As soon as Uraraka was enveloped in Kurogiri's black mist, it disappeared as she suddenly fell through.
She opened her eyes. "Midori-kun?!"
Instead of seeing her verdette friend or any of her classmates, the brunette only saw a large pool of water fast approaching.
"OH CRAP–" With no time to react, Uraraka slammed into the water and sank deep beneath the surface. Thankfully, even after the impact from hitting the water, Uraraka was able to stop herself from sucking in a breath while underwater.
'I got caught up in that Villain's Quirk with everyone else.' Grunting, Uraraka started kicking herself towards the surface. 'He must've warped the class across the USJ…'
Uraraka's train of thought was interrupted as she caught a blur of motion out of the corner of her eye. A shark-based Villain was swimming toward her with its jaw wide open.
The brunette's eyes widened as she internally screamed. Though her vision was blurry, she could still make out the rows of razor-sharp teeth coming right at her. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to defend herself but while underwater there wasn't much she could do.
When the Shark Villain was within arm's reach, a green blur shot out of nowhere and slammed into the thug, sending him tumbling through the water away from Uraraka.
Turning, Uraraka identified her rescuer as Asui who wrapped her tongue around Uraraka's waist and pulled her through the water.
Glancing around, Asui noticed that the Shark Villain wasn't alone, and any path back to shore was cut off. The boat in the middle of the artificial lake was clear of any Villains, though. With her classmate running out of breath, Asui kicked her legs and swam toward the boat as quickly as she could.
Asui burst through the water's surface and stuck to the boat's hull. She then lifted Uraraka out of the water and gently dropped her on the deck. Uraraka coughed and gasped for breath, thankful she was out of the water and harm's way–for now, at least.
"Uraraka-san?"
The brunette lifted her head to see Jiro kneeling on the deck in front of her, looking at her worriedly. "Are you alright?"
"Jiro?" Uraraka coughed a little, pushing wet strands of brown-chestnut hair out of her face.
Climbing on board, Asui looked at the purplette in mild surprise. "Jiro-san? How'd you get here?"
"I was warped into the boat, not the water." Jiro replied.
"Ah, that's good. Kero." Asui was relieved. "I was worried I may have missed you or something."
"Good thing I wasn't in the water." Jiro glanced down at her speaker-boots. "These things may have sunk me…"
Uraraka looked at Asui and smiled. "Thanks for saving me, Tsuyu. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't shown up."
"You'd probably have been eaten," Tsuyu simply said.
Uraraka and Jiro both paled at that thought.
"Yeah… Good thing I wasn't in the water." Jiro mumbled.
"You f**king b**ches!" A furious shout came from the water. The three girls looked off the side of the boat and were surprised to see that the Shark Villain from earlier had resurfaced. "Where's that frog b**ch!?"
"They're on the boat!" Another shouted, pointing in their direction.
"Not good… kero." Asui spotted more aquatic Villains surrounding the model boat, effectively trapping them.
The Villains then started climbing up the side of the boat, including the Shark Villain. "I'll pull you down and eat you alive, frog!" He exclaimed angrily.
"Both of you get back and cover your ears!" Jiro yelled, pushing Asui and Uraraka away from the railing–who quickly complied with the purplette.
She quickly plugged one of her jacks into a smart watch and the other into her left boot. Before the Villains could climb over the railing, an ear-piercing high-frequency sound wave slammed into them and even created wave ripples around the boat. The Villains screamed, unheard over Jiro's soundwaves, and clapped their hands over their ears before falling back into the water. Even the Villains further away were forced to cover their ears and dive deep to try and muffle the painful noise.
With the Villains falling back, Jiro turned off her speaker–prompting Uraraka and Asui to uncover their ears; however, they could still hear a bit of ringing.
"Thanks, Jiro!" Uraraka sounded relieved. "You're a lifesaver!"
"Yeah… though my ears are still ringing. Kero." Asui rubbed around her ears.
"Sorry about that." Jiro was a tad embarrassed. "Too bad Yaomomo isn't here. She could've made you guys some earplugs."
"It's fine. We could've been in real trouble there without you here, Jiro." Uraraka said.
"We're still in trouble though." Asui bluntly stated. "Those Villains will be back…"
"What're these creeps even doing here? Do they seriously think they can kill All Might?" Jiro said incredulously.
"They must. They wouldn't be carrying out a plan this ambitious if they didn't believe they couldn't." Asui wisely mentioned.
