An bloody overturned slipper clawed its way forward with teeth on stubby fingers, a pair of scissors that moved like a slug using the tongue between the blades, and there's even a book that moved like a starfish on flaccid glands.
All abominations and an affront to nature, all of which are very real and very repulsive.
Every second spent in this mad laboratory chipped away at the cat's sanity. Tatsu genuinely abhorred the place he wounded up in it and yet alas, with the way back nonexistent, he had no other choice but to trudge his way to wherever the bloodstained trail lead him to. His journey had been undisturbed physically so far --save for the spurts of blood that cling to his fur-- and Tatsu is certain that he is ever closer to his goal as the stains grow more numerous and becoming closer to shades of brown.
'Patience is a virtue to a spy.' He reminds himself, reigning in the feline instincts of swaggering or running. The excitement of secrets to be found and exits to be had brought the familiar tingling sensation his cat-self had inherited from both his parent's love valuables.
Truly, his father's love of treasure and his mother's penchant for shiny gems are traits he inevitably inherited consolidating into a sixth sense of sorts. Nothing supernatural or quirky but something more akin to a superstition of sorts. Being able to know when something of value was nearby has been a great boon to his profession. The only drawback being a slight knack for kleptomania, something of which he learned to curb... For the most part.
This trait of his has brought him its fair share of troubles over his life but its use hasn't had its time to shine due to recent developments.
Now, however, it finally reared its head after being subsided for so long that despite reminding himself that patience is a virtue he must strive for, he couldn't help but hop and skip his way every so slightly. His enthusiasm was only curbed when he came across another of those disgusting things that stuffed away.
It was a cluster of broken sake bottles held together primarily with sinew and tendons. The misshapen ball of sharp glass was moving together on four long tentacles of red muscles with four more white muscles held in reserve, tucked safely bundled in a way that wouldn't get cut. Oddly enough, it seemed to pause when Tatsu stood by the side. It was then that the half-blood realised that the abomination had something the previous ones didn't; eyes.
Eyes that met his gaze.
'...Oh' He thought before swiftly turning around and made a run for it with a meowlp. Just in time as a white tentacles snapped into action and whipped the spot he just vacated.
"Mwraa!" Tatsu had turned his head to glance behind him only to stumble to the right in reflex as he avoided another white tentacle that snapped towards him.
The three eyes that are nestled within broken bottles have fixated upon the feline with unerring intensity. The creature chased the cat like an octopus with unnatural speed as they ran. Tatsu might have been the faster of the two but the abomination had advantage in reach as the fleshy white tentacles can extend to a boggling degree.
There were plenty of close calls when Tatsu was almost captured, only by diving deeper into his feline-self did he dodge a the terrible fate that no doubt awaited him. He was never more grateful for corners as it was the only thing in the empty corridors that allowed him to gain distance from the abomination.
And yet, even those could only get him so far.
The half-blood had to repeatedly glance back to check the distance between him and the living nightmare that haunted him, straining the cat's neck. Still, he had to do so just to make sure he wouldn't be ambushed by another tentacle as his stamina could only get him so far and wasting more energy trying to escape his grasp would only tire him out and that would become a deadend for him.
He has to find something to get himself out of this situation.
~~~
"I'm not apologising." I said plainly.
Kimura-sensei blinked. "...I just got here." She said as she closed the door behind her.
"And my point still stands." My tone was as dry as the desert. "I warned that guy multiple time of what would happen if he kept pushing his luck. It's on him disregarding my words and poking a sleeping dragon."
"Dragon? Since when did you have such an ego?" She raised a brow as she took one of the free seats at the table.
"It was a figure of speech. Also, my quirk is literally called [Beam Hydra]."
"Right..." She shook her head before flicking through some of the papers she's been holding. "Alright so, good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"
"Suprise me." I shrugged in apathy.
"So you're not getting sued." She sighed in relief. Either that was for me getting off Scot free or for her research not losing a test subject.
"Didn't take you for an optimist." Mildly surprising. I genuinely thought she'd be all doom and gloom from her taste in aesthetic. "And the bad news?"
"Bakegoro, the man you knocked out? He's well known for being petty and can hold grudges." She glanced up to look me in the eyes.
"Sounds pretty standard."
