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Waking up early Nick did his morning exercises. Watching the sunrise as he let out slow steady breaths letting his heart settle from the run, it was good. He really did enjoy his morning exercise, the cool air of the morning. Today was going to be very eventful so a moment to breathe and watch the sun wash the sky in painted golds and oranges was very welcome. As he watched the light stretch the shadows and chase the purples and blues of the fading night sky he let out another long breath. It was time for canon to really start.

---

The sound of scratching grated on the ears of a man-made from black mist. His yellow eyes unblinkingly watched his young master as he scratched the neck of his skin raw. "Do you think he will be much of a problem Kurogiri?" His voice was almost irrational in its annoyance.

"Not at all master. If he avoids being warped with the rest of the students Nomu has speed enough to crush his head before he could react. Just because he fought a teacher does not mean he is going to be a problem. His victory was because of who he was against." Kurogiri replied, his voice certain, after all a kid could only cause so much trouble. And he was trained to deal with touch-based quirks, considering who his master was after all. With a body that did not have much physicality, he was able to effectively counter them.

Grumbling a bit the light blue-haired man replied. "He better just be some nobody NPC for your sake Kurogiri."

---

The first half of the day was much the same for Nick. Lessons happened, and he had an amazing lunch. Then he was once more back in the classroom. Finally getting to the exciting part of the day. He was honestly eager.

"For Heroics today we'll be studying… It was decided that you'll be supervised by Me, All Might and another teacher," Aizawa spoke as he stood in front of the class, searching his pockets for something.

Sero called out eagerly, "Teacher! What'll we be doing?!"

"If you let me get to that," Aizawa said as he looked up and pulled out what he was searching for, a card that read, 'RESCUE,' in large red letters. "Be the hero everyone needs, in any disaster. It's the trial of Rescue!" His attempted upbeat voice fell flat, like someone trying to sound interested in an explanation from a toddler.

With the students excitedly discussing what it would hold Aizawa quieted them down by finalizing the explanation and telling them to go either go with or without their costumes. Dismissing them to get prepared and to the bus, they all hurriedly left the room, excited for their Heroics lesson.

The bus ride was filled with excited discussion and a lot of yelling as Bakugo was the target of some banter. Although he reacted as hotheadedly as he always did. With not many places to sit, Nick ended up in the back row next to Todoroki who was fine with just ignoring him and staring out the window. Nick was happy with that too. Just staring into space ahead of him before his name dragged his mind to the ongoing conversation between the people facing each other at the front.

"If we are talking about a double whammy of flashing and strong you have to mention Hendrix, Bakugo and Todoroki! Hendrix especially!" Not quite catching who said it he looked down at the front as the conversation continued.

Going on to tease Bakugo about how he would never be popular he tuned out again as voices were raised.

Soon however they arrived at the U.S.J.

---

"This is the practical training area that I created to simulate all kinds of different accidents and disasters, and the name is… THE ULTIMATE SPACE FOR JAMS!"

With Midoriya and Uraraka starting to nerd out over No. 13 Nick walked to the other side of the group. Standing around the edge where no one was in his way. He knew what would happen soon, or at least he was almost certain that it would still happen and he didn't want to get caught in Kurogiri's mass warp.

Seeing Aizawa and No. 13 have a muted discussion Aizawa clearly looked annoyed by it. So All Might still wasn't showing up, well. He needed the man to be delayed enough that he could fight the Nomu without being blown away.

As the speech about using quirks to save human lives started and how No. 13 had a quirk that could do just as much harm as it could do good, Nick only half paid attention.

Just as the speech finished and Aizawa started to talk Nick looked away from their teacher as his eyes locked onto a point just in front of the fountain in the centre. His gaze hovered there as Aizawa started to speak but his voice cut off as he to turned around. Seeing a black misty portal open up Nick smiled as pale fingers curled around the edge of it.

It was happening.

With Aizawa's yell to huddle together, Nick listened but hovered at the front edge of the group, moving forward instead of backing away like the rest of the students. Crouching down he put his hands against the floor as it shifted slightly letting him take the materials that he needed. His arms forming, thinner and longer than normal, made for maneuverability and speed. It didn't matter how strong he made them the Nomu could tear them off his back like paper. So they would help him move today.

