I do not own MHA or Ben 10, all rights reserved to their respective owners.

So what's up, it's been what, 3 week since the last chapter? Really sorry for that, I really am. Truth be told, I should have already progressed to the next arc by now, but I've been stuck in a rut ever since the last chapter came out. I didn't know how to pace out the story before we begin the next (and one I have big plans for) arc and I had multiple versions of this chapter written, only to have them trashed because they didn't make any sense and didn't stick to my usual standard. And if you don't like this one, please point out to me what I did wrong, what should be corrected and such or if I'm missing some common sense in certain places, this story and my writing really benefits from your feedback. Huh, that last word is kinda ironic, given who appears in this chapter. But anyways, enough for my bitching, we're back to regular, weekly uploads, or maybe more, based on how longer the lockdown is gonna last in my country.

Chapter 17: Tabula Rasa (Internship Arc Part 5)

So, this was it then?

No divine judgement, no flame and brimstone?

Just... this?

If he knew how he would end up Izuku would put more of his strength into the fight.

Because the state he currently found himself in was... rather depressing.

There he was, levitating in a vast void of nothing but pure darkness. No lights, no sounds, just this overwhelming darkness all around him.

It reminded him much of the few occasions he found himself inside of Alien X, minus the stars surrounding him and the two floating heads locked in a never ending argument.

But unlike that situation, he didn't know what to do. There was no time out, no way to negotiate return with Bellicus and Serena to get himself out of here.

No, this wasn't the case this time.

He didn't go alien.

He was slain, cut into pieces by the man that wanted to use his powers for his own villain cause. At least, that what he suspected. After all, there wasn't much of a chance to ask him about his motives in his current state.

The whole situation shocked him. How was this possible? He never lost like this. In every situation of serious danger he managed to overcome the hardships and eventually emerge victorious.

This threat, this... man. It was something completely different, on a completely different level. Something he never would expect to meet.

He knew everything about him, he was able to transform his appearance to mimick his own and possesed vast knowledge of the aliens, the watch, and even the heads inside Alien X himself.

But then he remembered how the supposed threat was described as.

"From beyond this dimension"

He didn't want to believe it at first, but more he thought about it, the more sense it made. No one but him knew the truth about the Omnitrix and what it's true origin were. If he knew so much about the watch and the aliens despite them not existing in this dimension, as stated by the heads, the only logical conclusion was that the man originated from a place in which both the device and the species of which DNA it possesed existed. That, or he actually had a quirk that allowed him to remotely probe people's brain. But that second theory was easy to dismiss, as he personally saw how the man was quick to change forms between the apparent future him and an almost dried skeleton of a human being.

But why was he dwelling on all of this? It made no sense nor did it make a difference. How could this change anything in this space, devoit of light and-

He almost went on a self deplicating and depressing speech about the meaninglessness of his efforts.

Almost, because he suddenly noticed something.

That something was a light. Not the "light at the end of the tunnel" kind of light. It looked almost like a star shining bright on the night sky.

Only that it wasn't placed high above his head like a regular star. It actually looked as if it was located not so far away from him.

At first he didn't know what to think. Was he hallucinating and what he just witnessed was just in his head? But can you actually hallucinate while dead? No, that's not important right now.

He contemplated his choices, but not long before he decided that whatever the light was, checking it out was far better than not doing anything and floating in the void depressing over what he could or could not do.

He tried to run towards the source of the light, only to lose balance and turn upside down. Huh, so it was really like a void then. But he had prior experience to moving in zero gravity, so this was probably the way to go.

Much like when he turned into Upgrade to disperse the crowd in school under the influence of Ochako's quirk, he started rowing the air with his hands while laying still, almost as if he was swimming. And to his surprise, it worked.

Bit by bit, he cut the distance between him and the light. But the closer he got, the brighter it got. At one point he had to row with only one hand, using the other one cover his face from the radiant glow.

He was as far as a meter away from the blinding light, it suddenly subsided. He no longer felt the radiation of the light on his skin and removed the hand that blocked his vision away from his face.

What he saw in the place of the light shocked him.

Because in front of him, instead of some kind of celestial body, floated a symbol.

A symbol of the Omnitrix.

His eyes went wide, as the symbol of the watch that slid off of his corpse after he was slain appeared in front of him out of the blue.

By all accounts, it didn't make sense. He was killed, that was a fact. So how did the Omnitrix, a material object, follow him into this non-material state?

