Chapter Nine : We're Doing This
Pretending to tie his shoe, Clay grabbed a fistful of dirt. This might not have been the most honorable tactic for hero work, but in his defense, the beast of a man facing him looked more than ready to take advantage while Clay's attention was on Alert's perception.
The guy was nearly eight feet tall, with horns like a bull and a build that suggested he had the strength of three. Not exactly a fair matchup, but that suited Clay just fine.
"Listen, big shoots," Clay said dryly, eyeing the towering figure. "I'm busy. Go away."
The brute let out a low, mocking chuckle, his horned head tilting as he loomed over Clay. "You're busy?" He bared a grin, showing a row of teeth sharp enough to make Clay think twice about getting too close. "Well, ain't that a shame, because I'm just gettin' started."
Clay narrowed his eyes, his fist still clenched around the gritty dirt, letting it spill slightly between his fingers. The big guy took a step closer, his boots crunching against the ground, his grin widening as he watched Clay's seemingly calm posture.
"You're gonna regret—"
Clay tossed the dirt, dusting the beast's eyes perfectly. Before he even had the chance to stumble backwards, Clay tossed another rat on his face for good measure. But when the villain was able to easily peel the rat off and ignore Clay's gut punch, Clay knew that this fight wouldn't be so simple.
"Boys, I could use some help here…"
Cash perched tensely on Jiro's shoulder, his sharp gaze fixed on the encroaching villains. Trapped alongside the three students, he knew there wasn't much he could do, but he remained alert, ready. Kaminari looked uncertain, and Momo clutched her bo staff tightly, as if hoping it might be enough to hold off their attackers.
Jiro's eyes flicked between the advancing villains and Cash, who stood with an unexpected air of determination despite his small size. "You got a plan, rat?" she muttered she readied her earphone jacks.
Cash twitched his whiskers, glancing up at her as if to say, I'm a rat. You figure it out. He readied his hind legs, preparing to launch himself in the face of the first attacker.
"Get out of here! I don't need your help!" Bakugo roared, tossing Lee behind him yet again. Lee managed to land on his feet and, with a determined chitter, skittered right back to rejoin Bakugo and Kirishima.
"He'd be good for scouting," Kirishima suggested. "Peeking around corners and stuff."
"I don't need that!" Bakugo snapped.
Lee wasn't deterred by Bakugo's scowl or the fact that he'd been tossed aside at least three times now. He scrambled back up Bakugo's boot, digging his tiny claws in for balance as he made a determined chittering sound, almost as if to say, Like it or not, I'm here to help, you overgrown firecracker.
"Fine, whatever!" Bakugo spat, glaring down at the small, insistent rat clinging to him. "But if you get in the way, I'll launch you myself."
Kirishima stifled a grin, glancing down at Lee with a look of encouragement. "You know, he's got spirit. Could be just the kind of backup you need—even if you won't admit it," he said with a chuckle.
Bakugo rolled his eyes, but a slight, begrudging nod betrayed that he was starting to see Lee's potential. "Hmph. If you're gonna tag along, at least don't be useless," he muttered, eyeing a hallway up ahead.
Kirishima nudged Bakugo with his elbow. "Alright, Lee, you're up," he said, giving the rat a quick thumbs-up. "Go scout that hallway—come back if you see anything dangerous, got it?"
Lee gave a determined squeak and bolted ahead, his tiny frame darting across the floor with practiced speed, hugging the shadows as he slipped around the corner. He returned about thirty seconds later. Presenting himself at Kirishima and Bakugo's feet, he held up one paws, with two claws extended.
Kirishima raised an eyebrow, crouching down to study Lee's gesture. "Two? Two villains up ahead?" he asked, glancing at Bakugo.
Lee gave a firm nod, his beady eyes wide with urgency. He lifted one paw, then tapped it against the ground twice, squeaking to emphasize his message. Bakugo scoffed but couldn't hide a glint of respect as he considered Lee's warning.
"Great, two more idiots to blow up," Bakugo grunted, fists crackling with energy.
Clay rolled to the side, resting the back of his head against the rock wall he was propped up on. "Yeah… that's at least a few broken ribs…" he muttered to Skipper, who was doing his best to keep Clay from moving.
Just a few feet away, the bull-like villain lay incapacitated, his horns embedded in the rock as he struggled weakly to free himself.
