Chapter Twenty Two: Violence and Style.
(Shigaraki Touma POV)
My hands grasp the edges of the warp gate. The first thing I see is the group of students we've been aiming to target.
"Now then," I speak, Venom and spite seething from my lips, spit and tongue. My eyes pander Eraserhead and Thirteen, the two pros at the front of the class.
"Where's All Might-"
But before I could finish my words, I see a figure from afar. That kid that stopped me yesterday, the green haired brat. My hands drift to my neck, I feel the sudden irrational urge to itch myself, the urge to get rid of that twerp immediately.
There are many things I don't like in this world.
Heroes.
All Might.
Society.
Many things that I simply can't stand.
*Itch
Many things that I don't want to see. That I despise the very notion of it being in my way; It's exactly why I must- No I'll remove everything in my path.
*Itch
I will rid every single one of them, I'll rid this world of every single thing I don't like, everything and everyone that annoys me. And that kid really pissed me off.
I want to get rid of him too.
"Kurogiri." I say, as he appears to my side, "Where is the Nomu? And that new one." As I speak, both figures appear to my side, the largest one casting a shadow with every dull step; The smaller, more androgenous looking one inching slowly with greater composure and skill, yet without the frantic eyes of the other.
The warp gate widens even more as black and violet razes the backs of my allies. Over a hundred villains pour from the gate one by one, each with their own unique set of quirks and abilities, faces and appearances, all ready and eager to rid this world of All Might and these kids, but none as anticipative as I.
They march with grins on their faces, a testament to how far society has taught us all how cruel people can become..
Soon enough, with All Might gone, society will fall with his memory and-
Wait. Wait.
Where's All Might? I can't see him anywhere.
...
I itch my neck yet again and again, trails of skin catch themselves on my finger-nails as my flesh peels with little refusal; I can't help but frown, glare even more to the smiling face of that little shit!
Why is he smiling?!
Why isn't All Might here?!
Where's ALL MIGHT?!
Tearing off a full flake of skin, I huff and puff, my chest pushing in and out.
Damnit! Damn it!
As I glare through the fingers of my father at the brat and his companions, I ready my voice to but my words are interrupted yet again.
"It seems like your quite eager, Tomura Shigaraki. But allow me to deal with the children first; It seems All Might is late, and as such, we'll have to gain his attention. It wouldn't be kind for our companions if we did everything ourselves, no?" He says as more and more exit the portal excreting from his back.
He isn't wrong, but everything here just ticks me off. And he interrupts me now?!
*Itch Itch
Fucking waypoint.
All Might is our priority, I already get that, but I won't let that fucker go without my retribution; Not until I turn him and his little friends to dust, not until I see their faces in tears.
Looking over, I see the groups of villains start surrounding the stairs, the students are all surrounded, the kids are huddling around Thirteen- Like noobs trying to hide behind a pro player.
*Itch
And best of all, that green one isn't smiling anymore, but his stare is provocative, if not annoying.
*Itch
I wonder how he'll fare against my new toys.
"Fine. Hurry up and bring back the green haired one with you. I want to kill him myself.." I say, to a strange look from my side. He takes a pause before we both see another hero enter the scene properly.
Eraser Head.
*Itch
How... Wonderful~ I've seen his videos online, he's one of the heroes I can genuinely admire. It'll be great when I get to kill him~
Kurogiri is still looking at the hero as several villains surround him at a time, yet, he doesn't fall. He pushed and pulls with that scarf, kicking and throwing two or even four at a time. It's a spectacle, to see a single lone fighter even out an entire troop.
*ITCH
I'd have expected nothing else from the oh so prestigious UA. It makes me sick to my stomach how haughty these heroes are.
"It seems like he'll be a problem. Aslong as he's around, my quirk won't work, possibly placing us at a disadvantage." With an arched back, he almost whispers. The large beasts to my right and left stand still awaiting command.
"So what? He isn't with the children now, so move it. Leave Eraser-Head to me." My grin meets his 'frown' as he grumble for a moment; He disappears into a closing mist soon after like an MMO monster.