He brushed his fingers against the symbol, trying to convince himself that what was in front of him was not an illusion. He expected his fingers to pass right through it.

But that wasn't the case.

His fingers didn't pass through, they made contact with the device.

He instantly flinched, retracting his arm, a multitude of thoughts flooding his mind.

He didn't know what to believe. Was this real? Did he just imagine touching the device? How did it end up here?

The previous questions repeated themselves in his head multiple times with increased volume. He couldn't do as much as wrap his head around any of them.

But that was when he suddenly remembered a vital fact.

What was floating in front of him was the symbol of the Omnitrix, not the watch itself. Well, actually it was, but not in the sense he had in mind.

The Omnitrix appeared in two forms. Either on his wrist in a form of a watch when he was human.

And the form of a symbol on an alien's body.

So by all accounts if he imagined the device, he should have visualized the form of a watch. After all, he wasn't transformed.

But what if-

No, this can't be right. After all, he remembered how he got killed by this "Eon" guy.

But maybe-

No, that's impossible. He still remembered how the man's blade lodged itself in his head.

But-

But what if he was actually still transformed and alive?

He knew that this concept was bizarre in the shadow of what occured just moments ago. But being in a state of not death nor life and floating in space was just as bizarre.

Well, it's not like he had anything to lose, right? He could try and check if he was right or he lost his mind.

He moved his hand in front of the symbol of the Omnitrix.

He wavered a little, having second thoughts.

But he quickly shook those off and in a quick motion, hit the symbol of the watch with his fist.

And as soon as he did, he was enveloped by green light.

LINE BREAK

Confusion, shock, questioning his sanity.

Those were the things that flooded Izuku's mind the moment the light subsided.

He blinked a few times, processing the scene in front of him.

It was the same alley that Diamondhead was destroyed in. He noticed cracked bits of his crystals under his feet.

Yes, his feet.

He was yet again standing in the world of the living. And he stood tall.

But not as Diamondhead, nor Izuku.

He noticed that his form is unlike any he previously transformed into.

It was a tall, humanoid being. His body was made mostly of dark-blue rock, with only his hands and face being made of a pink, crystal matter.

His head was a bit triangular, with a single, green eye flashing from the eye socket. The top of his head was adorned by a big, sharp horn made of the same crystal matter as his hands. Similiar spikes were coming out of his chest and back.

He examined his new body in shock, when he noticed something, or rather someone he didn't notice at first.

Eon.

The man who turned two of his aliens to dust. The man who single-handedly destroyed Diamondhead in direct combat.

The same man was now standing a few feet away from him, watching in utter shock.

"No, this is impossible!" he shouted, both confused and furious "The Omnitrix should not trigger any function after the host has been killed!"

"Well" answered the being "Tough luck"

Shaking with fury, Eon yet again activated his sword, that has previously slain Izuku's Petrosapien form and charged at the new alien, hoping to do the same to him.

But the alien didn't move out of the way to dodge the attack. He simply raised his arm towards the attacker.

As soon as he did, it flared with prismatic light. That light suddenly shot forwards, like a laser beam of sorts.

It hit Eon straight in his chestplate, leaving a burn mark and forcing him to stumble back, stopping the attack.

And just as suddenly as the adversary was hit with the beam of prismatic energy from the alien, he was then hit in the back by something entirely different.

Flames.

A few metres behind the man, stood none other than Todoroki, his side burning with fire as bright as the one he mustered during the Festival.

"Sorry to arrive so late, Midoriya" said the boy "I tried to come as soon as I received your signal, but it was hard to ditch the old bastard"

But as the last words exited Shouto's mouth, the villain suddenly turned around, aiming his gauntlet towards him.

Izuku tried to warn him to dodge, but it was too late, as the beam that easily turned two of his aliens to dust was shot towards Todoroki.

Izuku knew what would happen if the beam collided with Todoroki in any shape or form. It would be the end of him. He had no forms to shed like him. He had to do something.

Without thinking, he charged towards the boy, who extinguished his flames and covered himself with ice, probably preparing to create some kind of ice wall to defend himself. But the beam was too fast moving for him to do anything.

It looked like the beam would connect with the boy in a matter of seconds.

But that was when Izuku launched himself into the air, taking the hit for Todoroki when the beam was as near as one meter away from him. He fell to the ground with a thud.

His body contorted in spasm, as he felt as if his body was both set on fire and struck by lightning. Prismatic energy danced around his body, jumping from one spike to another.