Clay tried a few times to peer through his rats' eyes, catching only fleeting glimpses—no more than a second at a time. He managed to see Tsuyu and the others; they were off the boat and safe, even if Mineta was bleeding from the scalp. Bakugo and Kirishima had made it past the buildings and were heading toward… All Might?
"When'd he get here…" Clay muttered, squeezing his eyes shut. In the flashes he'd seen, All Might was losing, beaten back by some massive, bird-like creature pummeling him relentlessly. Opening his eyes again, Clay turned to Skipper. "Make sure I don't say anything stupid this time," he murmured, raising his arms weakly as a flood of rats poured out. "All Might's in trouble, boys… See what you can do."
Skipper chittered in alarm, but Clay gave him a reassuring pat on the head, his hand heavy and unsteady. "I'll be fine, chief… Just make sure those guys know what's up."
He closed his eyes, feeling his mind stretch out across the battlefield as each rat scurried into place. It was like spreading out his senses, a hundred tiny pairs of eyes and ears alerting him to the chaos surrounding the U.S.J. His focus wavered, and he only managed to get fragments—a flash of Bakugo's explosions, Kirishima's hardened fists, and, through a few rats scattered on the ground near the center of the conflict, the creature with a massive, exposed brain and deep-set yellow eyes towering over All Might.
The creature—Nomu, he'd heard a villain call it—moved with a calculated ferocity, its massive clawed hands swinging at All Might with the speed and precision of a machine. Each blow forced All Might back, barely giving him a chance to retaliate. Even from a distance, Clay could feel the intensity of the punches, each one hammering with the force of a wrecking ball.
Clay's perception of the battle was patchy at best, flashes of movement and chaos slipping in and out of focus. It became painfully clear he had no chance against Nomu. His thoughts were a mess, clouded by the steady flow of rats streaming out, but he knew he had to do something.
Hands guy… he managed to think, fighting to keep his focus. Get him…
Focusing what strength he had left, Clay directed a small, nimble group of rats away from Nomu, toward the man with disembodied hands attached to his arms—the one who had been calmly watching the battle unfold with a sick kind of fascination. Shigaraki, he'd heard his classmates call him.
His heart pounding in his chest, Clay guided the rats forward, willing them to move as silently as possible. He saw through their eyes as they crept around broken bits of debris and skittered along the ground, drawing closer to the twisted man's feet.
Through a fragmented vision, he saw Shigaraki's attention fixed on the fight, his sinister grin widening every time Nomu landed a hit on All Might. Clay's rats inched closer, one daring to brush against Shigaraki's shoe, earning a disgusted glare as Shigaraki kicked it away.
Good, at least he's distracted, Clay thought.
But as one of the rats neared Shigaraki's leg again, Clay felt the strange man's gaze snap down, his expression shifting to something sharper, more alert. A chill washed over him as he realized Shigaraki's eyes were now fixed directly on one of his rats.
"Annoying little pests," Shigaraki muttered, his hand reaching down.
In an instant, the rat turned to dust beneath his fingers, vanishing in a puff of decay. Clay felt the loss like a pinprick in his mind. The remaining rats hesitated, but Clay urged them forward, keeping them low and moving in a scattered formation, hoping to make them harder to target.
"Come on, boys," he muttered under his breath, gripping the rock for support as his vision swam. "Just keep him busy… Keep going…" Clay found it harder to stay awake with every rat he summoned. He barred his teeth. The rats had to keep coming.
Each new rat he summoned chipped away at his energy, making his vision blur and his muscles tremble with fatigue. But Clay's determination held strong—All Might needed every bit of backup he could get, and if a swarm of rats was all he could muster, then he'd pour everything he had into it.
The rats moved quickly, scattering around Shigaraki in an unpredictable circle. Shigaraki swatted at them, a look of irritation growing on his face as he destroyed one after another. Yet every time he turned, another rat scurried forward, nipping at his ankles, clawing at his pants, gnawing at his shoes. Shigaraki's focus wavered, flicking away from All Might to bat at the growing wave of rodents surrounding him.
Despite the haze descending over Clay's mind, he saw a fleeting glimmer of success. All Might, seeing the distraction, drove forward with a powerful punch, landing a solid hit that sent Nomu flying through the dome above.
Clay slumped further against the rock, his energy drained. The sounds of battle still echoed around him, but he'd done his part. He'd kept the boss occupied long enough for All Might to handle Nomu. He tried one last time to peer through his rats' eyes, but his connection was completely severed. They'd probably gone haywire by now, acting more like regular rats than anything helpful.
