I'm glad everyone is enjoying the return so far X3
"Alright, I think we're clear of the gas," Adachi said, coming a stop in the clearing alongside Yaoyorozu and Awase from Class 1-B, "I hope Tetsutetsu can get those masks to the others..."
Yaoyorozu was about to reply when a thunderous explosion sounded somewhere in the distance. Like rocks shattering in the night, a rumble through the earth, "That sound... Must be fighting." She nodded, removing her gas mask and breathing the clear air.
"But we haven't seen any of the enemy yet, not even the one who created the gas," Adachi noted, removing his as well, "We need to find a way back to the main building after we deliver the rest of these masks..."
Awase nodded, "I know Tetsutetsu and Kendo will take care of everyone... And Ryou can handle herself just fine if she needs to, she'll keep anyone she's with safe so lets focus on getting more masks to the rest of the students," He said simply, looking around to try and figure the right direction, "We've got to be careful, Mandalay said we're to avoid combat at all costs."
Yaoyorozu nodded, following along behind him, "That's right, we need to try and avoid contact with the enemy, I'll make us any tools we might need as we go."
"There were more of us this way," Awase replied, pointing south, "If we can get back to the trail we'll be safer... But we should try to be as quiet as possible in the dark."
"Right." Adachi nodded, following along as well, "Mr. Aizawa and Blood King were at the main building, so Kirishima and Ashido should be safe but... I hope everyone else is-"
He stumbled suddenly, heart rate increasing rapidly while pain shot through his muscles.
"Adachi? Are you alright?" Yaoyorozu asked moving to his side, "What's wrong?"
The pain started ebbing away just as quickly as it had appeared, the boy stood up again panting slowly, "Must just be some muscle pain from our training, come on we should keep moving."
"Grrnn... Hrrrnh?" The deep, guttural groans were followed by rustling in the nearby bushes. All three students stopping in their tracks, eyes darting to the source as heavy footsteps moved through the darkness.
"Wh-What the hell is..." Awase muttered, hesitating as he watched the tall form of a sickly green skinned Noumu step into the clearing.
"Noumu!" Adachi exclaimed, perhaps louder than he should have as he remembered his last encounter with one of these monsters.
Instantly the creatures head turned to face them, lacking any form of eyes and its mouth was gagged by some kind of bite guard muzzle device that connected to some protective casing around its weird exposed brain. But aside from a black pair of pants it looked no different than the other Noumu's that had been seen on the news. It started lumbering towards them, reaching out with its hands, "Gmm... Mrrrggh!"
"MOVE!" Adachi ordered, backstepping quickly.
Yaoyorozu followed his movement, taking a step back before she realized Awase was frozen in place, "He's never dealt with a situation like this before! If he doesn't move that thing might-" She moved without thinking, springing forward and forming a shield out of her arm, "AWASE MOVE!"
Grabbing him by the back of the shirt she pulled as hard as she could. Making the boy fall back on the ground, as she advanced and raised up her shield. The Noumu's swinging arms suddenly started to change, forming into a great hammer head for his left hand and a saw blade for his right! And it swung the hammer with incredible force, striking Yaoyozu's shield head on.
"Aaaagh!" Her scream came after the sickening crunch of bones breaking rang through the night air. The blow carrying enough force to send her flying back several feet where she hit the ground hard.
Awase himself was scrambling back across the ground, finally shaken into movement, "Crap crap crap! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean t-"
"It's okay!" Adachi answered, forming scales along his body and preparing to defend, "Don't worry about that now! Just get Yaoyorozu and let's move! She's going to need help, I'll cover you while we retreat towards camp!" His body was on fire, not in pain but literally burning up! For whatever reason the scales on his skin felt hot and itchy, while his head was throbbing, "What the hell is going on!?" He demanded, trying to remain focused on the task at hand.
Awase nodded his head, getting to his feet, "R-Right!" And moving to the injured girls side to give her support.
"Grrngh? Hnnngh! GRRRRH!" The Noumu howled suddenly, six more arms erupting from its back, each one armed with either a drill, hammer or saw blade in place of hands as the beast charged towards them once again.
