Chapter 7: Desperation

National Museum of History and Heroes

The strong acrid scent of burnt plaster, melted glass and dust filled the air, irritating the lungs and throat.

Panicked breathing, gasping for air, eyes blurred and hands flailed as green pupils focused on their surroundings.

What, what happened? His mind struggled to understand what's going on, the last memory being thrown into the ground roughly when Kurono had spotted something-

That shot a surge of adrenaline into him, arms scrambling as he pushed himself upright and shaking off the dizziness.

Only then did he realize that the sound of explosions did not abate and continued on as it nearly deafened every noise.

"Die!"

Kacchan! Twisting his neck to the source, he froze again in fear when he was greeted by the sight of a large villain, its bulk scraping against the ceiling while it's on all fours and wings gave it a much bigger appearance.

Devoid of any facial feature beyond a mouth, it snapped to the sides and swung its arm around to hit its targets.

"You're awake? You okay?" Ojiro's hands quickly pulled him onto his feet, giving a quick check onto him as his attention went back to the fight. "You need to leave, it's too dangerous!"

"Wa-wait, where's Himiko and Kurono?!"

"Don't worry about those two!" Ojiro crouched down and their tail curled into a spring. "I'll pull them back from that, get to safety, and call for the heroes!"

At that, Izuku noted that aside from the explosion from Katsuki, his eyes were drawn downwards as the familiar mop of pink and blonde was right underneath it. Somehow, the latter was also holding a black sword in his right arm.

The villain raised its fist and sent it crashing down like a hammer down onto Kurono, its speed belie its form as it appeared to be a blur in his eyes.

"No!" Izuku shouted even as he moved forward before Ojiro roughly held him back with his arm.

"It's fine!" The latter shouted towards him while never leaving his gaze at the fight.

"What do you mean-?!"

Bang!

That tore Izuku's attention back to the fight and saw that the villain's hand was reduced to a smoking stump.

A black object clanked at the corner of Izuku's eye, snapping his attention towards it.

Is that a knife? The simple, rudimentary shape reminded him of a carving knife for woodwork though It was completely black as pitch.

"Above!" Toga Himiko's familiar voice shouted even as the villain reared another fist, morphing itself into a mace-like shape as veins were visibly seen alongside its arms.

Her body snapped around like a whip as another black knife flew from her hands unerringly, embedding itself deeply into the villain's fist before it rapidly expanded and exploded violently. Sending the knife careening off to the sides.

Did it go off? Was his quirk an explosive quirk like Kacchan? But his body, what about the wings, was it a chemical-based quirk and a mutation quirk then? Questions flew past his head despite the situation.

"No, the villain quirk isn't anything like that! Kurono hacked several limbs off and it keeps regenerating from it!" Ojiro quickly filled him in on it.

"W-wait, then-" Izuku turned before his mind focused on that, reeling in from that information.

That's multiple quirks unless they're all stemming from a single quirk!

"Get out of the way extras! This villain is mine!" Katsuki yelled even as he came from above and with a thunderous explosion erupting from his hands, sent the villain's head crashing down to the floor.

"Only if you beat it first…" Kurono muttered offhandedly, his body swaying to the sides. Looking to be unstable yet, he moved without any problems or falling down despite the exaggerated moves as he avoided the villain's clumsy and wild swings.

The opposite of it was Toga, who moved more gracefully and calculated. Her eyes often flicked between the villain and Katsuki, black knives carried in each of her hands.

Is that her quirk? Izuku wondered but that question was put aside as the villain, annoyed at the constant moving targets and ineffectiveness of its attacks, switched strategy.

With a quick jerk of its body, the villain wings extended themselves as it whips the leathery part outwards. Hoping to catch them through sheer bulk and pinning them to the wall, wind rushing past them as small rubbles rolled alongside it.

Katsuki kicked off the villain's body, already moving to dodge the wings whereas Kurono stepped forward, legs lowering as his entire body moved with his sword. Lending it extra weight and slicing open the wings open.