Jiro shuddered at that unsettling thought. "That's unreal…"
Uraraka recalled something Kurogiri had said. "That warp guy said he wanted us to meet his comrades…and our demise..." Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh no…"
"Tch," Jiro clicked her tongue, coming to the same conclusion, "They split us up into smaller groups to pick us off. That means everyone else is fighting large groups of Villains like this too. We're in serious trouble."
"So, what do we do now?" Asui asked. "I'm not fast enough to outswim all those guys while carrying you two."
Uraraka's brows furrowed, considering their options. "I could make us weightless and fly us to the shore, but…" She glanced at the lake, "those guys will probably just follow us there."
"Personally, I know I'd have a better chance fighting on dry land than here." Jiro mentioned.
"We're still students, so I'd want to avoid a fight if we could help it, especially near the plaza where Aizawa-sensei is fighting those other Villains. However," Uraraka frowned, "I don't see any other option…"
"Whatever we do, we need to come up with a plan fast." Asui glanced over the boat's railing to see some of the aquatic Villains resurfacing, surrounding the model boat. "The Villains are resurfacing. They're being cautious right now, thanks to Jiro-san, but they'll make a move soon. Kero."
Uraraka lowered her head, her thoughts shifting to her two best friends. 'We're really in a pickle here. What would Yaomomo or Izuku do in this situation?'
Uraraka mused on that thought before suddenly recalling a memory from yesterday with Midoriya.
It was mid-afternoon, Uraraka and Midoriya both lounging in the former's apartment. Earlier, they had finished an hour-long study session together covering English and mathematics with Midoriya doing most of the teaching. She was progressing in both subjects…albeit slowly.
The duo was currently taking a break from studying. Midoriya was watching something on TV with a notepad in his hand while Uraraka sat close by. At the moment, the bubbly brunette was looking over an example question from her Foundational Heroics textbook that had her confused.
'I need to figure this out. If I can't answer questions like this, I won't stand a chance in passing our first exam.' She frowned, tapping a mechanical pencil against her chin. 'But I just don't get it. What am I missing?'
"Fascinating…"
Uraraka looked up from her textbook to see Midoriya looking at her small TV with keen interest. Curious, she glanced at the screen to see underwater footage of a pod of humpback whales. Their loud, melodic calls reverberated from the television's tiny speaker.
"... Although inaudible to most human ears, a whale's low frequency call can travel up to 1000 miles underwater. Nature sure is remarkable." He muttered to himself while drawing a sketch of a humpback whale in his art notepad.
Uraraka smiled. 'He's so cute when he's focused.' She then blushed and shook her head.
Quickly getting herself back under control, she looked back to see Midoriya still focused on the screen. Honestly, she had turned the TV on for background noise. It just happened to be playing a whale documentary on the International Geographic channel.
"Wait…" Midoriya perked up after hearing something stated in the documentary. "Humpback whales are no longer endangered? Is that accurate?"
"Um, yeah. Why would they be endangered?" Uraraka questioned.
He turned to her. "Well, didn't commercial whaling decrease their numbers?"
"Whaling?" Uraraka tilted her head, bemused. "I'm pretty sure no countries don't do stuff like that anymore… Even Japan hasn't for a long time now."
Midoriya blinked, looking at her with a surprised expression.
'It's like this is all new information to him…' Uraraka mused.
"Well, anyways," she decided to change the subject, "do you think you could help me figure this out, Midori-kun?"
"Oh, sure thing," he lowered the TV volume and placed his notepad down, scooting across the floor to where Uraraka was sitting. "What's stumping you?"
"It's a practice question in our Foundational Heroics book from chapter 5."
Midoriya chuckled a little. "Already ahead, huh? Aren't we still in chapter 3 in class?"
"Well yeah," Uraraka looked sheepish, "but I wanted to get a headstart, yah know? Go Plus Ultra and all that!"
"I get it." He smiled.
"Anyways, chapter 5 mostly covers team-ups, and how Pro Heroes should handle them." She explained. "It makes sense for the most part, but this scenario is confusing me though." She pointed in her textbook. "I get there's no one clear-cut answer here, but still…"
"Hmm…" Midoriya looked over the question, and read aloud, "you're patrolling alone in Balnab Ward outside Tokyo. 66 low-tier Villains have teamed up to cause havoc in a city park. You and three other Heroes nearby are to deal with the threat. Your teammates abilities are as follows:
"Member A can manipulate nearby plant life at their whim to subdue and capture enemies, but only if they focus. Member B can control water in the near vicinity, even creating powerful jets of water from their hands. Member C can summon fire and control it at will. All of them have excellent control of their Quirks. You have your respective Quirk and your current Hero Costume.
