The three Nomus were stuck to the window, greedily lapping up Mirko's blood as it dripped on the window.

The storm intensified.

Rain pelted against the glass, droplets turning to bloody beads when they hit the human remains.

They even ate her suit.

A bolt of lightning struck the sky, the red light - filtered by the bloody window - momentarily illuminated the dark corridor where Neito and Ochaco stood facing each other.

They were staring at each other.

The flash lit Neito's face obliquely : his hair were floating above his face, his piercing red eyes locked on her.

He leaned forward slightly, his knees bent as if he were about to pounce on her.

To his right was the empty staircase, to his left the window.

They could hear chewing and groans of pleasure from swallowing.

Another flash of lightning.

The light hit Ochaco at an angle. Her hands looked as if they were covered in blood.

With her back to the row of apartments, the window was to her right.

She was closest to it.

The Nomus were too busy eating, and the glass was too murky with blood and bits of flesh for them to notice them.

Ochaco felt deadly calm.

As the next bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, she tilted her head forward, exposing her lips to the light.

Her lips moved quietly:

"If you take a step forward, I'll scream"

Neito's eyes narrowed.

She'd do it.

Or at least she'd do it only if Monoma left her with no other choice.

She'd rather take the risk of... ending up like Mirko than to be captured and exhibited as a traitor for all to see. She'd rather die than suffer such humiliation.

Monoma would hurt her - she could see it in his eyes.

She'd hurt him as much as he intended to hurt her if it meant getting out of here alive.

Slowly, Ochaco took a step back.

Neito took a step forward.

They locked eyes.

Ochaco, lips pressed into a thin line, hesitated.

She could run, but the creatures would hear her.

Another bolt of lightning cut through the sky, flooding the corridor : Ochaco took two quick steps back as the lightning's roar drowned out everything.

She paused when the noise faded.

She glanced nervously at the window.

They kept on lapping and nibbling and chewing.

Neito took a step forward.

One of the Nomus lifted its head, nose up, as if sniffing the air.

Three consecutive thunderclaps.

Ochaco ran to the other end of the corridor, Monoma hot on her heels. The doors to all the apartments were open ; the corridor curved to the right, making an "L".

There was a fire escape but it opened on the inner street of the neighborhood, where the Nomus - and Mirko - had run earlier.

The thunder stopped.

Ochaco and Neito froze, not daring to move.

She risked turning around, spinning on the toes of her shoes.

Monoma was staring at her with his big, red, malicious eyes, way too close to her.

His hair fell back over his face, his eyes resuming their azure hue.

His sclera suddenly turned black, and Ochaco reacted instantly.

She stretched out her hands on either side of her body just as Neito reached for her.

Knickknacks, furniture, and cushions shimmered in pink light from the adjacent apartments ; Neito's shadows, running across the floor, stopped within an inch of Ochaco's shoes.

Ochaco, relieved, showed nothing : Neito's eyebrows were two straight, dark lines above his eyes.

There were at least thirty floating objects around them, ranging from glass jars filled with flowers to the brim to mirrors and keys.

Neito's eyes darted from one object to another.

She knew exactly what he was doing : counting and calculating, trying to figure out how to catch them in such a way that none of them would touch the ground.

He couldn't, they both knew it. There were too many of them.

Ochaco, feeling in a position of power, let go of all the suspended objects.

Neito's eyes widened ; he leaned forward, his right sole squeaking on the ground, his shadows splitting into threads to catch them all.

The objects froze a few centimeters off the ground.

From the looks of it, he could have barely caught ten of them.

Ochaco sent him a glance of warning.

She didn't wait for the next bolt of lightning before she slowly backed away.

Neito looked at her back away, eyes occasionally drifting back to the floating items in the middle of the corridor, torn between the desire to follow her and his compulsion to stay where he was.

Just as she rounded the corner Ochaco flicked her wrist, hurling the tornado of items straight at Neito.

He cursed : she ran at full speed, heart beating wildly.

She kicked open the emergency door just as a thunderclap, louder than the previous ones, erupted.

The stairs were bathed in darkness ; a single square of dim light from a plastic trapdoor on the roof faintly lit the place.

She didn't run downstairs ; leaning against the metal railing, Ochaco, bathed in pink light, leapt into the stairwell's hole.

Far behind her, glass shattered ; she heard the Nomus scream.

Ochaco hurled herself through the three floors like a cannonball : her body stopped short of hitting the ground.

She deactivated her Quirk and landed softly and quietly.

Far above, the Nomus were still shrieking.

There were two doors, one in front of the stairs - leading to the inner street of the residential area - and the other on the right of the stairs, leading to the first floor.

If she took the door leading inside, she would have no trouble avoiding the Nomus then she would sneak into the city, and after-

Something heavy and awfully heavy crushed Ochaco with all its might.

Ochaco rolled on the ground like a doll without strings, head smashing against the lowest step.

The pain that Neito had caused her when he had struck her earlier rekindled though her bones like a trail of gunpowder set on fire.

She opened groggy eyes, black spots flickering in her vision.

The screams of the Nomus were like whirlwinds crashing on the shore stairwell, echoing endlessly. She had the feeling they were getting closer.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Stunned, Ochaco stood up on one arm.

In the middle of the room, barely inches away behind her and the steps, was a shadowy figure on all fours, breathing heavily and growling.

Ochaco froze, terrified.