"Standard? This is serious. Just because he's not suing doesn't mean he won't get back at you in other ways. That man is shameless enough to pull inconvenient ploys."
"Slightly above standard then." I shrugged again. "Don't make mountains out of mole hills. I can avoid him in the halls if I have to. And if history repeats itself, I wouldn't mind knocking out a few of his teeth loose by then."
"I'm more worried about the collateral..." She mumbled softly. It wasn't any good effort as I still heard what she said but I didn't comment out of courtesy. "Fine. Not like I can police your actions. But if something did happen then at least be mindful of the time and place. It's going to be a pain and a half trying get reimbursement out of the ones at top."
"I'll try. No promises though."
"That's the best of what'll I get isn't it?" She sighed. "While we're on topic, the news did reach top brass and I've received news that this event will be struck on your record."
"Oh, cool. Which one?" Her eye visibility twitched.
"What do you mean 'which one?'. What do you mean by that?"
"My student record, my medical record, my criminal record-"
"I'm sorry, what?!"
"So it's not that one. Good to know." I mumbled.
"No, go back. Explain."
Naturally I kept my mouth shut. Although truth be told I wasn't even sure if I do have a criminal record. Maybe I did have one for vigilantism but I was never technically caught in any official capacity. Even if I did have that history at some point, it was probably erased by now because of the rat.
I mostly mentioned it just now to pull a reaction out of Kimura-sensei.
So with me feeling internally smug at her giving up on the subject, she continued. "Whatever. As I was saying, this will be put on your record- yourprofessional record at the institute under the reasoning of excessive violence."
"Should've hit him some more then."
She ignored my comment and continued on. "Furthermore, despite no restraining orderers have been issued, it is still recommended- no, strictly advised that there be distance between you and Bakegoro. Now, any questions?"
I took a good ten seconds to put up my best thinking pose and letting Kimura-sensei catch her breath.
"Well, none of this would have happened if someone did pull a impromptu investigation into my quirk. Just saying."
If she had glasses, I bet good money that they'd be cracked by now. "...Noted."
Heh, typical. Group of guys ganging on the loner, except this time its a bunch of egos hiding behind office politics.
Makes me miss my time at judgement. At least Senpai had our backs.
I wonder how she is now?
~~~
His options were limited if he wanted to continue the facade of a regular cat.
It would have been easy to turn back into a human and show the creature who was boss- a very tempting thought. However, he has yet to figure what kind of surveillance this location has. Even if he has yet to see any visible cameras, he refuses to believe that such a hidden facility lacks that kind of security feature especially when the results of whatever they're doing down here creates those things.
He also couldn't mame us of his feline capabilities as the corridors he was running through were as empty as his colleagues wallet after a trip to the pachinko parlor.
Seeing his lack of options, he decided to make use of the corners and loop around the thing. After that, he made a beeline straight for where he was planning to go in the first place; the origin of the bloodtrails.
As it difficult as it was, Tatsu was glad that the thing lack higher cognitive function as his plan is working well.
The beating in his chest did little to calm his psyche as he pulled himself though corridors that would have appeared looping if it weren't for the bloodstains on the floor of polished stone. He is closer now to his goal, he intuitioned. The stains of the floor are both freshly red and flakingly brown, it wouldn't be long until new variables were introduced that he could hopefully make us of to rid himself of that pesky creature that's hot on his tails.
When the sounds of thrashing grew distant enough, Tatsu afforded himself another cautioned glance to the rear and saw the distance between him and the abomination have widened, much to his relief. With its speed however, that wouldn't last long.
Eventually he spotted a new opened doorway to the distance where all the bloodstains came from. Seeing the sight, he felt within himself a renewed burst of energy as the cat dashed towards the goal in sight-
-only to have himself almost stumble to his face as another creature blocked his way.
He managed to catch him just in time to leap above the mess of broken potted plant riddled with tongues and teeth. He cringed in disgust as he had to use the slimy flesh as a foothold to go above the bulk of clay and soil before he landed behind the things and continued running.
The precious few seconds brought by his distance to the tentacled bottles mean nill if the potted plant seeks the flavour of his flesh.
Only... It was now that he realised that he failed to account for one crucial detail.
Why the creatures were out and about in the first place.
He gulped as he found himself within enemy territory, with other abominations trying to free themselves from their confinement.