"Local police are forming a perimeter around the area, but there are still civilians in the park. Other Heroes are en route but their ETA is unknown. How do you and your makeshift team handle the situation?"
After he finished reading, the verdette looked up at her. "What exactly is confusing you?"
"Well… How could just me and three other Heroes fight off 66 Villains?" Uraraka wondered. "There's no way of knowing what each of their Quirks are, right?"
"Fighting Villains isn't the only priority in this scenario, Uraraka-chan. Notice how it said, 'there are still civilians in the park'?" Midoriya pointed out. "Your team's priority is getting those bystanders to safety."
"But how can we save people while dealing with that many Villains too?" Uraraka asked. "It just sounds impossible without more backup."
"Believe it or not, it isn't impossible taking this hypothetical team into account; especially with your own really cool Quirk added to the mix, Uraraka-chan." He grinned brightly.
The brunette's face flushed a little and felt her heart flutter at the praise of her Quirk.
"But this team also has its weaknesses too, especially those other three Heroes." Midoriya continued.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. Member A can control plants, but Member C's fire could burn them. Member B can control water, but Member A's plants could absorb it if they summon enough. Meanwhile, Member C's fire can be quenched by Member B's water."
"Wait…" Uraraka gasped, "their abilities cancel each other out! It's like Jan-ken!"
Midoriya nodded, recognizing that "Jan-ken" was Japan's version of the rock-paper-scissors concept. "Yeah. In fact, this actually reminds me of the cycle between the Fire, Grass, and Water Pokémon."
"Pokémon? Going REALLY old school with those comparisons. Aren't you, Midori-kun?" Uraraka grinned.
"Y-yeah… heh-heh." Midoriya rubbed his neck sheepishly. "What can I say? I like the classics."
"The ancient classics." She giggled a bit.
Unbeknownst to her, Midoriya internally flinched at that statement.
"So," she continued, "how would we work together then? Wouldn't we just be getting in each other's way?"
"Your hypothetical team will need to delegate tasks. For a team to get the best results, each member's strengths need to be leveraged." Midoriya explained. "One or two should handle evacuating citizens from the park while the rest keep the Villains at bay long enough until citizens are safe, then you can all work together to take down the Villains or keep them contained until help arrives."
"But how do you determine who fights and who helps evacuate citizens? They all seem equally strong."
"Well, notice how the scenario laid out the setting at the beginning?"
Uraraka looked down at her textbook. "Balnab Ward outside Tokyo… in a city park..."
"Balnab Ward is mostly suburbs with a lot of forests around it, from my understanding. As for the city park, what do you typically find in parks?"
"Hmm…" Uraraka considered the question before her eyes widened in realization. "Plants!"
"That's right."
"I get it now. So… Member A can control the park's plant life to take down and even capture some of the Villains. Member B can use their water to also take down Villains too. That leaves me and Member C to help evacuate citizens." Uraraka stated.
"I'd switch out Member C with B instead." Midoriya politely countered.
"But… wouldn't C's fire Quirk burn A's plants?" Uraraka pointed out.
"Remember there's 66 Villains, and A likely can't handle all of them. A's Quirk is dependent on their focus, remember? Also, most people aren't fireproof, so C's fire abilities would be beneficial in taking down enemies or keeping them contained within the park by creating a fire wall." Midoriya elaborated.
"That makes sense..." She conceded.
He continued. "A and C can keep the Villains contained—watching each other's backs—while you and B evacuate citizens. Once they're safe, you can make yourself and B weightless and fly over the park. That'll allow you to spot patterns and strays. B can also use their Quirk to take down Villains from above while simultaneously strengthening A's plants on the ground, and even put out any rogue fires caused by C.
"With all that said, your hypothetical team should then be able to save the citizens AND defeat these Villains too, or at least hold out long enough until backup arrives."
A moment of silence passed.
Uraraka gaped at Midoriya, flabbergasted. "Midori-kun… You came up with all of that just after reading the scenario one time?"
"Y-yeah…"
"...Midori-kun is amazing." Uraraka uttered to herself.
The verdette looked away in embarrassment, his head strongly resembling a tomato. "I… you're way too kind… Uraraka-chan…"
"I'm serious. How did you figure all that out so fast?" She inquired, still amazed.
