Not powerless

Chapter 27: Pulling

To him, magic was like a vast lake.

In his minds eye, whenever he thought about it, it was a great lake and he was lying on its surface. He could touch it and it felt wet beneath his hand, glowing ripples of orange spreading out to the horizon that shone with an ethereal light. Every now and again, particles and streams bubbled up from the surface. It was below him, all around him, within him. It was everywhere, a closed system.

This was the Wellspring. Koui talked about it with reverence. While Izuku had his own personal store of magic to use, he could always feel this connection. At all times, he lay on the surface of the Wellspring, and that was more than enough for him.

But what would happen if he let himself sink deeper?

He knew the answer to this, because it had happened the very first time he’d fallen into the Wellspring. The deeper he sank, the more power he had, but how far down could he go before being lost completely? Back then it felt like he was being torn apart, but how far down did he need to go for that to happen? That was a question he didn’t want answered, and he wouldn’t need to answer it today. Nomu’s fist rocketed towards him and he pulled, sinking lower into the Wellspring.

To the people watching, Aizawa with blood running down his face and some of the students who’d made it out of their zones, two things happened in quick succession. A bubble of energy contracted inwards onto Izuku. Then Nomu’s fist hit him and Izuku’s form shattered into glass.

There was only a moment for that to sink in before the shards surged around Nomu and reformed above the creature. Izuku dropped down, glowing blades in each hand and drove them into Nomu’s back. The creature roared, swinging a fist up to try and knock Izuku off, but Izuku was already moving. He allowed the motion to throw him away. He flipped and rolled and landed squarely on his feet, facing down the beast, eyes shining with light.

“That was a neat trick,” Shigarakai said, “but it’s not enough. Nomu!”

Nomu charged and so did Izuku. At the last minute, Izuku slid beneath Nomu’s legs, and when the beast twisted and drove a powerful punch at him, it was met with a shining orange shield of magic. The fist collided with it with a loud clang and Izuku skidded back a few feet. His shield was cracked but not broken, but that was not the point. His shield had reflected the Nomu’s force back on it, and the creatures left arm was mangled and limp.

Then the arm twitched. Split skin knitted back together and the limb straightened out. In only a few seconds it was like it had never been broken at all. That was a problem, but one he could handle. He wasn’t aiming to kill Nomu. He just needed to hold it still for long enough.

He brought his hands together into a pattern. Glass shards swirled in the air around him and formed into figures. They were perfect replicas of himself in his hero costume with the hood up. As one, they all charged at Nomu. The creature roared, swinging out its powerful arms, but these mirror clones were just as good at dodging as the real Izuku. It was like watching crows harass an eagle. When Nomu attacked they would back away, while others attacked from behind. If ever Nomu managed to shatter one, Izuku just reformed it.

Glowing ropes of magic snagged onto Nomu’s limbs as it flailed around trying to kill the clones. All the while, Shigaraki was screaming at it to kill the real one. It caught sight of Izuku walking up to it, but before it could even take a step, the mirror clones jumped and ran in circles around it, the ropes twisting like a maypole. The mirror clones then heaved the ropes over their shoulders and pulled. They snapped tight around Nomu, holding it in place. Izuku ignored its cries and roars, because he was focused on just one thing.

He placed a hand on the middle of Nomu’s chest. A glyph formed around it, shining brightly against the dark purple skin. He then thrust his other hand, wreathed in magic, through the glyph and into Nomu. It didn’t take long to find, not when what he was looking for stood out as a beacon of malice. He grabbed hold and pulled, wrenching his hand out. It was a dark blue stone, glowing faintly. It burned to hold onto so Izuku tossed it to one side.