Hearing Kirishima behind him he ignored the boy as he looked at Aizawa who just shook his head and said, "Don't move! Those are Villains!" His voice was shocked as he pulled his goggles down looking around the room. To be honest, Nick was amazed at the amount that was pouring out of the portal.

Hearing Tomura start to speak Nick barely registered the words as his eyes locked onto his target that stood just a few feet away from the portal. Having walked out, taller than any man and built like a mountain. Muscles coiling under the charcoal black skin and a wicked grin plastered on its concerning beak. Nomu. His target.

"I wonder if he'll show up if we kill the kids?" Tomura's voice sounded, his tone sickeningly excited as he started through the fingers of the hand on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and wide as he grinned, the face mostly hidden by the hand however covering the features.

Dashing forward Aizawa started to engage after having called out his orders. The students panicked as Aizawa leapt down the entire set of stairs. Landing he quickly started to wrap up the villains.

At the same time, Nick's mechanical arms pressed against the floor as his legs expanded with new mechanics. Slimmer and lighter than other builds. Focused on dexterity and dodging. Leaping down his arms grabbed the railing and threw himself through the air and towards the crowd of villains leaving his stunned classmates behind as whatever No. 13 said to him was lost in the sound of his heart hammering in his chest.

As Aizawa started to dispatch the villains with shocking speed. His combat skills showed Nick was left in minor awe as he watched it. He still had a way to go, a long way if he wanted to be the best. Crashing into the floor hard enough to break some of the stone his hands hit the ground and he immediately trapped the villains in his range inside the floor as it opened up just to seal them up to their necks before he started dashing around. Every person he touched froze or collapsed limply on the floor as nerves were shocked and muscles were frozen.

Turning around as he flipped over an attack he saw Kurogiri warping the students away as his black cloud disappeared. Looking around he still saw villains swarming at him but each of his arms grabbed heads and threw them back into the crowd or in the way of emitter quirks as he once more brushed his fingers against the ground. The earth exploded around and trapped villains as it reformed.

Looking to his right he saw Tomura start to engage Aizawa, and soon the Nomu was involved. Breaking Aizawa as easily as an adult handling a toddler. Seeing the sickening crunch Nick took a step back as he put his hand against the ground neutralizing the villains near him so he could take a breath. That was brutal. He had seen worse at the Underground Masquerade, however. His gaze looked over the injuries of his teacher. He would engage the Nomu.

Just as he was about to Kurogiri appeared. Putting his arms against the floor he flung himself forward as Tomura rushed toward the edge of the flood zone. Just lifting his head enough Aizawa looked over in that direction. Pushing his speed to the limit Nick flew through the air like a bullet from a gun. Soaring over the remaining villains that were staying away from the main fight now.

He had to get to the Nomu before All Might arrived! If he did he wouldn't be able to engage!

Crashing into the floor he reached his hand out and was about to touch the Nomu, the shock of the three students and Aizawa as Nick crashed into the floor evident. Just as his hand was about to touch the skin of the beast he felt his fingers graze it. Tomura's voice was mute to his ears as all he heard was the rushing of blood as he felt his quirk start to spread and just before he could activate it he felt his hand touch nothing but air. A black portal appeared in the way just before his palm made contact. Eyes widening he was about to pull back but the Nomu's giant hand latched onto his arm as he was about to pull away. Faster than he could respond.

Reaching his hand towards his own chest his arms latched onto the ground planning on pulling away but faster than he could react the portal closed. Feeling his arm severed Nick looked in shock as blood sprayed into the air, everything was slowing down. This wasn't what he planned. Portal closed he kept his other hand moving to his thigh as he wanted to use his quirk straight away and a portal once more appeared in the way.

Cursing Nick felt a hand slam into his chest as he was pushed into the floor with enough force that he felt all his internals crushed in an instant. The Nomu's hand through his chest and into the ground beneath him. The arm's connective points were shattered as his back was blown open. His other hand was unable to make contact with his body as the portal had gotten in the way. Trying to move his hand he felt his fingers grow sloppy as his vision dimmed. Another slam and looking at the edge of his vision he saw that his arm had been ripped off by another punch. He had lost his hands.

Both of them.

In an instant.

The Nomu was too fast and Kurogiri had stopped any contact.

Seeing the wicked grin of Tomura peek out from the side of the hand on his face, Nick realized something. He was not near the level of this monster made to fight All Might.

