Vanessa rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. Drumming her fingers on her arm, she regarded the security personnel with limited patience. She was running late to a class she'd agreed to assist in teaching -with a man she held less than no affection for, she might add- because they'd screwed up. From the sound of things, something had glitched with front gate. A student had entered through the front gates twice in one day. Cearly not possible, so it must have been a glitch with the system itself. Vanessa didn't know much about technology but she knew enough to know that, most of the time, problems occured due to improper maintenance. Not updating the OS, not seeing what that rattling noise your car was making before it was too late, ignoring weird glitches your phone was making before it shut down completely. All due to human negligence, or user error.
Unless someone had attempted to breach school grounds -and considering the lack of alarms and police present, they hadn't- there was no excuse for this delay. Sitting on a bench by the entrance, one leg over the other, she reached into her bag and pulled out a canteen. Rather than one of her usual dresses she'd shown up in what she typically wore out in the field. A form fitting, black and red fiber-mesh bodysuit and a simple, matching domino mask with red lenses. It did little to disguise her identity of course, but that wasn't the point. The point was elegance, which she prided herself in maintaining at all times. At least she assumed so, one could never be certain what level of grace they held while asleep. Aside from that, it shielded her eyes from the sun, which was always a good thing. Contents of her canteen partially consumed, she returned it to her bag and checked her watch. Almost ten minutes late… Sighing cast a tired look at the security team. They ignored her. Oh well. By the time this was over, and she'd finally make it to the class, it would likely be half over. She took solace in the fact that in such controlled conditions, with Aizawa's efforts redoubled, very little could would likely go wrong.
Ash, soot, embers and smoke clouded his senses. Coughing and gagging on it all, his body hadn't braced at when it collided with wood. Crashing down through the smouldering shingled roof of a small house, he spun, spiraling for another few feet before crashing through the floor. When he finally stopped falling, he landed face first in a pile of rubble on top of cement. Wheezing in his next breath, Deku's limbs fought against his every attempt to move them. Fingers fumbling about, he managed to find his sunglasses amidst the debris. He crawled to a wall, propping himself against it as he replaced them on his face. Eyelids seemingly glued shut, from the sting of the heat and smoke, it took him several moments to realize he was in the basement of a burning building. Searching frantically, he spotted a small window, just narrowly enough room between the bottom of the next floor and where the ground started. It would have to do. Standing up, some life back in him, he felt the entire house shake. Looking up, he saw the floors above him collapsing. He flew. Legs springing him off the ground he tumbled through glass, rolling to a stop on the street. Behind him, the building imploded under its own weight in a billow of embers and smoke. Panting, gripping at his aching ribs he looked around. "Must be the Inferno Zone…" he mumbled, coughing into his mask.
"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" The screaming above his head snapped his attention to the source.
"Jiro!" He flung himself skyward, in an instant they'd met, arms clasping each other's forms. They were spinning, almost out of control when he flung his hand out, clutching at a nearby wall. Hauling her against him, face protected by his scrawny form, as they crashed against metal and plexiglass. He clung to her like glue as they skidded, his skin scraping against the surface of the building he was clinging to. Luckily, it was only the fingertips of his left hand he'd damaged. They reached the ground with anything but grace, his legs smashing against pavement as they fell in a heap. They both groaned, stirring back to their senses with as much reluctance as children being woken up for school. He scanned her over, eyes searching for anything wrong but found nothing. Just ash on her face, now smudged up her cheek from where she'd been held against him. "You okay?"
She nodded, "You?" He nodded as well, and she sighed in strained relief. Getting to her feet she grabbed his hand and hauled him to. He must have been dizzy, because she had to catch him once he'd stood up, he was so unsteady. "Hey, Green?"
Shaking his head sharply, trying to force his senses back to focus, he said, "Yeah?"
Making sure he was steady, she let him go, taking a step back to observe their surroundings. "I'd like to have a normal school day again soon."
Laughing breathily, feeling some of the adrenaline clearing his veins, he replied. "Me too." But their reprieve was short lived. Portals opened up all around them, groups of villains pouring through, From the looks of them, their quirks were perfectly suited for such an arena.
"Akaguro!" Jiro looked up to see Yaoyorozu and boy who's name she'd called hurtling toward the ground. While she'd sprouted a grappling hook and rope from her hand, using it to swing harmlessly to the ground, he had no such method available to save himself. Or so they'd thought. Deku was about to leap to him when he unsheathed his sword; lancing it into the wall of the nearby building and clung to the hilt. Dragging the blade through brick and mortar only slowed his descent enough not to break his legs upon hitting the street, falling on his face in a heap. Seeing a villain about pounce on him, some horrid, glowing green sludge dripping from his massive maw, Jiro leapt forward.
Her earlobe dragged along the ground, sundering pavement to dust and debris. Hand following the same path as her earlobe, she flung enough street into the villain's face to stun him as he sputtered and gagged, bits of it cutting at his eyes. Wasting no time she flung her body into spiral, her knee smashing into the villain's ribs and smacking his head into the brick wall beside him. An attack best suited to one who'd had years to practice it, as she clattered against the ground, having failed to stick the landing. Another villain would have smashed her flat, with limbs shaped like wrecking balls had Yaoyorozu not flung a length of wire around his throat and hauled him away from her. She pulled him into a very uncomfortable position before bringing her elbow down on the villain's face, rendering him unconscious as Jiro and Akaguro picked themselves up.
Deku, on the other hand, had narrowly avoided being incinerated. A pair of villains, one who could control fire and another who created it, had singled him out and attempted to turn him to cinders. Only by throwing himself as hard as he could in the direction of his friends. "Heads up!" He yelled, watching them throw themselves out of the path of the incoming fire. In a moment of error, the vamprire found himself face to face with a mob of them. One opened their mouth, another raised his hand, another opened his eyes. A vortex of light, acid and wind shot toward him, unable to alter course he flung his arms in front of his face and closed his eyes. Instead of searing pain, he felt arms around his middle and a change in the wind. His body crashed through a window, someone else snarled around him. Someone who's side and face were sizzling. His eyes shot wide open. "Akaguro, you're-!"
"Just go!" He hissed through clenched teeth, hauling them to their feet. Tearing off his acid-soaked mask narrowly avoided him going blind. His ribs were not so lucky. As the two boys ran, through a burning building, more villains plunged in after them. Not hesitating for a moment Akaguro swing his sword through the nearest wooden support. In his haste, the dhampire got a lung full of smoke and started coughing violently; too violently to run. Deku grabbed his wrist and jumped, hauling him along with him as the building collapsed behind them. No villains nearby, they waited in silence for a moment before letting themselves breathe, one of them coughing his lungs clear. Clutching his side, Akaguro fell against a nearby wall. "Damn it!" he hissed. When he saw the puppy dog worry on Deku's face he forced himself to stand up. "Let's go."
