Something Different

11: Desired Escape

Everything burned. From his arms, to his legs, to his eyes. They burned. If Izuku wasn't in hell before, he sure as hell was then. Dodging the Nomu's attack was akin to avoiding bullets—even if he did manage to swerve out of the blow, there was always a subsequent fist heading his way.

Izuku couldn't pause. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't blink. He couldn't direct his attention toward anything else but the monstrosity that he had helped create in his prior lifeline.

He backflipped away from the Nomu's swipe, ducking under its arm when it threw a punch. Izuku grabbed onto its arm and swung himself onto it when it stuck out a leg. Its outstretched limbs caused it to lose balance.

Using that to his advantage, Izuku hoisted himself onto the Nomu's back. When it tried to grab him, he pushed off of it, managing to make the Nomu stumble. Izuku then landed on the ground and pivoted on his foot, wrapping Eraserhead's capture scarf around the Nomu's arm.

His breaths were hot and trembling, so shallow that he wasn't even certain if he was actually breathing. In the back of his mind, Izuku pondered giving up. The fatigue was getting to him, slowly persuading him to just let the Nomu take his life.

But it wasn't just his life that was being threatened, was it?

Izuku thought about the League; his friends... his family.

No.

He couldn't give up.

Backup was arriving. He just needed to be more patient.

Newfound determination touched his core. Izuku felt a burst of energy fill his body. Instead of slowing down like it was doing, his body sped up and matched the Nomu's own. His dulled eyes sharpened and lit up once again, the haze in his mind lifting.

Grip tightening on the capture scarf around his neck, the gears in Izuku's mind began to turn. He had sparred with several Nomu before, courtesy of All For One's training. It was a nightmarish time, before he transitioned into battling against human beings. But it wasn't fruitless.

Izuku recalled every aspect of this particular Nomu's Quirks. Regeneration, Shock Absorption, and a speed and strength enhancer. Remourse welled up inside of him when he remembered that Nomu were actually once humans. Living, breathing, happy humans.

Happy, up until they were turned into monstrosities.

They probably had families and friends that were searching for them. Once more, All For One had proven to be a cold and relentless bastard. He was willing to make any sacrifice to accomplish his wicked goals.

Izuku found it endearing.

It was utterly disgusting.

The capture weapon wrapped around the Nomu's arm. It pulled Izuku toward itself, but he abandoned the object and latched himself onto its back instead. Pulling out a dagger, Izuku jammed the blade into its exposed brain.

The creature let out a pained roar that thundered throughout the USJ. Izuku wouldn't admit the chill of pleasure that shook his spine. Distracted, he nearly fell off when the Nomu started to thrash and attempt to grab him. Izuku was able to dodge, of course, but he was barely hanging on.

The only thing keeping him from flying off was the blade that was embedded into the Nomu's brain. That also meant that whenever the Nomu flailed, it was unknowingly injuring itself by aggravating its wound. He unholstered another one of his knives from under his cloak and plunged it into the monster's skull. The struggling was getting increasingly intense as its brain got torn apart. Izuku felt like he was on the rodeo bull ride in a carnival.