The climb was turning into a marathon of nerves, sweat, and borrowed courage.
Uraraka floated up another pair of students—Mineta clinging to Ochaco's leg like a terrified koala while Melissa tried (and failed) to reassure him that the platform above was "very stable." Uraraka's face went pale as she released them, wobbling slightly.
Yaoyorozu immediately stepped in, steadying her."Uraraka, take a moment. We can't risk you getting nauseous mid-lift."
"—I'm fine," Ochaco insisted, placing a hand over her mouth like she was trying to keep her soul from leaving her body. "Just need… one minute…"
Izuku hovered near her nervously, hands half-extended like he might catch her and the world itself if it helped.
Meanwhile, Melissa tapped away on her tablet, pointing upward."The next structure we're aiming for is a maintenance walkway built into the 132nd floor's underside. It's the only safe ledge left that wasn't sealed by the emergency lockdown."
Izuku nodded, but his eyes kept drifting toward the hallway behind them.
"Denki and Jirou should have been right behind us…" he muttered.
As if summoned by concern, the sound of sneakers skidding echoed through the shaft before a very tired, slightly singed Denki Kaminari appeared at the doorway.
"Yo! Anyone else in this building besides us? Or are we alone in the giant murder tower?"
Izuku blinked. "K-Kaminari?! What about Jirou?!"
"She's here! Just, uh…" Denki jerked a thumb behind him. "Well… you'll see."
Jirou soon came into view, pacing back and forth with the intense agitation of someone listening to a ghost. Her earlobes jabbed upward repeatedly, as though desperately trying to scrape sound out of the ceiling itself.
"Jirou?" Izuku asked carefully. "What's wrong? We're still two floors down from 132."
Jirou didn't even look at him. She pressed both jacks to the metal ceiling and froze.
"She's doing it again," Denki whispered. "Dude, she won't stop. I asked like twenty times, and all she said was 'Something's up there.'"
Jirou swallowed hard, voice low.
"There's… noise. Heavy. Rhythmic. Like… footsteps but not footsteps. Too big."She paused."And breathing. Like… something's asleep or waiting."
Melissa stiffened. Yaoyorozu's eyes widened.
Izuku felt a cold, creeping chill run down his spine.
"What would they even put above floor 131…?" he whispered.
Before anyone could answer—
BOOM.
Not an explosion.
A step.
The entire underside of floor 132 shuddered. A puff of dust rained down over their heads.
Jirou stumbled back, face drained of colour.
"T-That… yeah. Yeah, that's what I heard."
Silence swallowed the group—until Mineta whimpered, "We're going up there?! Are you all insane?!"
Melissa clenched her fists. "We don't have a choice. The security hub is past that floor."
Denki lifted a finger."…So, uh. That wasn't you, Jirou, right?"
Jirou darted her eyes upward, tapping the ceiling with a rhythmic pattern."…Nope," she said flatly. "And whatever that is? It's getting closer."
Another BOOM.The ventilation ducts above them visibly shook.
Izuku swallowed hard."Not good," he whispered. That's too heavy… too deliberate… too strong.
Izuku forced himself to swallow. "Whatever's up there… We'll face it together."
But even he felt his breath catch in his throat.
Because whatever that was…It wasn't a drone. It wasn't a soldier. It wasn't a normal villain.
And the universe helped them—it wasn't alone.
ELSEWHERE — BAKUGO & IIDA VS. THE PATCHWORK NOMU
Bakugo's heart hammered against his ribs—not from fear, but from pure rage that something dared to take a swing at him and didn't immediately explode into paste.
The multi-colored monster lunged again, its grotesque body squelching as mismatched muscles bulged and contracted. It wasn't as fast as the USJ Nomu, but it was stronger than most heroes could handle. Its stitched layers of skin—red, blue, yellow, green—gave it a nauseating patchwork appearance.Like someone had taken multiple unfinished Nomu projects and Frankensteined them together.
Bakugo blasted backwards, boots scraping across the scorched tiles."DAMN IT!" He tore off another strip of his ruined dress shirt, wrapping his palm until it was nearly mummified. "WHERE THE HELL DID THIS THING COME FROM?!"
Iida ducked under a sweeping arm, engines howling as sparks shot from his calves."The coloration… the stitching… the exposed brain—it resembles the USJ Nomu. But it looks unfinished!"
The Nomu roared—a guttural, bubbling sound like multiple throats trying to scream at once.It slammed both fists down, the floor buckling under the blow. The shockwave launched tiles into the air like shrapnel.
Iida skidded back, arms crossed protectively."This is bad! Midoriya said nothing about this type of villain being present!"
Bakugo clicked his tongue sharply."Quit panicking, spec-boy! Focus up! If its brain isn't the weak spot, then we find something else to blow up!"
The creature lunged again, this time faster—faster than it should logically be able to move. Bakugo barely threw himself sideways, rolling across the ground as a fist cratered the floor where he'd been.
"HEY, FOUR-EYES!" Bakugo barked. "This thing's adapting!"
Iida revved, kicking back in with a tight spiral of blue sparks."Affirmative—its muscle fibres are reorganizing with each movement. It seems to improve the more we force it to exert itself!"
"So we stop letting it move!" Bakugo snarled. "Pin it down!"
He blasted upward, grabbing onto a stray hanging pipe as he swung himself around, launching a point-blank explosion at the Nomu's throat.
The Nomu stumbled.But barely.
The explosion that should've blown a truck backwards only made its head jerk.
"What the—? THAT SHOULD'VE WORKED!"
Iida leaped high using Recipro Burst, aiming a full-power kick at its exposed brain.
His heel struck home——but the Nomu didn't even flinch.
Iida grimaced."Its brain isn't… soft. Midoriya described the original Nomu's brain as being exposed to allow sensory overload weaknesses. But THIS one—Bakugo, its brain structure is like metal! As if someone reinforced it!"
Bakugo hissed between clenched teeth."So it's an armoured zombie with patchwork skin. GREAT. JUST WHAT I NEEDED TODAY."
The Nomu's arm shot out with sudden, terrifying precision——and grabbed Iida's leg mid-jump.
Iida's eyes widened."—!"
Before Iida could stabilize, the monster swung him like a club toward Bakugo.
Bakugo dove, but Iida's armoured shin grazed his side, knocking him off-balance.Both boys tumbled apart as the monster's shadow loomed over them.
Iida coughed, resetting his glasses."Bakugo—this creature—if it continues adapting—"
Bakugo spat blood onto the floor, rising to one knee with a growl."If it adapts? Then I'll just blow it up FASTER than it can think!"
His palms sparked violently, tiny arcs of light flickering inside the rough cloth he'd wrapped around himself.
"I'm done playin' around!"
The Nomu took a thunderous step—
—but suddenly froze.
Both Iida and Bakugo paused.
Then—
BOOM
Something smashed into the ceiling above them. Dust fell like rain.
Another impact.Then another.
Iida looked up sharply."What is—?"
Bakugo paled—not from fear, but from recognition.
"…No way… That feeling… that sound…"
Because that rhythm—the heavy, crunching strikes hammering the roof—They weren't footsteps.
They were punches.
SOMEONE WAS FIGHTING SOMETHING DIRECTLY ABOVE THEM.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
[Auther: Hiya.]