Blood spilled from the sides, much to Izuku's growing horror, as Kurono continued onwards, stomping down and leaving a small imprint of his foot behind. Sword raised and falling, aiming for the head.

Throughout it all, Toga followed closely before leaping upwards, tossing another knife right at the head to distract it. Allowing Kurono to have a chance to capitalize in his attacks.

Wait, is he really going for the kill?! But that's-! Izuku's mouth opened in fear and mounting horror.

Despite the knife in its head, the villain snapped its thick skull upwards and smashed right into Kurono's stomach, crashing harshly enough that it bent Kurono over like paper as the latter face turned to a pained expression.

The impact threw him into the air and sent him flying backward, catching Toga as well in his path as the two collided into one another.

Ojiro, who had been patiently observing from the side, intervened, adjusting his tail position before he sprung backward by using his tail as a spring, catching Kurono and Toga mid-air and cushioning their fall as the trio tumbled several times.

Without much thinking, Izuku quickly ran towards them, sliding to his knees as he quickly gave them a check and helping hand. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm good," Ojiro said between exertion as he got to his knees.

A gurgling sound was heard from Toga but that was mainly because of Kurono being on top of her, yet there was a satisfied smile on her face. That quickly passed as Ojiro got him off her.

"It hurts-bloody hell that hurts even when I hardened myself." Kurono's speech went from a formal tone to a much crasser language that would fit Katsuki, Izuku noted to himself even as the former placed a hand over his stomach, gasping for breath desperately.

"Broken bones, anything?" Ojiro's concern increased as he laid Kurono flat on the ground.

"Thankfully, no," Kurono said even as he slowly stood back up, aided by Izuku, Toga, and Ojiro before gently pushing them to the sides.

At that moment, Katsuki landed on all fours close to them as smoke poured from his hands as his sleeves were torn and burnt. His hair was ruffled, messy and bits of the cement walls stuck between his hair.

Sweat poured from his body and his breathing was labored, yet it did little to dissuade him from standing up and continue to go forward with staggering steps at first.

"Kacchan! Don't be reckless, if we leave now, the heroes will handle it!" Izuku shouted loudly towards his friend, though his heart sank at his reply.

"Fuck off! This villain thinks he's some hotshot with his explosion? I'll fucking kill him!" Those words seemed to stoke Katsuki's anger even further as he spat to the sides, angled his hands, and then with a bang, propelled himself forward as he reengaged the villain.

Utilizing his explosions generated from his hands to both dodge and detonate the villain's own explosive arms prematurely.

Yet, he wasn't doing any damage at all even as Katsuki's explosion got strong enough to rival the villain's own explosives.

"I don't think he's leaving." Kurono gestured towards Katsuki with a tilt of his head, much to Ojiro's mounting frustration.

"Tsk! Really, is he going to keep at it?!" Ojiro snapped.

"I'll take care of things, rest of you, go first."

"Do you have to?" Toga remarked sharply.

"Can't let him die," Kurono muttered those words between clenched teeth even as he tilted his head to the sides, giving them one last look. "Go get the heroes and escort anyone else still here."

"I refuse." She flatly replied.

"Don't be stubborn." A harsh glare from Kurono settled down on her, making her take an unwilling step backward. His expression softened and addressed her in a much politer tone. "Please."

Toga huffed at that with a sour face, clearly unhappy with that but ultimately relented with a nod. "Come back, okay? I won't forgive if you don't."

Kurono returned that sentiment with an acknowledging nod before turning to Izuku."Follow Ojiro and Toga, I'll make sure Katsuki is safe till then."

"But-!" Izuku wanted to protest as what he planned to do was bordering on suicide, never mind the law of vigilantism!

"What can you do right now?" Kurono said much more forcefully this time as he shoved him backward before sprinting to the villain, not looking back, and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Go already!"

Those words struck Izuku like a physical slap even if it meant well, after all, it made sense.

What could he do right now compared to Kurono, who's able to fight and from his admission, was the son of a pro-hero?

He was quirkless after all.

That burned him even as he felt himself being dragged by Ojiro and away from the fight.

