UA High,
Toshinori, the previous owner of the One For All Quirk, felt ashamed of coming short of his teaching duties.
No. He can't remain passive regarding this. He must join his colleagues and see to the students' training.
With a great will, he stood up, gaining All Might's appearance.
However, the moment he was about to step outside, Nezu, the Principal of UA High, stepped into the teacher's lounge.
"Hold your horses!" Mr. Principal said.
All Might's mouth twitched. "Your fur looks well-groomed today, Sir."
"Keratin," Nezu replied as All Might sat down. "That's the secret. But we can talk about it later. I have something very important to discuss with you."
Nezu scooped out a tablet from his pockets and faced its screen toward All Might, making his blue eyes widen with seriousness instantly.
"Yes," Nezu said, putting away the tablet. "This Bounty Poster of Dr. Blessed is being circulated throughout the country, I am afraid. Especially among the Villains.
"Whoever's looking for him is desperate to get his hands on him. Much more desperate than us. What do you think that tells us?"
All Might knew what Mr. Principal meant. "It's too soon to conclude that he's not a Villain, Sir."
"You are right," Nezu nodded. "But we can eliminate the possibility that he's working with, or for, All For One."
All Might's smile vanished.
"Only he can rile up an entire country's Villains like this," Nezu said. "But there's one thing that is confusing me as well."
"What would that be, Sir?" All Might asked, getting up.
Nezu held his chin, looking thoughtful. "How is Dr. Blessed remaining hidden for so long? It's like he's a ghost… appearing and disappearing when he wishes. Doesn't make sense."
All Might didn't know what to think of it.
However, one thing was sure. The next time he found Dr. Blessed standing in front of him, he wouldn't let him escape so easily.
For now, though, there was a class of students awaiting All Might.
…
USJ,
Everyone, from Erasure Head to Kurogiri, from students to Villains, from Shigaraki to a bleeding Sand, just gawked at the sudden turn of events.
The green laser blazed in their eyes, leaving behind a hole in the light-skinned Nomu.
Shigaraki's eyes widened, his head snapping over his shoulder, following the laser's trail.
Somehow, just somehow, the itches in Shigaraki's bones told him that it was him — the person who had attacked him.
Shigaraki's face twitched as rage beyond madness took over.
And a chill ran down Erasure Head's spine, sensing the same.
However, if the appearance of the laser had been a shock, then what happened next left them bewildered for days.
…
Luke couldn't have aimed the laser toward Shigaraki, otherwise, that would have been a sure way to kill the most heinous Villain known to him other than All For One.
At first, Luke had found himself incapable of killing someone, feeling a weight on his shoulders — just like the time when he had failed to kill Brain Thief when he had the chance.
However, as time passed, and after seeing Sand kill so many people, Luke realized something.
There was no escaping it — the Killing.
Without a will to go through with it, he wouldn't reach anywhere.
Not to mention, and probably the most influencing reason behind Luke's change of heart was the realization that some people… just deserved to die.
But, Shigaraki wasn't standing alone.
He had an Upper Tier Nomu with him, who most probably had a clear directive of keeping Shigaraki safe after the last failed attempt to kill him.
There was no saying if Luke had succeeded in dealing a killing blow to Shigaraki under such circumstances.
Moreover, right after firing the first shot, his cover would have blown up. Like now.
Luke knew how dangerous the situation was.
At any time, Shigaraki could direct the Nomu to confront him.
With the Nomu matching All Might's strength, it would be almost impossible to escape without showing his trump cards.
So, he needed to be quick, cunning, and decisive about the next steps.
That's where the snake came into the picture, holding not only Intelligence but also a Switch Position Quirk.
The moment Luke saw the laser burning through its target, he snapped his fingers.
The snake's head snapped toward the Lower Tier Nomu, its slitted eyes holding intelligence. Then, just as Shigaraki looked fully back over his shoulder, it blurred out of existence.
Simultaneously, the light-skinned Nomu disappeared as well, appearing right next to Luke.
The hole through its chest wasn't regenerating, but it wasn't enough to kill such a creature. At least, not instantly.
On the other side, the moment the snake appeared where the Nomu had been, it exploded into bits of flesh and blood.
With the distance between it and Luke going over 100 meters, the bestowed Quirks automatically disappeared, mutating the Quirk-filled snake, making it explode instantly.
"It's you!" Shigaraki screamed from afar, seeing nothing but darkness behind the tree line. "I know it's you!!"
But, losing his bearings to madness, instead of sending the Nomu, Shigaraki himself rushed in that direction.
Seeing Shigaraki running toward him from afar, Luke sighed in relief. As expected, he's acting like a child…
Knowing that he still had a few seconds, Luke snapped his fingers again, a mouse squeaking out from his white greatcoat's deep pockets.
The small mouse jumped off Luke and landed on the huge Nomu, putting its tiny palms on its body with distinct intelligence in its eyes.
With a sudden pop, the huge Lower Tier Nomu became a glossy marble.
From his experience in his previous life, Luke had found that the Shrinkage Quirk he used to store things in Nyx's stomach, just didn't work with living organisms.
However, there was this one Quirk he had always liked to counter that weakness.
…
[
Quirk: Compress
Complexity: A
Consumption:
— Spirit 60
— Stamina 20
Contact Time: 7 seconds
Activation Time: 10 minutes
]
…
Of course, with the Quirk being of a High Complexity, the mouse burst apart with a bloody squelch after using it once.
But Luke could bestow the same Quirk on some another animal, or even Nyx, to bring the Nomu back to its original shape.
So, for now, with his goal accomplished, Luke focused on running away.
Like a white blur, Luke rushed through the trees, heading toward the large walls surrounding the Landslide Zone.
Meanwhile, letting out mad grunts, Shigaraki reached Luke's original spot and saw the massive wooden rifle flaking away as the Quirk bestowed upon the tree disappeared.
"It was you…" Shigaraki growled. Then his head snapped toward his left, hearing a rustle. "NOMU!!!"
ROARRRRRRRR!
BOOM!!
Leaving behind a storm of dust, the massive, black-skinned Nomu snapped into existence right next to Shigaraki, who was already pointing to his left.
Muscles squirmed in Nomu's arm as it made a fist and punched.
With another boom, everything in that direction was obliterated.
But when Shigaraki searched the area again, he couldn't find anyone.
…
Luke slumped against the wall, inside the Landslid Zone, the outline of a door disappearing behind him.
Just as Nyx flew up over the wall to join him, the entire wall shook, gaining cracks all over.
But, as it was thick, large, and far enough from the Nomu, it didn't crumble instantly.
Turning the white greatcoat black again, Luke hurriedly rushed deeper to join Todoroki who was also supposed to be here.
The moment he disappeared, and the wall began crumbling apart for good, a pair of shoes shuffled hundreds of feet away… with no visible legs.
*****************
AN: Original Image of the rat using Compress Quirk on the Nomu is available
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