I can't help but crack my joints as I wait for him to return. It takes more than a few seconds for me to regain my focus after dwindling for a few seconds; This is much more boring than I expected.
"If only the main boss didn't need to have so many requirements to summon; I'd rather deal with All Might than these kids." I mutter, itching my neck again. The Nomu and so called 'Harpy' stare straight ahead at our enemies, but the larger one looks at me as I speak, his teeth dripping drool before I scoff.
"Well, you two mobs must be having fun at least; Must be so great to only have to do grunt work."
"..."
I receive no response as I gaze away from the summons around me, focussing on the mobs around the mini-boss. That kid.. Is smiling again?
I can't hear them from afar, yet somehow, every word makes the others more panicked. Seconds later, Kurogiri appears to his side seemingly chatting with the twerp.
"That kid has balls." I say, as silence meets my ears. Eraserhead is still fighting the other goons, but it seems like I should send one of these guys soon.
"I'm still going to kill him. But wouldn't it be better to utilize someone as powerful as him? Maybe even turn him into a Nomu?" I ponder as the fingers of the 'Harpy' twitch. Did that get a reaction from it, turning these brats into spare mobs?
The doctor did say that this one was kind of defective-
*Itch
*Itch
Well, I'm not against the idea of getting another summon in my party. Even if that brat doesn't know the hierarchy, his quirk must be pretty strong.
*Itch
*Itch
...
"I wonder, should I just kill him myself? Maybe remove his limbs first, then watch as he struggles like a worm?"
"..." It ran out of battery, I'm not getting any reaction anymore..
Annoying.
"Fine. We'll decide when we reach there. Nomu, Harpy, move it. We'll meet them directly, Kurogiri's taking too lon-" But before my third step is set onto the ground, I see the kid again.
"What." I can't help but mutter as I see that kid...
Carrying Kurogiri like a kitten. The latter's body mangled and mist wavering in a much less proactive manner. Soft instead of sharp. Curved blades instead of razors.
...
Anger boils in my chest and I start to raise my eyes at that kid.
"You- YOU LITTLE-"
Before I can speak, the stress hits my tongue and throat like a sledge hammer, soaking mucus through it, making my words stutter as I clear it. I groan in anger as I bite my tongue to satiate my rage.
*ITCH
*ITCH
*ITCH
*ITCH
"THAT'S MY FAST TRAVEL YOU BASTARD-" I rasp out, yet it does no better to sedate the situation, not as I see an object head for my direction. I can only shift my body before it clears past my shoulder.
A sudden gust of wind hits behind me as I duck at the same moment, I saw only a blur before the smoke, concrete and ceramic, fades away. Kurogiri's body drenched directly in the epicenter of the small crater formed. He's unconscious.
As I turn, glaring at the child, he smiles.
"Fucking! Mini! Boss!" I continue to rip apart my neck skin by skin, soft skin peeling off after all the dead skin, leaving my reddish and bloodied neck's underbelly visible. Even the muscles are somewhat visible through even more layers of underside flesh... I don't care.
"OI- Kurogiri! Get the fuck up!" If everything somehow goes to shit, I doubt I'll leave without his quirk. My body walks to his, and as I look at his almost entirely closed eyes, I can't help but rage. He's unconscious!
FUCKING. UNCONSCIOUS.
"D-DAMNIT!" I kick his body again and again, he doesn't move~
*Itch
"Fine. We'll get rid of that twerp and All Might without a warp gate~!" I rasp, before looking at the kid one more time.
I quickly stop my slow march beside the monster summons, and as I'm gazing at the kid, as he smiles even wider than before. In an instance, he squats and flies into the air. An image akin to All Might.
"Nomu. Deal with him now." I mutter, and the beast watched the kid alongside me and the receding Eraserhead. His body illuminates in the air as several wings...
He rockets towards the sky as his body..
-What the fuck!?
What! What the hell is that thing?!
It's wings where colored black, black like charcoal and midnight mixed and made as one, black in the sense that you could see the individual feathers, but never the entire thing as a whole, black as in the massive wings were obscuring something dark within.
I don't like this one bit.
