87

Chapter 87: Parian

A/N: The chapter in which things break… like porcelain (aka parian-esque stuff!) Get it, hmm? Well guess what — Doesn't matter! Here we have it! Finally, (no matter how arbitrarily I've done it, hehe) I've named chapters after all of the Undersiders! (Well, in Worm-terms, anyways). Yipee!

Anyways, here we are, the culmination of the entire experiment-test-subject-section of this arc. Watch out world, here comes a new and improved(?) Izuku Midoriya.

"Stop it! Stop! Don't hurt him or I'll swear—"

"You'll what, girlie? Melt out of your restraints and kill me in return? I don't know if you've noticed but you're being pumped full of those fucking quirk cancellers! Now keep quiet; I want to savor this moment."

The haze receded, and soon Izuku's eyes shot open, meeting Ruka's own furious, red ones.

The rather ragged villain noticed this, her mouth twirling into a sadistic smirk in response.

"Ah, you're awake!" She leaned in, resting her arm on the surface Izuku's remained restrained to. "It's a shame that I'm on a time crunch for this; I wanted to savor every moment of it, you know?"

The whole laboratory shook, pieces of rubble falling from the ceiling as dust filled the air. A cacophony of inhumane screeches and monotone voices echoed through the walls, the sounds of battle evident in Izuku's ears.

"There are heroes just in the other room!" Ashido yelled out, her eyes shimmering in rage. "You should just run; you think that you'll get away once they've figured out what you've done?!"

"One hero, actually. And besides, they'll have no clue that it's me," Ruka smiled, revealing a gun in her free hand. "And I have all the time in the world; those High Ends should be pretty capable — even if that bitch in the other room is in the top tens."

Ruka pushed herself off the table, moving towards Izuku with a slow and steady step. She raised the gun up to her chest, her fingers flowing over it almost fondly.

"Hey kid," she looked up towards Izuku. "No hard feelings, you know?"

Before Izuku could respond, she devolved into a fit of laughter. "Heck! Who am I kidding — of course there's hard feelings! The Doctor may not like it; but I'd rather I pop a cap right in your skull to make sure you don't escape than risking your escape. Then I can get around to getting Tomura right outta here."

She raised the gun up, pointing the barrel right in between Izuku's eyes. "For Sensei, and Tomura. Time to face karma, brat."

Izuku couldn't move, couldn't open his mouth to say anything. The pain from Garaki's experiments came rolling back in full force, and he could feel exhaustion overtaking his entire body.

But he didn't concede, didn't surrender despite the depths of the gun's barrel that stared right at him. He knew there was a way out of his situation; he just hoped that QA — Taylor — hadn't just been talking nonsense.

"Just a second — sheesh! It's not easy overwriting old shard coding, you know?"

You think I have any fucking time for whatever it is you're doing!? I'm about to get shot! Hurry it up!

"Yelling at me won't help in the slightest, you know.

Taylor!

"And… done."

Ruka twitched, her head jerking leftwards, causing her to stumble sideways.

"The hell?!" the villain exclaimed, looking around her. A whole group of appendages sprouted out of the ground, moving out in a swirling motion around her and expanding outwards until they reached the room's edges.

"Nobody's here…" She turned towards Izuku, raising the gun once more. "I need to do it now then, before any other interruptions crop up. Bye-bye, you— Fucking—!"

She dropped her gun, the weapon falling to the floor. She grabbed at her wrist, clutching it in pain. "The fuck! Somebody here is messing with me right now and when I find you—"

Her whole arm twitched. This time, her eyes honed in on Izuku once more, narrowing as they focused in on the boy. "You! What the hell are you doing to me?"

"This is a bit harder than I thought…"

Ruka lunged forward, her hands falling around Izuku's throat. "If I can't shoot you then I'll—"

She screamed, backing off and falling to the ground. She clawed at the ground, her limbs jerking back and forth as she wrested for control. But despite the pain, a fiery determination remained present in her eyes.

