NOVEL NEXT Chapter 185 : Hecatomb
Neito flung open the door to the stairwell. It slammed loudly against the wall.
The civilians in the corridor buried their heads in their shoulders but kept moving.
"Go down and it's the first one on the right," he said, "Go straight on for five hundred meters and you'll find a police station"
He repeated the same line to each group that walked past him.
The families looked like clusters of refugees, parents' faces hard and worried, children wide eyed, hair disheveled, silent, a toy in their hand as consolation.
Some had filled backpacks, others had computers, wallets, and photo albums tucked under their arms, and some had nothing but themselves.
An old woman walking past him was clutching her hands in despair. Her palms were as wrinkled as a wilted apple.
"Can't you come with us ? We'd all feel safer if you did"
A few paused in the stairway and looked at him expectantly.
He wondered if they realized that he was a kid like any other or if wearing a costume made him somehow a supreme authority in their eyes, one over whom common sense no longer held sway.
Neito wondered whether the costume had dehumanized him so much that they failed to notice that he was just as frightened as they were.
His eyes darted back to Uraraka, who was in charge of knocking on doors and sending people back to him.
His hatred hit him so swiftly and violently that he forgot his fear.
As she moved down the corridor, he moved slightly to the side to keep her in sight.
He'd burn her slowly like Hagakure, disfigure her like Kaminari, tear off her legs like Iida.
"I have to supervize the evacuation," he said calmly. "But don't worry, the police will take care of you. Please move forward"
He pushed her gently but firmly forward ; she reluctantly stepped aside, lips pursed.
Shoes clicked on the darkened steps in a funereal rhythm.
A cry of joy shattered the deathly silence.
The corridor window looked out onto the street : a smiling white silhouette, hair flowing behind her, flew past.
Mirko, flying between two jumps, was laughing, three blue, drooling Nomus in her wake.
She wasn't supposed to interfere until her partner arrived, but the civilians were too compromised and Crust wasn't supposed to be far away : she'd thrown herself into the fight as soon as the President had told her to be careful.
When they heard her, the civilians looked relieved.
Neito wondered if she was doing it on purpose - if she knew that hearing her screaming in joy would soothe the civilians - or if she was just crazy.
He shifted a little to the left to keep Uraraka in sight.
Outside, Mirko made a sharp right turn between two close buildings.
The first Nomu on her tail failed to react in time : he landed on the building, rattling the whole structure.
Mirlo looked behind her : the residential area was a square of buildings grouped around a larger, wider one.
The street was wide enough to keep them from cornering her, but not wide enough to keep her from jumping from window to window, reproducing bell-shaped trajectories over the street.
She maintained a fast, punishing pace, but nothing that would fatigue her.
All she had to do was keep them busy enough until the evacuation was over, and then she would go all out.
"Come on,keep going !", she screamed cheerfully as she turned right.
They followed her like a flock of sheep - or rather, like a pack of rabid dogs.
According to the President, they were all armed with multiple Quirks - none of those following her had shown the slightest aptitude for it.
Maybe they were too dumb to figure out how to use them.
Her earpiece twitched, as it did every time the mic on the other end of the line was on.
"How is it going, Mirko ?", the President asked
Mirko's soles landed lightly on a window sill. She bent her legs to jump up.
"Bett-"
All of a sudden, a huge black hand popped out of the wall and closed over her face.
Mirko's adrenaline surged : she twisted her foot so that her ankle hit the edge of the wall and she stumbled.
Mirko fell three stories, headfirst, the hand above closing over empty space.
At the bottom, one of the three Nomus - the fastest - was waiting for her, his monstrous mouth wide like a black hole able of swallowing an entire couch. Yellow, drooling fangs, were so numerous he has no gums.
Mirko grinned broadly, used the wall as a springboard, and launched herself straight at him.
Spinning at the last moment, Mirko landed feet first, her left foot on his chin and the other on the top of his face.
She broke his nose.
He didn't react.
Mirko's red eyes flashed with ferocity.
She laughed maniacally as he shook his head, trying to make her fall into the gaping orifice that was his mouth.
Mirko's senses never failed her : the other two were quite far behind, and she could still see the third's hand through the wall, foolishly trying to catch air.
Mirko crouched over the gaping maw, a gleam of madness in her eyes.
She rubbed her gloved hands together, then grabbed both top and bottom row of teeth.
His fangs sank down her gloves. Blood trickled down her fingers.
Mirko smiled, sucked in a breath, then braced her muscles and pulled.
The monster didn't immediately grasp what she was doing.
When he felt his throat being torn apart, he struck with all his might.
The blows rained down on Mirko.
She felt her thighs shudder under the impact, her bones rattling like straw.
Her smile widened.
She tore the Nomu in two with the sheer power of her hands.
*
A/N : Very short chapter but the next one will make up for it
Give me your thoughts about the chapter or what you think will happen between Neito and Ochaco.
Check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG , if you feel like it : we're getting so freaking close to the end of Part 2 I'm getting giddy.
See you all monday in the next update everyone !