MHA: A Cat's Way

Ch 43 Catia vs Nomu

(3rd still)

With an ear-shattering screech, Nomu heaves and manages to throw Catia off of them, blood splattering from their arm. She flips and lands on all fours, not taking her eyes off of them as she growls at it.

It stands, and through the blood soaking their arm, Eraserhead can see the deep furrows her teeth dug healing at a rapid pace. Within moments, he expects that he won't be able to see any signs of damage except for the blood.

While he keeps one eye on his student, he keeps the other on the two villains in front of him to get a gauge on the situation. Though it seems like they're fighting?

Scratching his neck, Shigaraki growls at the girl. "What's the meaning of this, Iroha? Decided to betray me?"

The Iroha girl shrugs dismissively. "Not at all. I did tell mew that the target's animal instincts could interfere with orders." She makes a show of looking around. "And I don't see All Might anywhere... So without the person she's meant to be targeting, Koda can only nudge her in what they want her to do. He can only give one active order at a time."

She points one of the speakers covering her hands at the fight, where Catia has successfully managed to claw off one of Nomu's legs, only for it to regenerate. I'm going to need to make sure that Nezu schedules everyone for sessions with Hound Dog after today. Eraserhead thinks to himself.

"It's not my fault that your 'weapon capable of killing All Might' is a giant bird. This might not have even been a problem if All Might were here like mew said he would be."

While Shigaraki furiously scratches at his neck in frustration, the portal user appears next to them. "Tomura Shigaraki. I apologize, but one of the students managed to escape. Additionally, the Cult of Nya signaled for their retreat, and have been sent to their drop off point."

His scratching deepens as he growls at the man. "Kurogiri, if you weren't our ride out of here I'd kill you where you stand." He glares at the girl across from him before turning his gaze to the fight between Catia and Nomu.

"Be ready to retreat when needed. I want to see how Iroha's final boss compares to ours." He gets a nod in reply from Kurogiri, who blinks at the scene in front of him in surprise.

Copious amount of blood covers the area, a clear sign that the girl is a skilled fighter. And as far as anyone can tell, Nomu hasn't even managed to break through the energy surrounding her yet. Though as they watch it manages to grab her leg as she leaps past and swings her over themselves, slamming her face into the ground with a resounding crack. Light starts leaking from the front of the construct, a sign Eraserhead has become familiar with due to Nezu's insistence on discovering the resilience of her summoned cats.

She lays on the ground a moment, both her and her passenger dazed from the move. Taking advantage of their state Nomu plunges its fist down, but she manages to roll away, leaving it to crater the ground.

The boy grunts in discomfort at the maneuver, raising the LOV's curiosity, though not to the point where they feel like asking yet.. "Your beast is certainly powerful. But if it's having trouble with her, then I doubt that it could have stood up to All Might."

Shigaraki snorts. "Please. The girl is quick, but my boss' regeneration negates all the damage she could cause." Seeming to realize something, he turns to look at Eraserhead. Or at least... the spot where he was.

Seeing that the hero is nowhere to be seen, he turns to Kurogiri, who explains. "I felt it prudent to teleport Eraserhead away so that he would be unable to erase Nomu's regeneration during the fight. It would be rather embarrassing if it were to fall to a student due to being unable to heal itself."

Shigaraki snorts, as he continues watching the fight as Nomu gets behind Catia and swings for the person hanging off their back, only for her to fall flat to avoid it. "What's with the kid on her back? Seems stupid to me."

"Well," Nekomura explains. "Proximity helps with their quirk. The closer they are, the more force they can put behind their order. Of course, as we can see, the fact they can only give one order at a time without deactivating their quirk is rather unfortunate."

Catia twists under Nomu's swing, practically wrapping herself around its arm and dragging it to the ground with a roll. Ending up on top, she plunges her claws down into its eyes, blinding it.

Another screech of rage erupts from its throat as it flails wildly, knocking her off of it. It stands, its eyes already regenerating. Despite having no mind of its own, it seems to glare at the catgirl.

She arches her back, showing no fear in the face of her tireless foe despite the various cracks now crawling through her cat armor. It's then that several things shock everyone: from the three villains watching the fight, to the students looking on with worry from the entrance as their friend battles a monster said to be able to defeat The Symbol of Peace.

At the same time as the doors to the USJ fly off their hinges - luckily not hitting the students or the injured Thirteen being supported nearby -, five large hairballs fly down at Nomu, two missing, but the other three striking various parts of its body.

It howls in pain and rage as they burst, taking two large chunks from its torso in the process and bringing it to its knee as the other goes the same way. It's the perfect opportunity for Catia to try and go for the kill, and that's her intention. But a voice echoing across the entirety of the USJ stops her in her tracks,

"I COULDN'T SHAKE THE FEELING THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG HERE WHEN AIZAWA AND THIRTEEN DIDN'T ANSWER MY CALLS." The students at the entrance look at him in relief as he makes his way to the top of the stairs.

"SO I HURRIED OVER, RUNNING INTO YOUNG IIDA ALONG THE WAY. HE TOLD ME OF THE VILLAINY AT WORK HERE." Even Nomu, having recovered from the injuries caused by Catia's mage cats, is as unmoving as the rest, seeming frozen by the number one hero's presence.

"HAVE NO FEAR STUDENTS." He stands at the top of the stairs, looking down at the center square where Catia is seemingly facing off against the leaders of the attack all alone. Some of their allies having regained consciousness during her battle starting to struggle to their feet.

"BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

All Might is known as the bringer of hope. His mere presence enough to reassure everyone that everything will be ok. His smile the sign that he's arrived to save everyone.

But now his smile is gone.

He's here to save his colleagues and students, there's no doubt about that. But the scowl on his face tells another reason. No... He's not here only to save his students. He's here to deal with the villains who dared to attack them!

Two shouts ring out after his grand entrance.

Both directed at two different beings.

But they hold the same message.

"Catia-"

"Nomu-"

The voices of both Shigaraki and the boy on the girl's back ring out, easily making their way into All Might's ears.

""KILL ALL MIGHT!""