Midoriya cleared his throat, trying to suppress his blush. "W-well, before you make a plan, you have to keep the strengths and weaknesses of your teammates in mind while also taking the environment into account."
"I see… That makes sense." Uraraka lowered her head, contemplating his words.
Midoriya continued. "Though individuals aren't well-rounded, a team can be if they work together and leverage each other's strengths."
Mulling over Midoriya's sage words, she looked between Asui and Jiro thoughtfully.
'Okay… think, Ochako. We're on a boat in the middle of a lake surrounded by water Villains. I can make things float, but I can't do anything in the water. Tsuyu can do whatever a frog can and is pretty fast underwater. Jiro can't do much in water either, but her soundwaves are definitely effective. So… what can we do together?'
Uraraka glanced down at the speakers on Jiro's boots for a moment. Hold on… Whale calls can travel up to 1000 miles underwater, right? Does that mean…
"Hey, sound is louder underwater, right?" Uraraka questioned.
"Uh… yeah, I think so." Jiro replied, half-unsure.
"It is. Kero." Asui confirmed. "I can hear more things when I'm underwater." She cutely tilted her head. "Why do you ask, Uraraka?"
"Well… I think I may have an idea."
Both the frog girl and rock musician gave the gravity girl their undivided attention.
Moments later, the aquatic Villains had mostly recovered from Jiro's sound attack (though they still heard ringing in their ears) and were beginning to grow restless via swimming around the boat.
"C'mon! What're we doing just swimming around?! We got a job to do!" One shouted.
"Hey, if you wanna go deaf, by all means charge ahead," Another remarked. "I actually like my hearing."
"I got an idea…" One of the Villains started contorting the water around his arms. "I'll use my Quirk to sink that boat."
"Good thinking! Those broads will be easy pickings in the water!"
"HEY! Villains!"
The thugs looked up in surprise to see Asui on the boat's railing. "Catch me if you can!"
With that, Asui leaped into the water and dived deep.
"AFTER HER!"
"I'll tear her limb by limb!"
"The legs are mine!"
With that, the school of Villains swam after Asui in hot pursuit. It didn't take long for Asui to reach the bottom. The greenette quickly went horizontal and swam across the muddy bottom with a trail of churned up dirt in her wake.
There were a variety of aquatic Quirks on display. Most of the Villains had fish-based abilities with the bodily attributes to match while a few had reptilian Quirks reminiscent of crocodiles and iguanas. Naturally, they were all quite fast while underwater with some being even faster than motorboats at full speed. However, Asui's agility gave her a leg-up on all of her pursuers.
When Villains got close or believed they had cornered her, she was able to escape by making very tight turns and performing incredible acrobatic feats. Also, visibility was also decreasing as the water by the bottom was being stirred up via the commotion.
Growing increasingly frustrated, the Villains swam above the mud cloud in search of their prey.
Meanwhile, Asui was clutching onto some boulders in the midst of the mud cloud. Amazingly, her body had become transparent to match the environment around her. At the moment, the greenette was thankful she had discovered her camouflaging abilities a couple of years before attending UA.
Though visibility was zero, she could hear everything around her. From the Villains' shouts, their swimming strokes, and even some of their heartbeats. There was a cacophony of sounds while underwater that to the untrained ear sounded like white noise. The frog girl could discern it all. She had been training her entire life in or at least near the water in some capacity.
However, she imagined her aquatic foes also had similar training and experience as well.
Still clinging to the rock, Asui stayed as quiet as she could possibly be… listening for one particular sound.
'I'll have to come up for air soon. I just hope Uraraka and Jiro are ready by then…' Asui thought.
Meanwhile, with all of the Villains brashly chasing after Asui, Uraraka and Jiro were given an opportunity to enact step two of their plan.
"Okay, I think I'm at the center of the lake now. Are you ready, Jiro?" Uraraka called out.
With a rope tied around their waists, the two young women weightlessly floated several meters above the lake away from the boat. It was fortunate they had managed to find some maritime gear on the boat that included a set of rope. Minus an actual engine, UA University had made the model boat as realistic as possible.
Jiro glanced down, feeling a tad nervous. "Y-yeah… I am! As ready as I'll ever be…" She mumbled the last part to herself.
'Hopefully this works…' The rocker girl inwardly mused.
"Hold on! You want me to use my Quirk underwater?" Jiro asked incredulously.
Uraraka nodded firmly. "Your Quirk made them retreat earlier and is the reason they're not attacking us now. We can use that to take them all down."
