Chapter 47 - Muscles and Bones

Matthew ran down the steps of the stadium, leapt over some guardrails, and landed in the open area. Upon landing, several Nomus took notice of him, and rushed over to attack him! Quickly dodging their attacks, Matthew began heading over to where Aizawa, who had been split up from Vlad King, was facing off against two Nomus! But then, from behind, another Nomu was preparing to smash Aizawa!

"Heads up!" Matthew yelled.

Aizawa turned around, and Matthew barreled into him, pushing both of them out of getting smashed by the Nomu! The student and the teacher rolled and hit the ground, to which they both quickly got up! Unfortunately for Matthew, Aizawa was far from happy to see him.

"I told you to get to safety." said Aizawa, his tone angered.

"With all due respect, Eraserhead, I can take care of myself." Matthew replied, taking a fighting stance. "I'm not leaving you to get killed by these Nomus."

"You know that if you get killed, Justice High is going to hold U.A personally responsible."

"Then I free you of that responsibility; let the blame fall on my own head."

Aizawa gave out a groan of annoyance, then sighed, and said, "Fine; the two of us will work together to take on those three Nomus. Listen, if its becomes hard to handle, you run, and I'll hold them off."

"I can assure you that I will not be running." Matthew replied. "Let's hit it!"

Aizawa and Matthew then both charged into the fray, taking on the three Nomus! Despite the Nomus being a whole lot larger than they were, both Aizawa and Matthew were more skilled. The Nomus just thrashed around with their attacks, so all that Matthew and Aizawa did was dodge, wait for an opening, and attack.

However, the Nomus weren't affected by Aizawa's 'Erasure' quirk, and even Matthew's 'Twenty Four Hour - Paralyzation Finger Flick' had no effect on them as well. But, they were affected by Aizawa's capture scarf, as he used the tendrils from it as whips, to keep the Nomus at bay. As for Matthew, he just decided to mess with them, and began dodging their attacks, jumping off of them, and just making it difficult for them to keep up.

"Any idea how to kill these things?" asked Matthew, riding on the shoulders of one of a Nomu, and blinding it by covering its eyes.

"Usually, we would attack the brain; that would put them out of commission." Aizawa replied, kicking a Nomu in the face. "These ones, I'm not so sure about; their brains aren't exposed."

Matthew then jumped off the Nomu, and was prepared to fight against them some more. But, to his surprise, and Aizawa's, the Nomus stop attacking, and they began running off.

"They're retreating, but why?" asked Matthew.

"I don't know." Aizawa replied, taking off his goggles. "But something doesn't feel right. We should-"

BLAM!

Aizawa suddenly felt a fierce pain in his left leg, and he looked down to see his shin was now bleeding. To his horror, he saw the bullet, which was colored red; it was quirk-erasing bullet, the kind that were made from Eri's blood! Aizawa then looked up and saw Shigaraki, standing from a distance and wearing his full villain gear, wielding a revolver! He had fired a quirk-erasing bullet at Aizawa, and it hit him!

Matthew looked at Shigaraki with a worried expression, and then at Aizawa. Suddenly, Aizawa did something that Matthew wasn't expecting; Aizawa quickly drew one of his knives from the back of his belt, and with one quick swipe, he cut off everything below the knee! Matthew's expression then turned to one of shock, and he let out a gasp as he caught Aizawa, who fell back after cutting his left leg off!

"Mr. Aizawa!" Matthew spoke, his tone shocked. "What?! Why did you-"

"It was a quirk erasing bullet." Aizawa groaned. "I would've lost my quirk, if I didn't sacrifice my leg."

Matthew remembered what Togata had told him about those bullets, and it amazed him that Aizawa sacrificed one of his limbs to keep his quirk. He then looked up, and saw Shigaraki slowly walking towards them, still carrying the revolver.

Matthew, calming his quickening breath, quickly grabbed the knife that Aizawa dropped, and then cut the left sleeve of his grey, oversized hoodie. He then tore off his sleeve, knelt down, and began tying it tightly around Aizawa's bleeding stump.