As I move backwards I call, "Nomu!" to me, who reacts instantly.
It steps infront of me, with a glowing yellow spear stopping only inches to my face the second after, only by the force of the body infront of me does it stop. The sudden attack sends a shock to my senses as some sweat pools on my face.
He was going to kill me?
A hero?
I couldn't help but widen my eyes, this kid..
*Itch
My hand falls downwards as I calm myself. I can't afford acting up now.
It looks like this isn't just a mini-boss, probably something.. annoying, another roadblock in my objective.
The spear pierced the Nomu's left bicep as if it was nothing of a convenience. It takes only a few milli-seconds for it's muscles to regenerate, cracking and crushing the spear into particles which scatter around my face.
What kind of ability does this guy have.. First transformation, now spears?
Before he also manipulated concrete.
Is it a contact quirk like mine?
Does have have some sort of copy quirk?
*ITCH
Cheater?! What a fucking Cheat!
I barely see from the corner of my eyes the unspoken screams of those around me.
I gaze upon every other villain here, I hear nothing, but their faces- Their screaming faces and blood shot eyes become nothing of a rare occurrence. Some shiver in place, shaking from pain, fear, agony.
All my mobs.
All my pawns. Gone. Just like that.
He eradicated my entire fleet without care or mercy, he removed anyone and everyone from my side, leaving me with the bare minimum of these bastards.
How was I going to kill All Might now?! How am I supposed to get rid of society's peace?!
*ITCH
What about the heroes.
*ITCH
What about All Might?!
*ITCH
Why are these people always intervening?!
*ITCH ITCH ITCH
Why does he keep getting in MY WAY?!
*ITCH ITCH ITCH ITCH ITCH ITCH
...
I hear a voice boom above me, as if a whisper in my ear. An atrocious feeling creeps up every vertebrate as I can't help but smell my own sweat. I lick my own lips as my joints creak in readiness. My hands fall as my stress relief is interrupted, my instincts warning me for some reason.
I can't help but feel every fiber of my being trying to run, get as far as I can. I control myself, as I have trained for prior.
"A̶̢͓̻̞̖̖̥̦̽̈́̈́̋̓̽̍͛̎̂̒̑́̔̑̚͜͝͝l̸̛̮͚̟͉̙̏̊̾̀̉̆̃̇̔͋̆̄̆̀͘͝͝͠l̸̠̣͚͑̏͆̉ͅ ̸̨͎̭͍̠̟̘̭̜͙̳͓̬̀̾̒̎͗̾̋̄̌̿͜͝͠K̵̩͈̦̗͚͍̑͋̕n̷̨̗̥͓͙̯̜̟͇̯̩̲̤̜̟̼̭̻̱̱͕̞̘͒̀̓̊̆͐͐̉̆͛̓̀̐́̚͜͠͝ȩ̶̡͓͕̫͈̱̣̯̯̗͇̥̗̫͈̥̩̘̫̦̲͖̠͑͗̌͂̈̕e̷̢̨̨̜̱̝͙͓̦̯̹̺͔̠̥̤̖̪͓̪̿̐̄̍̉̋l̵̡̡̢̢̫̪͈̮̣̹̱̰̝̱̼̠̺̻̳̏̽̈̐̀̚ͅ ̷̨̨͓̖̣͎͍͎̞̜̜͈͍͈̣͎̗̀͌̊̋̑̌̀̉͐̾́͠͝B̵̧̛̺͍͙̗̩̱̥̈́͂̓̄̒͆̉̈́́̓́̔͆͒̾̈́͠ę̵̡̧̡͍̣͔̟̣̥͇͈̥̮͈̥̩̲͇̼̯̞̏̔͒͗̉̈́́̕̚͝n̵̨̗͔̫̙̜̼̼̞̼̊͆̈́̉̇̓̿͆̋͑̈͒͛̉̓̂̾̿͌̇̓̕̕ḝ̴̛̛̞͍͎̝̘̹̞̼̩̦͓͚͕̈̿̊̇̿̐̾̀̐̌́͂̎͋̊̾̕̕͜͜͠ͅa̵̫̍̔́̈́́̋̅̈́̊̉͆͊̆̈́̋̈́͘̚̕ţ̵̧̨̢̙͉͓͉͓̼̹̖̟̩̺̘̘̗̰̻̟͊͊͑̄̈͋͆̀̅̓̐̚͝ͅh̸̡͔̳̬̲̺͕̰͓̐̃̀̉̎̓̏́͊͋͂͗̽̚͝ ̷̡̻̼͎̰̥͇̟͎͙̠͖̺̻̟̰̮̞̯̬̣͖́̐̋̄͘͜͜͜m̵̡͇̝̤̤͍̭͓̞̱̬̺͕̟̩͑͌͊͐́̀̊́́̎̏͛̃̓̌̐̓̈́̕͜͠ę̵̭̹͓͈̰̥͐̄͑̒̇̐̾̀͘
It's words reach everyone's ears before I stand shakily, gazing up at the single, massive, red eye glaring at me with almost the feeling of arrogance. An eye consisting of what seems to be hundreds of smaller ones, It's glare akin to a man gazing upon an ant, as if I didn't even trouble anyone with my presence, he mocked my very existence with his eyes alone.
