, towards the plaza…
A giant, dark hulk of muscle, with bulging eyes, a bird-like beak and an exposed brain is holding down Aizawa. In front of them, the man covered in hands is talking to him.
"Aiza-"
Crack.
"Aizawa!"
I could hear his arm snap from here! The bird-monster...it just broke it like a twig…It the grabs his head, pulls it up and slams it into the ground.
"Shota!"
I dive into the floor and rush towards the creature, towards Aizawa. Please be okay, please be okay! I can't lose you!
"Tomura Shigaraki."
"Kurogiri. Is Thirteen dead?"
"He's incapacitated, but there were some students I couldn't warp away. And one of them escaped."
"Oh...Kurogiri, you...I'd turn you into dust if you weren't our ticket out of here."
I shoot out of the ground and latch onto the monster's hulking body, raking claws across it and piercing it with tendrils that rise up from the ground. I'll kill it, I'll kill it!
It grabs me and throws me to the ground, indifferent.
"Kurono…" Aizawa, he's still alive! "What are you doing…?"
"Who's this?" Shigaraki asks. "A very 'heroic' entry, really."
I jump to my feet, screaming and shouting at him. "I'll kill you, Shigaraki! I'll kill all of you!" As I leap towards him, the monster's hand grabs me again and leaves me hanging in the air. It doesn't matter: I shoot several tendrils towards him. Kurogiri forms a portal and, instead of hitting Shigaraki, they appear below me and stab into my chest.
I cry out in pain, the only attack I have left is my piercing scream.
"Now 'killing' isn't very heroic, now, is it?"
"You made me this!" I spit.
Shigaraki tilts his head. "What are you talking about?"
Kurogiri drifts forwards, right up to me. "Hold on, young master, I believe I can shed some light on the subject, if you'll excuse the pun."
"Fuck you, Kurogiri, you piece of shit!"
"Such ill manners! But the fact you know our names only confirms my suspicions… What's your name?"
"Kurono."
Kurogiri laughs. "Don't lie to me, I thought you'd learnt that lesson." His black fog swirls around me, entering my nostrils and filling my lungs. I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Not again! Not this!
The fog suddenly retracts and I gasp for air. "Tell me your name."
"0687."
"There we go. That wasn't so hard now, was it? You always did have a stubbornness." Kurogiri turns back to Shigaraki. "If you recall, five years ago we had an escapee."
"Ah yes, another brat you were responsible for losing."
"Well, it appears she's found her way back to us."
I can see Shigaraki's eyes flash from behind the hand that covers his face. "Well isn't this an interesting turn of events." He walks up to me and drags a finger across my face. My whole body locks up and shudders in response to his touch. "Since you're here, why don't you say hi to Nomu, who's got a good grip on you here. Let's say that, in theory, he's your little brother."
What? No...that monster...he can't be...what I was meant to be?!
"So many of your other siblings died in the 'transition', it must be nice to have this reunion."
I start screaming, not to be aggressive this time, but out of sheer shock, out of horror. I'm going to be sick.
Shigaraki starts to enclose the rest of his fingers towards my face. "Your little stunt that day really pissed me off, you know that?" I wince as all five fingers touch my face, but nothing happens. Shigaraki growls as he turns to Nomu; Aizawa is erasing Shigaraki's Quirk - Nomu slams his face into the ground.
It's as if I don't have any scream left, my vocal chords feel raw and ripped to shreds. Instead, I choke on tears as I watch Nomu crush Aizawa's skull…