"What the hell kind of villain is this thing!?" Awase demanded, supporting Yaoyorozu as they limped away.
Adachi transformed to hybrid state while ignoring the magnification of his apparent illness, meeting the creature head on while ducking beneath one of its saw blade swings, "The big and stupid kind!" Swinging low, with both leg and tail, he swept the mutant off its feet knocking off balance and forcing it to fall before he jumped back, "Now lets move!" Running alongside them as they raced deeper into the forest, "With a Noumu here there's really no doubt about it, the League of Villains is here! But what the hell do they want!? Are they after All Might again? He isn't even here!"
"I don't know but we need to get away from this thing or it'll kill us..." Yaoyorozu replied, wincing in pain as they moved. Using her quirk to form a splint and tying it tight with bandages as they went.
The sound of crashing trees echoing behind them. The Noumu smashing through them with ease or cutting them down with its saws, "Hrrnngh!"
"That thing is fast!" Awase cried out, looking back only briefly.
"I've got it!" Adachi assured, jumping up and grabbing a branch with his tail. He swung around to gain momentum before releasing himself in the direction of the charging beast. Broadsiding it with an elbow to the side of its face, but the beast only stumbled in response before turning on him. Its two main arms reverting to normal hands and reaching out to grab him.
"Get out of there!" Yaoyorozu cried as she watched the beasts arm lash out at him. Following her command, Adachi planted his feet and prepared to jump away, only for the pain to intensify in his muscles making any force he tried to apply vanish leaving him completely open!
"GAAAAAH!" Adachi howled in pain, as one of the drills bit deep into his shoulder while a sawblade sliced into his arm. The boy only just barely able to push himself away by springing off his tail. But even so, before he could gain much distance a terrible pain ripped through his back and tail. Two more blades hitting their marks, one cutting across his lower back while the other sliced his tail clean off at the halfway point.
"Adachi!" Awase cried out, watching him tumble across the ground to a stop in a bloody heap, "Holy crap this is bad! That thing is insane!"
"Y-You two..." Yaoyorozu winced, gripping her broken arm, "You've gotta leave me behind, I-I'm just dead weight right now with this limp... If you stay here we'll all-"
"Don't say that!" Awase cut her off sharply, "Nobody is leaving anyone behind! We're all getting out of here together!" His eyes darting to Adachi as he gripped his injured arm while struggling to rise, bloody seeping from a deep cut just above the elbow, "Can't you turn into a giant monster or something!? Just get big and crush this guy!"
"Y-Yeah I can but..." Adachi winced in pain, the Noumu seemingly preoccupied with attacking his tail that was still wriggling on the ground, "Somethings wrong... With my... Quirk..." He managed, the throbbing in his body, heart pounding and head thrumming with pain, "If its this bad now... What the hell would happen if I full transformed? I've gotta find a way for us to get out of here! Or we're all dead!"
"You can't be serious!" Awase lamented, eyes returning to the creature, "Fine whatever! Let's run while its distracted!"
But the moment he moved, the Noumu's head snapped right back to them, "Grrmm! Nnngh!"
"STUDENTS OF CLASS A AND B!" Everything seemed to slow down, as the voice of Mandalay called out through their minds with telepathy, "I've been given a message from Pro Hero Eraser Head!"
"NO! I have to protect them!" Every fiber of Adachi's conscious demanded, while at the same time his body cried in protest when he moved, every instinct telling him to keep quiet and run, "HEY!" Adachi cried out, waving his good arm to divert the beasts attention from Awase and Yaoyorozu, "OVER HERE!"
"Adachi no!" Awase shouted, the beast turning and b-lining right at him.
"YOU ARE HEREBY AUTHORIZED FOR COMBAT!"
Adachi tried to jump back, but the loose soil beneath his feet caused him to slip! Leaving him right in the beasts path!
"Use your training and Fight these villains! Stand up and Face your enemy!"