"What are you doing?" Aizawa asked.

"You need a tourniquet, to stop the blood." Matthew replied. "Not only that, but you're about to go into shock; you're no longer in any condition to fight. And, that guy with the hand on his face is coming."

"Matthew, that's Tomura Shigaraki, the leader of the League of Villains. He has a 'decay' quirk, and will destroy anything he touches. Run away, you can't beat him…"

"No, I'm not going to run; I'm not just going to leave you here to die. And yeah, I'll admit I'm scared out of my wits… but, my soul is prepared."

Matthew then propped Aizawa up on some folding chairs, and watched Shigaraki approach. He then threw away the knife, took another breath, and began walking towards Shigaraki. The two stopped, standing off against each other like two lone warriors. It gave Matthew a somewhat familiar feel, like when he fought against Bakugo for the first time.

"So, you're one of the American students." said Shigaraki, his voice sickly sounding.

"Yeah, and you must be the final boss, I take it." Matthew replied, his tone filled with disdain. "Or, are you the boss before the final boss?"

"Oh, I'm the final boss alright, but not in this case. Aren't you wondering why there's only ninety-nine Nomus? Shouldn't there be an even one hundred?"

"Let me guess, the final Nomu is the final boss?"

"Oh yes, but I'm saving him for last; he's the most powerful out of all the new Nomus. Nobody, not even the one they call 'Deku', will be able to defeat him. And I all have to do is use the clicker in my pocket, and give him the order to attack."

"If you think I'm just going to stand idly by, and let you give that order, " said Matthew, taking a fighting stance. "You've got another thing coming."

Shigaraki let out an evil laugh, slipped the revolver in his trench-coat pocket, and then replied, "Oh, I'm so glad you've said that. I'm not going to call the final Nomu right away; I've always wanted to disintegrate an American!"

After saying that, Shigaraki raced forward with an animalistic screech, intent on grabbing Matthew in order to use his 'decay' quirk on him! But having been warned by Aizawa of the danger, Matthew made sure to dodge his wild swipes! Shigaraki proved to be fast, however, and Matthew had to put all his energy into avoiding getting touched by him!

It was hard to attack Shigaraki, considering that he moved quickly on the offensive! But when he did get the chance, Matthew dodged and attempted to punch Shigaraki! But Shigaraki was quick, and grabbed his right arm! Suddenly, right before Matthew's eyes, his right sleeve began turning into dust and decaying! Quickly, Matthew pulled back and freed his arm, before Shigaraki could touch his skin!

"That is really freaky." said Matthew, brushing the decay of his sleeve off his arm. "I'm going to have to-"

BLAM!

Matthew suddenly felt a fierce pain his right shoulder, and he looked to see that his shoulder was bleeding! And, there was a quirk-erasing bullet imbedded in his shoulder; he had let himself get distracted, and Shigaraki had taken full advantage of that! He had pulled out the revolver, and fired the gun at him!

"You… you shot me." Matthew spoke, his tone shocked. He then said in an angered tone, "You're going to pay for that!"

Shigaraki prepared to fire again, but Matthew sped towards him, using his full speed to get to him! It was almost like he teleported, as he collided with a dropkick that sent Shigaraki reeling! Matthew then did a backflip, and landed back on his feet! Keeping a firm grip on his right shoulder, moved forward to attack Shigaraki with kicks!

Considering that adrenaline was pumping wildly through his veins, Matthew didn't feel any pain. However, he had to fight quickly, as he would probably succumb to blood loss at some point. And when that happened, it meant that Shigaraki could disintegrate him while he was knocked out! He had to make sure that he-

BLAM!

Shigaraki had fired another round into Matthew, this time hitting him in the right arm! But Matthew kept going, taking his left hand from off his bleeding shoulder to punch Shigaraki, knocking the hand off of his face! Upon seeing his real face, and how sickly it looked, Matthew instantly regretted doing that.