Kosa Mall

"How's the situation from above?" Aizawa inquired even as he sat down with an eyedrop in hand, the radio phone clamped between his shoulder and ear.

Behind him, the villain was watched by Fat Gum, the Osakan pro-hero, as Aizawa special binding tape was secured around the winged beast-like villain multiple times. His tattered hood and smaller frame after absorbing and expelling that energy out in a counter-attacked.

Kaniko had gone ahead directing the police as they set up and cordoned the area off completely from civilians.

Well, more like some bio-engineered puppet. He mused when he had halted half of its upper body regeneration with his nullifying quirk before securing it with the binding tape.

The moment it finished its regeneration when he turned his quirk off, it was oddly docile and unresponsive to anything else after that.

Still, they're maintaining a tight watch over it as the police raced to fetch a containment cell strong enough to withstand both its size and explosive should it start to rampage again.

"Not good, still no transmission from the Sky Egg heroes. We've contacted the Ingenium agencies and others to provide backup or spotters but it'll take time." Naomasa Tsukauchi crackled through the radio.

"Hng. How about the situation in other areas?"

"Four of the eight areas are engaged, wait-make that five. Mr. Solid has just arrived at the train station. Three locations left."

"Closest to us?"

"The national museum of history and heroes. No one is responding there yet."

"Best we head there next then partner?" Fat Gum hollered out from behind. "A quick refill and I'll be right up."

"Most rational." Aizawa nodded.

Just the moment he finished saying that, a bunch of police finally came with the special cell and restraint tools. Joined by it was a large box of food, its scent clashing with their current surroundings.

"Sir, we have the cells, and also your special order of food?" One of the officers reported to Aizawa as the rest went ahead to secure the villain.

"Right on!" Fat Gum smirked as he quickly devoured a large amount of food even as he joined Aizawa's side. "Let's hustle!"

The latter just nodded as they moved out of the mall, past the yellow tape and large crowd that gathered around. Gawking and pointing their fingers.

Strange, they're looking somewhere else. Aizawa followed their gazes and it was right at the Sky Egg tower.

From afar, there were clouds of smoke floating near the observation deck area.

Squinting his eyes with suspicion, Aizawa caught something flying around it before a flash of light erupted and it's covered in smoke. A few seconds passed before the popping sounds reached his ears.

"Is that?" Fat Gum said between his chewing.

"Yea, that ain't good," Aizawa said even as he motioned the former to quickly move towards the police car. Already, Kaniko was there and seemed to be talking furiously at the radio while looking back and forth to the Sky Egg.

With a quick knock on the window, Kaniko unlocked it for them hurriedly as she continued her conversation. The two of them caught the tail end of the conversation as Kaniko repeated it out loud. "-Captain Celebrity engaged with some of the bioweapons?"

"Yes, we just received confirmation from some of the on-site forces."

"Any backup going there?"

"Negative, first respondents are still heading for the outer perimeter." Naomasa bitterly responded.

"...I'll head there, prep a chopper for me and I'll assist Captain Celebrity." Aizawa finally broke the silence as he contemplated his choice, drawing looks from Fat Gum and Kaniko as the two boggled at his decision. "Fat Gum and Kaniko will go to the museum instead."

"You sure about splitting up?"

"I'm not one to speak but that might be a bit too reckless," Kaniko spoke up, eyebrows lowered in concern.

"Right now, the main target is still the Sky Egg. Our perimeter is slowly being secured, and my quirk most suitable for assisting Captain Celebrity to bring down those bio-weapons." Aizawa curtly replied as he tapped his fingers. "The faster we're able to free up the heroes at Sky Egg, the more chances we can help the rest out."

"That being said, I'm also aware that it'll be extremely dangerous for you to handle the villain alone, which is why-"

"Stall the guy out? I can do that, besides, I've seen what these things can do." Fat Gum grinned in turn. "They ain't gonna get it easy from me this time."

"Kaniko, if you can, assist Fat Gum as well. From what we have seen, if we can do enough damage to the main body and scatter it enough, chances of it regenerating from its damage lessen."

"Alright, just leave it to me then!" Kaniko gave a thumbs up and a smile.