"Not… yet!" She used her quirk, ethereal tentacles sprouting from the ground, zooming towards Izuku and coiling around his throat.

"Hang on… Just figuring out all the ins-and-outs here… You can push through; it's not like you haven't experienced worse."

"Hang on Midoriya!" Ashido screamed. "'I just need to wriggle out of these! Hold on! Hold—!"

Izuku gasped for breath, the appendage tightening around his neck as his vision slowly began to blur. The seconds felt like minutes, and he began to lose what little feeling in his limbs he had. The darkness was out to consume him once more, and this time he didn't think that he'd be coming back.

...

But then the pressure stopped, air racing into him as he took in as much oxygen as he could. As his breathing steadied and his vision cleared up, the first thing he saw was Ruka. No longer were her eyes in an enraged glare, or her attention honed in on killing Izuku.

"Hmm…" Ruka hummed, looking at her hand as she flexed out her fingers. "You good, Izuku?" she asked, not looking away from her hand.

Izuku blinked, the sudden change to her personality catching him off guard. He struggled to put the word out, but he opened his lips despite the strain it put on him. "Wha...?"

"Sorry it took so long," Ruka interrupted. Various appendages sprouted out from the ground and moved towards Izuku. The limbs formed hands, gripping down on Izuku's metal restraints and crushing them under their grip.

With nothing holding him back to the table, Izuku began to fall forward. He didn't hit the ground however, instead being caught and engulfed by the ethereal limbs that surrounded him. The limbs positioned him in the air, right in front of Ruka.

With all of his might he attempted to break free of his bounds, but he soon realized that he didn't even have the strength to lift his finger. He attempted to open his mouth to speak again, only to be hushed by an ethereal finger.

"You're still exhausted from the change, Izuku. Don't strain yourself." She narrowed her eyes for a second, only for them to widen in realization but a second later. "Oh! Sorry — probably should have explained in more detail. It's me, Taylor."

Izuku stilled. How—

"Administrator, remember?" She tapped the side of her head. "All I needed to do was apply the base functions on a familiar shard; it wasn't like it was hard to find a port for Ruka here; her passenger is one QA is familiar with."

The words borrowed right into Izuku's consciousness, the implications chilling him to the bone.

You… Are you saying that you can outright control people's bodies like we do with bugs?! That's messed up! How could you—

An explosion rang off in the next room over, followed by the sounds of crumbling concrete and even more screeches of Nomu.

"Right, sorry," the apology spewed from Ruka's — now Taylor's — mouth. "Probably should keep the explanation for later. And I need to watch myself as well; I'm a bit excited at the prospect of being in an actual body again, you know?"

"What the heck are you even talking about?!" Ashido exclaimed, still restrained to her table.

Taylor snapped her fingers. "Right!" She formed a few more appendages, this time with sharp edges akin to scythes. She continued to hold Izuku up behind her. Having the limbs holding him up follow as she walked towards Ashido.

Ashido — not quite fully grasping the whole scope of the situation — reacted accordingly.

"Get the hell away from me! You aren't going to—"

"Relax!" Taylor pleaded, cutting the first two restraints off. "Weren't you listening? I'm trying to help you escape." She sliced off the last two, leaving Ashido free to land herself on the ground.

Taylor put on a smile. "There! You're free. Stretch yourself for a bit, you'll need it."

Taylor turned around, looking out towards the exit of the room. "Now, just so you know I've done a bit of scouting earlier in a sort of astral form — probably those blurs you were seeing, Izuku."

She began to turn to face the two. "Anyways, the way out is— Aggh!" Taylor — by way of Ruka's body — fell to the ground clutching her stomach. Her control of her quirk vanished, Izuku falling to the ground in a heap.

She'd been struck in the gut by a rather strong punch from Ashido, the girl of which instantly ran over to Izuku's body. "Come on! We need to go!"

Izuku didn't respond, causing Ashido to take a second to take a closer look at him.

"Can't move?" she guessed.