"Yeah… but I dunno if my speakers will even work underwater. I mean," Jiro looked unsure, "I know I asked that they'd be water-resistant when submitting my costume form… but I'm not sure they'll work for very long fully submerged."
"It doesn't have to be long. If sound is louder underwater, your Quirk could stun them long enough for us to get back to shore without being followed." Uraraka pointed out.
"But what if my speakers get broken? I'll practically be defenseless…" Jiro countered.
"Maybe just use one speaker then?" Uraraka suggested. "That way, if it does break, you'll still have one to fall back on."
Jiro lowered her head to ponder the suggestion. She wasn't sure about this, but the musician didn't have any better ideas either. Plus, they were running out of time to boot. Those Villains might wise up and try surrounding them, preventing her from using her Quirk fully without harming her friends.
"Yeah… Alright, I'm in." Jiro joined in.
"Hmm," Asui tapped her chin, glancing out at the lake to see Villains still circling the boat, "we'd need all the Villains to be underwater when Jiro-san uses her Quirk for this plan to work."
"Think you can keep them distracted for just a few minutes, Tsuyu?" the chestnut-haired girl asked. "I know it's dangerous, but you're the fastest person I know in the water."
"Kero. I can do that." Asui nodded. "But I'd rather not be underwater when Jiro uses her Quirk though…"
Uraraka shook her head. "We'll give you a signal when we're ready and you come to the surface. As soon as you're out, Jiro can use her Quirk."
"A signal? What will it be? Kero." the greenette questioned.
Jiro grinned. "I got something in mind. Trust me, you'll know it when ya hear it."
Uraraka used her costume's air-thrusters to carefully guide her and Jiro till they were floating mere centimeters above the water's surface.
"Alright, Jiro, give Tsuyu the signal." Uraraka instructed.
"On it!" Connecting an ear jack into her smart watch, Jiro plugged the other one into her left speaker.
Selecting the sound on her watch, a Popish Rock song called The Day–recently released by one of her favorite bands–blared through her boot-speakers. The water above the floating girls began to ripple from the sound.
Meanwhile, near the lake's bottom, all the Villains looked around dumbfounded from the sudden noise.
Upon hearing the song, Asui immediately sprang into action. 'That's the signal!'
With powerful thrusts, she shot upward out of the mud cloud like a torpedo. As a result, her camouflage started to fade out a little.
Halfway to the surface, one of the Villains–who strongly resembled a humanoid-swordfish–spotted Asui's faint transparent form. He pointed at the student, roaring in anger to notify the others.
Now alerted, the school of aquatic Villains pursued after the frog girl.
'Almost there!' With the hull of the boat in sight, she swam at top speed.
After playing the song for a full thirty seconds, Jiro disconnected her ear jack from her smart watch. 'Hopefully Asui got the message…' She scrolled to another sound option with her ear jack millimeters from the port, ready to connect at a moment's notice.
"C'mon Tsuyu…" Uraraka said quietly, hoping her friend was okay.
Suddenly, something burst out of the water near the boat. Immediately dropping her camouflage, Asui turned in Uraraka and Jiro's direction. "HURRY! KERO! They're coming up!"
"Right! Do it, Jiro!" Uraraka shouted as she carefully lowered Jiro down further without fully submerging her.
With her right leg bent upward to avoid getting her right speaker wet, Jiro's left boot was lowered into the water.
"Get rocked, Villains!"
Plugging her ear jack into her watch, a bone-shakingly loud wave of sound blasted out of Jiro's left speaker, the water intensifying it even more. The artificial lake shook from the powerful soundwaves echoing back-and-forth within it.
The aquatic Villains were practically stunned as the soundwaves reverberated through their bodies, causing significant bodily damage in the process. Their pained screams went unheard over the blaring noise. Their eyes then rolled behind their heads as every single Villain passed out, some even had blood trailing out of their ear canals.
Jiro felt her speaker begin to glitch out before it stopped working. "Alright, Uraraka-san, that's it!"
Uraraka nodded. Shooting air from her boots, the pair ascended upward. She carefully navigated back to the boat, which was rocking from the waves produced by Jiro's sound. Ripples were spreading out across the lake as if a massive stone had been dropped in it.
Gently lowering Jiro on the deck, Uraraka touched down and deactivated her Quirk. Almost immediately, Uraraka leaned by the railing and clutched her stomach. "Ow…"
"You okay, Uraraka?" Asui said, concerned.