Despite being a man-child Tomura had kept up with Aizawa.

Why did he rush in? He should have touched the floor or something, he could have done it so much better. Was he so worried about All Might arriving and ruining his plan that he had failed to see reason? He was a fool, he was arrogant. He was now paying the price…

Hearing the words of All Might just as he arrived Nick would have laughed if he had a chest and his vision wasn't fading… it all happened in less than 3 seconds since his feet hit the ground. He had lost.

Seeing the fist of the Nomu close down on his head Nick heard a sound so so so haunting to him.

The snap of a thread.

---

Midoriya had thrown a punch but he felt like he hit a wall, the moment of excitement from when he realized his arm hadn't broken was interrupted in an instant by the dust clearing from another impact. Nick landed behind a towering charcoal-coloured beast.

As Nick appeared Tomura yelled in panic, "NOMU!"

As the strongest in his class reached his hand out to touch this, 'Nomu,' he knew that if Nick made contact they could beat it but just like that spark of hope so quickly appeared it was doused as a portal got in the way. It took less than a second and Nick was on the floor with a hand through his chest. The hand that had been about to touch his arm threw him aside at the new order of the light-blue-haired villain.

Watching Nick try to move his hand was painful as a hand shattered his arm, not even a second had passed. How fast was this Nomu! He couldn't even see the movements that it made. The punch impacted the floor with enough force to let out a shock wave that threw people back. The doors crashed open in that same instant as the other hand of the Nomu started to lift out of Nick's destroyed chest.

Everything was happening so fast!

---

All Might crashed through the doors of the U.S.J. Gathering his breath to announce his arrival but stopped as he saw the scene before him. Nick was dead. His chest missing and both his arms were severed. Just as he was about to jump into action the Nomu exploded.

It was so clearly deconstructed in a mere instant. Golden light and lighting washed out of Nick's corpse as it flowed through the area around him breaking apart atoms.

Rushing forward All Might needed to stop whatever was happening! What was going on!

---

Seeing All Might appear Tomura was so eager to continue with his plan but just as he was about to give the new order to the Nomu but as he looked over at it, it was gone.

All that was left was hanging red mist in the air. Golden lighting like sunburnt stars arcing frozen in time between them all as if connecting them. Ready to pull them to their will.

As he was about to scream out that his plans were not going to be foiled he felt his entire body freeze as All Might impacted the floor in front of Aizawa knocking out every villain in his path. Staring at the Pro Hero he didn't know what to do, what had happened to the Nomu! That kid had clearly been on the edge of death! He couldn't use his quirk without his fucking hand! HACKS! HE CALLED HACKS THIS WAS SO FUCKING UNFAIR!

Tensing his legs he was going to rush towards Nick's 'corpse' but just as he was about to move Nick's body began to reassemble as behind him he felt the students get pulled away by All Might who appeared back at Aizawa watching hesitantly what was happening.

---

All Might wanted to help but he didn't know what Nick's clear quirk awakening was doing to the environment, the charcoal villain had vanished at an almost imperceptible speed. And he was in his Hero form, his perception was at the limit of what should be possible. He could see the atoms breaking down, deconstructing.

Dashing in he grabbed the three students there and went back to Aizawa's side, putting them down he said to them all. "Head towards the entrance, you three! I have to leave Aizawa with you! He's unconscious so hurry! I will stay and make sure everything is alright!" A winning smile was shown to them as he turned his gaze back to what was happening.

Both Tomura and Kurogiri were looking on from the side as the matter of the deconstructed Nomu started to shake in the air.

---

Nick heard it, the snapping of a string but his hand lashed out. He was back, in this void. The darkness encroaching on a light that once before was so brilliant but now it was barely holding on. The miasma was wild and untamed as it swirled and howled against the darkness.

Lashing his hand out Nick caught the broken end of the thread as he looked at it unwinding and fraying as fast as his eyes could follow. He was going to die again, so pointless. Without an impact. He was going to die… without meaning. His life would once again mean nothing.

---

Andrew could barely hold back tears, for fuck sake he was 19 and crying over nothing again. He was making his way from the bakery that he worked at during the mornings to the office job that he had during the day. Honestly, he remembered wanting to become a pastry chef… he was, 'jokingly,' mocked by his, 'friends,' whenever he brought it up… he should have listened to them… there was no way that he would ever be good at it after all…

It was too much stress, he was starting so so early and then working until the sun rose just to have to go to his other job. Only for Ben to spend the entire day mocking and looking down on him… at least he worked alone in the morning. The silence was comforting… peaceful. He didn't have to worry about coworkers since he left as they arrived.