"Very well, then. See you on-site then."

"You're coming too?"

"I'm still a member of the police force, and if things do go badly..." Naomasa replied from the other end firmly.

"I have a reliable backup."

Tokyo Sky Egg

"Haha, like that will work!" Captain Celebrity grinned as he slammed a fist back to the villain, ignoring the statics bristling around it. His own quirk creating a glow around his body that shielded him from the worst of it, it certainly raised the back of his hair and gave a slight tingle.

Yet, his eyes were fixated on the rest of the villains that were homing down onto the Sky Egg structure towers. Ignoring him completely as they torpedoed themselves forward.

Eyes narrowing, he moved with even greater speed and with greater momentum, rammed his shoulders into the second winged beast villain, this one being much bigger, having six arms.

Can't waste time. Captain Celebrity swung to the sides, avoiding an explosive-laden punch, and grabbed the villain's shoulders even as he pushed himself forward.

"Catch!" With a solid kick to the chest and forcing his barrier outwards, he propelled the six-arm villain forward. Crashing one of the small villains in the back as they slammed into one another before violently detonating its payload moments later.

One more! Celebrity pushed himself to the edge as the last villain was now a few yards away from the tower supports.

Teeth clenched and forgoing his usual defense for total speed, appearing nearly into a blur to the world, as Captain Celebrity turned himself into a human bullet.

The villain landed in between the gaps of the metal structures, creaking as the intruder then expanded massively, its back bulging like a balloon as its flesh underneath expanded way beyond what its original mass was capable of.

Upon the pinnacle of its expansion, Captain Celebrity wreathed himself once more in his barrier.

"Get!" He raised both shoulder and arms in front of him, taking a deep breath, and gird his loins. "Off!"

Like a comet, Captain Celebrity rammed himself into the villain, tearing its hold from the structure violently as streaks of its claws shrieked across the surface in a last-ditch effort to find purchase.

Then, a single tear emerged before the villain's body tore itself open from the force contained within, buffeting Captain Celebrity with its kinetic energy and pieces of its torn body.

He resisted the urge to vomit even as the scent of burnt flesh and plastic-filled his nostril. There wasn't any worry of poison but that doesn't mean his quirk stopped the scent.

Turning back quickly as he exited the cloud of smoke and making his way back before he was greeted by the other three villains that circled around him like a hungry shark.

"Well, someone's feisty. Come one, who wants to come first for a knuckle sandwich? I'm offering a discount sale here!" Captain Celebrity taunted with a waggle of his fingers and grin.

Yet the winged villains didn't respond, if anything, they seemed to keep an eye out for any openings that he had as they circled around him closely.

Then, at the corner of his eyes, one of the villains flew straight at him without any warning. Snapping sidewards with a backhand, it caught the temple of the villain directly and sending it careening off to the sides.

Not relaxing his guard and he furiously scanned his surroundings as the other two had disappeared.

A loud screeching rend from above alerted him and his blood ran cold as turning around to the Sky Egg, was the sight of the villains latching onto the tower once again.

"Sonnova-!" Captain Celebrity cursed as he quickly flew towards it.

This time, he didn't make it as the villain self-destruct echoed thunderously across the sky. A sphere of air pressure buckling past him with smoke and metal debris scattered down below.

A large creaking sound rumbled across the tower as a chunk of the foundation was gone, tilting and groaning to hold its weight before it inevitably fell.

That was something that Captain Celebrity won't allow to happen as he reached the observation lower deck and acted as temporary support for the Sky Egg.

"Easy, easy." He muttered as he looked to the supports, the metallic creaking stopped at his actions. That's one problem solved.

But the other problem…

The largest of the villains and six-armed closed in on him, three of its fist raised and knuckles bubbling with its explosive quirks. Its perpetual grin plastered onto its face only grew wider at his predicament

"Well, I guess you're all just that eager for a brawl huh?" Captain Celebrity's blood ran cold and grimaced when he saw one of them charging towards him. "Bring it on then!"

The first of the exploding punch did little, so was the second and third.