"Y-yeah… still not used to using my Quirk on myself for that long…" Uraraka groaned, trying to keep her lunch down. Untying the rope around her waist, she reached into her belt and pulled out one of her motion-sickness pills—popping it into her mouth.
Moments later, they noticed all of the Villains rising to the surface, eyes rolled over and gargling foam from their mouths.
"Looks like… we won…" Uraraka panted lightly, feeling a little proud of herself. 'Thanks, Izuku...' She smiled warmly.
"Nice work. All of you. You're both amazing. Kero." Asui praised.
Uraraka and Jiro both smiled bashfully.
"Give yourself some credit, Asui-san," Jiro replied. "You distracted them long enough for everything to work out."
"It's no problem. And please, call me Tsuyu," Asui requested. "All my friends call me that."
Jiro smiled at that. "Fair enough. You can call me Kyoka. Both of you can, actually."
Asui and Uraraka nodded happily.
Jiro then glanced down at her left boot to inspect the damage. It was pretty busted up with water still pouring out of the crevices.
"Yeah, this thing is done for. Good thing I still have my right speaker…" Jiro dryly noted.
"Sorry about that," Uraraka said sheepishly.
The purplette shook her head, smiling. "Don't be. Your plan worked, right?" She said, pointing her thumb in the direction of the criminals in the lake. "We won't have to worry about those creeps anymore."
"Sorry to interrupt, but we should be heading back to shore now while we still can." Asui insisted.
Both girls nodded in agreement.
"I'll float us over there." Uraraka said determinedly.
"Are you sure? What about your nausea?" Asui inquired.
The gravity brunette shook her head, smirking confidently. "I'll be fine. I'm already feeling better!"
Taking her word for it, Asui and Jiro allowed Uraraka to use her Quirk on them. Tapping her shoulder, Uraraka floated upward with them.
"Alright. Grab on, you two!" She ordered.
Asui and Jiro complied by grabbing onto Uraraka's sides. Activating her costume's air-thrusters, the trio soared away from the boat in the direction of the shoreline.
Upon reaching land, Uraraka lowered their speed and descended. Asui and Jiro let go of the brunette once they were close enough to the ground. With her passengers safely on the ground, Uraraka deactivated her Quirk and gravity's effect returned on the trio.
Uraraka stumbled a little and hunched over, feeling knots in her stomach. She resisted the urge to hurl her breakfast and lunch. 'Still…need more practice…' She mentally groaned.
"You alright, Uraraka?" Asui asked, concerned.
"I'm fine…" Uraraka waved off.
Asui accepted her reply and turned her attention to the towering stairway nearby. "We should head back to the entrance before we're spotted. Kero."
Jiro nodded in agreement. "Yeah, good idea. We shouldn't be getting into any more fights if we can help it."
Uraraka straightened up and turned her gaze at the large fountain in the facility's center. She had made sure to land them on the back side of it, out of view from where Aizawa was fighting that mob of Villains.
"We should take the shorter path to the exit." Uraraka pointed to the left, which revealed a clear path toward the stairway.
Asui nodded. "Good idea. That way we don't run into the Villains Aizawa-sensei is fighting over there." She turned toward the fountain.
They could hear the sounds of fighting on the other side.
"Even if you erase their Quirks, there's still way too many Villains down there for you to fight on your own." Midoriya's words replayed in her head.
Uraraka frowned. 'How long can Mr. Aizawa hold out till help arrives? I know he'd want us to get back to the exit, but… is it right for us to just leave him? What would Izuku do in this situation?'
She didn't need to ponder that thought for long. 'What am I saying? He'd rush in to help without a second thought.'
"Guys, Aizawa-sensei is gonna need backup." Uraraka asserted. "If he doesn't, they'll eventually overpower him."
Jiro and Asui both looked at the brunette, dumbfounded by what she was suggesting.
"Uraraka, we can't just rush in there." Jiro countered.
"Kero. I don't think Aizawa-sensei would approve of us inserting ourselves into the middle of a battle, even if we had good intentions." Asui added.
"I–I know that. But," she looked back toward the central plaza, "I'm not saying we should rush into his fight or anything, but maybe we can at least take a few of them off his load or something…?"
The greenette and purplette could understand what Uraraka was saying, but still looked unsure.
"Well," Jiro twirled her ear jacks nervously, "we're gonna have to go past that area to the stairs anyway. We can at least make sure he's okay..."