F̴̡̨̟͙̝̼͖͎͎̦͎̪̫̞̖͈͕̲̯̩͋̑̿̊̔̄͂̑͒̊̔̋͛̅̽̉̈́̋̆͗̑̉̿̽̚̕͘͜͜͠o̵̢̡̞̦̫͔͓͚͗̈́͋͘r̷̦̪̯͇͕͓̤̈͌͛ ̴̢̧̢̛̱͕̼̤̱̹̖̠̞̤͍̥̖̥̮̬̼̥̎̇͂̓̒̔͂̓̅̊̂̊̅͌̐̀̽̍̈́̌͋̐̈́̿͋̈́̉̆̚̕͘̕ͅI̷̙̮̭̳̭̺̼̰̬̙̞̅́͜ ̷̤͓̗͓͉͓̗͎̳̪͓̗̱̥̳̣͔͛̍̈͘͜͜͜͠ͅĀ̶̡̡̨̛̲̬͚̣͇͔͔͓̘̖͚̫̝̳̳̜͎̖̰͉̳̖̓͊̈́̇̀͒̓̒̉͆̉́̅͒̈́̚̕̕̕͜͠m̶̡͉͉̹̗̳̥̠͚̙̳̯͈̲̥̝͖̗̩̯̓̀͜ ̸̢̻̫͍͉̲̪̹̱̠̜̲̮̰̖̰̜́̍̅̀̂̈́͐̈́̒̀̓̇̐̃͋͗̅̆̒̏̚͘͜ͅH̴̡̧̡̧̘̙̭̰̲̜̞̥͈̬̰͖͚̤̩͇̜̘̫̼̼͚͕͒̍̈́̾͑́̀̇͐͗͘͘͘̚͜͝͝͝ͅͅȩ̴̨̜̙̞̭̰̲̮͚͕͎̪̄́̀̈́̄̀͌̃͌͐͊̀͆̎̂̂͆̀̈́́̂͋͘̕̕͜͝ṙ̸̛̛̘̩̮̦̪͚̰̊̄̅͛̓͒̋͗͗̔̔̽̇̌͆̀̑̉̽͒̈́̈̈́͛̀̇̑̿̌͠ȩ̵̯̱̠̠̥̙͙͓͔̹̳̩̉̀̇̿͛͑̉̊̃͜͝!̴̢̤̬͚͎̱̲̙͉̫̫̫͇͓̜̙͇̲̲͉̻̭̦̼̒͌̾̈́̍̓͆͌͊͜
I can barely make out the distorted words, especially the second sentence, as it was like a record player playing a melancholic yet shattered blues, like the old TV shows I watched in my childhood, reruns after reruns of old technology, VHS or otherwise. Like the sound of scratching glass, silent screams and horrors I've only ever seen from my teacher once before when he demonstrated his full powers, or a fraction of them.
But I recognize that catchphrase. I would even if it was a silent word in the wastes of society- I know exactly what he said, and I can't help but stop moving.