On and on it went, until by the time a dozen or so explosions had gone by, Captain Celebrity was rocked by the barrage and cracks appeared in his heroic suit.

Another dozen fisticuffs flew towards him, creating a crescendo of explosive, and this time, he felt a lot more went through his barrier.

By the time the third barrage came, he blanked out for a moment. Body slacking and mind cutting off.

Instinct, adrenaline, fear, and fury came as Captain Celebrity slammed his teeth shut together, and continued to hold the Sky Egg weight.

Belatedly, he also realized the multitude of cracks in his custom sunglasses, the taste of iron in his mouth, and something leaking from his nose.

Guts, Captain Celebrity, Guts! His arm continued to support the structure.

The weight of perhaps tens of thousand tons and most of all, fifty thousand lives, rested upon his shoulders.

He can't fall, he would not fall!

"W-What's that? A party popper?! Hah!" His voice strained through clenched teeth and a large grin that he forced himself to make. "Baby, I can take those all day and not even blink!"

Responding to his words, the villain obliged and continued its relentless barrage. Rocking Captain Celebrity through his barrier.

Yet the former glare did not abate nor turned his gaze away throughout the attacks.

"Now that you're restrained, let's see how long you'll last." Rokuro giggled as he observed the whole thing from his binoculars.

The entire thing had a rough start but he managed to get Celebrity in place.

From afar, two of the three manufactured villains swept upward to the top of the Sky Egg dome. Once there, it unfurled its wings and two horns jutted out from the side of its lips. Static crackled and arc between its horns before it let loose a burst of lightning.

"Disable their communications, intercept their power supply...and done!" Rokuro tapped his tablet screen to issue out orders as he took the sight in.

The feel of control he had over the chaos, never gets old.

"Let's see how the situation's fairing for our distraction-Hmm, looks like cameras for number one is down, same with control." An annoyed grunt came as he clicked his tongue, was the damage severe enough that it wasn't able to regenerate from it?

Well, he has more than enough to still do plenty of work.

Rokuro flicked through the others cameras, so far, the rest were engaged with heroes or still rampaging freely. The heroes were either low ranks or unheard of. Barely worth the attention.

That changed when he reached the sixth camera, a Cheshire grin coming to his face. "Oho, what's this?"

From his view, there were two students that seemed to be attempting to fight or distract the nomu.

"Haha, little kids playing to be heroes? So desperate too!" Rokuro's smile widened as a thought came to him.

If these little kids wanted to be heroes then who was he to deny their choices?

In fact, he'll help them out!

"No heroes ever have it easy, and most of all, they always conquer any trials by being methodical, calm, and decisive." Rokuro recited those words from his idol, O'Clock even as he switched to nomu number six.

"So show me if you are worthy!"

National Museum of History and Heroes

Breathe in.

A crackling and then spark, an explosion formed at the palm of his hands and the force adding his momentum.

The large black mass attached to a shitty knockoff beast of a villain attack flew by inches from his face but it might as well have been a mile.

The smaller explosion then fueled his ascent upwards, straight into that shitty grinning face.

I'm not done yet! Further smaller explosions followed quickly as he spun, adding more power and momentum.

Breathe out.

"Fucking die already!" His right hand came down like the hammer of god itself as the sweat gathered went off, far stronger this time as the reaction sent him backward and a good several meters.

His shoes found purchase on the floor, skidding and leaving marks that left smoke behind its wake.

Yet Katsuki Bakugou's eyes never left his prey. Sharp controlled breaths, all done carefully to maintain his stamina.

While the villain's face was half-gone, revealing its bony exterior, its flesh quickly mended itself back until it was fully recovered. The cherry to that was its dumb-looking smile that seemed to be mocking him.

As if the damage he had done was insignificant.

That his quirk was insignificant, and most of all, that he was insignificant.

His rising temperature and adrenaline levels shot up at that insult, eyes bloodshot and fist tightened in order to gather more sweat. Hair on his neck stood on the edge and bristling.

This fucker.

He took a lower stance, one that'll shoot him right into the villain's face.

I'll murder him!