"I think… we're okay, Skip…" he muttered, his speech slurred, the words barely leaving his lips. "I'm just gonna… sit here for a while…"
Skipper nuzzled Clay's neck before leaping off his shoulder. Scaling the wall with ease, he spotted Shigaraki slipping back through the purple portal, vanishing to wherever he'd come from. Gunshots echoed in the distance, but they didn't faze Skipper; he'd heard that sound enough to tune it out.
From his vantage, Skipper saw that All Might was down, looking thin and almost ghostly, while Midoriya lay sprawled on the ground, a few limbs visibly broken. But Cementoss was there, so Skipper knew it was safe to leave them behind. Around him, the other rats began to scatter.
Skipper had been around long enough to know he wouldn't vanish like the others, so he didn't hesitate. Charging forward, he darted through the rubble, determined to find help for his human.
Skipper weaved his way through debris and fallen stone with swift, determined strides, a blur of brown fur as he bolted toward the nearest group of people. Though most of Clay's summoned rats were gone, Skipper's loyalty ran too deep to vanish when Clay needed him most.
As he scurried across the field, he noticed other students beginning to regroup, shaken but still standing. Tsuyu, looking bruised but steady. Skipper saw her just as Alert was disappearing. Skipper squeaked loudly, pointing his tail towards where he left Clay slumped against the rocks.
Tsuyu's wide eyes flicked toward the direction Skipper indicated, her gaze sharpening with understanding. "Clay's hurt?" she murmured, her calm voice laced with worry. Without missing a beat, she scooped Skipper up, her grip gentle but firm as she held him close.
"Kaminari! Can you help me get to Clay?" she called, glancing over to where he was sat on the ground.
Kaminari looked up, but Tsuyu could see right away that he would be no help. He fried his brain from the looks of things. Jiro and Momo were there too, very bruised but capable.
"I'll go," Momo declared. "Where is he?"
"I'll stay with Kaminari," Jiro muttered.
Tsuyu glanced at Skipper, who pointed his tiny paw in the direction where Clay had been slumped. "This way," she said, her voice calm but urgent. Skipper squirmed in her hold, clearly eager to lead, so Tsuyu set him down and let him scamper ahead, following his nimble movements.
They reached Clay a few moments later, his form leaning heavily against a rock, eyes half-lidded but still barely aware. His face was pale, and he looked like he'd taken more hits than he'd ever admit. As soon as he saw them, though, he managed a faint smirk. "There she is…," he rasped, looking directly at Tsuyu. Skipper immediately lurched forward, climbing up his chest and trying to hold his lips closed.
"Clay, don't move," Momo said firmly, kneeling beside him and pulling a small first-aid kit from her arm. Her hands worked swiftly, assessing the bruising along his ribs with a gentle but practiced touch. "You took some serious hits. We need to stabilize you until we get real help."
Clay let out a weak chuckle, but even that seemed to hurt. "Just… a few bruises, nothin' too serious," he muttered, his gaze shifting to Tsuyu, who met his eyes steadily, her expression calm but watchful. It was abundantly clear to all present that Clay was trying to look tough. Skipper held firm, as if trying to keep his friend from speaking again, chittering disapprovingly.
Tsuyu, sensing his attempt to brush off his injuries, gently rested a[1] hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to talk right now, ribbit," she said softly. "Save your strength. Just focus on resting."
Clay looked like he might argue, but after a glance at Tsuyu and the weight of Skipper's determined stance, he gave a reluctant nod, relaxing back against the rock. He lifted his head, his gaze meeting Tsuyu's. "I'd treat you so good…" he slurred.
Momo rolled her eyes. "He's just like Kaminari…"
Tsuyu's cheeks flushed a faint pink, but she kept her steady gaze on Clay, offering a small, patient smile. "Just focus on resting, Clay. You can treat me to some silence, ribbit," she replied, a hint of humor softening her voice.
Clay's eyes drifted closed, though a faint grin lingered as he mumbled, "Sure thing… no problem at all…" His head slumped forward slightly, exhaustion settling over him. Skipper gave a final satisfied squeak before curling up on his shoulder, as if making sure Clay wouldn't try anything reckless.
Momo finished wrapping his ribs, securing the bandage with gentle hands. She shook her head, her expression somewhere between exasperation and amusement. "We're lucky you didn't get yourself into worse trouble," she murmured, glancing at Tsuyu.
Tsuyu gave a thoughtful nod, her eyes lingering on Clay's battered form. "He's stubborn. But maybe that's not such a bad thing."