The work was tough though, he could barely keep himself going, and every movement felt like he was dragging lead behind him…

=

He felt hopeless, he had to get these reports done by tonight or he would be working overtime again. He had to get sleep though before tomorrow… he should just quit his job. He wished he could if he was being honest. But he needed the pay…

Pushing harder against the coffee-stained carpet he saw droplets appearing on the floor… was he cr- "Awh poor Andrew, sorry I didn't mean to make you cry, buddy. I promise I didn't mean to knock over your cup of coffee. I would clean it up if I wasn't so much busier than you." Ben's voice cut through his thoughts. He hated how deep it was… he hated everything about Ben. Clenching his eyes shut he knew that he was just speaking that loudly so others would hear. He desperately held his breath, trying not to break down. He should get this cleaned up and then finish his work. The sooner he did the sooner he could leave. Crying wouldn't fix anything.

"Honestly you spend all day working so slowly that you have to do overtime then you do nothing but complain. Man up dude. You're pathetic. Just do the work like the rest of us." His voice dripped with disgust as he walked away. "You're not leaving until you get those files done Andrew. So get to it."

Starting to wipe the carpet more aggressively he held his breath. If he did anything else he would burst into tears. He was barely holding on, he felt like the thread was going thin. He was just so so so… tired. His headache just wouldn't go away. Walking was getting harder and he just couldn't keep anything down… it would go away. He just needed to get some sleep tonight.

=

"You have a brain tumour, it's not that bad though but treatment will have-" The words of the doctor faded into the background of Andrew's mind… he could barely hear anything anymore. His mind was… buzzing. He could feel the sweat on his skin and hear his heart beating. He… he was dying.

=

"Honestly Andrew, I have lost all respect for you, I shouldn't have to work and day and night shift just because you are a bit sick. My cousin hurt his back so badly could barely walk yet he still was able to keep up with his work and didn't need ANY help." Her voice was an annoying drone in the back of his head… he used to like her. Lily that was, she was a good coworker that he talked to on the way out of the bakery in the morning. Now she did nothing but display her displeasure in him…

He had loved the morning shifts but he hadn't been able to walk properly for a while now and was getting constant headaches. He shouldn't even be at work yet here he was… he needed the money after all. His dad wouldn't make it without him. Just thinking about his dad he started to cry, falling to his knees. The words of Lily were lost in the sounds of sobs that shook his body.

His dad had given him everything when his mother left, when he got sick he had done his best to help him but he could barely afford to keep on paying rent on top of his father's medical bills. He wanted to keep on going until it was okay again… but everything was collapsing. His dad wouldn't be able to afford treatment without him. Hell, he couldn't even afford treatment for himself…

He was going to die, and so was the man who had given everything to send him to school only for him to drop out to follow a stupid dream. A dream that he now hated every moment of… why was it him. Why couldn't someone else suffer? Why was he always targeted by the bad things in life? Why was it always?

Him...

---

Why was he remembering all this now, why did he have to remember it all? He wanted to keep it buried. He was a new person. He wasn't that pathetic SACK OF SHIT! HE WAS BETTER! He was better… he was so much stronger. But he had still died. He was still the same fool he was before. Scared and too eager to jump on pointless, dreams… he should have been happy with what he had.

Seeing the thread start to unravel faster he felt his soul about to leave his body. He could hear faint voices but he couldn't make them out. He was alive, but barely. He didn't know where he was. His soulscape maybe? But he was going to die… again.

…

No. He was still alive, if barely, another snap sounded through the soulscape as he felt another thread of the string break.

Barely alive, but still alive. He was not going to die without giving his life meaning. He was not going to be so weak again! He was going to be strong, stronger than anyone. He was going to burn his name into the history books if he had to. He would curse himself in whatever hell he was sent to if he let his second chance at life that was given to him go just like that. HE WAS NOT PATHETIC!