He- Did he just quote All Might?
...
"ThatBastard.HowDareHeQuoteAllMight!HowDareHeStandInMyWayAndSpewThatDisgustingPhrase!I'llKillHim!I'llRipHisLimbsApartAndFeedHisCorpseToHisFamily!I'llKillHim!I'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillI'llKillHIM!I'MGOINGTO KILLEVERYONEOFYOU,I'LLGETRIDOFALLTHETHINGSTHATBOTHERME,EVERYTHINGINTHISWORLDTHATANNOYSME!THEN-"
*ITCH ITCH ITCH ITCH ITCH ITCH ITCH
I stop mumbling, as I meet it's eye again. Though he had no cheeks, I could still feel his pleasure in all of this...
Was he STILL SMILING?!
"gghhhrraAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" I scream, my throat and vocals releasing something of a horrifying noise of ancient violence as I point to that 'thing' above us. My hand shaking as I do so, yet even with this fucking fear, my rage overpasses it.
It conquers that fear instantly as I see red.
"HOW DARE HE?! HOW DARE HE GET IN MY WAY AGAIN! AGAIN!" I bellow.
"NOMU! HARPY! KILL HIIIIIM NNNOOOOOOOWWW! NOWW!" I scream again, my face turning red with rage.
The Nomu rockets towards the winged animal in the sky with a squatted jump, reaching him half way in seconds.
The other one does nothing- "What are you doing! Aren't you listening?! MOVE! KILL HIM YOU BASTARD!" I Screeched, tempted to turn it into a proper corpse, yet it has no reaction whatsoever; It only gazes at the thing with two unshaken eyes, as the figure above did.
"Grah! Your useless! All of you are useless! IF I HAD BETTER PARTY MEMBERS, IF I DIDN'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH A- A- A HIDDEN BOSS! THIS WOULD ALL BE EASY-!~!"
But before anything else happens, I see a massive arm! Another fucking ability appear! Black like the wings, it stretched to my Nomu with the intent of crushing it!
But then, a mouth appears on it's palm, filled with thousands of teeth, like a tunnel through a megalodon's jaw, or a crystalized cave, it beckons towards my pet as it stretches endlessly.
"N-O!-!" My voice barely makes due before I hear the worst imaginable noise possible, like a mother's voice at the loss of their child, something entirely made of horrors, grief and terror in physical form unrestrained by any astral presence, it brings my very ego to shambles. My blood shakes, my bones shiver. I can't even keep my eyes open at the sudden motion of its wing, of the air pressure.
My body freezes.
And my clothes shake.
And my ears ring.
But-
...
-I've heard worse.
..
*Itch
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━(Izuku Midoriya POV)
Honestly, I can't contain my grin.
Even now, these people continue to amuse me, the seemingly mangled corpse is still leaping at me with raging numbers of abilities; 'What was it called again?'
It leaps to me, reaching me descending form of wings and forming flesh. It's arms, fingers seemingly layered with thick and thicker skins and bones reach out in an attempt to tear me to shreds.
'Ah! A Nomu, right?'
"Light Wave"
I asked the thing mentally, metaphorically, as I could never actually forget its name. As I don a humane body, my flesh and wings shifting as my decent slows, I send hundreds of spears towards it's ever approaching form, reaching the 'Nomu' In record time as it's body flails to the ground, impaled a hundred times over.
'What an interesting thing.' I mused.
My body had finally arrived to the ground, hovering slightly above as my feathered wings become a cloak, no, I suppose a better formality is suited for these events. A vest, similar to Nezu's, but ordained in a hundred blood red swirls, with the detailing of a biblical image I had once seen when I was young; I enjoy the symbolic gesture, personally, a creature with 3 pairs of black wings descending with the wrath of a ravaging being simply suited my look, very well to enthrall my enemies in the weight of true power.
As my bare feet and wavering black pants had reached a mere millimeter away from the ground before the several twitching muscles of the teen lying across from me became sporadic, as if waiting for the second I arrived for his body to enter a vault, a total frenzy with the accompanying increase in vibrations. With inhuman agility, his extended right arm reached my face as his predatory form, no different than a four legged runner barely skimping across the track, reached only a few meters from my landing body; Though, years too slow to ever harm me.