That thought however was interrupted when another pink nuisance made itself known, the villain so focused on him that its multiple arms were sliced off by a black blade.

Ignoring its injuries and feeling no pain, the villain backhanded the offender with its multiple stumps of arms. Sending a thin stick of a figure hurling backward, tumbling multiple times despite the attack being telegraphed from a continent away.

"Fuck are you doing, extra!?" He hollered out that his throat shook from it as the other person landed close to him. "If you can't even dodge such a simple attack, then you should stay the hell from my way!"

"Can't do that," The weary voice replied back as they slowly stood back up, nursed their neck before tilting it left and right. Despite the multiple times they've been battered and tossed around, he was still relatively unharmed. "Gotta keep him here until the heroes arrive."

"Forget them, I'll take him down myself!" He, Katsuki, initially wanted to take down the villain since it'll boost his chance of getting into UA but now it's different. This was personal.

"But that's what you said a while ago..." The unsure voice that came out of the extra just added fuel to his fire.

Their conversation was interrupted as the villain's arms grew larger and its knuckles enlarged itself into a morning star shape on all six limbs. The moment it was done shaping its hands, it charged forward like a bull.

Heavy stomps cracked the floor from its bulk while it swung wildly. Forgoing any sort of defense as it seemed more interested in ensuring it lands a hit.

A hammer strike missed the two as they scattered in opposite directions.

Upon impact, the floor was blasted to pieces, pressure, heat, debris ripped straight from the floor, flying into the air as it peppered the two of them.

It didn't stop there as it relentlessly chased them down, blowing up anything in its path as the hallway turned into a total warzone.

Clicking his tongue, Katsuki's eyes flicked past the pattern of the attacks before seeing an opening in between. A growl escaped his mouth as he shot forward into a telegraphed punch.

Crack!

Two small explosions at the palm of his hand-propelled him, just enough that the attack missed while he somersaulted to the front and above. Timing it properly, he had both of his hands aimed forward just as he finished his rotation.

This time, backed by two hands and aiming his hands like a cone, the combined blast now focused forward completely.

Not even bothering with a shout this time, the concentrated nitroglycerin ignited.

The world seemed to quiet and slow down as his eyes caught the slight embers from his quirk.

Then the resounding echo and displacement force shattered everything, his back hit the ceiling from the recoil. His muscles, fingers, hands, arms, and shoulders felt like it was ripped apart.

Pain flared across his whole body, vision blurred, and his body was slow to react despite the high level of adrenaline.

Gravity reasserted itself, bringing him down as he struggled to even move both arms.

Flailing in mid-air, he belatedly realized that the floor was now gone, cracks and large pieces of it falling as the floor they're on broke into pieces and into the lower ground floor.

The only thing that comforted him was the sight of the villain that seemed broken as it fell motionlessly.

Kurono's ears ring and drone on and fear that they went deaf before vision slowly returned to his eyes. Debris falling all around haphazardly as they picked themselves up and shaking their head, mouth opening and closing to feel their eardrums.

That however just invited dust into his mouth and throat, making him gag on reflex. Spit filling his mouth as he coughed uncontrollably. His face turned to a darker color complexion even as they squinted to the large cracking hole above them, cracks and debris were still falling downwards.

Bloody hell, he blew a hole wide open. Being away from ground zero and watching from afar, Kurono realized just how destructive it was as they were still caught in the aftershock.

It took a moment for them to recognize that they are currently at the first-floor lobby, banners alighted and spotlights still shining brightly at the centerpiece of a replica of All Might golden age costume and mannequin.

Then laid in front of it laid the large frame of the villain. Its wings were torn apart, arms burnt to a stump alongside parts of its body charred.

At the side was Katsuki Bakugou, flat on his back and still. The school uniform he had was in tatters, his arms discolored and swollen, the skin turning blue-black.

No.

Crona felt a jolt of fear in their chest, difficulty breathing, and body turning ice cold.

"It is alright, he is still breathing." Crona pointed out, noting the rise and fall of his chest.