He expected for the new alien to turn into dust like the two before him in a matter of seconds.

Only to be proven wrong

Because as quickly as it appeared, the burning feeling vanished, as did the prismatic energy around his body. He felt as if he was rejuvenated.

He slowly got up from the ground, earning shocked looks from both the boy he just saved and the man that wanted him dead.

Eon watched, even more furious, as the crystaline alien got up from the ground without a scratch, recovering from the attack that should have destroyed his very DNA. There was no chance of fighting an opponent like this, especially when outnumbered two to one, with more possibly on the way.

"You may have prevailed today, Izuku Midoriya" said Eon, clutching his glove "But be assured, that this is not the last time that we meet. And when we meet next time, there will be no coming back"

Before Izuku could stop him, he created a purple portal behind himself, in which he quickly vanished.

And as soon as the man vanished from the battlefield, a multitude of green sparks jumped out of the symbol on the Izuku's chest.

Unlike the first time the device did anything related to the sparks, Izuku didn't change in a flash of green.

Instead, a cloud of white smoke covered the area around him, contrary to the usual blast of green energy.

When the smoke subsided, a frame could be seen. Not that of the crystaline alien.

But of Izuku, uninjured and well.

True, he was well.

Only for a couple of seconds, that is.

He suddenly felt extremely weak, especially in his lower body. His legs begun to tremble, he found it hard to stand upright. He tried to reach a wall to hang on to as to not lose balance. But before he managed to reach it, he stumbled on a loose brick and pivoted to the ground.

But not before being caught by Todoroki mid fall.

"Midoriya! What's wrong?" he asked, visibly shaken "What's happening? Are you hurt?"

The boy looked at him in daze, barely clutching to his consciousness.

"To... do... roki..."

He managed to only utter the boy's name, before he blacked out.

LINE BREAK

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was how cold his head felt. He later found out that the reason he felt so cold was because of an compress made entirely out of ice on top of his head.

And the second thing he noticed, was the probable cause of the afforementioned cold.

"Midoriya!" exclaimed Todoroki, visibly relieved that he woke up "Thank God, you're alive. You really got me worried there for a second"

"Why shouldn't I be alive?" asked Izuku, confused "
Why are you so freaked out-"

He tried to ask, but was unable to as his body shook uncontrollably and raspy cough exited his lungs.

"When you fell down after that villain left, I checked you for damages" answered Todoroki "But I didn't find any, despite you getting hit with that laser. What I found out though was that you were burning up like crazy and I needed to cool you down to the extent of my capabilities"

Izuku wanted to protest and say that he's fine, but another wave of rasping cough stopped him from doing so.

"We need to get you out of here, you need to go to a hospital" said Todoroki, scooping him up from the ground and helping him walk "I'll send out a signal, the pros in the city will know how to handle this"

Pros in the city

Pros in the city.

Pros in the city..

Pros in the city...

Sudden realization made Izuku's eyes shot wide.

The pros in the city.

That included the old bastard Endeavor, other heroes that had interns in the city.

And Ryukyu, left to fend against a huge mob of villains on her own.

Izuku almost fell to the ground yet again when he remembered the state his mentor was left in.

"Midoriya, what's wrong?" asked Todoroki, looking at him with worry in his eyes "You look as if you've seen a ghost"

"Ryukyu" whispered Izuku "Ryukyu's in trouble"

"What?" asked Todoroki "I can't hear you"

"RYUKYU'S IN TROUBLE!" shouted Izuku, unable to control his emotions "WE GOT AMBUSHED AND SHE SENT ME TO BRING HELP AND-"

He kept on rambling, before Todoroki shook him, trying to calm him down.

"What do you mean Midoriya?" he asked "Get a grip, what happened?"

Izuku, finally coming to his senses, explained the whole conundrum to Todoroki, who stopped for a second, listening to his story.

"Shit, so there's another reason we must find a pro to help with the situation" said Todoroki, biting his lip "If we hurry up, we might bring back help in time"

Izuku suddenly detached himself from Todoroki, shakily standing on his own, earning a puzzled look from the boy.

"What's wrong Midoriya?" he asked "Do you need a break or-"

"YOU SERIOUSLY WANT TO LEAVE HER TO DIE?!" shouted Izuku, losing his temper "BEFORE WE BRING THE PROS BACK TO THE SCENE, SHE COULD HAVE EASILY BE KILLED BY THEN. WE HAVE TO COME AND HELP HER!"