"I just put two quirk erasing bullets in you!" Shigaraki cackled, a sinister grin formed over his lips. "Not only are you bleeding out, but now your quirk is gone for good! Was it worth it, losing your quirk like that? Because now, you're helpless…"

"Actually, I don't have a quirk." Matthew replied. "I'm quirkless, not helpless."

Shigaraki's expression suddenly changed to one of surprise; he wasn't informed that one of the American students was a quirkless!

"What?!" Shigaraki asked, now sounding frightened. "You're quirkless?!"

"Yep." Matthew replied, his tone pained yet comical. "You never really took my quirk from me, as I didn't have one to take. So, keep firing those quirk erasing bullets into me; better you waste them on me, a guy without a quirk, rather than some poor soul who actually has a quirk."

In response to that, Shigaraki began slipping the revolver back into his trench-coat pocket. Matthew looked down, and saw the hand that Shigaraki wore on his face, lying on the ground. A rather stupid idea came into his mind, and he walked over into the hand.

"So, you're not going to shoot me?" Matthew asked. "Guess I'll have to make you shoot me."

After he said that, Matthew lifted his foot up and stomped on the hand. Instantly, Shigaraki let out a cry of anger and pain, and he drew the gun from his pocket to fire it again! Matthew charged forward and knocked the gun from Shigaraki's hand, then proceeded to knock him to the ground! Matthew then got on top of him, kneeling on his arms to keep him from moving, and began pounding away on his him with his left face! After a few seconds, Shigaraki got one of his arms free, and attempted to grab Matthew's face, and to which Matthew quickly got back up!

But Shigaraki, still angered over Matthew stomping on his face hand, came forward and grabbed Matthew's shoulders! Matthew tried to break free, but Shigaraki held on, causing the skin on Matthew's shoulders to decay, followed by the flesh! Upon reaching the muscle, Matthew quickly jumped back and broke free! But, to his horror, he turned and saw the bones and muscles of his shoulders, and he could no longer feel his arms! Shigaraki had made it all the way to the bones and muscles, exposing the nerves, and now, Matthew couldn't move his arms! Shigaraki then dove for the gun, turned around, aimed it at Matthew, and-

BLAM! BLAM!

A quirk erasing bullet dug into Matthew's right leg, followed by another, which hit his left leg! Matthew collapsed to the ground on his stomach, unable to get up; he couldn't use his arms, and his legs were shot. Not only that, but he was bleeding out all over his body!

"Okay, that was a bad idea." Matthew groaned.

Shigaraki let out a villainous cackle, as he put the hand back onto his face. The hand seemed to restore his sanity, and he walked over to where Matthew laid.

"Now decay, and become nothing but dust!" said Shigaraki.

Shigaraki then placed his hand on Matthew's head, all four fingers and his thumb, which would activate his quirk. But, to his confusion, his quirk didn't activate! This confused Matthew as well, as he was bracing himself for Shigaraki to decay his head in.

Shigaraki then turned his head and saw Aizawa, who was using his 'Erasure' quirk on him, which kept him from using his 'decay' quirk. Shigaraki let out annoyed groan and stood up, his hand clamped around Matthew's head as he pulled him up as well. Matthew let out a groan, as Shigaraki's grip on his head and neck was tight.

"Same as at the USJ, huh?" Shigaraki asked, his tone annoyed. "Well, I was going to save this last quirk erasing bullet for Deku, but I guess I'll have to use it on you. And after I shoot you, Eraserhead, this one will be the first thing to go!"

Shigaraki raised the gun at Aizawa, who couldn't move or blink; if he did, Matthew would be dead. But if Aizawa didn't move, Shigaraki would shoot him! It looked hopeless for the two of them; they were going to die, right here and now!

Shigaraki's fingered closed around the trigger and-

SPLAT!

An orange glob of slime hit the barrel of the gun, preventing Shigaraki from shooting it!

"What the?" Shigaraki asked, looking to see where the slime came from.

"DETROIT SMASH!" Midoriya roared, punching Shigaraki and sending him flying.

