Blossoms of the Dark

LXI Selene: Violence

Shigaraki and Kurogiri told me to stay away from the battle.

Curiosity got the better of me.

Now I pray it doesn't kill me.

I'm hiding behind rubble as I take in the scene before me. Aizawa-sensei is missing. Some strange creature is trapped between Kurogiri's double warp gate, clutching All Might-sensei with one hand. Todoroki-kun has frozen the leg and arm of that creature with astonishing precision. All Might-sensei breaks free and assumes a fighting stance as he faces Shigaraki. At the same time, Bakugou-san leaps and pins Kurogiri down by his metal brace. Kirishima-san and Midoriya-san have assumed fighting stances. I take this to mean that the criminals Shigaraki hired were useless; the students defeated them, which would explain why I saw incapacitated criminals as I made my way here. My anxiety rises, but Shigaraki keeps his cool.

"You pinned down our revolving door. Well now ... this is quite the pinch," is his reaction.

Meanwhile, Bakugou-san gloats. "Just as I thought! This prick was never all that sharp! That bit on your body you use to get all misty and warp-gatey just got sealed, bastard! You gonna tell me you don't use that warp gate to hide your true body? Huh!

"If the shadow-mist were your true form and you had no actual body, then why would you have called any attack 'dangerous?'" Kurogiri groans a little, to which Bakugou-san shoves him again. "Don't you move! The second you so much as twitch, I'll load with you with a nice little explosion, right here, right now."

My eyes dart frantically between Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Bakugou-san, and All Might-sensei.

"We've been cornered, and what's more, you're nearly all unscathed. Man, I have to hand it to the kids these days. At this rate, the villain alliance will be a laughingstock!" Shigaraki says. I told you so! You should have accepted my offer and received details about their quirks! But now isn't the time to complain. Especially after Shigaraki says next. "Noumu, go ahead and finish explosion boy over there. We're rescuing our revolving door."

To my astonishment and horror, the creature breaks free from the portals and ice capsules. I finally get a clear view of what that thing is. Almost 200 centimeters tall, bulging muscles, a ridiculously large brain - why can I see its brain? - eyes almost popping out of their sockets in the brain - in the brain! - blue-almost-black thick skin, a long, yellow, and bird-like beak, and large, heavy hands and feet, and a pair of beige pants that look more like shorts on it. When it finally pulls itself out, its right arm and leg are missing. But immediately it starts regenerating. Muscle, sinew, and bone stretch out from its body, replacing the missing arm and leg. Todoroki-kun is understandably terrified. All the while, Shigaraki praises his creation. "I never said that was the full extent of his abilities. As you can see, he's also got 'super regeneration.' Noumu is a human sandbag artificially crafted to the height of physical fitness in order to withstand your 100%." Also? Just what did I miss? Is this the secret weapon Shigaraki was talking about? I'm utterly perplexed. As an afterthought, I mentally plead with Shigaraki. Don't reveal the strengths of this noumu. You're giving the heroes ammunition.

The noumu charges for Bakugou-san, who is still keeping Kurogiri pinned down. Just as the noumu is about to kill him, All Might-sensei dashes in between, taking the brunt of the attack. The impact causes a tremor that causes debris to fly all around. I take cover behind the rubble. Todoroki-kun and the others fall back. As the dirt and debris settle down, I can see that Kurogiri is free now and Sensei is standing in front of the noumu meters away, but not uninjured. The arm he used to block the attack with is badly bruised. He pants out, "Do you not know mercy?" I scoff internally at that.

Shigaraki takes him no seriously either. "We had no choice. We had to save our ally, didn't we? And not long ago one of your kids over there ... which one? ... the plain-looking one." I look at where Shigaraki is pointing. He's referring to Midoriya-san, who hasn't gotten up yet. "He tried to beat me up with all his strength, hear? And for whom do you think he mustered such touching acts of violence? Hmm, 'hero?'" His voice drips with mockery as he enunciates the word "hero."