"Midoriya, I understand why you're angry, but there is nothing we can do about it other than bringing the pros to the scene. Ryukyu's a strong hero, she could probably hold her own and-"

"YOU UNDERSTAND?! DO YOU?" shouted Izuku yet again, tears forming in his eyes "I LEFT HER LIKE A COWARD, INSTEAD OF STAYING AND FIGHTING BY HER SIDE! IT'S BECAUSE OF ME SHE'S IN TROUBLE AS WE SPEAK!"

"Midoriya, I repeat, the only possible thing you can do to help her is to honor her order and bring the pros to the assist. You can't do anything else in your current state!"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT!" shouted Izuku, turning away from Todoroki and slowly limping away from him "I CAN DO THIS ON MY OWN, IF YOU WANT TO RUN AWAY THEN DO SO! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP"

Todoroki put a hand on his face, contemplating what to do.

He looked at the part of the alleyway leading to a main street. It wouldn't be hard to go ahead alone and bring all the neccesary help. But that would mean that he would have to leave Midoriya, who would be fueled by his determination enough to actually reach his goal and probably get himself killed.

He looked at the part that lead to the battlefield described by Midoriya. If he came with him, they would probably have a higher combined chance of doing anything of merit. But by doing that they would also endanger themselved greatly, not mentioning all the regulations they would have to break.

He contemplated his choices, turning his head from one end of the alleyway to another. If he was a protagonist in a game of a recently closed video game studio specializing in making choice driven adventure games based on popular popculture media, two boxes with choices would appear at the bottom of his screen with a timer above them giving him little to no time to think.

But this situation was not of A or B choices. He decided for a middle ground.

He fished out his phone from his pocket and opened the app that he received Midoriya's signal through previously. There was a significantly smaller chance that they would alert pros this way, but it was the best he could do in this situation. He sent out the signal and put the phone back into his pocket.

He then turned around and ran towards Midoriya, who, given his state didn't make it very far on his own.

"I really don't know why I'm doing this" he said, placing his hand on Izuku's shoulder "But I'll go with you"

The boy extended his hand towards Todoroki, either to shake his hand in gratitude or for him to put it around his shoulder and carry him to their destination. But Todoroki didn't do either of these things.

"Here, I know how he can get there faster" he said "I hope you don't have motion sickness"

Izuku shook his head in negative response.

Todoroki moved in front of him and with a stomp turned a part of the ground in the alley into ice. He then lowered himself a little.

Even tho Izuku was in a dazed state, he understood the boy's intention.

He wanted to slide to Ryukyu with him hanging on to him piggyback.

Huh.

Ok, that isn't the worst plan, after all he isn't that heavy and thus they will not be slowed down.

There was not much space for improvement, so he got on and Todoroki rushed forward.

LINE BREAK

It would be hard to describe what they were met with.

Battlefield?

Bloodbath?

Total clusterfuck?

Probably all three of those combined.

In the very entrance to the alleyway, where Ryukyu and Izuku were ambushed laid at least half dozen corpses, villains and cops alike.

The cops looked as if they were mauled to death, many of them missing limbs and some of them having their head smashed into a bloody pulp.

The villains laying scattered around them appeared to be pierced by a multitude of gunshot wounds, their clothes heavily soaked with blood.

It appeared that at the very least the people from the convoy didn't go out without a fight.

But that didn't answer the question of Ryukyu.

Izuku, having regained his clear thinking at least during the ride hoped not to see her laying amongst the casualties. He really tried to force himself to stay positive, but the paranoic thought of his mentor's death by his actions made him check out every new corpse they came across to ease his mind by proving himself wrong.

They made way through the entrance of the alleyway and past a few of the crashed cruisers. But still, no signs of Ryukyu.

"Midoriya, do you think that in this heat of battle Ryukyu could just escape out of here?" asked Todoroki "Maybe we're trying to help someone who'se long gone from here?"

"No, this is not possible" responded Izuku "Ryukyu is a type of person that would rather go down with the people she is trying to save instead of sacrificing them to save her own skin. Also-"

He wasn't allowed to finish, as a loud crashing sound could be heard not far away from them.

They exchanged undestanding looks, and rushed to the source of the sound while looking out for possible threats. This was a fight against real villains, so this as well could be a trap.

LINE BREAK

When they made their way to the source of the noise they were assured that this was no trap.