"Hmm…" Asui tapped her chin; a common thing she did when she was deep in thought. "Okay. We'll check to make sure. But I'm still against fighting unless it's necessary."
Uraraka nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That's fair."
"Try to be stealthy. I'll warn us if anyone tries to sneak up on us." Jiro said.
The three girls carefully proceeded down the shoreline in the direction of the stairway.
Meanwhile, Uraraka's thoughts shifted to her classmates. 'I hope everyone else is doing okay…Yaomomo, Izuku… Please be safe!'
Todoroki fell through the black portal and landed safely on his feet. The moment his feet touched the ground, he started looking around to take in his surroundings. A sloped terrain with various debris scattered across allowed the dual-haired teen to deduce he was in the Landslide Zone.
'So they scattered us across the facility…' Glancing around, he didn't see any of his classmates with him. He was on his own. Not that that mattered much to Todoroki as he preferred working alone.
The sounds of footsteps caught his attention as a group of Villains suddenly came out of hiding in front of him and rushed towards him.
'I see. They split us up to pick us off in smaller groups. However…'
In an instant, nearly half of the zone was suddenly covered in a couple feet of ice. Every Villain had been frozen in their tracks with no way to escape.
Todoroki exhaled a frosty breath. 'These pawns of theirs are merely a ragtag group of thugs. Not all that dangerous in the slightest. Do they really believe they can beat All Might with this group?'
Suddenly, a skull-faced Villain wearing black clothing burst from the unfrozen ground at his right, rearing back his hand that was cackling with electricity.
"EAT LIGHTNING, YOU ICY BRAT!" The electric thug assumed he had gotten the jump on the dual-haired teen coming from the underground, but his supposed victory was short-lived.
Without looking, Todoroki extended his right arm and effortlessly froze the skull-faced man in place.
Now, one would think that with an electric type Quirk, the Villain could electrocute Todoroki via the ice. However, though water was a good conductor of electricity, its frozen counterpart (ice) was not. Even if he could use his Quirk, the intense cold that concealed his entire body, minus his face, made it impossible to focus.
In summary, he was screwed.
"S-sh-sh*t!" The skull-faced Villain shivered madly.
"Th-This guy… H-He took us out… in an instant… Who is he?!" A Villain shivered; his tone portrayed shocked fear.
'From what I saw, there were only two or three truly dangerous people. If that's the case, then the next step I should take is getting more information.' Todoroki internally rationalized.
"Hey, I have some questions for you." He glowered at the group. "If you don't answer me honestly, then I'm going to leave you frozen. You'll most likely develop frostbite before anyone comes to get you. You might even lose parts of your body from it."
The Villains nearby were all starting to panic at this point, some even having small tears in their eyes as they feared for their lives.
"I want to be a Hero, so I'd prefer to not do something so cruel, but…" Todoroki left the sentence hanging, adding to the cold atmosphere, "you have to answer all of my questions. For starters, how do you plan to kill All Might?"
"There he is!" A Villain shouted.
"GET HIM!"
Aoyama calmly stood still as three thugs spotted him in an alleyway. As the criminals charged at him with their melee weapons ready, Aoyama folded his hands behind his head in a lackadaisical manner.
"Facile." He remarked in French, and then shot three separate laser beams from his torso.
With no room to maneuver in the cramped alley, the Villains were knocked unconscious by the blasts.
Aoyama closed his eyes, smiling. "My sparkles are just too much."
With his back turned from the crevices in a compromised building across the street, a Villain charged at Aoyama with a machete reared back to strike. Meters away from striking Aoyama down, a shadowy talon-hand shot out of nowhere and slammed the Villain into the pavement.
Aoyama turned to see Tokoyami walk out of a crevice between two wrecked buildings leaning against each other. The Ruins Zone, an urban environment, was filled with various pathways and buildings in precarious conditions–nearly on the verge of collapse.
"That makes six of them." Tokoyami said as Dark Shadow returned to him.
The bird-headed young man turned to the sparkling blonde. "Are you alright, Aoyama-san?"
"Oui," Aoyama replied easily.
He turned to the thug that Tokoyami had saved him from. 'I didn't even see him coming. If Tokoyami hadn't been there…' He apprehensively mused, a bead of sweat forming on his temple.
It was a scary reminder that even though these Villains may not be the most powerful, they were still dangerous and capable of ending one's life at a moment's notice.
"We should stick together. Slowly but surely, we're decreasing their numbers, but we have no idea how many there are." Tokoyami pointed out. "Was anyone else with you, Aoyama-san?"
