A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 73

Izuku was really glad he had slowed his little group down before they burst out of the treeline and out onto Kota's ledge. He was less glad to find a 7 foot behemoth towering over the boy menacingly.

He hissed out a silent breath as he studied the situation, brain whirring like a computer as he figured out what he needed to do about the situation. He took stock of what he had on his person and the two friends he had brought along. Trying desperately to figure out how to get the 6 year old out of danger.

He didn't have the time to perfect a plan though. An oversized fist being pulled back galvanized them into action. Izuku pulled his singular knife out from where it was strapped along the back of his belt under his shirt as he ran forwards. His first strike was a desperate one, aiming for the back of the villain's knee. A dirty move, but less lethal than a lot of the other options he had.

The knee folded as the tendons were cut and Izuku continued his dash, scooping up Koda in one arm as he passed, putting as much distance between them and the man as he could. Now the issue was the fact that there was a bulky and angry obstacle in between them and the path to safety.

He spotted Sero and Yanagi stepping to either side of the path behind the giant, taking up defensive positions that would also be better for their more long and midrange quirks. That left Izuku himself as the best choice for close combat. He stashed his latest acquisition behind a large rock, hoping to apply the out of sight out of mind rule. "Stay here and stay quiet." He ordered, keeping his eyes at the adversary who was building up into a full blown tirade about killing the teen who injured him, and about murder in general.

Izuku tuned him out, trying to figure out the best angle for attack, zeroing in on the man's arms when he booted up his quirk. He cringed, any kind of physical power boosting quirk was a bad matchup for him, especially factored with the size difference between the two of them.

This honestly looked uncomfortably like the first Nomu situation. He reseated his grip on his knife, desperately missing his preferred weapon and internally kicking himself for deciding the cord was too uncomfortable for a walk through the woods. He would do anything to have the tazing aspect to help deal with the muscle based quirk they were facing.

As it was he would have to make do. Green eyes darted over to Sero and a freckled hand gestured unobtrusively. Using the signals Aizawa had taught them in class to lay out a very basic plan. The hero equivalent of 'cover me. I'm going in.'. When he got a positive signal back Izuku leaped forwards, slicing a threat out with his blade even as he was forced to leap to the side to avoid a too powerful punch.

The air displacement from the blow was almost enough to cause the small teen to lose his balance. The show of strength was frightening. The teen suddenly glad he had lamed the man in one leg, he never wanted to see what a properly balanced punch from Muscular was like.

The greenette twisted as he slipped past his opponent's arm. Plunging his knife into an exposed shoulder, aiming for the joint once again. But even as the knife sunk in the first inch Izuku realized that the blow wouldn't be effective. He yanked his hand back as the severed muscles writhed and reformed. A gruesome display of unfortunate self healing.

His next dodge wasn't quite quick enough. The backhand caught him in the upper arm and shoulder sending him flying sideways. The steep rocky side of the mountain caught him before dropping his stunned body to the ground.