They were assured in one more thing.

Ryukyu was alive.

But that state was endangered.

In front of them, Ryukyu stood in her transformed form.

Guarding herself from a barrage of attacks from villain of roughly her size.

But the villain's size wasn't as important as another detail.

The more important detail was his appearance. And as soon as Izuku noticed that, he froze in place.

The villain that Ryukyu was fighting against resembled the "Nomu" creature from the USJ Incident

But it was not the same as the previous one.

Just as the previous one, it's skin was dark blue, it's eyes were wide and bloodshot and it had exposed brain.

What differentiated the USJ creature from this one was it's structure.

It was taller than the previous one. Much taller and more muscular.

It's appendages also differentiated. Whereas the USJ Nomu appeared mostly human-like, this one didn't. He had at least four pairs of arms, all coming out of the front of his body and each ended with sharp claws.

What was also noticable about his appearance was that it much resembled a some sort of cyborg.

He had metal plates randomly placed around his body, one covering half of his head. He had a multitude of tubes coming in and out of his body, every single one coursing with a yellow energy.

The enemy was truly imposing and barely even scratched from the looks of it.

The same couldn't be said about Ryukyu.

The Dragoon Hero was covered in multitude of cuts, each one bleeding heavily. She had a big gash in her side, pain coming out of which probably stung more with every hit from the Nomu she parried.

She appeared to be scanning the opponent for an opening to lay a solid hit against him, or scouting out the environment to use it to her advantage.

But that was when she noticed the two boys standing at the edge of the street she was fighting at.

"Midoriya!" she exclaimed, turning her head towards the boys "What are you doing here? I told you to run away from here!"

Izuku wanted to bicker with the heroine and she probably wanted to scold him for disobeying their superior's orders, but they were both unable to.

Because the Noumu took advantage of her shifted attention and managed to land a powerful hit to her face, knocking her to the ground.

He got on top of her and started to land punch after punch at her, Ryukyu raising her hands up in a futile defense.

Seeing that, Todoroki quickly emerged from behind the wall they were hiding behind and unloaded a stream of fire towards the Nomu, either hoping to knock him off of the heroine or divert his attention.

He achieved neither.

He barely singed a part of the creature's body. But at least, this one's tissue didn't regenerate.

He repeated his attacks, hoping to achieve anything, when behind the wall Izuku mingled with the watch.

"Previously I could use Ghostfreak to take control over that thing, but this one looks too big to control" he muttered under his breath "But it's got something to do with electricity, guessing by those tubes, so Buzzshock is probably-"

He stopped his train of thought when he scrolled down the grid.

Because just then he remembered.

That Buzzshock no longer existed. And neither did Way Big.

This was solidified by him scrolling down the grid, not finding those transformations there. In each place, belonging previously to the respective alien appeared an empty frame.

He begun to panick. This was a life or death situation and he didn't have a clear way how to deal with that. His only semblence of a plan both figuratively and literally turned to dust.

He felt as if the world slowed down. He saw the creature landing hit after hit at his mentor, each stronger than the previous. She looked as if she was nearly at her limit.

A tight knot tied in his stomach. Not only will he be there to see her die, but he will be the direct reason behind it.

NONONONONONONONONONONONO

NO.

He will not allow this to happen.

He will stop that thing.

Even if it costs him his own life.

He scrolled through the second grid.

He prayed to whatever deity there was that somewhere in there was an alien that would be just perfect for this occasion.

He scrolled through Rath, Water Hazard, Blitzwolfer, some kind of a rock with arms and legs and others he didn't recognize.

Frankly, he didn't know who to pick, his initial grid no longer had an alien suitable for the job and he couldn't speak for the aliens he didn't already know from the second one.

He steadied his breath. He closed his eyes.

If he didn't know who to get, he'll leave it up to the watch. After all, even if he did know who to choose, the watch would probably give him something entirely different.

Without looking, he slammed his hand down on the display.

He disappeared in a flash of green light.

He felt his arms and legs elongating. A rush of energy washed over him, as his body was gradually turned black and slick. Each of his fingers was ended with a gold-like plug. His eyes morphed into one and out of top of his head came two antennae with round plugs. The same type of plug was present on the tail that came out of his lower body. His upper and lower body was covered in a green jumpsuit and the symbol of the Omnitrix was placed on the centre of his chest.

When the transformation ended and the light from it subsided, he felt completely different.

