A loud CRACK made Midoriya come to an abrupt stop, his shoes skidding to a rest.
After Luke, Todoroki, and Monoma had defeated the fire Villain's Clone with Nyx, he hadn't wasted one moment.
What were the three boys, who were supposed to be at the campsite under Vlad King's care, doing there?
There was no way Erasure Head would have let even one of them go out—then how come there were three students in the forest, putting their lives on the line?
And the most important question—why hadn't he thought of one of the most insane applications of Delay—Delayed Erasure?!
All questions could be asked and answered later, Midoriya had thought.
So, right after learning from Luke that he and Monoma would be erasing Villains' Quirks and healing everyone injured, keeping themselves on the path, Midoriya had thrown himself into the forest, hoping to find Momo.
Neither Todoroki nor Luke had tried to stop him.
His hands were so ruined that no amount of Spot Heal would work on them anymore.
Only Recovery Girl's Quirk was powerful enough to mitigate the effects. Even then, these injuries were bound to leave permanent scars and worse…
But that was something he must worry about later.
For now, the most important thing was finding Momo and forgetting about everyone else.
If Luke and Todoroki were out in the field, then he didn't need to worry about anyone else.
So, facing the probable origin of the CRACK, Midoriya blurred again, leaving behind a crackling hiss.
However, he had barely covered a hundred meters when he spied two figures.
One was a small girl, carrying a device on her back.
The other was a masked figure, donning a yellow magician's coat.
Time seemed to stagnate as Midoriya looked at them and they looked at him.
Flooded with adrenaline and fueled by Full Cowl 17%, Midoriya was still the first to react, a rage exploding from his eyes.
With a boom that tore through the forest, he shot toward the two Villains, his feet facing them.
Before Midoriya's feet could strike the two Villains, though, the masked Villain used the cane in his hand to gently push the girl forward, while simultaneously backing up.
A cyan blur whizzed past them from their midst and struck a tree, the trunk exploding into smithereens.
"Whoa…!" Mr. Compress exclaimed, adjusting his hat. "What an entrance, young man! Are you also in showbiz?!"
Next to him, Himiko Toga couldn't take her eyes off the boy as he stood up, letting out painful grunts. She saw the sheer injuries on his body, his blackened hands, and his bloody appearance. And a blush surfaced on her face, the corners of her mouth lifting.
"Mmmmmm…" Toga took a deep breath. "Go out with me!"
"…"
"…"
Then, as Mr. Compress and Midoriya looked at her, stunned, she covered the distance between herself and Midoriya in one blur, slashing at him with a knife.
A chill ran down Midoriya's spine, his knees bending just enough to avoid a cut.
Even then, Toga's knife cut a few strands of his hair, her smile widening at his panicked expression.
"Are you Ochaco-chan and Tsu-chan's friend?" she asked suddenly. "You… have the look in your eyes, too…"
Ochaco-chan… Tsu-chan… The two names rumbled in Midoriya's mind, every pore on his body suddenly opening with a guess.
"What did you…" He roared, pouring all the power of One For All into his right leg. "… do to them?"
"Well, I guess the answer is no…" Mr. Compress suddenly remarked, guessing what was about to happen. "You are taking out trump cards too soon… Get away, Toga!"
Before Midoriya could attack Toga, he flicked a marble toward him.
An enormous boulder appeared, replacing everything in Midoriya's vision. Instantly, he redirected the kick toward the boulder before it could flatten him under it.
The boom sent both him and Toga flying away from each other, pieces of rock shooting in random directions.
Midoriya's back struck another huge tree, splinters digging deep into his flesh.
Biting through the pain, he instantly pulled himself away from the tree and growled, "I asked…"
Midoriya couldn't finish his sentence, though.
A figure appeared in his vision, making his eyes almost widen out of his skull.
It was Uraraka with panic in her eyes, free-falling from above.
With a blinding rush, Midoriya appeared beneath Uraraka before she could crash, letting her hit his stomach instead.
"Uraraka!" Midoriya screamed. "Are you alright?! Where's Tsu…"
"Deku!" Uraraka's scream held more urgency than his. "Don't let him…"
Too late.
A hand landed on Midoriya's shoulder, both students' faces going blank.
"You shouldn't let Villains…" Mr. Compress said, activating his Quirk, "… distract you so easily…"
Then, with a sigh ringing in Midoriya's mind, a flash covered both him and Uraraka, confining them in a small marble.
"Hey! No fair!" Toga complained as she came running. Her yellow jumper over her left arm was torn and stained in blood, marking the spots where the rocky debris had struck her. "You didn't let me cut him up more…"
Mr. Compress chuckled from behind the mask, putting away the marble.
"Later, Ms Toga," he said, seeing the girl pouting at him. "The leader just told us that all the clones with the device are gone. That sounds ridiculous to me… The Heroes must have used underhanded methods. Otherwise, my Clone could have completed the mission all by himself…"
The earpiece in Mr. Compress' ear buzzed, Dabi's voice seeping out with another set of instructions.
"Cough!" the masked Villain cleared his throat. "Enough with the boasting, you say? Don't you know, Vanity is the sweetest of the sins…"
The earpiece buzzed again.
"Alright," Mr. Compress said, turning around. "New orders, Ms. Toga. It seems our prized Nomu has met trouble. Our new mission is to get the girl as Nomu distracts the Heroes and this new trouble…"
Toga's face gained a wide grin.
"I am so happy…" she exclaimed, following Mr. Compress. "We are collecting so many new friends! Hehe… If only… Stain was here, too…"
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