Deku's eyes fluttered rapidly. "But you're-"
"Let's go." he repeated, forcing his legs to start walking. "The others might need our help."
Falling in step behind him, Deku murmured, "If we don't need theirs…"
As if on cue, who would come hurtling into the alley but the their two classmates. Making motions for them to run the other way their eyes went wide as they screeched to a halt. "Behind you!" Yaoyorozu shouted.
"Behind you!" Deku replied leaping forward and socking the fire creating guy square in the jaw. His body flopped, twisting like a slapped rag-doll as blood and teeth spewed from his mouth. Then, the four of them were standing in a circle, surrounded by villains.
One of them, a guy with a weird mass of flesh over his head, like a tent, caught Deku's with a savage punch. The force of the impact sent him flying a blur, through the corner of a nearby brick wall. World spinning, his vision clouded with fireworks that only head-trauma let you see, he was still incredibly disoriented when Yaoyorozu helped him to his feet. And the villain who'd hit him started laughing. "Nowhere left to run, kiddies!" his voice was booming, deep, befitting of such a musclebound behemoth. Akaguro stumbled, gripping at his face, trying not to let the stars in his eyes drown out his consciousness. "Now you're trapped," he laughed, it was the kind of laugh that told all who heard it that they were about to die, "in here…" he took one more, earth shaking step forward, "with me."
Akaguro's shoulders started shaking, his face still aimed right at the ground, cupped in his fingers. "Heh heh heh heh heh heh…." Deku turned and looked at him, slowly. The grin on his face sent a chill down his spine. Why the hell was he laughing like that?
The behemoth growled, "what the hell's so funny, pipsqueak!?"
In a bone chillingly slow motion, the teenager's face turned upwards. The behemoth backed away. No human alive was supposed to have a smile that wrong, that wide and with eyes that beady. His expression was that a man completely unhinged and in love with his own insanity. The look of a wild beast ready to turn you into meat. "That's my line." All bets were off. The lumbering pink villain was done fucking around. He swung his arm downward in a blur, trying to snap the kid's spine in two before he had a chance to do anything. But his fist connected only with concrete. The other teenagers had thrown themselves out of harm's way. Akaguro had charged forward, sword lancing through skin, muscle and sinew and sending a spray of blood into the teenager's mouth. Like a boned fish, the villain went limp and the hero in training lifted up his boot and drove his heel into the temple of the paralyzed evildoer.
A villain's eyes went wide, Deku doubled over clutching at the sides of his head while Yaoyorzu and Jiro leapt to defend him. "What the hell-!?" he breathed, then more loudly he repeated, "That cut wasn't fatal enough to kill anyone!" Turning to face the screaming villain, his face wearing the textbook definition of creepy -wide open eyes, narrowed brow and hatter mad grin- Akaguro said nothing. "What did you do to Trapezius!?"
Yaoyorozu looked at the blade in Akaguro's hand, covered in blood, and then to his mouth. Her eyes went wide and face white as she connected the dots. Holding the sword to his lips, his eerily long tongue snaking forward and lapping at the blood on his sword, he replied. "Only what I'll be doing to you next."
All Yaoyorozu needed to hear. From her leg, sprouting into existence was a pair of swords. "Jiro." Nodding, the violet eyed girl grabbed the hilt and aimed it at a nearby foe and the dhampire laughed, obviously approving of his classmate's plan.
Jiro grabbed Deku's shoulder, but he was still fighting against himself too much to think. "Green." No answer, villains were starting to close in. "Midoriya!" She had to leap in front of him, slashing at the stretching arm of someone attempting to claw for his eyes. Last chance… "Izuku!" His eyes snapped to her, wide, afraid and crazed like a rabid dog. In a motion that followed her swing, she flicked the edge of her blade toward Akaguro's open maw, and he caught the blood in the air. Sure enough, the villain attached to that stretching limb collapsed. "Claws!" She shouted, and a look of comprehension spread on the rapid boy's features.
He moved in a blur, him and Akaguro, into the nearest group of villains and started swinging. Their motions, frantic and quick -too quick to follow almost- tore through armor, cloth and skin. A dance of blade and claw, coloring the air almost thick with the blood of their enemies as the dhampire caught what of it he could with his tongue. Deku flinging more of the same right at him when the chance arose. Jiro and Yaoyorozu leapt to, swinging for whoever they could, whoever wasn't currently running away. In a matter of seconds, the fight, if it could even be called as much, was over. As the villains lay, straining against unmoving muscles, Akaguro went around stomping on their heads while Yaoyorozu spouted handcuffs from her skin; binding villain's wrists as she followed in his wake. Jiro turned to see Deku on his knees, fingers tearing at his scalp, like he were scratching some crazed itch. Cautiously, she approached, kneeling beside him. "Green?" no reply. "What's wrong?" She thought she might be sick. The skin around his right eye, the veins were… pulsing and black as his sclera, the eye itself completely bloodshot. A thick sweat had broken out over his brow, and his breathing was weak, shallow. "... Midoriya?" Slowly his eyes went to her, they were wild, unfocused. He seemed to be shivering on top of it all. "Can you talk?" Slowly he shook his head.
Yaoyorozu, having finished handcuffing the unconscious villains -binding their hands and feet together for good measure- walked over. "What happened to him?"
"I don't know," Jiro answered, looking him over, closely, "He's not acting right at all."
Taking a minute to breathe, hand clutching at his acid-burned ribs, the dhampire took a seat on the pavement. "Is it the blood?" his voice strained. Deku seemed to think about this, but then shook his head again, tapping at his skull and wincing.
Leaning close, Jiro realized his eyes were more than wrong. The one on the left was completely contracted while his right was entirely dilated. "I think he has a concussion." She frowned, "he must have landed worse than I thought…"
It was then that Yaoyorozu noticed the veins on the right side of his head. Moving his white hair aside she examined his skin. "Oh no…"
"What?" Akaguro and Jiro said together.
The creation girl turned Deku's face, so Jiro could see what she'd found. Two, tiny, red marks just below his hairline. "From our friend the black widow, it looks like." Black widows, spiders who produce a protein based venom that attacks their victim's nervous system.
"Shit…" Akaguro strained to climb to his feet. "I think Jiro's right… his landing, or that punch, must have hurt him more than we thought, otherwise his healing factor would be burning through the venom on its own." Looking around, frowning accusingly at their surroundings he added, "that and… vampires do not agree with fire. His body is likely working overtime to keep its temperature regulated."
Yaoyorozu gulped. "So… he could lose it and attack us?" she regarded him nervously, "if it's taxing him that much…"
Jiro glared at her, looking her right in the eye she grabbed Deku under his shoulders and hauled him up. He was shaky, unsteady, he leaned on her, other hand gripping at his skull as he got used to being back on his feet. He looked like a kid with a nasty illness. Eyes half closed, sweating, pale as snow and shivering. The unfocused look in his eye was almost disarming. "See how his jaw isn't shaking?" Pointed out the violet eyed girl. "The rest of him is, that isn't. What does that tell you?" Deku looked away from them, trying to hide his face, and the creation girl felt a pang of guilt stabbing at her.