Matthew slipped out of Shigaraki's grasp, and Eraserhead deactivated his quirk, closing his eyes and dropping into unconsciousness. Midoriya landed on his feet, and then knelt down beside Matthew. Milo quickly climbed over the guardrails, followed by Ashido and Uraraka, and all three came over to where Matthew was laying. They all kneeled down over him, all shocked by what happened to their classmate.

"Oh my gosh, Noble!" Midoriya spoke, his tone shocked.

"Get Aizawa…" Matthew groaned, not taking note of his injuries. "He's in far worst shape than me…"

"He's in worst shape?!" Milo asked, his tone unbelieving. "Dude, the muscles and bones in your shoulders are exposed!"

"At least I still have all my limbs; Eraserhead got shot with a quirk erasing bullet, to which he amputated his leg." Matthew replied, his tone pained.

Uraraka looked over at Aizawa, saw him without his leg, and said in a worried tone, "Mr. Aizawa!"

"Oh no! Oh no!" Ashido added, her tone frightened. "Is he…?"

"No, he's alive, just unconscious." Matthew replied. "Which is what I'm about to be in a few seconds. You've got to stop Shigaraki…"

His words began to fade, and Matthew dropped into unconsciousness. Midoriya, Uraraka, Ashido, and Milo all looked, and saw Shigaraki, who was recovering from getting 'DETROIT SMASHED'.

"What do we do, Midoriya?" asked Milo.

Upon realizing how drastic the situation had come, a look of determination came over Midoriya's face.

"Here's what we're going to do." Midoriya replied, his tone commanding. "Uraraka, use your quirk to make Noble and Mr. Aizawa lighter. Ashido, you help Uraraka move Aizawa and Noble to safety. Shiloh, you're with me; we're going to hold off Shigaraki."

"Fine by me." Milo replied, stepping beside Midoriya. "Let's do it."

"Wait!" Ashido spoke up, to which Milo turned to face her.

Ashido threw her arms around Milo's neck, and kissed him on the lips. He returned the kiss, and it lasted for seven seconds. She then stopped, but still kept her arms locked around his neck.

"Be careful, okay?" Ashido asked.

"Sure thing, Mina." Milo replied. "I'll be careful, I promise."

Ashido nodded, gave Milo one last hug, let him go, and then knelt down beside Matthew. Uraraka looked at Midoriya, who turned and looked at her.

"Uraraka, what's wrong?" asked Midoriya, his tone concerned.

Suddenly, Uraraka hugged Midoriya, and then leaned and kissed him on the cheek.

"Don't die on me, Deku." said Uraraka, her tone worried.

For once, Midoriya wasn't surprised or nervous from the affection, and he returned the embrace.

"I won't, I promise." Midoriya replied.

Uraraka then let him go, and knelt beside Ashido. Using her quirk, Uraraka touched Matthew's back, making him float, to which Ashido grabbed his legs and began pulling him. The three then went over to Aizawa, and Uraraka touched his chest, making him light as well. Now pulling both Aizawa and Matthew, who were floating, the girls began heading for safety.

As for Milo and Midoriya, they had their work cut for them. Shigaraki had recovered from the 'DETROIT SMASH', and was now getting ready to fight. Unfortunately, he had dropped the revolver as well when he got punched, and it was now slimed covered. It was also by Midoriya and Milo, to which Milo picked it up and chucked it as hard as he could; one less thing to worry about.

After throwing the gun away, Milo and Midoriya faced down Shigaraki, both with angered expressions on their faces. Milo then made his orange slime form around his hands, while Midoriya activated 'One for All', surrounding his body with green electricity.

"Deku, All Might's pet." Shigaraki spoke, his tone villainous. "And another one of the American students."

"Yeah, and you're going to pay for what you did to my little buddy!" Milo replied. He then turned to Midoriya and asked, "You ready, Deku?"

"I'm ready, Orange Fury!" Midoriya replied. "Let's get him!"

After saying that, Midoriya and Milo charged forward, letting out war cries as they raced into battle! Shigaraki let out his animalistic screech once again, and ran forward as well! The three collided with each other, and the fight was on!