Thank fucking god for that. Kurono breathed out a long sigh of relief and their left arm raised to cup their forehead before worry came back. Let's get him out of here.

Standing up to their feet, a brief missync occurred as Kurono lifted their weight to the left while Crona went to the right.

Resulting in the two nearly falling flat before both slammed their hands together forward.

God damn it, alright, I lead first for now.

"Ok." Crona leaned to the right as Kurono retook command, sending their body twitching before he raised his left hand.

"Alright, let's haul some ass," Kurono stretched his fingers before moving ahead quickly.

Looking at the villain closer now that he had the chance, it was very similar to those nomus.

"Prototypes, no doubt." Kurono's mouth slipped out his thoughts before he pressed his lips and checked out Katsuki, he wasn't trained enough to tell the extent of the damage but it looked terrible just from his arms alone.

Gingerly lifting Katsuki upwards and carrying him on their back, they quickly made their way to the exit. Shoes scraping against the floor and small debris noisily, making their eyes winced as they looked backward out of fear.

The nomu didn't seem to move at all which was a good sign, Kurono let out a sigh of relief but Crona took over briefly as they narrowed their eyes.

It's not dead yet. Crona spotted the head, still intact, as traces of steam slowly poured out from its body, skin flaking off as burnt pieces sloughed away from it.

"What?!"

It's patching itself up, like a starfish. Good thing it doesn't wriggle, I don't know how to deal with those...

"Shit, shit, shit!" Kurono cursed in between each step, going from long strides to breaking into a run despite knowing the risk of aggravating the possible internal wounds of Katsuki.

Making a beeline for the emergency escape door, a quick slam on the handle, and pushing forward like a truck, he nearly ran face-first into the last people he expected to see.

Especially the familiar green hair.

"Why are you still here!?" His temper finally reached its end as he snapped harshly at Ojiro, Toga, and Izuku, spittle flew from his mouth with a glare that would've melted steel beams.

Particularly the former since he entrusted him to get them out as quickly as possible.

Please don't. Crona prodded him gently at that.

Kurono held his tongue back from shouting more profanities, teeth-gritting as he pushed past them with Katsuki still carried behind his back. "Whatever, let's move!"

Snapping them from inaction, they quickly started racing downwards and immediately overtook him, which annoyed him as he belatedly realized that they're slowing down because of him this time.

"Is Kacchan alright?!"

"How did you get here?"

"What's that explosion-"

"Don't know. Fought, explosion, fell one floor below. Nomu still alive." Kurono summarized as quickly as possible as they descended from the stairs. A quick glance at the edge lifted his spirits when there's only one more level left.

"Nomu? That's the villain's name?" Ojiro quickly slammed open the exit door at the bottom of the staircase for them, as Izuku, Toga, and Kurono ran out from the building.

The bright afternoon light blinded him briefly before it slowly adjusted itself, rows of cars parked underground as the scent of asphalt and lingering heat from cars greeted them.

"Here! The exit is just around the corner!" Izuku shouted and gestured wildly with his fingers pointed off to the sides.

Running forwards, Toga's ears twitched, and sharply turned her glance backward, past Ojiro and Kurono as her gaze focused on the exit door they had just left.

A loud thumping echo resounded as the emergency door flew in the air like a champagne cork, its hinges blown cleanly away, and the center warped outwards with smoke pouring out.

From it, a large silhouette came barreling forwards, grinning and running on all fours like a wild beast.

Eyes darted behind as Kurono instinctively looked over his shoulders, breath hitching and gasping as the nomu got closer and closer. His feet turning cold and a shiver running down his spine.

"Shi-!" Risking it, both he and Crona came to a consensus easily. Black blood rushed to the right palm, bursting and solidifying itself.

Rather than a sword, it formed itself into a round shield. A crude one with no features beyond a grip.

Concentrate, Crona! Just like what we always do!

O-Okay!

Turning their feet around to face the villain, he tightened his guard with only his right arm.

Just in time as a fist slammed right into the center of the shield before an explosion followed up, so great was its impact that their head collided against the grip and sent his vision swimming, eyes rolled upwards as the noise dimmed around him.