Hesitantly, she answered. "He's still doing everything he can to fight that urge, even though it might heal him." Wincing, at her own selfishness, she felt an utter fool. "Midoriya- I… forgive me. I- I'm not used to-" His answer was a hand, slowly placing itself on her shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. Labored, slow breathing pushed and pulled at his ribs, making them rise and fall. Motions that accentuated the exhausted look in his mismatched eyes. He couldn't speak, say anything to put her at ease, but he let go of Jiro -the one presently responsible for his sense of balance- to give her a thumbs up. Yaoyorozu thought she might cry. "Can't we let him bite one of the villains?" She pleaded. "If it will help him-"
"No." Akaguro cut in. "We can't have evidence of his existence getting out, remember? If he bites someone, when he has every chance not to, it's over for him." The weight of the words felt heavy on Yaoyorozu's shoulders. Deku's hand left her shoulder, she turned to see he was still looking at her. He nodded, and she nodded back.
"And to be honest," Jiro put forward jokingly, "I think the idea of expulsion from the hero course scares him more than death." Deku's frame shook once with the force of a solitary laugh. Somehow, the atmosphere felt a little less oppressive now.
Taking a few steps toward Akaguro, Yayorozu bent to examine his wound. "Can I help?"
He shrugged. "Can you make something that could heal an acid burn?"
Holding out her hands, an ointment sprouted into existence, which she spread over the wound. Open skin, bits of muscle peeking through the faint remnants of his last epidermal layer. Next, she pulled a rather large adhesive bandage forth and he opened his shirt enough for her to apply it. "Unfortunately I'm no recovery girl," said she, "but I hope that helps a little."
Nodding, stars still dancing in his eyes, he coughed, shoulders and chest heaving with the effort. "It'll do." And he started walking Jiro leading a bleary Deku not far behind while Yaoyorozu kept her sword handy. A few extra pairs of handcuffs hanging from her belt, just in case and her stomach growled.
Jiro looked between her companions. Two with one foot in the grave, another already taxing her energy just a bit too far. To make matters more harrowing they had no idea where the exit was. "I really hope the others are doing better that we are…"
Water. Not Kaminari's preferred environment. Not the best swimmer, even without an entire hero costume weighing him down. To make matters worse, he was currently staring down a man who looked a PSA against human-shark interbreeding. The villain in question was swimming right for him, mouth wide open and barrelling toward his throat. Kaminari was about panic when he saw a pair of green legs slam into the man's face. Before he could realize what was happening, Asui's tongue had wrapped around his middle and flung him out of the water. Much to his surprise, he landed on a ship. Coughing the water from his lungs, chest heaving from his efforts to breathe he could have kissed the frog girl for saving his life. "You okay, Kaminari?" She croaked, hauling a water-logged Aoyama onto the deck alongside them.
Finally able to speak, he grumbled, "I'll live." Taking a seat against a nearby wall. "What happened to everyone else?"
"I don't know…" Asui answered, regret coloring her voice. "We all got swallowed by that purple mist guy's quirk, but I don't think anyone else wound up with us."
Kaminari peered over the side of the ship, out at the rest of the USJ. "So we all got separated…"
Asui nodded, "that's what it looks like."
Stirring by the frog girl's side, was one Aoyama rousing to consciousness. "Mon Dieu, je déteste les vêtements mouillés…." He groaned, shaking the water from his gloves. "What happened?" He asked daring to stand up and look into the water surrounding them. Swirling in the water, calculating their next move, was a group aquatic villains. "...Nevermind, that was a foolish question." Turning to Asui, a tinkle in his eye, he said, "Asui, ma belle fleur, thank you for the timely save." He said with a bow.
"You can call me Tsu," The frog girl croaked, " and I think your thanks may be premature unless we find a way out of here."
"Well," Aoyama pondered, "there are… more than I think we can safely handle by ourselves, no?" Where the hell was this guy from and why was he speaking with a french accent?! "Can we evade them? Jump to shore perhaps?"
Asui gulped. "Not in one leap," she said, "not unless your navel laser can carry us the rest of the way." At the utterance of such a plan, Kaminari was starting to come up with one of his own.
"Ahh…" it was a plan Kaminari did not want to go through with, but he saw no other alternative. "perhaps but I will be worse than useless after such a display." Giving Asui an apologetic look, he added, "I'm afraid all I would do then is slow you down while the villains catch up with us."
"Do it." Kaminati said, standing up.
Asui's eyes went wider than usual, eyebrows jumping. "What? But you heard what he just said. We'd be defenseless." She stood up too, "You and me won't be enough to protect him from all them."
Kamniari gulped. "We won't have to," he smiled, fear showing through it clear as day, "I'm not going with you anyways."
"Ne sois pas absurde!" Aoyama exclaimed, making Kaminari roll his eyes. "Of course you're coming with us! We won't just leave you here!"
Asui nodded, "We're in this together, I don't see us making it out of here any other way." Villains below started swarming at the side of the boat, weapons and appendages scraping away at the metal.
Kaminari shook his head, "Except this one…" He pointed to the shore. "When you jump, just make sure you get there in one go."
Asui's voice sounded as though she believed he'd lost it. "While you do what? Go down with the ship?"
"No." Smiling, holding up a hand, fingers crackling with electricity, he tried his best not to look afraid. "I'm gonna throw a toaster into the tub." Gulping, he looked out toward the water. "Of course… you know what happens to the toaster." He muttered, already dreading what was doubtlessly going to happen. At the worst of times, overusing his quirk almost literally fried his brain. Overusing it on a metal boat in the middle of lake? If he survived, it would be a day to remember.
"Unacceptable," protested the other blond, "we can't just leave you to-"
"Do you have a better idea!?" Silence. Tried as they might, nothing was forthcoming from either of them. "Then just go." He leaned down palm spread over the surface of the deck. "When you get help, don't forget to send someone after me, yeah?" The boat rocked, villains clearly on their way aboard.
Asui reached right for him, "Kaminari-"
"GO!" The boat violently surged to one side, knocking them off balance. After a moment's hesitation, she realized he was right. They really didn't have any other feasible way out of this. Too many to fight, even if it had been on favorable ground. Locking elbows with Ayoyama, the two of them back to back, she gave Kaminari a last worried look before she launched them into the air. "Well," he chuckled, nerves beyond frayed as he prepared to go full power with his quirk, "always wanted to try fishing with a big zapper…"
Clasping his hand down on the metal, he cut loose. Electricity surged from the metal, arching off the sides of the ship and shooting through every drop of water in the artificial lake. Kaminari's mouth clenched shut, his every muscle going convulsing and constricting violently. The water, both in the lake and on him, it was serving as a secondary medium for his quirk! Instead of frying out his brain like he'd predicted the electricity of his attack rebounded. His hair stood on end, clothes and skin cooked dry as his limbs spasmed violently. Jaw trembling open, he fell backwards, as the boat began to capsize. His back collided with the side of the cabin, head slamming into it a millisecond later, making his vision fuzzy. So this was what passing out felt like… it was strangely like falling asleep, only instead of your body following your brain, your brain followed your body.
