MHA: A Cat’s Way

(Mina POV)

Stuck in the conflagration zone with Ojiro, things are kiiinda getting serious.

“I know I’m hot, but this is getting ridiculous!”

The villain in front of us snickers as he manipulates the flames around us, ensuring that nobody can escape. “If you’ve still got enough breath for jokes, then you’ve got enough breath to scream!”

He gestures towards us, and we barely scramble out of the way of the flame shooting out from behind him. His allies that were edging closer behind us aren’t so lucky.

“Looks like you're getting those screams you wanted.” I snark, and Ojiro looks at me with a horrified and pale face as the other villains send Pyro wary looks. But he just snorts.

“If they weren’t in the way, they wouldn’t have gotten fired.”

“Hmm. Yeah~, pretty sure that’s just you having crap aim.” I throw my hand forward, launching a blob of acid that lands on his leg, causing him to curse as he tries to shake it off.

“That’s how you aim.” While he’s distracted, I excrete acid from my feet and slide towards him, gaining speed while Ojiro launches himself at one of the others, spinning around to whip them with his tail.

Hah! Ojiro used tail whip. And… it’s super effective! I snicker as the villain gets launched into another, knocking both of them out. Good thing he didn’t hit them too hard, or else they would have gotten launched into the fire! Too bad the guy controlling it can’t say the same~.

“Hup!” Once I’m close enough, I jump and dropkick him right in the chest! He gets sent flying backwards while the acid from my feet quickly eats through his shirt and starts in on his chest. That’s definitely going to leave a mark.

Not that anyone will be able to tell, because when he gets sent through the fire, it comes into contact with my acid and ignites. The unexpected explosion throws off my landing, making me land on my ass. And the villain that was standing next to Pyro takes advantage and kicks me with a stone covered leg.

Luckily he aimed for my chest and not my head, and other than an internal *crack* when I get launched back I’m not too hurt. A glance over at Ojiro while I hold my chest has me thinking that he isn’t as lucky.

One of the villains smoking a cigarette has him wrapped in smoke that seems like it’s restraining him, giving the other villains free reign to beat him to their heart's content.

With wide eyes, I realize that things have gotten serious. “I can’t hold back.” I wheeze out to myself. As I struggle to my feet, I look towards the villain I’d sent flying, and my eyes widen to see-

I shake my head and focus on the villain in front of me, putting the cor- the unconscious villain out of my mind. Right now I need to be prepared to go all out against the stone covered villain approaching me, his face hidden behind his quirk.

“Aww… does the little girl’s chest hurt?” He smashed his fist into an open palm. “Once we’re done with you, you’ll be wishing that’s all that hurts.”

I glare at him, throwing my hand out to throw another glob of acid without letting my other arm fall from my chest. He just takes it, confident that the stone will protect him.

I smirk when he starts screaming, my acid slipping through the cracks. That should keep him out of the rest of the fight.

I turn around and see Ojiro drop to the ground, released from Smokey’s quirk. My eyes widen seeing how beaten up he is, and I grit my teeth as I glare at the villains who now have their eyes on me.

As my body starts getting covered in a layer of my most potent acid, Stoner’s screaming dies down and my heart skips a beat. He passed out from the pain. He’s just unconscious. He’ll be fine after he gets taken to the hospital. I haven’t- I take a deep breath, trying to calm the panicked beating of my heart. I lock my negative emotions in a little box in my mind to deal with later and smirk at them. “You all are about to get a really bad acid trip.”

Everything will be fine. Heroes don’t kill, and I’m a hero. They’re just passing out from the pain, it’s fine! IT’S FINE!

(Toru POV)

Stuck in the fake ruins of a city, I can’t help but curse silently. Why am I all alone!? I’m sure I was standing next to someone when that mist guy attacked!

But that doesn’t really matter right now. What does is that at least one of the villains here have enhanced senses, and they can hear me moving. Luckily they can’t hear me breathing or else they’d have already caught me. I’ve already ditched my gloves and shoes to minimize my presence, but the scattered debris all over the place ensures that running isn’t pleasant!

Why don’t I just hide? Well, that has to do with-

Suddenly, an explosion rings out from above me, broken glass raining down from where it occurred. I cover my head, holding back a hiss as a few of the pieces cut my arms.

That’s why I can’t just find a place to hide. I have no idea if it’s Bakugou causing those explosions, or one of the villains. And since they’re constantly moving, I have no idea if I’ll end up caught in one!

I sniff, trying to ignore the warm liquid dripping along my arms. It’s not like it really matters if I’m bleeding now. Even my blood is invisible! I look down in dejection, staring at some of the larger pieces of glass that should be showing my reflection. But my quirk doesn’t let it happen.

