Nomu

"Really?" Izuku asked in mild disbelief. He had been taking a shot in the dark and hoping for the best. Even if he knew he held the stronger card in his hand, he hadn't known if the Villain would react the way he thought he would. From what he could feel from Kurogiri's Aura when it had been active, he had only felt pure sincerity and willingness, as if he had discarded all hesitation. Almost as if he had been waiting for a moment to defect and just hadn't found a chance yet.

Kurogiri nodded silently, having already discarded all worry, or what could be considered as worry to him. Without emotions, he was only able to make decisions based on logic and facts. The emotions that everyone else took for granted was absent within him, leaving him feeling as if there was a void in his chest, just like how his Quirk itself was a void.

"Then," Izuku said firmly, choosing to believe in his instincts. "Please help me save my friends."

Kurogiri looked at his personal saviour in front of him seriously as he thought about the plan of action. "Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked, his voice ringing with emptiness.

Izuku frowned, not quite sure what he meant. The panic that had ebbed slightly came back in full force. "What do you mean?"

Kurogiri looked at Izuku silently. "Right now, Shigaraki is mainly focused on being able to kill All Might, so the full strength of the forces are not being used. The Villains they are facing are just low-level Villains who don't think much or have much fighting power. They were meant to stall so that there would be more hostages to hold against All Might. You can use this as a training event for your friends to grow stronger in this time of crisis," Kurogiri said matter-of-factly.

Izuku pondered over his words. He felt very strange, not being able to sense a person's emotions from their Aura. It felt like he was out of his depth in a way that he hadn't felt since his Quirk had awakened this facet.

Logically, Izuku knew that Kurogiri was right after hearing his words, but his worry outweighed his logic. Taking a breath, the green-haired teen calmed himself, looking at things more factually. Taking into account what Kurogiri said, he analysed the situation, realizing that what he said had a smidgeon of truth.

As students of UA training to be Pro Heroes, each of them would eventually face real Villains and danger. Being able to face Villains this early on would be a boon to them as they faced danger for the first time and would allow them to know if they were truly on the correct path. The danger they faced now would allow them to grow in ways that couldn't be imagined from controlled practical training.

Making up his mind, Izuku nodded. "Please keep an eye on them and save them if they encounter any life-threatening danger."

Kurogiri nodded.

With that worry off his mind, Izuku eventually sank into wondering why the Villains were attacking. They had figured out their schedule, as well as the fact that All Might was supposed to be here. This meant that they had some sort of way to take care of All Might. They wouldn't appear here just to get themselves killed, so they had a secret weapon.

Thinking up to this point, Izuku had a couple of questions for Kurogiri.

"What was Shigaraki banking on to kill All Might?" he questioned, subtly testing the ex-Villain.

Kurogiri replied without any hesitation whatsoever. "Shigaraki has a bio-engineered human that he calls 'Nomu'. It will follow any orders made by Shigaraki without any hesitation but will not do anything of its own accord. It has super strength, as well as regeneration and shock absorption. It could be argued that Nomu is the perfect nemesis for All Might."

Izuku felt a chill at the unspoken words. They had most likely experimented on humans, leading to the creation of 'Nomu' just for the fact that they wanted to kill All Might. They had most likely subjected humans to inhumane torture and pain all for the sake of their ambition.

The green-haired teen felt a low, chilling anger that drove out all impulsive actions from himself. He was so angry and disgusted that the anger felt more like a cold anger instead of a red-hot anger. No excess emotions clouded his judgement. He had to take care of that artificial human before All Might got here. Toshi was still vulnerable in his state. Izuku was working on an idea that he thought could perhaps alleviate the injuries he was going through, but he hadn't yet hit a breakthrough.

"Does Nomu have a will of its own?"

"No. It was part of the design so that he would be able to control it. All it does is listen to Shigaraki."

Plans flew through Izuku's mind. He discarded many of them from the new information that Kurogiri was giving him. There was no hesitation in using the information from him. Izuku had chosen and had chosen to trust his words. There was no concrete evidence that Kurogiri wasn't lying to him, but Izuku trusted his gut instinct. Toshi told him once that there were many times where things could have gone horribly wrong if he hadn't listened to his gut instinct, so Izuku was now trusting this baseless feeling that he had.

"Warp me to Nomu," Izuku said.

Alarm spiked in Kurogiri's Aura as he logically thought about what a phenomenally bad idea that was. His saviour had some sort of empathy Quirk, and though he had muscles, Kurogiri highly doubted that he would be stronger than All Might, whom Nomu was specifically bio-engineered to beat.

Feeling Kurogiri's brief spark of hesitation, Izuku's eyes hardened. "Warp me."

Kurogiri used his Quirk to warp the green-haired teen as per his wishes. He would prioritize Izuku's safety and warp him away immediately if he was in any danger. He had just found his saviour and couldn't bear to lose him now.

Izuku was warped behind Nomu, who was strategically positioned behind Shigaraki to protect him from any sneak attacks. What he hadn't counted on, however, was that Kurogiri would betray him and the League of Villains.

The green-haired teen's heart and mind was calm. It was like still water in a lake, not a ripple on the surface. Instinctively, he knew that he could do this. Nomu still contained a brain, no matter that it didn't work on its own, so Izuku had a chance at turning this around.

Using the newly awakened facet of his Quirk, Izuku stretched out his Aura and pressed his mind as well as feelings into Nomu's mind. There, he felt something like a string that was connected from Nomu to Shigaraki. To describe it, it was like Nomu and Shigaraki's Aura was somewhat connected in a one-way line from Nomu to Shigaraki.

Without any further thoughts, Izuku snapped the mind link between them. Izuku could feel as Nomu's Aura withdrew and restrained himself, sinking back into his body before it disappeared completely. The Nomu was useless now. It wouldn't listen to Shigaraki's orders anymore. It felt eerie, knowing that the creature in front of him was 'alive', but didn't have a mind of its own, somewhat like a doll. It felt like it was dead. Even Kurogiri who supposedly wasn't able to feel emotions still had flashes of it, as well as fluctuations in his Aura, but Nomu had none.

Izuku stopped himself from taking in a breath in case Shigaraki heard him. He would never underestimate a Villain, no matter how they looked, let alone a Villain like Shigaraki who acted like he was mentally unstable. People like this were more volatile and less in control of their own emotions. As a person who had a Quirk that dealt in Empathy, Izuku had to make every precaution that he wouldn't be affected by the Villain.

Izuku watched with calm eyes as Shigaraki fought Aizawa-sensei, looking for an opening in which he could influence the Villain and make him stumble. The Villain was dangerous, and Izuku got a bad feeling from him. The destruction and madness that swirled in his Aura was also mixed in with an unholy amount of glee. If Izuku had to compare it to something, it was almost like he couldn't wait for the game to get started.

The teen watched without missing a single movement from Shigaraki as he waited, hidden by the Nomu.