The shadow lunged at her.

Ochaco stifled a scream and pushed the thing away, Quirk on : a pink halo wrapped around the shadowy figure and slammed it against the door leading inside.

Simultaneously, there was a shower of thunder.

The Nomus, unleashed, howled.

The shadow raised its head, its face breaking into a tiny square of light.

Blond hair.

In panic, Ochaco crawled toward the door, half standing on her hands and feet, hoping to run as far-

The shadows wrapped painfully around her left ankle, pulling her sharply backward.

Ochaco crumpled on the floor, her chin slamming on the ground.

Her teeth snapped with a clatter on her tongue. Blood filled her mouth.

Shadows wrapped around both her legs, dragging her backward.

Her knees scraped on the floor. Ochaco dug her nails into the concrete, clawing as hard as she could, trying to find hold.

He yanked her more, her elbows rubbing against the ground.

Her left hand hit the foot of the stairwell railing ; she gripped it with all her might.

Shadows crawled up her thighs, wrapped around her forearms, pulling to make her let go.

Ochaco activated her Quirk, immediately multiplying her weight tenfold.

Shadows seeped under her clothes, crawled under her sweater, wrapped around her stomach like a ring of darkness, trying to pull her away.

Ochaco gritted her teeth, face flushed from the strain.

The shadows tightened around her left wrist, trying to make her let go at any cost.

Neito, still leaning against the second door, gasped, each breath wheezing and sharp.

His head rolled on the side : he looked hatefully at Ochaco through a curtain of blond hair, spitting between two hisses :

"You won't get away, bitch"

The shadows, already wild, grew violent.

They pulled her back, intent on tearing her apart if necessary to make her let go.

Ochaco's muscles groaned under the pressure, her skin stretching like rubber, some of her bones cracking.

He would break her in two.

All of a sudden, the shadows broke Ochaco's ankle.

A bolt of searing pain shot through her body.

She screamed.

The shadows buried themselves in her mouth, muffling the sound.

A veil of pain and anger shrouded Ochaco's eyes.

The shadows, heavy and thick in her throat, drowned her from within.

She let go and shifted her weight, turning lighter than air.

The shadows, still yanking, pulled her back fiercely.

Ochaco flew across the room, legs outstretched.

Monoma's eyes widened.

He couldn't move in time.

Ochaco crashed into him.

They rolled back and forth in a tangle of arms and legs.

The storm had turned deafening tempest.

Ochaco was astride Monoma, her hands around his throat, her weight tenfold.

Monoma turned purple, the pressure on his lungs unbearable.

For a moment, the shadows receded from his eyes.

Ochaco squeezed his throat with all her might, her nails digging into his flesh.

Monoma tried to rise up against her, to push her down, the shadows attempting to push her back with him.

She didn't move an inch.

The shadows lunged for Ochaco's broken ankle, pulling it savagely.

Ochaco screamed. Her vision went white.

Monoma pushed her aside, took a single breath, lungs on fire, then threw himself at her, resolute, his legs on either side of her body.

He strangled her with one hand, his broader palm easily covering most of her throat.

Ochaco rolled beneath him like a wild animal, struggling to escape.

Monoma raised his hand high above his head.

A beam of light struck the object he was holding. It glowed.

He stabbed Ochaco right in the ribs.

Another burst of pain.

She opened her mouth to scream ; he covered it with his free hand.

She bit into his palm with ferocity, making him scream in turn.

At the top of the stairs, the door slammed against the wall.

They heard the screaming Nomus.

Thanks to a hip thrust Ochaco rolled Neito on his back and got the upper hand.

The knife flew from Neito's palm to hers.

The glint of the gleaming blade reflected in his eyes.

"Here ! "

His scream echoed up the stairs. The Nomus screamed in response.

Ochaco's blood ran cold.

She stifled a shout of anger and frustration, then stabbed Monoma in the head, the blade digging into his ear.

Monoma screamed in pain, catching the blade as it sank into his ear.

His palm glowed yellow - All Might - was bleeding.

The knife tore deep in his flesh.

Ochaco pushed, forcing gravity onto the blade, and Neito resisted, pushing the knife back.

The knife went back and forth like a chainsaw in his palm, tearing his skin and crushing his flesh.

The tip sank, withdrew, and sank again at a different angle into Neito's eardrum.

Blood gushed from his ear like a hot spring.

The Nomus ran vertically down the walls, so quick they looked like a pack of wolves on the prowl.

Neither Ochaco nor Neito would make it out alive.

Ochaco jerked the blade back violently and recoiled on her buttocks, heart pounding, to hide under the stairs.

Neito was still screaming.

Ochaco, one eye closed from the blood running down it, held the knife in both hands, the blade aimed at her throat.

She'd rather kill herself than suffer the same fate as Mirko, but she wanted Neito to die in pain for preventing her escape.

The tip of the knife grazed her throat, a trickle of blood rolling down the blade.

She would die with dignity, neither captured nor paraded like a traitor.

She had lived her life as she saw fit, trying to take control of her own destiny.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.

The Nomus weren't far away.

She'd done her best, really.

A flash of blonde hair crossed her mind.

She had no regrets.

Ochaco pushed the knife down her neck.

*

A/N : Ochaco's Quirk of being more than it seemed is also not plot armor and was foreshadowed Chapter 66.

If you want to read ahead of schedule, go check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

See you in the next update everyone !