No… there’s only one person who can see me.

“If you want to walk around naked, I’m not going to stop you. But we should get you an actual hero costume. You can’t rely on not being seen to win a fight. Especially since you won’t know if you’ll go up against someone like me, who can see you. Maybe we can find you a translucent weapon…”

Well, her words had more cat puns mixed in, but as I look at the glass I realize what she meant, and my resolve hardens. I’m not going to die when someone can finally see me! I slowly reach down, being careful as I pick up the largest piece of glass. I tighten my grip on it a little bit, and I feel it start cutting into my hand causing me to wince.

But the interesting thing… is that it starts to disappear.

Where the blood from my hand leaks onto the glass, I can’t see it anymore. It’s not even the clear that shows there's glass. It’s just gone.

Like me.

I freeze as I hear footsteps. Turning my head in that direction, I see two villains coming from around the corner. One has small spikes poking out from all over his arms. The other is short, and has oversized ears and an oversized nose. The one who’s been tracking me.

They’re talking to each other, but I’m too nervous to listen. I just watch as they get closer, slowly approaching my position. They don’t even glance my way, but once they’re close enough the short one will notice me. Or maybe the wind will shift and he won’t even need to be close.

Panic starts to build in my chest. What am I going to do! They’re going to find me! They’re going to find me and there’s nothing I can do! Think, Toru, think! What would Catia do?

And as I think of her, her laughter, the smirk when she messes with our classmates, the way her tail sways side-to-side when she’s amused, the way her eyes lit up during the battle training the other day- I have my answer. She’d do whatever it takes, and she’d make the first move.

The villains are getting closer, so I prepare myself. I make sure I have a tight grip. My eyes are focused. I’m ready.

The short villain stops, raising a hand that forces the larger villain to follow suit. But it’s too late. He’s too close.

With a shout filled with my drive to live, I leap forward and swing the glass towards the short one as hard as I can! My eyes close as the glass gets close, but I feel it go into something. I feel the flesh part, the blood spray out and land on my hands.

But I ignore it. Instead, once it stops moving I start running. I ignore the broken glass digging into my feet. The shouts behind me from the two villains I attacked. I run until I reach the corner of the streets. Only then do I turn back. And my heart stops.

The short villain has the shard of glass stuck in one of his eyes, screaming. And the larger villain is crouched beside him, hands hovering around it. I stare in horrified fascination as blood and… eye juice leaks from his face. Too horrified to look away. But… there’s also pride.

I did that. I can’t help the thought. I hurt the villain who was chasing me. I stopped him.

I take one last look before darting down the street, one final thought rattling around in my head.

I don’t have to hide, I can fight!

(3rd POV)

In the center of the USJ, things are going well. Between Eraserhead and Catia’s mage cats, all of the small-fry villains have been taken down. But Eraserhead has been injured by Shigaraki, his elbow disintegrated down to the muscles.

The leader of the villains, Shigaraki, scratches at the portion of his neck above the hands wrapped around it. “You really are so cool, Eraserhead.” He raises his head, looking at where the five mage cats are standing at the top of the stairway.

“And those things… I don’t know what exactly they are, but they sure are useful.” He looks back down, and Eraserhead tenses at the malignant glee making his eyes glow.

“There’s just… one problem.”

Feeling a presence behind him, Eraserhead turns and sees the giant bird person.

“I am not the final boss.”

Nomu raises its arm and swipes at Eraserhead. Tired as he is from the fight with the thugs, he still manages to dodge it. But only just, his goggles being torn from his head. He jumps back to get some distance, erasing its quirk as he does so.

But that doesn’t help, as it immediately closes the distance he’s made, swinging down at his head with a closed fist. He raises his arms in an attempt to cushion the blow, but it never lands.

Instead, he hears screeching and opens his eyes to see a certain cat-eared student on Nomu’s back. But there’s something strange about her.

It’s not the kid on her back, holding on as tightly as they can. Nor is it the fire burning in her eyes, or the snarl on her face.

No, it’s the fact that she’s wrapped in blue energy, several feet thick and solid. It looks to him like she’s been engulfed by one of her brawler cats, but sized up so that she easily matches All Might in size.

As the claws on the construct dig deeper into Nomu, a low thumping sound reverberates through the plaza from above. Both Eraserhead and Shigaraki look up and see Nekomura falling from above in short bursts, using her speakers and quirk in order to land safely.

Once she’s on the ground, she smiles at the fuming leader of the League of Villains.

“Mew are correct, Shigaraki. Your Nomu is not the final boss.” She gestures to where Catia is using the energy construct’s head to bite down on Nomu’s arm, trying to tear it off.

To Eraserhead, it looks like she won’t have to put too much effort into it.

“This is the final boss.”