Eyes fluttering shut, he was only dimly aware of someone landing next to him on the boat. They hauled him up into their arms before wind tore at his face, his hair. Before he blacked out he thought he heard someone cursing in french, as a beam of light danced in the periphery of his vision.
Aizawa's back slammed into the edge of the fountain, am exclamation of extreme discomfort knocked from his lips. Glaring at the villain responsible he forced his tired, aching body to leap into the air, narrowly avoiding another body breaking punch. No good, his quirk couldn't cancel out this thug's quirk. It never worked on quirks that were constantly active, changing the shape of their owner's bodies along with the enhancements provided. So it was his usual tack with such brutes that would save the day. Footwork constantly pedaling away, weaving side to side, he baited the goliath into charging in. Then, bait taken, he somersaulted over his head, scarf snaring at the fools feet and toppling him. After that, it was a simple matter to let gravity carry his knees into the back of his opponent's head. Getting up after that was a trick his body wasn't thrilled to be performing. A slight stagger, lasting only a fraction of a second, marked his wavering vim. "He's getting tired!" Shouted one, as his hair yielded to gravity at long last. "Now's our chance!" Six of them charged in all at once.
Aizawa scoffed. "Such arrogance…" Hair floating once again, he lashed out with his scarfe and coiled it around the neck of the furthest assailant. "All my career," he pulled with everything he had, ducking passed another villain's straightarm. "I've fought villains who could be described as true monsters," his knee lashed out, striking the fool he'd evaded right in the sternum, and a loud crunching noise was heard. "A bunch of punks here to pick on kids," he growled, spinning in the air and driving his fist into another thug's face. The number of teeth flying out of his mouth made his ally's wonder if he had any left, "have no chance standing up to me!" And with a final yank, he pulled the one he'd snared into the remaining two, leaping over them as the sprawled out on the ground. As they tried to collect themselves, one making it back to her feet, he charged. A strike to her neck, just below the larynx sent her back to the dirt. Driving his elbow down between the shoulder blades of the second succeeded in misaligning his spine with a loud pop. The third was still on the ground, with his face barely picked up off it. It was a simple matter to charge forward and swing his foot in an upward, like a football player aiming for opposite end of the field. A broken jaw and a few torn muscles in one's neck never killed anyone at least.
Shigaraki, the man with the disembodied hand on his face, seemed to growl. "You're rather ruthless for a hero…" he remarked, fingers clawing at his own neck. "I'd almost think you'd killed before, watching you fight." Even underneath that hand, the scraggly man could see the unhinged smile on his face. "Are you capable of such a thing, Eraser Head?"
Dropping back into his combat stance, he decided to meet that taunt with a challenge. "Want to find out?"
To his credit, Shigaraki laughed. A laugh that could only be produced by a voice that sounded like moldy sandpaper. "Oh you are just so cool!" Exclaimed the villain. "As if taking out my minions wasn't single handed wasn't cool enough, now this!" He flashed a mad look at the hero, a look like mad dog about to break free of the chain. "Not many heroes have that kind of loose moral code." he chuckled some more. "Just who the hell are you, Eraser Head?"
"Not going to lie," he said, giving his eyes a moment to rest. Using his quirk gave him very serious dry-eye. Right now he was certain they were borderline clinically dehydrated. But there were more enemies yet left to fight, "you've caught me in the middle of a very bad week." He allowed himself a dark little smirk. "I'm not sure just what I'm capable of right now." At that statement Shigaraki's face lit up like christmas had come early. Hook, line and sinker, "Like I said," he beckoned him, curling his fingers toward himself, "Come find out."
"Ohhh ho ho ho ho ho!" He held up a finger, drawing the attention of the purple brute. "Wait there, Nomu, I wanna a turn at playing this game!" And he charged straight for the professional, unaware of the trap he'd just run headlong into. "As for the rest of you," he bellowed hand outstretched for Aizawa's face, "kill those brats by the entrance!"
"No!" Aizawa hissed, trying to break away from his new opponent and make chase. There weren't many, maybe seven of them, but he didn't like their odds. They were just kids, fresh into the school for god's sakes!
Seeing him so frantic to protect them, Shigaraki laughed. "Go after them, and I send the Nomu instead!" Aizawa chanced a look at the hulking beast called 'Nomu'. Formidable, and mindless, likely some sort of quirk experiment gone horribly wrong. That it was so large, and had yet to display what it's true power was… no. He couldn't chance that thing going after his students. For now he'd play this 'Shigaraki's' game.
Though he hopped to break a few of his extremities in the process.
Their collective efforts to subdue the man made of purple mist had only succeeded in thinning their numbers. Every student who'd leapt in to attack had been thrown to who knew what corner of the facility. At present, the only ones remaining by Thirteen's side Uraraka, Ashido, Iida, that puffy lipped guy and the guy with six arms. Staring down an enemy, whose location was constantly in flux, and trying to get passed him was a challenge the pro hero had not yet encountered. Considering the lack of alarms going off, the villains had likely disabled them remotely. In his efforts to contact the outside, Iida had found that cell reception was also being blocked. No way out, no way to call for help and a building full of villains threatening their classmates. Not an ideal scenario to throw a group of newbies into. "Young Iida…" Thirteen's voice was quiet, sober. Weighted with something heavy her students couldn't discern. "When we clear a path for the door, get through it and get help."
Iida looked shocked, almost offended, "But… ma'am, I can't just abandon you all!"
Ashido was the first to reply, "you're the only one fast enough to outpace these guys!"
"How am I supposed to outrun a teleporter?!" He demanded, "I'm fast but not fast enough to counter something that instantaneous!"
Uraraka chimed in, "once you get outside it won't matter! They can't follow you out without triggering the alarms!"
"It's true," Confirmed Thirteen, voice still unsettlingly grave, "all you have to do at that point is run and get help."
With a slight narrowing of his eyes, the portal villain gave a wordless reply. Opening a portal right under Iida's feet. Leaping to, Uraraka clapped a hand against his shoulder, and gravity no longer applied. "Good luck." Shoving him upwards, sending him right for the ceiling above the exit, she herself fell into the portal.
"Uraraka!" Hurtling toward the exit as he was, he tried to reach for her, but his fingers snared only air.
"Oh no you-" When the villain went to open another portal Thirteen was on him. Her gloved hand was opened on every finger, and the resulting pull of her quirk was that of a tornado. It was everything the villain could do not to immediately get sucked in. In fact he was forced to teleport behind her in the chaos. "You are beginning to irritate me." His voice carried a scathing bite.
