Izuku could cut the tension in the air with a knife.
All Might and the creature he had just been fighting stared at each other silently, as if daring the other to make the first move.
Izuku stood back, his mind telling him that the rational thing to do was to run and meet up with the rest of his classmates, but his gut told him to stay.
He couldn't help without using the watch, not against a threat of this level, but he knew that All Might had used up his time for the day, and soon he'd have to revert to his weakened state, the two were very similar in that way, after they ran out of time with their respective powers they were pretty much helpless in fights of this level, the only difference was that Izuku's time limit was much shorter than that of his teacher.
The silent standoff was broken as a vortex of black mist appeared behind the blue haired villain.
"Kurogiri, did you kill thirteen." The man asked, not sparing his partner a glance.
"I have incapacitated the pro hero, however, Shigaraki, the students here seem to be much stronger than we expected, one of them managed to escape, and I see that Nomu has even been permanently damaged, I think it is prudent to retreat whilst we have the chance."
"Are you crazy? All Might just arrived, it's not game over yet!" Shigaraki exclaimed, "we will proceed with the plan, Nomu kill him."
At the command of its master, the black creature began walking towards All Might, obviously learning some semblance of caution in the previous fight after having lost its arm.
The fact the creature could learn from its mistakes was rather terrifying to Izuku.
"All Might, that thing has insane amounts of physical damage absorption, specifically made to counter you, attacking it head on is not a good plan." Izuku told his teacher.
"Not to worry young Midoriya, an enemy like this will not best me." The blonde said, trying to reassure his student.
Izuku just narrowed his eyes at the man, he didn't need to be reassured of the current situation, he had quite literally fought toe to toe with Nomu a minute ago, he knew how to beat the thing, he just needed to let the watch cool down and he would put an end to the current situation.
He was glad All Might had saved him, elated in fact, and really wanted the blonde man to win by himself so he didn't have to force himself to kill Nomu, lack of sentience aside, killing something was not a thing Izuku wanted to do, but he was fully prepared to do it if it meant keeping himself and his friends safe.
He just didn't know how much longer All Might could force his transformation to hold, and was more concerned that the man would become a liability rather than an advantage if he wasted time trying to figure out how to beat his enemy.
"CAROLINA SMASH!"
The number one hero charged at the creature, hitting it with a cross chop that likely would have put anyone out of commission, but only sank lightly into the monster's skin.
Izuku sighed, he had literally just told the man about his opponent's resistances, but the pro hero had just gone and hit it without thinking, he couldn't help but think that maybe All Might wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, or at least a little arrogant about the abilities of his Quirk.
The man ducked back to dodge Nomu's attempt to grab him, before planting a punch in his enemies gut.
"My blows, they aren't working at all!" The man grimaced.
"I see you've noticed Nomu's shock absorption, if you're thinking of dealing any damage, it would be more effective to slowly scoop his guts out," Shigaraki said demurely, "but him letting you do that is a different story."