With a scream from the core of his being Nick felt something, a spark he only felt in his hands before. Something was around him. He could feel around his body, the cold stone on his back and the mass of the Nomu shifting above him. As his vision slowly returned and he left his soulscape he saw one last thing. The thread that he willed to reconstruct. Reconstructing. His soul was once more bound by a strong tether. A tether stronger than anything he had seen. Countless threads bound into one rope that reached towards the light that exploded out and washed away the miasma in a brilliant golden glow. Like the sun rose that morning, Nick rose once more.

Feeling everything around him Nick felt that every part of his body was flooded with his quirk factor. Not just his hands. The feeling of power washed through him as awareness started to return. His quirk stopped his body from dying as he formed oxygen for his brain at the same instant he felt his blood on the Nomu's hand. He felt it… even though it had left his body it was still part of it. And he could use it.

Flooding the Nomu with his power he watched it explode into a mist that was held together by sunburnt lighting. A fire ignited in his eyes they snapped open letting out a golden light that shone with burning intensity. Cracks crawled down his cheeks as his head exploded in an instant, his entire body even the broken mass becoming dust alongside the Nomu.

Watching in shock everyone saw Nick start to reform from the feet up. Using both the Nomu's and his mass. Bones formed as muscle and flesh wrapped around it in an instant. Charcoal black skin was more metal than organic, hexagons connected together for skin more like plate armour than actual skin. Thicker than a finger and webbed with glowing golden cracks. From the legs the body built from the torso up, muscle constructed from the air as stone warped and shifted off the floor transforming into biological mass before connecting to the body.

The process was happening in the blink of an eye. Rushing forward Tomura screamed, "I CALL HACKS!" But his body didn't even make it to Nick's reforming one. As a small part of the mass impacted Tomura's arm he felt his entire body lock up as he was frozen solid.

Reforming Nick flexed his neck as three arms on either side emerged from the side of his body. His features were still his own but his skin was carbon black, his eyes solid glowing gold. He felt everything, even the air brushing against his skin. The ground beneath his feet. He felt it all. He felt power exploding from his body, every inch of his muscles containing strength far more than he could measure. So this was the power of the Nomu? It was… insane.

He felt it, the other students gathered at the edge of their zones watching in horror as Nick reformed in the blink of an eye, his body was being built from stone converted into organics. Power so immense he felt like he was bursting at the seams. The Nomu's will already broken didn't even fight against his as he crushed it. As soon as he merged with the beast he felt its threads.

They were a tangled and unholy mess of multiple people. An amalgamation. But Nick had as he merged untangled them and… broken them. Killing the beast will, severing its soul from its body. Only because he had fully merged with the beast and because of its lack of will had he been able to do this but he still felt it. The power over others threads.

Looking at Tomura he smiled as he felt the mass against his arm connecting the boy to him and slowly he started to convert the biology of Tomura into stone as he froze his voice box, petrifying the man slowly.

"STOP THIS NICK! CONTROL YOURSELF, MY BOY!" All Might yelled as he looked over at Nick desperately trying to stop the boy from killing someone.

Rushing forward Nick suddenly felt something bottom out in his chest. In an instant his body was thrust out of the Nomu's, the Nomu turning to stone at the same moment. Every part of matter in Nick's body was his own original form, his power that had run wild for so long suddenly bottoming out as he felt his mind start to grow numb. Nose bleeding the last thing that Nick saw was All Might catching him and Kurogiri warping away a screaming Tomura with a stone arm.

Falling back into darkness Nick felt so tired, his energy spent. His mind fading. But he was alive. That feeling of immense power was gone as quick as it had come leaving him… exhausted. He had just awakened and his body had been unable to handle the strain so his quirk had forced him back to his original state to prevent further harm.

Feeling his mind slowly fade he didn't hear what All Might was yelling, hell he couldn't even feel feedback from his quirk right now. He knew he still had it he just felt so… weak. Letting the darkness take him Nick felt his thread grow stronger, thicker. He would not die again.

=======

Very long chapter for the U.S.J arc! I hope that it is good! I really did enjoy writing this one, let me know what you think!

Reviews and comments are always welcome to let me know what I can improve on!

Let me know what you thought of Nick's awakening. He can now use his quirk from every part of his body as well as the ability to use proper 'alchemy' converting materials instead of just pulling trace elements from his surroundings. He can also effect the air but I think I will get more into how that works in the next chapter.

Thanks for all the support and ideas that you guys have been giving! It really has inspired me to keep on writing!