Izuku opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Ashido nodded to herself. "Don't worry about it; I'll just carry you out of here!" Ashdio exclaimed, tugging Izuku's limp body over her shoulder. "Whoo! You're heavier than expected!"

"Stop!" Taylor wheezed, still on the floor. The limbs on Ruka's body were going off in a spasm, her head the only thing staying still. "I'm just… Just trying to help!"

"As if!" Ashido shouted back, not taking a moment to stop. "You were just talking about how you wanted to kill us! I could practically feel the bloodlust oozing off of you! You think I'm going to believe a word that you say?"

She made a break for the door. The added weight on her shoulders hampered her progress, but that didn't stop her from working on the fact that she needed to get herself and Izuku out of there.

Taylor! What are you doing! That punch couldn't have hurt that much!

"She's… fighting back… I just need another second… Or else… Ruka might..."

"Ashido…" Izuku said, barely louder than a whisper. With the positioning of his head over her shoulder, he was afraid that Ashido wouldn't have heard him. Those fears were dashed when she responded back.

"Quiet," Ashido soothed, putting a soft smile his way. "You need to save your energy, don't need you losing consciousness on me now, of all times."

It was clear to Izuku that she was putting on a brave face. By the looks of things they were at the mercy of a known enemy, with himself out for the count and the only thing he could rely on being her. Izuku appreciated the sentiment immensely — but at the same time wished that she would have just given up.

If what Taylor said was true then there was a real chance of Ruka gaining back control. And while he utterly despised the idea of taking someone's free will like that, he couldn't refute the fact that what Taylor had done was the miracle they had needed to escape.

Without Taylor's help there was no telling what would happen to the two of them. They were still in enemy territory, effectively blind and sitting ducks because of him — a villain or a monu taking notice of them, and they'd be dead.

He cursed his inability to speak effectively at the moment. Especially when from the corner of his eye he saw a pair of tentacles lashing out towards them. The tentacles coiled themselves around Ashido's legs, pulling her to the ground along with Izuku.

Taylor! I know that's it'd be safer with you with us, but did you have to be so rough!? This is my friend here, not some random thug!

"Wasn't me… I think I need to enact Plan B…"

The hell is plan B?!

"Buy… time…."

The limbs on Ruka's body continued to periodically twitch, but it wasn't enough to hinder. The body slowly stood up, and when its eyes met Izuku's he could tell that Ruka was back in control.

The tentacles around Ashido began to pull, dragging her towards Ruka despite Ashido's attempts to break the hold. A few new limbs coiled around Izuku as well, doing the same to him.

It wasn't long before the two of them laid on the floor defenseless, Ruka towering above them.

"I don't know what the fuck you did," Ruka seethed, " but I ain't having it!" Another limb shot over to where her gun laid, taking in into its grip and transferring over to Ruka's real hands.

"Izuku…" Ashido whimpered. "I'm sorry."

"Ashido…"

Ruka raised the gun — but then her arms began to shake against her will.

"I will not!" Ruka roared. But her words were for naught. Her arm slowly positioned itself so that the gun was aimed skywards. This in itself would have been another setback for the villain. But the second that her arm began to move itself back towards her body, Ruka's eyes widened in realization and fear.

"NO! Wa—Wait! Stop!"

The barrel of the gun found itself under her chin.

Taylor—!

"It's for the best."

The gunshot rang out throughout the room.

A slight ringing sensation came upon the surviving duo's ears. The ethereal arms holding them disappeared, just as flecks of blood spattered all over them and their faces. The heavy thud of Ruka's lifeless body meeting the floor came after, her body falling towards them as a pool of blood began to form under her.

It was all silent for a moment, both Izuku and Ashido staring at the carnage in shock. It wasn't long before the silence was broken however, Ashido scooting back away from the body, reeling and vomiting all over the floor.

Izuku remained laid on the floor on his side, still unable to move his own body. As a result he had a firsthand avid view of Ruka's face. Her fear-stricken expression stared right back at him, and there wasn't a thing he could do to look away but close his eyes — and even then, he couldn't make himself do it.

"Why…?" he said into the air.