Rather than say anything she merely turned her other hand on him, once again forcing him to teleport away. Taking advantage of the distraction, Iida blasted away with the engines in his calves, rocketing himself in a tailspin toward the glass above. When the villain next appeared, he was prepared. Thirteen's attack was redirected by two different portals, one in front of her, the other behind. When she went to siphon the man from existence, her attack instead tore the back of her costume to shreds and the flesh of her body along with it. Leaping to her rescue were the puffy lipped guy and Ashido. While the muscley teen landed a punch on his face -knocking him off balance- Ashido, palms outstretched, blasted acid all over the man's torso. Shrieking in pain, the villain threw himself away from them, writhing on the ground. Instinct was an ugly thing if you pushed the human brain hard enough, and seeing the way the man convulsed in agony was enough to make Ashido wish she'd born quirkless. But there wasn't time for such thoughts. Up above Iida was fuming in frustration, furiously wailing his leg against unyielding glass. From the looks of him, he was barely holding onto the metal in his hands. Urarak's quirk must have stopped… Thinking quickly the grabbed her classmate's shoulder. "You have a strength quirk, right?!"
He blinked, "yes?"
Ashido pointed toward Iida. "Throw me up there!" Before he could protest the stirring villain was snarling, probably frothing at the mouth and forcing himself to his feet. Were it not for their six armed classmate tackling the purple man, he'd have been on them in seconds. So without a word, he reached for his utility belt, grabbed a packet of sugar and consumed it. Picking up the pink girl he curled his body like baseball pitcher and hurled her toward their armored friend. "Iida, incoming!" She shouted, giving him just enough to brace himself for her impact. Being thrown against a man in armor was significantly less pleasant than she'd ever imagined… wind knocked from her lungs, stars in her eyes, she managed to cling a metal beam just above his head. Hand outstretched she sprayed acid over the glass and metal. "Now, kick it now!" And he complied, sundering the glass and metal entirely. Unfortunately he'd also succeeded in destroying his hand holds. Luckily, Ashido's was holding strong. Strong enough that she was able to push him through with her legs rather than watch him plummet away back inside the USJ.
He landed on the pavement outside with a loud clatter, but with a few curses, he was on his feet and rocketing away. Ashido almost breathed a sigh of relief when she remembered just how high up she was. Looking back down below she saw the others had succeeded in subduing that mist guy, and three other students had made it back to the group. Asui, Aoyama and one crispy looking Kaminari. "Kami…" adding to the list of 'bad', Thirteen was done for. Underneath that bulky suit it was impossible to tell if she was still breathing. There wasn't time to find out, however. Right behind Asui's group was another bunch of villains, heading right for them. Frowning, letting her demeanor slip to something somber, she let out some of her negativity. "I hate today." And then she dropped, bracing her legs for impact.
By the time they'd reached the exit of the Inferno Zone, Jiro was amazed that either of the boys in her company were still standing. The sweltering heat alone was enough to make her dread ever wearing a leather jacket as part of hero costume. Having to half carry one of her friends made it practically unbearable. When she struggled to wipe the sweat off her brow, the vampire who she carried looked at her apologetically. "We're even." she said, prompting a confused blink. "From when you caught me." It took him a minute, but he nodded.
Up ahead of them Akaguro let loose with a rather violent cough as he kicked the door open. Walking through it, without breaking stride, he staggered to the water's edge -the sea accident zone- and fell in. Sighing in blissful relief he floated there for a moment before dragging himself out of the water. "I don't think that water's sanitary…" Yaoyorozu commented.
"Don't care." The dhampire replied, his breathing finally equalizing. "Feel better." and the creation girl shook her head. At Deku slumping back like a lump, Jiro strained in her efforts to ease him to the ground.
Growling with her efforts not to drop him, she hissed, "Damn it, Green!" But he wasn't present enough to hear her. The vice like clamping of his jaw remained resolute, even as his eyes drooped closed. Rolling her eyes, Jiro pulled on the back of his head to lean him forward. "Self destructive lunatic…" she muttered angrily. "Do you ever worry about yourself?" No reply, even after she'd wormed him out of his- oh good lord. The heft of this jacket was a sin against reasonably weighted clothing. "Y-you idiot!" She all but shouted. "Would it have killed you to take this thing off?!" her voice strained as she let it drop from his shoulders with a thud.
Akaguro rolled his eyes shaking his head with a one sided frown. "I'm starting to think you were right about that concussion." Coughing again, groaning and gripping his side, he growled in frustration. "I hate smoke…"
Wiping some blackened sweat from her brow, Yaoyorozu murmured her reply. "I'm not fond of it myself…" While Jiro discarded her jacket something caught the creation girl's eye. "Looks like Aizawa's still fighting that-" her eyes went wide. "Wh- what is that thing!?" Jiro looked up and just about thought she'd lost it. No way in hell did nature produce a creature that wrong looking. But why was it just standing there?
Unaware of those now observing them, Aizawa and Shigaraki were fighting two very different battles. The hero was on his last wind, unable to keep himself from wobbling as he alternated between dodging and negating the villain's attempts to disintegrate his flesh. His eyes were screaming for any sort of liquid to undry them, his knuckles and joints were all bleeding from beating a mob of fools into the dirt. Even if he beat this guy, he was no longer sure he had it in himself to beat the so called 'Nomu'. Meanwhile, Shigaraki was having the time of his life. Sure, he was getting more bruises and cuts than any other time in his life, but there was something oddly thrilling about fighting. As another blow to his gut knocked the wind out of him, as another knee to his temple made the world spin, he cackled. "Twenty four…" still listing numbers, for what purpose the hero knew not. Another strike to the lunatic's ribs, another hand clawing for face. A hand he hadn't noticed until it snared his goggles. "Twenty…" lurching his head back, Aizawa narrowly avoided his face being turned to dust. It was almost sad, watching those goggles deteriorate to nothing in the man's grip.
"Seventeen…" What was he on about? Aizawa glared at him, suppressing a snarl as he lashed out with his scarf and snared most of Shigaraki's upper body with it. "Now it's all the way down to six." And he pulled the man toward him, flinging him into the air. Lurching forward, tugging on the scarf with all he had, he brought the villain crashing down into the concrete water fountain. Ordinarily such a man would have shattered upon such an impact, but the water broke his fall just enough to prevent that. When the villain was out of sight, the scarf began disintegrating and Aizawa cursed himself for his error. Bursting from the water, coughing up said liquid, the villain cackled breathlessly. "Your quirk, makes your float around whenever you use it." Grinned he, "I've been watching, calculating the amount of time you could use it," he pulled himself out of the fountain, looming toward the hero, whose breathing was heavy, labored. It had been too long since he'd had such a fight. "And now that you're down to the wire, facing the leader, you just keep mixing it up!" He pointed right at him with violent enthusiasm. "I can never predict a good time to try and use a finishing move!" Aizawa glared at him, growling disapprovingly at this man's appreciation for his tactics. "You really are just so cool…" Shigaraki sighed, happily. "I almost don't want to kill you."