My feet had just touched the ground after all.
"Cement"
No different than the impaled 'Nomu', I formed several spikes beneath his feet, with the sole intention of ripping his soles, tearing through his limbs, disabling his ability to fight; But akin to an animal, a real beast from the wild, his eyes shifted from distain and red to a noticeable reaction as his body took the fastest leap away from danger I had yet to see.
Amusing.
His body his the side, moving far from my right as he rolled only twice before entering a proper leaning stance against his own injuries; A mild cut at the bottom of his foot from where he once stood. His arms, the ornamental ones, sprawled from his shoulder onto the ground beneath him; It seemed to have set him off as his wide eyes quickly left me and covered the injured and severed arms, sprawled with cuts and bruised features. His body shook as a settling panic overcame him, and his voice.
"Y-You-" he spoke vile and hubris, with the ripest agitation yet. I haven't seen something this... enraged in a long time.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to actually dodge that one!" I said happily, as my eyes shifted to the far away, uncounted bone white 'Harpie'; They stood eagerly, yet wary of my presence, as if both ready to kill, maim and disfigure my body, yet knowing of my presumed capacity for combat, it was an interesting thing, as their multi-colored eyes and dichromatic gaze of dark blue and pink and green watched my next move with both tasteful strategy and cohesive reaction.
Judging from a glance, their joints, skin and ligaments have been extensively modified; Chemical treatment, among the adjustments in internal organ structure and removed uterus, spleen, kidney and lower tailbone told me many horrific details on the sorts of tests formulated on the previous bodies. The most uncanny of details was the spine, treated with many unspoken scars, showing a greater flexibility than humanly possible, even at the cost of it's ribs.
It's beak twitched as the several teeth behind it's skull like face clamored from my gaze. Not from fear, but... eagerness. Bloodlust.
I turned back to the 'Nomu' and now still teen. He gazed at me with both aggression and malice, with a tinge of respite of his own actions. After all, he could have written his way into the obituary if he had been a second late to his soured .
"Y'know. I can't help but wonder how moronic you have to be to believe you could simply enter my domain with little consequence. Had you actually managed to harm the student's behind me, did you think you'd be given any mercy?" I said with my smile fading soon after.
Sweat dribbled from his skin, his face, but his eyes, they remained frightful as he looked at me with the desire to kill, and unlike the other, he lacked the enjoyment, instead, heeding his anger.
"You.. resemble All Might too much. With that fucking grin on your face, you look like a knockoff hero." He spoke with such clarity, such wrathfulness that I couldn't help but feel annoyed. He itched his already bleeding skin.
"Were those really your last words?" My words forced him to enter an even warier stance as a frown covered my brow, his fingers looming over the ground at the second, ready to atomize the entirety of this area... Only for the concrete floor to shift way from a single finger at a time, to his potent dismay. His frown intensified when he saw no reaction from me.
"Say, brat. You've interrupted my plans twice now, gotten rid of all my subordinates, but haven't even introduced yourself." An audible itching continued through his voice as his raspy tone settled still before rising again. "What's your name?"
I barked a laugh. This felt pitifully desperate.
"Are you perhaps buying time? For these corpses to save you? Or perhaps for the other one to teleport... not the right word. Transport?- You back to the comfort of your base? Well, sadly, you won't be leaving this place.. at least not with all your fingers." My smile widened as he jumped towards me at his highest speed yet, his eyes shaking as they contracted to me; Ordinarily, he'd have arrived at the clutched of my neck, his quirk turning me to dust.
But I simply moved my body to the side as his continuous flurries of attacks, his rapid aims to my shoulder, skin, even vest sleeve were but a waste of energy; I kept smiling through the entire process as one pair of my wings had momentarily shifted into a range of light spears aiming directly towards my enemy; After all-
"Lightwave"
-I wouldn't allow my prey to have all the fun.
....
Then, the Harpie had finally moved.