"She was fighting back rather effectively — a strong amount of willpower seems to challenge my control, apparently. Guess I didn't have as strong a grasp on this as I thought... I'm gonna need to practice more…"

That's not what I fucking meant and you know it!

"You can be mad at me later. Priority now is getting you two out of here. Now please, tell your friend over there not to freak out this time, alright? I'm getting your next escort outta here, and I don't need her messing with that too."

"Oh my god!" Ashido exclaimed, having recovered from her initial shock. She bounded over to Izuku and pulled him away from Ruka's corpse, facing him in the other direction. "Shit! Sorry that I left you like that. I— I just—"

"Ashido…"

"Izuku! No talking. Like I said—"

"No… listen… important."

Ashido grimaced, obviously not liking Izuku's proposal. Nonetheless, she didn't say anything back this time, waiting for him to continue.

Izuku prepared himself, mustering up all he could from what little willpower and energy he had to explain. "Ruka… was… helping."

Ashido narrowed her eyes. "Helping? Did you not see—!"

Izuku cut her off. "Friend… controlling her … your punch… mess up…"

Ashido blinked. It took a few seconds for her to digest and piece together the words, eventually gulping when she was done. "You mean… you're saying…"

She paled, a look of horror coming across her face. "Somebody took control of that woman with their quirk? And I messed that up? And… and… and It's my fault that—"

"No!" Izuku shouted. The action caused him to let out a rather violent series of coughs. "Explain… more… later… just don't…" Izuku sighed, breathing in before continuing.

"Don't… scared… Next… help… coming…"

Ashido scrunched up her face. "You mean somebody else being controlled by… your friend?"

Izuku nodded the best he could.

"But who—" She looked up to the sound of footsteps at the doorway. "Ahh!"

Ashido backed away, the sudden movement giving Izuku ample vision of the newcomer.

Is that—

"Yes. Now calm her down."

Izuku turned his head back at Ashido, giving the best smile that he could. "Okay…"

Ashido blinked, her eyes going back and forth between Izuku and the entryway.

She breathed in, taking a moment for herself. "You mean that… that thing is…?"

Izuku nodded.

The hulking, imposing figure of ash walked forward. Once it made its way before the two exhausted students, it held its hand out. The surface expanded, enough so that it'd be able to carry to two of them with ease.

Ashido looked at the hand with suspicion. She looked back at Izuku, "Are you sure that's safe? I thought the Doctor said touching it would be like Shigaraki's Decay?"

Taylor?

"It's toggleable. Now hurry up! There isn't much time left! I can feel it! His mind is spurring from rest!"

Izuku focused back on Ashido. "Fine… lay me… on."

Ashido relented to his request, but only after testing the hand herself with the tip of one of her fingers. Once she deemed it safe, she plopped Izuku atop the hand, with her joining atop it not long after.

The ashen figure then lifted its hand off the ground, and made its way out of the room. It creeped around the halls, stopping at corners for a second or two before moving on. It kept its steps as quiet as possible, and made sure to keep its figure almost shrouded against the grey walls of the halls.

The sounds of battle hadn't ended; if anything they had increased in diversity and volume. Different sounds from before were bouncing off the walls, from lasers, to rocks being thrown, and much more normal voices yelling out warnings.

Ashido and Izuku simply traveled in silence, afraid that even the slightest thing might interrupt their escape. Izuku himself took advantage of the bout of unease to converse with Taylor. He didn't exactly want to, considering what she had done just moments before. But like she had said, there was a different time and place for that. What mattered for now was survival.

What exactly is happening? Are the heroes assaulting the lab?

"They are. All of the Doctor's High Ends were released as a last ditch effort, however, and the heroes are having problems with that. It's one of the reasons we need to sneak around to meet up with the heroes. The High Ends are all over the place picking people off. And while I'm confident with this projection's combat ability, I'm not so certain of it fighting while protecting you two, and without me losing control again."

The ashen construct suddenly stopped in its tracks, nearly jostling its two passengers off of its hand.