Flicking his wrist, dagger in hand, Aizawa altered his combat stance accordingly. "The feeling is far from mutual." And Shigaraki couldn't help but snicker gleefully.
"Ahhh, " he sighed, stepping out of the fountain, "it's been fun," he flexed his wrists, snapping them more times in tandem than should have been possible, "but it's time for this game to end." THen something caught his attention: that group of villains he'd sent up the stairs was having trouble with those kids. And… oh no. "Shit…" he hissed under his breath. "Kurogiri's out. Looks like the fun's over." Whistling, instantly drawing the Nomu's attention, he pointed up the stairs. "Finish them, and bring me Kurogiri." When the lumbering monster went for the stairs, Aizawa felt the veil around the world drop, and he remembered what nightmares felt like. You think you remember, in your waking moments, after they happen, but you don't. Not until something beyond horrible is looming over your head, threatening to change your life forever for the worst.
All heroes have moments where their bodies moved on their own. Rushing them toward danger they couldn't possible hope to beat in order to protect those who were helpless. All heroes, no matter how jaded, never quite manage to resist this impulse. When Aizawa landed on the Nomu's shoulders, he drove the blade of his dagger into the monster's eye. When he dragged the blade through its brain, he expected it to fall. Instead it reached up, faster than he could hope to react, and grabbed his chest. Air was pushed from his lungs, ribs snapping like twigs in its grip, it just tossed him off like he was a mosquito. Nothing more than an annoyance.
"Impressive, isn't he?" Shigaraki mocked, "the best that old 'Sensei' could put together." Sputtering, straining through the pain, the Hero looked up to see the flesh of the creature putting itself back together. "He should be more than a match for All Might."
In a flash, defying his broken chest, Aizawa was on Shigaraki. One hand pulled at the hair on the back of his head, the other had the dagger aimed right at his carotid artery. "You really think I won't?" and for the first time, Shigaraki saw it. The look one only got in one's eyes when one had taken lives and was every bit capable of taking them again. It was a look that chilled him down the marrow, not one that should ever be in the eyes of a hero. "Then keep walking," he… he was talking to the Nomu?! "Your master here won't live past your next step." The Nomu stopped, turning around and staring right at the two of them.
Talking to a wild beast instead of the man who commanded it… one line too far. Shigaraki reached behind himself, and gripped Aizawa's broken ribs. With a strained outcry of pain, Aizawa's hand actually made the motion to stab Shigaraki. Had the villain not anticipated the reflexes of his survival instincts prompting him to attack, the dagger would have killed him. Instead he let gravity carry him backward and down, away from the blade. Gripping at rotting, shattered ribs Aizawa staggered backward, staring down the villains with naught much left but embers of his strength. Now, the look in Shigaraki's eyes was anything but amused. "On second thought, Nomu…" he pointed right at the Hero, his entire left shoulder drenched in blood from the sizable cut Aizawa had just given him. "Kill him first."
There was no mistaking what she'd just heard. That… thing was going to kill Aizawa. "Oh no you don't!" Jiro shouted, hand on her sword in a flash. The creature only had a moment to look up before her next move was made. Throwing the blade like a javelin it speared itself soundly in the creature's chest. In confusion it looked down at the thing piecing its flesh. It seemed confused, like it didn't recognize the look of its own blood. Like seeing such a thing shouldn't have been possible any longer.
"No!" Aizawa shouted, "get out of here!" but it was too late. The Nomu was already right next to her, a backhand hit her skull with greater force than a punch from god. Her body skidded across the dirt, bouncing and flailing limply into the air, spinning just enough so that when she next landed it was on her back. Wind and senses knocked soundly from her Jiro stared, groaning up at the ceiling while the world spiraled.
Lounging straight at the thing were Akaguro and Yaoyorozu. His katana skewered through the thing's entire torso, but it ignored it. It was by a hair's breadth that he avoided getting punched in the face, but the wind. The wind from the missed strike was enough to send him flying. Yaoyorozu's sword slashed through the thing's side, but she too -in the wake of that thing's attack, was thrown away from it. "That thing…" she breathed, hurling herself back to her feet, "the force of that attack…" her eyes were wide with terror, even still she stood her ground.
In disbelief, the dhampire made the harrowing climb back to his feet, and marveled at it. "It's as strong as All Might." He said, almost reverently.
Yaoyorzu, standing between the thing and Jiro, refused to move. Two of her comrades were helpless, one was just about dead. She couldn't win, but she couldn't run. Gulping back her nerves, she aimed her blade right at the thing's face, staring it down. "If I were a praying girl… I think this would be the time." she breathed, even as she quaked in her boots. It charged, she prepared to counter its next attack, only she never had the chance. She was knocked out of its way before it hit her, and someone else was on top of her. When he dragged her back to her feet, she almost screamed his name. "Aizawa? How did you-" His chest soaked in blood. Skin falling off, half rotted had torn open in his mad dash to save her life.
"I said," he strained through clenched teeth, tearing the sword from her grip, "RUN!" and he charged at the Nomu again. She barely had time to register what happened next. It struck out, he narrowly dodged, the wind sent her flying, shoulders and head colliding with the wall of the Inferno Zone. It was a miracle the pain alone didn't make her black out.
Jiro was finally able to move again, but the pain from doing so made her wish she couldn't. Definitely a concussion. At the moment she was just thankful that thing hadn't broken her neck. Forcing herself to look up, she saw a truly hopeless sight. Aizawa, somehow managing to avoid a striked from it, slashed its side clean open. When she saw the massive, open wound on his own ribs she was no longer certain just whose blood he was drenched in. It reared up, ready to smash him into the dirt when Akaguro suddenly landed on its back. His thumbs forced their way into the monster's eyes, prompting it flail about. Jiro was on her feet, staggering, when it grabbed him. She was running when Aizawa impaled the thing's face. She was sprinting when it dropped Akaguro to force the blade from its grey matter. There just wasn't stopping this thing. Everything they did to it just healed itself and utterly failed to slow it down. They weren't strong enough to fight this thing, no human was save for All Might.
All Might wasn't here.
Someone who wasn't human, was here.
"Green!" She practically fell by his side, he was barely even breathing anymore. She reached out shaking him, trying to wake him to no avail. "Come on, get up!" Nothing. Between the heat from the inferno Zone and the venom was ravaging his body, Izuku Midoriya was long unconscious. "We need you!" Even as she pleaded, the Nomu had recovered, swatting Aizawa aside just in time for Yaoyorozu to start launching… something at it from the backs of her wrists. Something thick, heavy and that solidified almost instantly. Whatever it was, it was only succeeding in slowing it down as its master started walking over to them.