He no longer felt weak like in his previous form.

He felt... good.

He emerged from behind the wall, running towards the villain.

"Midoriya!" shouted Todoroki, turning his attention from the Nomu to the new alien "Are you trying to get yourself killed? You're in no shape to fight like this!"

"Listen, we can either fight like this or we can figure out how to beat that thing" responded the alien

He received an annoyed grunt of approval from his classmate.

"You see those tubes all around his body?" asked the alien, pointing at them "It's just a speculation, but this yellow thing in the tubes might be what gives him the power to fight as equal with Ryukyu. Let's see how the big guy likes it when we get rid of them. You try to snipe them from here, I'll get up close and personal with the guy"

Todoroki nodded his head in understanding, just as the alien broke into a sprint towards the Nomu.

"Hey brain-freak!" he shouted, trying to get the Nomu's attention "Lights out!"

He jumped at his back and stabbing one of the tubes with one of his plug-ended antennae.

Whereas he expected it to shatter, or break, or whatever, he got nothing of this sorts.

Instead, he felt something.

Power.

Lots of it.

Coursing from the tube and through the antennae, back to him.

It felt as if he suddenly took a part of the villain's energy away from him and stored it inside of his own body.

But as suddenly as he absorbed a small portion of the villain's energy, his attacks stopped. He no longer laid hits on Ryukyu.

Before the alien could understand what was going on, one of the villain's many arms hit him straight in the face, sending him crashing into a wall behind the Nomu.

Well, he certainly did accomplish one thing. The thing no longer targeted Ryukyu.

Because now it targeted him.

Oh.

The alien jumped out of the hole in the wall made by the impact just in time to avoid another crushing blow, that would probably not end as well as the previous one.

Great, so now he got a hulking monster of a villain chasing him with pure intent to kill, and he didn't quite understand the mechanics of the alien he turned into. Lovely.

"Midoriya!" shouted Todoroki from the edge of the battlefield "What did you do to him to get divert his attention to you?"

"Don't know, I just kinda stabbed him in one of the tubes and now he's all pissed off at me" he responded, in midst of dodging incoming attacks "No idea how to put him down now though"

One idea, coming out of logical thinking, was to try and drain all of the freak's power, not the sliver he got previously. But two main points against this. For one, it would be hard to stay connected through the alien's antennae to the Nomu without risking getting smashed to pieces. And two, Izuku was still not certain how the alien worked. Which was weird, because up to this point he instantly knew what every new alien's powers were.

He needed to think of something and do it fast, because the hulking menace in front of his showed no signs of stopping.

It was as if this Nomu was like that one android sent back to the past from an A.I dominated Earth from an American movie he remembered watching back in the day. Cold, dead set on achieving one singular goal and extremely brutal at that. Hell, that would explain all those tubes and metal platings. It really made him look like a cyborg.

Wait.

The alien jumped further back and examined the villain from a closer perspective.

The hulking giant showed no sign of damage, aside from the singular spots scorched by Todoroki's flames. And even those spots didn't show any signs of signed tissue or any other reaction a living being's skin should make.

He remembered that he and Ryukyu traded blow after blow.

He distinctively remembered how the heroine punched him with her clawed appendage straight in his chest.

By all logic, it should leave a huge tear made by her claws on his abs.

Only it didn't.

It didn't even look as if he got slightly damaged.

Then it finally clicked in his head.

He remembered what those cratures were at base; human beings, with a multitude of quirks and genetic modifications forced onto their bodies. At least that was the gist he got during the USJ incident.

It's probable that this Nomu got some sort of appendage multiplying quirk forced into him, alongside some quirks for resistance, notably the heat.

It was also possible that the creature's electric tubes were tied to a some sort of unknown quirk, but he couldn't be sure.

So in a weird sense, he was right. This... thing was basically a cyborg. A machine with some semblence of a human being.

Quick, how do you deal with a robot?

Give it a reCaptcha code so it can't do anything?

Delete it's system32 files?

Those were the usual things that would come up if it wasn't such a serious situation.

But he got on the right track in the second one.

After all, robots are machines. And machines need CPUs.

In some form, this thing was human as well. Humans, much like machines, have their own version of a CPU, an organic one.

The brain.

The brain, that in the case of the Nomu was out in the open, ripe for picking.

Just as he came to the conclusion, he got an idea.

"Todoroki" he said, dodging another strike "I think I figured out a way how to deal with this thing, at least for now. But you'll have to trust me!"