For a moment, both of them swore that they could see the stars flying around them.

Was that a garbage bin? Crona muttered hazily as their eyelids felt like lead. Spotting the familiar dark olive green color, wondering if he's seeing things.

"Kuro!"

"Gotcha!"

That snapped their attention back as Ojiro and Toga shouted loudly to their ears, sending waves of pain signals from their forehead and the sensation of being wrapped around at his hips.

Shaking his head and blinking hard to clear his eyes, he realized that it was a garbage bin that not only flew past him but also landed in a way that had covered the nomu large head.

Inwardly, he can't help but snigger at the absurd sight despite the severity of the situation.

"That's way too reckless!" Ojiro chastised them as he slid across the ground, the sole of his shoes squeaking loudly until coming to a halt. He then placed the two down carefully and was joined by Izuku and Toga helping them. "And you're carrying an injured person!"

"Thank-sorry." Both of them spoke together, their words coming up as a jumbled mess.

"You alright?!" Izuku panickedly darted his eyes between them, Katsuki, was in rags as he had lost unconscious with his arms discolored heavily.

Without prompting, Izuku relieved Kurono by carrying Katsuki, the latter winced in pain but remained unstirred.

Kurono meanwhile had beads of black liquid pouring out slowly from his forehead.

Belatedly, Izuku only realized it was blood from the strong iron smell.

"You're bleeding!" Toga stared at Kurono intensely, her breathing also increased rapidly to the point that Izuku feared she might be hyperventilating but that changed when she whipped her head towards the villain.

Izuku from the sides saw her face and involuntarily shied away from her. Thinking that if looks can kill, Toga would've done it multiple times to the villain.

Kurono immediately shot a hand out towards her shoulder, grabbed it, and forcefully made her turn to face him. "It's alright, okay? It's alright."

Toga indignantly turned back, visibly straining against his grip. "It hurt you."

"I'll hurt it back," He blurted out his words, not registering what he said so long she didn't jump into danger. "Help Ojiro and others so they don't get hurt, okay?"

"What are you-You're going to fight it alone?!"

"You see any heroes around?!" Kurono shot back to Ojiro as his tongue flicked to the side of his mouth, tasting blood before spitting it out, and got back up to his feet with an unsteady gait.

Looking forward, the nomu flicked the bin to the sides and shook its head before reacquiring its target.

Reforming the shield into a sword with a flick of their wrist, Crona took over as their body jerked straight before their shoulders lowered.

"How do you kill a starfish?" Crona muttered, taking a deep breath as he gripped his right arm with his left hand, eyes focused solely on the nomu.

Don't get a clue. Kurono mentally replied back, parts of fear bleeding over as Crona felt their teeth chatter and legs shaking uncontrollably.

"Squash it?" Crona focused his attention, the uncontrollable fear was affecting him. Memories flashed as they recalled the few times they felt this way, turning their blood cold.

A flashing smile, one that had yellow slit eyes, snakes hisses and crawling darkness.

That was soon eclipsed by the rushing urge to strike back as a well of spite surged. To wound it.

To kill it.

Their reflection on a nearby car window had Kurono hunched forward, hands holding his temple tightly as he was overwhelmed by pain within and without.

This is-Am I going insane?!

The corners of their eyes went red and blurry, as the swirling intense emotion mixed together and amplified themselves. Their small cut on their forehead did not close and continued to bleed profusely, flowing past their cheeks and dripping to the floor.

Yet, the blood trailed behind them dutifully, as it was being drawn by a magnet.

Heh.

Crona heard a rising giggle of Kurono, an action that they mimicked as well.

Yeah, you're right, let's squash it. Kurono then uncharacteristically and gleefully said, chuckling without pause. Squash it flat, squash it like it's a bug!

"Okay," Crona chuckled as they came to a consensus and smiled widely. "Squash it till it's dead!" "

Once again, they dove into the fray as everything around them blurred and darken. Laughing and smiling all the way as their mind sharpened on nothing but the sole destruction of their enemies.

Authors Note: Sorry, I got delayed. Please comment and criticize like usual.