Ashido looked around hurriedly, not hiding her fear that something else was about to go wrong.

Why'd you stop? … Hello?

The construct burst into a sprint, abandoning all sense of stealth that it had previously held. It enclosed its fist around Ashido and Izuku, keeping the two from falling from the burst of movement.

Ashido bit back a scream, while Izuku didn't even have the energy for it. He could feel himself growing more and more tired.

Taylor?! What the heck?!

"No time! We need to get out of here now! I can feel him waking up, and it's not going to be good when he does."

Who—

"Crust is around the next corner. Have him escort you two to safety; I'm about to lose my connection; Shigaraki's own mind and power is already proving to be a tough adversary."

Wha—

Izuku didn't have time to retort, he and Ashido being unceremoniously deposited onto the ground as they turned the corner, right in front of a ragged and battle-worn Crust.

The hero immediately raised up a shield with his quirk, having expected an attack. It was a sensible reaction, given the chaos around him between a mul;titude of heroes and nomus. But when he properly looked at the two children before him, his eyes widened in shock.

"Endeavor!" Crust yelled out towards the Flame Hero. "Cover me! Secondary targets found!"

Crust rose up a shield, hiding and blocking the two off from further assault."Glad to see you that you're alright and were able to escape yourselves!" he exclaimed, launching off one of his signature hexagonal disks before turning back to the two with a broad smile.

"How'd you two even—" he looked up, his smile disappearing in a flash. "Shit!"

Crust rose up a giant shield, barely protecting Ashido, Izuku, and himself in time from the incoming ashen fist. The shield fell to ashes within a moment, but Crust didn't hesitate to raise up several other shields in its place.

Crust grabbed the duo of students, forming one of his shields and placing them atop it. "Hang on tight you two! Ryukyu, catch!"

The two found themselves flying through the air, giving them a clear view of Crust fighting the ashen construct that had been moments before aiding in their escape. They zoomed through the ongoing battle, dodging stray fire and nomus all the way too their destination. Before they knew it, they were caught in the grip of giant claws, courtesy of Ryukyu the Dragoon Hero herself.

"Glad to see you two are alright!" Ryukyu exclaimed, the two of them joining a few other injured she was already keeping with her. She dodged an incoming attack from a nomu, using her wings to block a blow and subsequently launch said Noum across the room.

"We'll get you two out of here soon, I'm sure Aizawa will be happy to see you too. He came here himself with the determination of a madman to look for you two. He's probably—"

"Evacuate!" GranTorino's voice suddenly called out. Izuku barely caught a glance of the man booking off the walls, carrying both Present Mic and Garaki in his grip. ""Everyone out! Don't touch the rupturing zones; they'll kill you!"

"Not good!" Ryukyu screamed, readying herself for flight. She yelled out to the rest of the room "Everyone get on quick! I'm about ready to go!"

A few other heroes piled onto Ryukyu before she began flight. The screams of a couple unlucky few filled the air as Shigaraki's quirk did its work.

Ashido suddenly gasped. "Sensei!"

Izuku practically jerked his head towards where Ashido was looking, despite the immediate headache it gave him right then. Through his blurred vision he saw Aizawa, capture gear coiled around Ryukyu but with one of his own legs caught by a stray nomu.

For a near second everything froze to Izuku, the prospect of his teacher getting caught up in the incoming wave of death and destruction a very real fear that sprung to mind.

But then he saw it, one of Crust's shields flying through the air and chopping the Nomu's arm off, leaving Aizawa free. But that left Crust exposed, but if the smile he had on his face meant anything, he seemed resigned to his fate.

It wasn't a second later that Izuku watched the hero — effectively both Ashido's and his savior from their imminent death — crumble to dust.

And that's where Izuku was, clutched within Ryukyu's claws as the rushing wave of Shigaraki's newfound power followed right behind them, killing and destroying everything in sight.

A/N: And there goes! The war is already underway, and both Ashido and Izuku are going to be caught in the middle of the battle with Shigaraki. Fun times ahead, am I right?