"Mr. Aizawa, I-I will survive... I HAVE TO SURVIVE!" His reptilian eyes narrowed to slits, his body moving on instinct as he planted his bloody tail stump in the ground and used it to push himself to the side. The boy rolled out of the way of the Noumu's attack letting it crash into a few trees, "A-Awase... RUN!" He cried out, heart beating slow and heavy, "Grrrrr... Hrrrr... HRAAAAAAGH!"
Adachi was beginning to grow in size, shifting to his full power form while the Noumu turned on him, "HEY!" Yaoyorozu suddenly cried out at the beast.
"What are you doing!?" Awase exclaimed, the creature turning full attention to them both, "He told us to run!"
"He needs time to transform!" She explained, slowly forming a large tower shield with her good arm, "G-Get ready!"
"Hrrrngh! GRRAAANGH!" Flailing arms and whirring saws carried by a muscular form raging towards them.
"Gnhhaaa!" Adachi snarled, doubling over as he howled in pain. With a sharp snap, a new tail sprouted out of the stump behind him, replacing it in an instant while the wounds around his body healed rapidly, "GRAAAAAH!"
"Brace yourself!" Yaoyorozu knew Adachi wouldn't make it in time, but she had to stall for him! With all her might she threw her body against the shield as the flailing arms struck, "Gaaah!"
"Nghaa!" Their cries echoed into the night, both students sent flying by the attack colliding with their large shield. Yaoyorozu splitting her head open a bit just below the hairline on impact with a tree while Awase scrapped up his body sliding across the ground.
"One more thing!" Mandalay's voice called out again, "The villains are after a student named Kacchan, whoever that is needs to avoid combat all costs!"
"GNNNAAAAGH!" The Noumu howled, racing towards them to continue the assault in its frenzy. Heavier footsteps sounding just behind the mutant beast.
"HRAAAAAAH!" Yaoyorozu looked up, eyes wide even through the blood running down the left side of her face, as Adachi barrelled into the mutant. Knocking the Noumu right off his feet Adachi charged it straight through a nearby tree causing a crash as it fell to the ground, "Dammit! Everything feels so heavy, my body is hardly responding, what's happening to me!?"
"A-Adachi..." Yaomomo muttered, wincing as she moved closer to Awase to avoid the fighting.
The Noumu snarled in anger, trying to strike out at him with its saw blades. But the sound of the whirring blades was reduced to loud clanking as they made contact with his hardened scales having little success. The teeth of the blades chipping and breaking away along with some of Adachi's scales, while the drills attempting to pierce his scales were whittled down and broken in seconds.
"Grah!" However, the hammers flailing and slamming into his jaw was enough to make him recoil, the blunt force upside the head jarring his senses briefly. The Noumu lunging at Adachi like a predator pouncing, throwing all its weight on him with its flailing arms forced the giant lizard to the ground, "Everything feels so sluggish! Where did all my power go!? Why can't I fight back!?"
"GRAH! Hnngh! Hrrrngh!"
Ravenously hammering away at his body with all its limbs, beating Adachi into the ground with vicious intent. Adachi was losing strength fast, not only from the repeated blows to the head but rigorous training today finally catching up to him. Each hit dazing his senses more as the Noumu literally began beating him into the ground with no sign of letting up! Even with his dulled senses, Adachi knew if he didn't find a way to fight back soon he'd be-
"Dammit! This is just like before!" Adachi realized, remembering what had happened at the USJ, "If I were just stronger, if my body wasn't so messed I could... I could-"
"The name of the game is survival!" Pixiebob's voice rang in his head, "Law of survival kid you either evolve or you DIE!"
That burning feeling in his chest was back and it was hotter than ever. His body felt like it was on fire, the pain from being beaten down was totally forgotten as the heat surged through him. His itching scales felt like they were starting to dry as he felt his body thrumming, subtle vibrations jarring his every muscle.
"Why your limits keep getting tested, that's what it means to improve!"
A disgusting squelch sound rang out as his hardened scales began to give way. The Noumu tearing into his body with its various tools.
"ADACHI!" Yaoyorozu screamed, tears starting to well up as she watched her classmate getting brutalized.