The boy in question didn't like the implication of the recklesness of Izuku's plan, but he had no choice but to go along with it. He nodded in approval.

"Ok, listen. As soon as the freak hits the ground with all of his fists, freeze them as hard as you can" shouted the alien

"Hey brainiac!" he shouted, mocking the Nomu "Come and get me!"

But instead of running away, he stood in place.

The villain didn't think twice of it, he instantly clapped Izuku to the ground with a swat of one of his hands.

The impact leave a hole of the shape of the alien in the ground. The afforementioned alien laid there, motionlessly.

A huge smile from ear to ear plastered itself on Nomu's face. To him, it was as if he already won. But his instincts told him to break the figure under him even harder than he already did.

He put every single of his hands into a huge fist and raised it above his head.

He then suddenly swung it at the alien laying under him.

The initially closed eye of the slick creature suddenly shot wide, as it jumped out of the hole with a magnificent backflip.

"Now, Todoroki!" he shouted, as the fists of the Nomu, who didn't exactly grasp the situation yet hit the ground, creating a shockwave

Those hands were then suddenly encased in a glacier created by Todoroki, akin to one of he used back in the Festival.

His alien partner took advantage of the villain's confusion, jumping high into the air, his eye meeting with Nomu's eyes.

The alien's tendrills shot towards the exposed brain of the creature.

The round plugs at the end of them jabbed themselves into his brain.

Seconds after they connected, a huge wave of energy proppeled itself from inside the alien, back to where it came from.

The creature howled in pain, thrashing about, as the waves of energy coursed through it's brain.

Untill finally, with a one last yelp, it fell to the ground, it's brain having short circuited, just as Izuku planned.

He jumped away from the villain, escaping to safe distance from the falling colossus.

"Midoriya!"

He looked around, to see Todoroki running towards him from the point he stood before.

"Yes, yes, I was great" said the alien, opening his arms, almost as if he was boasting to an imaginary crowd "There's no need to-"

He was pulled out of his narcisstic rant by a sudden jab to the stomach by his classmate.

"Are you out of your mind?!" he shouted "This thing won a fight with Ryukyu and your best idea was to go ahead and let it punch you? Do you have a death wish?"

"Geez, some real positive feedback there" responded the allien, massaging the sore spot from the punch "It worked in the end, didn't it?"

Then suddenly, his eye went wide.

"Hey!" he said, scratching the top of his head with one of his plugged fingers "Feedback! Yeah, that would be a good name for this guy!"

He looked at Todoroki, awaiting reaction for his newfound name.

But the boy's attention was not on Feedback, but rather someone else.

Ryukyu.

The heroine has since shrunk down to her original form ever since Izuku got the Nomu off of her. She laid there, motionlessly in the crater made from the impact of the hits.

Izuku was pulled out of his machinations when he saw that.

For crying out loud, he forgot the very reason he came back here.

He rushed towards his mentor, speeding past Todoroki, also on his way there.

He fell to his knees, next to the befallen heroine.

She laid there, with still visible cuts from back when she received them in her transformed form.

But what made him panick, was the gash in her side, that was still present and quite big, with blood still running out of it.

He quickly looked around him, looking for something to wrap around her side as a makeshift bandage.

But he was unsuccesfull in his search.

"Todoroki!" he shouted, as the boy finally arrived at the scene "Quickly, give me your jacket!"

The boy looked puzzled for a second by the request, but not before noticing the state that Ryukyu was in. He quickly complied, handing Feedback the jacket he quickly tore into stripes and wrapped around Ryukyu's side, applying pressure.

"Midoriya..." said Todoroki, watching the frantic actions of his classmate "Are you sure if she's even..."

That thought pierced Izuku's heart like a bullet.

He didn't even check her pulse before he got to work. The very thought of not feeling anything scared him to death.

With shaking hands, he placed two of his fingers of Ryukyu's neck, checking for pulse.

He held them for a couple of seconds.

And after those couple of seconds, he fell on his back, his eye completely wide.

A moment later, flash of green light enveloped him, turning him back into his human form.

"Midoriya, what happened?" asked Todoroki, kneeling next to him "Is she-"

"No" answered Izuku, with a faint voice.

A momentary silence followed.

"She's alive"

Those were the last words, before Izuku, having confirmed that his mentor was indeed still alive, passed out again. And it took a long time before he opened his eyes again.