"Midoriya…" Jiro breathed, as it smashed free of the solidified material, "I don't know if you really stand a chance of beating this thing," Yaoyorozu staggered, it reached out to grab her head and Akaguro on it, forcing his sword uo: the rest of the way through its body and lopping off its arm. "But without you, we all die before help can get here." She undid her choker, letting it fall to the ground as the Nomu's arm re-sprouted from its side. In the next moment, she was pulling Midoriya's mask of his face, digging her fingernails into the side of her own throat with her other hand. "Don't hate me for this..." As the Nomu struck Akaguro, straight on, right in his wounded side, she pulled Midoriya's face to the side of her neck and flinched. While the half blood was sent through the barrier of the Inferno Zone, the full blooded Vampire unconsciously sank his teeth into her neck. She felt incredibly faint. Between the head trauma and now significant and increasing blood loss she almost relented to unconsciousness. Behind her, the Nomu swatted Yaoyorozu aside, looking curiously at Jiro. It cocked its head to one side, like a curious crow as it lumbered toward her. Aizawa, defy every screaming iota of his failing body, charged it again. Grabbing Jiro's sword, still in the thing's chest, he forced it up, vivisecting the Nomu's head. Before it had even finished healing it punched his already ruined chest. Its knuckles carried his body in an arc, smashing him through a section of the Inferon Zone barrier and he finally didn't get back up. At the sound of the violent crash, Midoriya's eyes sprang open.
Instinct took over. Flying from he'd been propped against the wall, claws at the ready, he tore the thing's face to ribbons. He'd jumped over its head, claws still in the thing's flesh he twisted his body and hurled as hard as he could. With a roar unlike any he'd ever unleashed, he actually lifted it up off the ground. With his other hand reached up to join the first, he smashed it back down to earth, clear away from his fallen allies. Shaking his head, staggering from the surge of adrenaline and sudden recuperation, he took a moment to process everything that had just happened. Chest heaving, suddenly able to draw in air at all he looked about and promptly realized he was the last one standing. Realizing the horrid thing he'd done. Yaoyorozu was stirring, albeit very slowly, back to her senses. Jiro lay on the ground behind him, her eyes narrow and brow furrowed from all manner of pain. The hand on her neck wasn't very effectual at staunching the blood flow, but it remained there as she stared defiantly at the Nomu. "Good…" she strained, very light headed from the effort required to even speak, "good luck, Green…" and she could risk another word. If she passed out with a concussion, there was no telling when or if she'd wake up. When he looked over his shoulder, that look of horrified guilt made her want to scream. Stirring of the Nomu climbing back to its feet.
"Now that's unexpected…" That disembodied hand… and he thought it had been his imagination, back at the front gate. "You actually threw it…" Deku looked at the hulking monster he'd apparently thrown. He was strong enough to throw an industrial steamroller, something weighting close to 20 tons, a good fifteen feet away from himself. Whatever this thing was, he'd only thrown it about half that distance; meaning that even while he'd grievously injured its brain -crippling most of its voluntary and autonomic functions- it was still strong enough to resist even that much strength. ...What kind of maniac created this thing? "No matter," Shigaraki batted that thought out of the air, "you'll be dead soon enough." he clicked his fingers and pointed right at Deku.
Good lord that thing could move. Eyes going wide at this monster's sheer strength, he only managed to dodge it by falling over. When it tried to kick him, Deku twisted his body away, only narrowly avoiding that as well. The wind was still enough to send him flying. Body twisting in the air -with all the grace of a tortoise with wings- he only barely managed to get back to his feet in time to avoid another attack. No. He didn't have time to think about what he was doing. If he wasted time with that, then this was over already. This time he was leaping over its head. That this tactic worked on it so well suggested it never expected anyone to be so crazy as to go over its head. It healed from this once already! Striking out with his claws, finally getting a chance to attack, he turned its exposed brain to jelly. It slumped forward, literal brain death stopping it dead as it started to regenerate. He sighed in relief. There was no way he could kill it, and that meant he didn't have to hold back with it. "That's it!" Deku shouted, leaping straight for the creature. There was a way to beat it! Leaping in front of it, claws swinging in rapid succession, he cut through flesh and bone like butter. It raised a hand to defend itself, but that was cut clean off for its trouble. In something akin to panic, it lashed out, striking his jaw in an uppercut and sending him flying into the air. He landed in a heap, his broken jaw and neck slow to reknit themselves, making snapping, popping noises as they did. He had to vigorously shake his head to retain his ballance.
"You can't kill Nomu," Shigaraki's voice was his only warning before he felt an indescribable pain in his right arm. Left arm swinging, this time in a punch, he swatted the villain's shoulder, making him scream. Deku staggered, clutching his rotting, disintegrating arm. Biting his lip and hissing from the pain he watched in horror as the skin and muscle turned to dust before his eyes. Snarling, the villain carried on with his little speech. "Everything…" he strained, "you do to it will only undo itself thanks to one of its quirks!" Deku looked up to see that it was almost completely regenerated again. Only… was it regenerating slower?
A growl in his stomach halted that thought dead. The tax on his body, from healing everything he'd been through today on top of his most recent injuries, it was more than what he'd eaten could maintain. Looking at his arm he found it was still disintegrating, his healing factor barely managing to keep pace. It was only after that his stomach growled louder that inspiration struck. "Funny thing about healing quirks…" with his good hand, he took hold of the rotting one, "your body can only keep it going for as long as it has the energy required." Claws extended, he braced for the pain he knew was coming. In one, excruciating motion, he used his claws to strip the affected flesh from his bones. He nearly doubled over from the pain, screaming through his teeth as his blood splattered the dirt. His breathing was strained, muffling cries of anguish as he forced himself to look up at his enemies. The only reason they hadn't attacked was because one of them had been too terrified to think of it. Deku held up his arm, letting the villain watch as his his flesh regrew over his bones. Scared as he was, shaking from fear and pain alike, he knew his friends were counting on him. His teacher was counting on him. Presence of mind enough to comprehend the value of intimidating one's opponent. Impressive that he had it, amidst the various screams of his ravaged body. "So I'll just have to keep hurting it," he took a step forward, "Until it's too tired to fight!" His quirk loving brain, ever to the rescue.
Shigaraki was at a loss. A kid, some brat with the quirk of a demi-god, was somehow managing to stand up his Nomu? No. Ridiculous. He pointed at the child in question. "Nomu," he said quietly, "pretend he's All Might." In a blur too fast for any normal human to see, it was on him. Fist smashing him through the water fountain, careening into the stone steps. And Deku thought that injury from Bakugo had hurt… it took entire seconds for his body to register it was even in pain. His nervous system might as well have gone through a blender. Before he could process any kind of plan, it was over him again, fist ready to deliver a killing blow.