"EVOLVE OR DIE!"
"What it means to improve."
"The name of the game is improve."
"What it means to EVOLVE."
"EVOLVE!"
"Improve."
"Or DIE!"
Blood poured onto the ground, as the Noumu brought down both drill and saw blades to the broken areas of his body. Sickening wet sounds echoing into the air as flesh was rend apart.
"NO!" She tried to lunge forward, but Awase grabbed her, "LET ME GO! THAT THING IS KILLING HIM!"
"You'll die too!" He argued, not daring to look up at the bloody mess before their eyes fearing he might vomit, "We have to run, we have to get away from here or else we'll all be-"
A final, sickening crunch sounded as the hammer came down on Adachi's skull. His cranium caving in, the Noumu's hammer getting stuck briefly, before the beast pulled it away slowly letting blood drip across the ground. Everything was quiet aside from Yaoyorozu's sobbing, while Awase slowly turned to look at the monster.
"A-Adachi..." Yaoyorozu muttered, tears running down her face, "Come on... G-Get up... You... You have to..."
"Hreh... Haaah... Grah..." The Noumu panted, slowly turning towards the two of them, "Hrrngh..."
It took a single step towards them, before another wet messy sound came from Adachi's corpse. The mutant seemed to notice, and slowly turned back around, as something within the bodies chest began to writhe beneath the skin. The Noumu lumbered over the body, raising its hands up slowly to deliver a finishing blow to the somehow still moving corpse.
The moment its arms came crashing down, Adachi's massive jaws were forced open and something smaller came scrambling out followed by a rush of blood. Skittering towards the treeline in the darkness, as the Noumu finished smashing into the body, "Gnngh... Hnnngh?" It groaned, slowly shifting its head towards the blood trail.
Awase finally managed to look up after hearing the beast, looking in the direction it was facing to see a pair of glowing eyes peering out of the darkness right back at him, "N-No way... That... That can't be him right? I-It can't be!?"
Yaoyorozu's sorrow was replaced instantly with disbelief and joy, "Adachi! You're alive!"
"GNNNNYAAAAH!" The Noumu roared and charged the eyes in the dark, as the wildly flailing arms began tearing into the trees and brush a figure leapt out of the darkness. Flying overhead of the Noumu, moving quickly between its flailing limbs even using his tail to swing off one before landing firmly between the Noumu and his classmates.
The creature standing before them was taking long heavy breaths, "I'm... I'm still alive..." He panted sounded absolutely exhausted, blue eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. He wasn't himself anymore, in fact he wasn't quite sure what this was.
"A-Adachi what... What happened to you?" Yaoyorozu muttered as she looked him over.
He was humanoid similar to his hybrid form, but standing much shorter even smaller than his human form with a faintly glowing blue crest sprouting from the back of his head that was flanked by a few bright blue feathers. He didn't have any claws anymore, but as he clenched his fingers to test the grip his hands felt... Strange. Faint glowing line of scales ran down his back from the crest, going all the way down to the end of his tail. He looked slimmer than his hybrid form as well, but still much more toned muscle definition than his damaged body had before.
"Grrrngh!" The Noumu lunged for him once more, seemingly angered by his continued survival if that were even possible.
Adachi held his ground, knowing moving wasn't an option with the others behind him. He had no idea what he was capable of, but he'd be damned if he didn't find out, "HhhaaAAAAAAAH!" He roared, charging forward with surprising speed, "My muscles are back, and I feel so weightless!" He moved between the Noumu's flailing arms with incredible grace, his eyes darting around rapidly noting the position of each arm with a second inner lens, "This is incredible!" Before he sprung straight up off his tail and opened his mouth, "BLAGH!" Blue fire burst from his mouth in the form of a small ball, hitting the Noumu in the face and exploding making it stumble back.
"YEAH KICK HIS ASS!" Awase cheered, seeming to forget all about his own injuries as he watched.
