Ren wiped the blood from his lips and forced a smile—empty, broken, strained.
It didn't reach his eyes.
'Then I guess I'll have to change Quirk, huh?'
His arm crackled violently—sparks rippling across his skin.
Electricity twisted, morphed, condensed—
—until it became pure kinetic force.
His entire body lit with faint blue arcs as he converted everything—every volt, every joule—into momentum. His muscles trembled under the weight of it.
The green aberration jumped after him, incredibly fast—then—
FWUMP—FLAP—FLAP—
It flapped its avian arm and soared in the sky.
Ren's eyes widened.
"What? It can fly?"
The answer came in the form of a gorilla-sized fist barreling toward him midair.
Ren inhaled sharply—then redirected all the kinetic energy into his legs.
CRACK—!!
He spun like a drill, smashing a kick into the monster's arm.
A thunderclap burst from the collision as the shockwaves rolled across the USJ.
But—
Ren felt his leg snap again.
The monster only staggered.
He landed hard, panting, ribs grinding inside him. The green monster followed, "flying" down—lopsided, uncontrolled, wobbling toward its heavier gorilla arm.
'Some of the force… got absorbed…' Ren realized.
He watched the monster's massive arm flex, the rubbery skin trembling like an industrial shock absorber.
'Rubber has insane impact dispersion. Combine that with gorilla muscle mass and—'
A scream sliced through his thoughts.
"ARGHHHHH!"
Ren's stomach dropped.
Aizawa.
The black Nomu had him pinned—its massive foot crushing Aizawa's arm into the ground. Blood poured from his head. His goggles shattered around him like broken glass.
Beside him stood the man with the hand on his face.
"Aizawa-sensei!" Ren roared.
"Kekekeke… Ren-kun," the hand-faced man crooned. "I would pay more attention—"
He never finished.
Ren was already in motion.
He had kept Eagle Eyes active the entire time—his vision spanning three hundred and forty degrees. Even while fighting, he saw everything.
He saw the gorilla punch before it came, and he leapt right over it.
"Oh? My mistake," the hand-faced man chuckled. "Seems you didn't need a warning."
Ren twisted in that air and grabbed the green monster's gorilla arm.
Grip.
The suckers on his palms latched into the creature's rubbery skin.
Ren's focus split into ten parts.
Multitask.
And then—
He turned back all of his kinetic energy into electric energy and poured it all on Grip's suckers.
"Rubber can melt, right?"
His grin was sharp and murderous.
"Voltage Clamp."
There was no flash.
No outward explosion.
All the power was internal—white-hot electricity pumped directly into the creature's arm.
"KAAAAAAA—!!"
The green monster shrieked in agony as smoke poured from its melting limb.
But Ren didn't get to celebrate the hit.
The black one appeared behind him—
—and punched him with the force of a freight train.
BOOOOM—!!
Ren flew across the USJ, smashing through the stairway of the entrance.
Debris exploded around him. His spine screamed. His ribs cracked like brittle glass. His right leg twisted wrong—almost detached.
Seraph tried to heal him.
But it was too slow.
With each injury stacking on top of the last, Seraph was barely keeping Ren conscious.
Ren pushed himself up anyway.
"Two against one…"
He laughed, hollow and cracked.
Blood dripped from his chin.
"Ren-kun," the hand-faced villain called mockingly, patting the black creature's shoulder as if it were a loyal pet, "what do you think of my other toy?"
His fingers twitched against his own neck, scratching compulsively.
"He's the anti–Symbol of Peace. Designed to kill All Might."
Ren spat blood.
'That… explains the strength then.'
Before Ren could move, Aizawa—barely alive—wrapped his capture cloth around Shigaraki.
But the hand-faced villain simply looked at him.
"Nomu. Move him."
The black monster tore the cloth like paper—then stomped Aizawa's head into the ground.
Aizawa choked on blood.
"Stop!" Ren roared.
He tried to stand—his leg gave out.
He forced himself anyway.
The air trembled as black mist swirled into existence.
"Kurogiri," The hand-faced guy said flatly.
The fog man bowed his head.
"Shigaraki Tomura."
"Did you deal with Thirteen?"
"Yes. But some students avoided displacement."
Ren's fists trembled.
'Thirteen…'
He forced himself to breathe.
'Some didn't get teleported… that means someone might have gone to get reinforcements.'
"One escaped," The fog man confirmed.
Ren smiled at that. Reinforcements were about to come.
The hand-faced guy did not handle the news well.
He scratched at his neck violently.
"You…!" he hissed at the fog man.
"If you weren't Warp Gate, I would have torn you apart!"
His fingers dug in until blood threatened to seep. Then—
He stopped.
Calmed.
"We cannot win against if the reinforcements come. Even with two Nomus."
He slumped as if disappointed.
"Game over. We leave."
Ren's eyes narrowed.
'Just like that…?'
He started charging kinetic energy again—bones cracking, muscles tearing. Every step hurt, but he kept going.
'No. I'm not letting you leave. I just need to stall… until help arrives.'
'If I use that… maybe—'
"Before we go…" Shigaraki said lightly, turning back with a tilt of his head, "let's teach those brats a lesson. Chimera Nomu. Go."
Ren's heart stopped.
The green monster turned—not toward Ren.
But toward a distant zone.
Ren used Eagle Eyes instantly—
He saw them.
Midoriya.
Tsuyu.
Koda.
They were cornered.
"FUCK!" Ren exploded with kinetic power—his bones screaming as he launched forward.
He sprinted with everything he had—
But he wasn't going to reach them in time.
He had discharged all his remaining energy he had to melt the Chimera Nomu's arm, what he had just wasn't enough.
"MIDORIYA! TSUYU! KODA!" Ren screamed—
—but the Chimera Nomu was already on them.
To be continued...
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How was this chapter? Liked it?
Are you guys liking the USJ arc so far? Some of you are complaining about Ren being stupid when fightning since in the previous chapter, knowing that electricity won't work, he tried again, but that's because there was the possibility that it was a Transformation Quirk, and so Erasure would have worked, making his electricity then effective.