Body surrendering to pure impulse, he twisted out of the path of its attack by the skin of his teeth. No time to think. If he hesitated even for one second in this fight, he would die. The people he was defending would die. Feet making contact with some surface he kicked off it, claws moving in a blur. Its eyes turned to paste, he caught the blood flying in the air with his long, inhuman tongue. When he landed it swung wildly, fist blasting over his head like a rocket as he ducked. Another lounge forward, this time he ripped most of its torso wide open, taking an arm with it as his open maw feverishly guzzled down the torrenting blood. Mid flight, it grabbed him, crushing his ribs and smashing him into the ground. Splattering him like a literal bug. But he'd easily had enough of this thing's blood to recover from it. Flesh reknitting itself in moments, he lunged upwards, spearing his arms deep into the thing's head.
He'd lost it, completely surrendering to his vampire nature his fangs drove themselves into its flesh. Hands digging, scrapping at the top of its head, keeping the brain from healing while he guzzled down its life force. A savage jab to his stomach, fingers spearing his flesh, rocketed him away from the thing. When he landed, he realized it had bit his midsection hard enough to burst it. Coughing, senses returning to his adrenaline addled brain after such a strike, Deku saw the world above him spinning. He groaned as he got to an upright position. Off in the distance, even with its ruined head and missing arm, it was staggering toward him. You just could keep it down… Forcing himself to his feet -a task easier than said than done with an open abdomen- he felt his own flesh and bone forcing themselves to reform. Still going as it was, it was slow. Deku had given it a beating so bad its healing factor was ending the fight for him. Every inch of flesh regrown, was another hint of wobble added to it's step.
When the vampire turned to face Shigaraki he was stunned, speechless. "Like I said," the vampire repeated, literally holding himself together with an arm firm against his gut, "healing only work as long as the body can keep it up." Shigaraki looked at him, almost numbly. Defeat worn plainly on his masked face, staring the victorious brat in the eye. "Tell it to stop, before it dies." The Nomu had regrown its body, but its footsteps were beyond labored. It was like watching a man that was already dead as he tried to keep walking. But it was still heading his way, at the same pace it always walked. "Please…" Deku's expression went soft, "No one's died yet, this doesn't have to end that way."
Those who were awake to observe looked on in awe. This… this was the power of a vampire? Yaoyorozu looked as though she were staring at a living, breathing myth: Afraid and filled with wonder. Jiro had no idea what to think. This fight clearly wasn't over. As long as that thing could still move, it could still kill all of them. Midoriya had managed to survive this long thanks only to clever tactics and savagery. But his legs were shaking. He was on his last remnants of vigor himself. Even with the ample supply of blood, coursing through his system, a vampire was still an animal. There wasn't an animal alive that didn't need sleep, especially after putting itself through something so harrowing as the fight he'd only narrowly survived. From the looks of the bags under his eyes -so purple they were almost black- and the sinking of the flesh of his face, Midoriya was almost dead from exhaustion alone.
Green… her fist curled, frustrated at her inability to move. Don't you dare die! We're almost through this, we almost won!
"Lies…" Shigaraki hissed, fingers scraping at the skin on his neck, "Nomu… Nomu is strong enough to kill All Might… this isn't over, it can't be over!"
Deku gave the man a pitiable look, one of sympathy. He knew the feeling of defeat, in the face of everything he could do. It wasn't easy to cope with, in fact it was heartbreakingly painful. The vampire had felt it himself more than often enough to recognize it on someone else. "Shigaraki…" he murmured, "this 'Nomu' was almost outright murdered by me." Shigaraki's eyes drifted to his, those mismatched green orbs. "If someone with almost no combat experience and barely any control over his own quirk could beat it: what chance did it have against All Might?" Gently as the question was asked, it was still enough to make something in the villain snap. "This is over."
Frothing at the mouth, face contorted with fury he charged at this impudent brat. "NO!" he screamed, hands digging into the boy's chest. "IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL ALL MIGHT DIES!" He felt it. The icy hand of death wrapping around his heart as his flesh turned to dust. Hands pulled at Shigaraki's wrists, hauling them aside and pulling his throat to Deku's mouth. There was a large gash in the villain's throat; one he forced his tongue into enough to drink from. His body was in agony. Healing from another injury just about made him black out, but he muscled through it. When the game was 'stay awake or die', you stayed awake. "NOMU!" Shrieked the villain. "NOMU!" Deku hauled Shigaraki's wrists together, feeling the earth shake as the monster hastened its approach. "KILL THIS LITTLE BRAT! KILL HIM NOW!"
It only lasted for a second.
He went to throw Shigaraki out of the way. His fingers snared on villain's sleeve, their feet were pulled from under them. They feel sideways, the Nomu's fist flying straight at them, almost at a downward angle. Shigaraki had enough time to let his eyes go wide before the fist of the Nomu hit him. In an instant, the villains body was impacted into the ground and a loud, wet crunch was heard.
When the dust settled, Deku was at the Nomu's feet. It wasn't moving. It just… stared. Following its gaze, the vampire's eyes went wide with horror. Shigaraki… wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. His life had just been snuffed out.
He was dead.
It was so quiet you could hear an ants footsteps. The Nomu's hand twitched. Then, shaking, it pulled away from the corpse of its master. Jaw quivering it took a trembling step back. Eeking ever wider open, its jaw began to spasm violently, its entire body following suit. Then, as it began to tremble like a traumatized child, it screamed. Screamed so loud Deku and Jiro had to cover their ears. Even Yaoyorozu couldn't help but try and shield her eardrums as it wailed in anguish, its massive hands gripping at its malformed head. Flailing its body about, howling like the souls of the damned, it lashed out at the ground, pummeling a small crater into it. It slipped, falling onto its back and began spasming, flopping about like a beached fish as its horrid screaming continued.
A commotion near the exit went entirely unnoticed. Vanessa and All Might, smashing through the door, arrived in time to see this spectacle being and then, abruptly, end. With the force of surface to air launching, the Nomu sent itself skyward. Crashing through the plexiglass of the ceiling, it flew into the distance. Wherever it landed, they were certain it hadn't stopped there. The Nomu was running to some far off corner of the earth, and it wasn't looking back.
It had just done the one thing its brain could never let it do: it had killed Shigaraki.
Getting to his feet, an arm held to his battered chest, Deku walked numbly to Shigaraki's corpse. He fell on his knees, a look of abject terror on his features. He couldn't process it. What had just happened? What the fuck did his just do? Was it even him? Who held the blame? "I don't…" His hand gripped Shigaraki's cold, motionless shoulder. "Why didn't you just-!?" His palms shot to his eyes, shoulders shaking violently his body strained against every possible emotion. An internal struggle that only ended when he curled back his head, facing the heavens, and screaming like he had the day he'd first bitten that thug in the alley.
Worst of all, he had no idea if it was himself he should even be blaming.
