The creature's eyes flared a blinding white, with streaks of violet lightning crackling through its broken form. Reiji's body locked up, frozen as those eyes—impossibly hollow yet aware—fixed on him. The thing tilted its malformed head, bone crackling, twitching with incomplete muscle control. The sound was nauseating, like dry branches snapping under pressure.
"Carter..." it rasped.
The voice wasn't mechanical. It wasn't purely Nomu either. It was distorted but undeniably laced with Reiji's own voice, pitched lower and mangled by static. It felt like hearing his reflection scream from a broken mirror—uncanny, sickening.
Reiji stumbled back instinctively, his breath caught in his throat. Hawks instantly moved in front of him, feathers bristling like a drawn blade. "You heard that too, right?" he muttered without turning, his eyes scanning the twitching figure.
"Loud and clear," Endeavor growled. His flames flared hotter, licking up the edges of his arms. "Get ready."
The creature's limbs twitched again. Then it moved—fast. Not in a straight line, but flickering, vanishing and reappearing mid-step as if displacing itself through static bursts. It moved with erratic, unnatural grace, like a corrupted version of Reiji's own fluid style—one honed through years of training at U.A. and personal combat trials. And it shot directly toward him.
"Damn it!" Hawks hurled a volley of razor-feathers to intercept. They struck true—but the creature twisted in mid-air, contorting unnaturally. It passed through a narrow opening between the feathers, pieces of its skin slicing off like burnt rubber, hissing as they hit the ground—but it didn't flinch.
Todoroki slammed his palm against the ground. "Glacial Wall!"
A thick sheet of ice erupted upward just in time, catching the creature's clawed hand mid-swing. The force of the blow cracked the ice, sending frozen shards in every direction—but the wall held, momentarily stalling its momentum.
Midoriya dashed toward Reiji and grabbed his arm, dragging him back. "It's ignoring all of us," he said, breathless. "It's only targeting you!"
Reiji's breathing was shallow. He could feel the air tightening around him, as if he were standing in the eye of a storm. Fear curled in his gut—not for himself, but for what the creature was about to become.
[System Alert: Danger—Sync Rate 86%. Target combat signature approaching full replication.]
Reiji's hands sparked with unstable energy. Arcs of blue lightning danced erratically along his arms. "It's mimicking me. It's copying my moves—my instincts."
Endeavor stepped forward without hesitation, sending a jet of flame that roared across the floor. The inferno swept toward the creature, forcing it to leap back. The flames licked its torso, scorching half-formed tissue, but it didn't scream. It crouched low, still twitching, still watching Reiji.
The others slowly formed a protective semicircle around him. Todoroki adjusted his stance, preparing a layered defense. Midoriya's fists tightened. Hawks hovered, ready to react.
The creature wasn't distracted. It never even blinked. Its form was becoming more defined now. The limbs lengthened, jagged gaps of broken bone beginning to seal with pulsing black muscle. Electricity stabilized around its hands, the sparks no longer wild but shaped. Controlled.
Midoriya's eyes widened in horror. "Its breathing… It's syncing with you, Reiji. The rhythm is identical."
Reiji clenched his fists, sweat dripping from his brow. His voice was low. "Then I need to stop holding back."
He stepped forward deliberately, his eyes never leaving the creature's. Sparks exploded outward from his body as lightning surged through the ground, splitting cracks into the concrete beneath his boots. His aura intensified—wild, flickering, unpredictable.
The creature responded in kind.
Just as Reiji raised his arm, the creature did the same—mirroring him exactly. Even the angle of the elbow, the tension in the fingers, the flex of his wrist—perfectly duplicated. It wasn't just copying him—it was becoming him.
Then a sudden bolt of lightning arced from the creature's core, faster than thought, and slammed directly into Reiji's chest.
The impact lifted him from the ground.
He gasped, eyes wide, as the force of the energy tore through his system like a tsunami.
And then he fell.
Crashing to his knees.
The world spun.
His ears rang, and his vision flickered with static. His arms trembled violently as if rejecting his own power. He could feel his quirk spiraling out of control, like wires being crossed in reverse.
[System Alert: Interference Detected. Neural Sync—91%. User Stability Compromised.]
The sync was more than a copy—it was digging into him, accessing his instincts. He should've known from the first static pulse.
Midoriya shouted something—Reiji couldn't make it out. Todoroki moved, ice spreading beneath him. Hawks lunged forward, feathers drawn like blades. But it all felt so far away.
His body convulsed. Lightning cracked around him, short bursts that arced from his shoulders to the ground. His fingers clawed at the earth as he tried to remain upright.
He forced his head up.
And the creature—now half-Reiji, half-nightmare—loomed over him.
Its lips twisted.
"Carter."
The word was clearer this time. Sharper. Spoken with weight.
The creature raised its hand.
A mirror of Reiji's favorite lightning strike stance.
It was going to attack.
Reiji's hand weakly lifted. But his body wouldn't respond fast enough. The sync had made him sluggish, disoriented—his own moves now anticipated by the monster.
"Reiji!!" Midoriya shouted, vaulting forward with a burst of One for All energy.
But the creature was already moving.
To be continued.
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