Yaoyorozu winced, wiping some of the blood and tears off her face with her good arm before rising back to her feet, "He's given us a chance, its time I stop standing around!" She decided, eyes lighting up with fiery determination, "Help me out here Awase, I'll need your support while I use my Quirk!"
"Its like I can see everything its doing, motions so simple so slow!" Adachi was riding high with his new power, looking towards the Noumu as it began flailing and swinging at him once more. His pearly white fangs glittering in the low light as he grinned wildly, "Too slow you big dumb bastard!" He cried out, back stepping and dodging with ease as the Noumu's attacks hit nothing but dirt. The boy knew that while his speed had increased immensely, his physical attacks were much weaker, but this wasn't his limit there was still more he could do if he tried to transform he could feel that. This wasn't the only thing that had changed he was sure of that, but maybe now wasn't the time to experiment...
The boy lunged forward, grabbing the Noumu by the face, "BLECH!" He opened his mouth and unloaded the flaming bursts he was capable of producing. Feeling no pain in his throat after the first one, so he fired over and over. Eventually releasing the creature and landing to catch his breath, the voice of his classmate cried out, "ADACHI DUCK!"
The boy didn't think, dropping to his knees just as the Noumu tried lunging for him again. A forceful explosion sounded, the beast sent flying back as Yaoyorozu blasted it with her signature canon, "Take this you monster!" Firing round after round, sending the beast crashing and stumbling back through the trees before its smoldering damaged body collapsed.
The boys eyes darted to her, as Awase helped support her and aim the cannon at their foe, "Adachi! I'm sorry I let my shock get in the way... I won't let you fight this thing alone! Let's take it down together!"
"I'm done standing around too!" Awase declared eagerly, punching a fist into his palm, "Give me an opening and I'll fuse this bastard to the ground to lock it down!
A grin spread across his face, flashing his sharp fangs, "I'll keep it distracted, whenever you get an opening, attack!"
"Alright let's give it everything we've got!"
"Grnngh! HNNNAAAGH!" The monster cried, body healing itself as it rose back up and began running at the reptilian boy ready for another round with seemingly infinite stamina.
"LET'S GO!"
But suddenly, just as things were about to escalate, the Noumu stopped dead in its tracks. Its extra arms sinking back into its body, before turning around and beginning to walk away. Adachi blinked confused, looking to the others, "Are... Are we being ignored!?"
"Remember what Mandalay said," Awase reminded, "They're after someone named Kacchan... That's one from your class right? Is it possible they got him?"
"That's the worst case scenario," Yaoyorozu winced, holding up her hand as she created something small in her palm, "Quickly, Awase, use your Quirk and fuse this to that things body!"
"I'll help you," Adachi said quickly moving to his side and giving support, "What is this thing Yaoyorozu?"
"A tracker, quick before it gets away!"
He nodded and raced after the beast while supporting Awase, as they closed in the bandana wearing boy slapped a hand onto the creatures back. His palm seeming to spark as it fused the small device to the monsters back. The creature didn't seem to notice however, and kept walking off into the darkness of the forest.
Watching it leave sent a chill down Adachi's spine, "Does that mean they got him? Or they're calling a retreat? Please be the latter..." He mentally pleaded, looking to the others, "Come on, if you can't walk I'll carry you." He assured, taking Yaoyorozu's arm over his shoulders to support her while offering Awase his tail.
"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked worriedly, wincing a bit as they started moving.
"I'm fine, I feel great actually." He replied, walking quickly back towards camp as the various sounds of fighting in the distance began to fade away, "Just tired..."
"Yeah well once we get back I think you deserve a long nap," Awase lightly joked as they went, "Seriously dude, what the hell was that? This? You changed or something?"
"I'm not sure, I'm not exactly an expert on reptiles," Adachi answered somewhat nervously as he went, "Though I should probably start looking into that more... But I think I just molted, or evolved, or something?"
Awase looked back at the empty shell of Adachi's giant body, it had been less messy than he realized. Just a dried out shell crumbling beneath the Noumu's attack. Still, he was looking at a giant monster skin, "Gross."
"Yeah, don't wanna make a habit of that..."