"Non. I'm afraid not, my shadowy compatriot."
Suddenly, they heard many girlish screams as a group of Villains sprinted out of a building… with various rodents swarming them. If it wasn't rats crawling over them… it was the bats flying around and biting them.
As the thugs ran out of sight, another individual walked out of the same building. They turned to see it was Koda nervously waving at them, completely unharmed. Though Koda wasn't the most social around people nor the best fighter, with animals in the vicinity, he could be quite dangerous indeed.
"It's always the quiet ones, huh?" Dark Shadow commented.
Tokoyami and Aoyama both nodded in agreement.
"Outta my way!" Bakugo yelled, blasting a large Villain aside.
Moments earlier, he and Kirishima had been dropped in the middle of a street with burning buildings surrounding them. The Conflagration Zone was a domed urban environment where buildings and areas of the street were constantly on fire to simulate fire-related disasters.
If the hot temperatures weren't enough, they had been surrounded by Villains almost instantly. Nevertheless, the Explosion and Hardening duo proved to be more than what their opposition had been expecting. They had broken through the encirclement and were currently fighting their way through a horde of criminals.
Punching a thug in the gut with his hardened fist, Kirishima shouted, "STAY DOWN!" The man promptly collapsed to the street with his eyes rolling back, unconscious.
"Geez…" Kirishima panted, wiping some sweat off his forehead. "There's no end to these guys…"
'I really hope Mina is okay,' Kirishima worriedly thought. 'I know she can take care of herself, but I still can't help but worry.'
As the spiky redhead mused on his girlfriend's safety, a chameleon-like Villain jumped out of nowhere and lunged for Kirishima's back with a knife. "DIE!"
The Villain was promptly slammed headfirst into the pavement by Bakugo's hand and blasted away with an explosion, charred and unconscious.
"Watch it, Sh*tty Hair!" Bakugo exclaimed, annoyed.
"R-Right… thanks." Kirishima replied.
Bakugo scoffed. "Anyways, these guys are nothing but weaklings. Did they really think they could take down All Might with these scrubs!?"
"We gotta find our way out of this hot box and regroup with the others." Kirishima stated, wiping more sweat from his brow. "Don't know how much more of this heat we can take…"
"Speak for yourself, Sh*tty Hair," Bakugo retorted, "this heat is perfect for my Quirk." He glanced down at his grenade-shaped gauntlets. 'My right gauntlet's already 3-quarters full. It won't be long before both are fully loaded.' His mind flashbacked to Kurogiri, the Hand Guy, and the bird monster. 'Then I'll have enough juice to blow all those bastards away.' He grinned roguishly.
Kirishima rolled his eyes at the ash-blonde's remark. "Let's just go already, man!"
With that, the duo ran down the street toward the edge of the domed zone in search of an exit.
As the black miasma lifted, Tokage looked around and was shocked to find almost all of her classmates were gone. Across from her, Shoji unfolded his arms to reveal he had grabbed Sero, Sato, and Iida. Next to Tokage was Thirteen–whom she had rescued–and the Pro was already dusting herself off as she stood up, keeping her eyes trained on the Villian.
Kurogiri, meanwhile, kept his distance and watched the group keenly.
'Thirteen was the closest to me, but I feel bad that I couldn't save anyone else.' Tokage inwardly lamented.
"Hey!" Sero whipped his head around, looking for anyone else. "Where'd everybody else go?"
"Shoji, Tokage," Thirteen spoke up, "can you confirm everyone's positions?"
Both students nodded. While Shoji extended his arms out and formed eyes and ears at the end of his appendages, Tokage disconnected both of her eyes and ears from her head and levitated them in the air.
"I can see Yaomomo, Tsunotori, and Kaminari in the Mountain Zone." Tokage reported. "Todoroki-san is in the Landslide Zone. And… I think I saw a splash in the Flood Zone. Can't confirm who's there though."
"I can hear explosions coming from the Ruins nearby. Probably Bakugo-san..." Shoji added, then pausing for a moment. "It sounds like everyone is here. The Villain just scattered them across the USJ."
The rest of the students sighed in relief, but it was short-lived.
"They're not alone." Tokage added, sounding uneasy. "I can already see Villains surrounding the groups in view."
"I can also hear commotion in the other zones. There are a lot of Villains…" Shoji said grimly.
A cold chill went down the group's spines. The fact that their classmates and friends were fighting hordes of Villains filled them with dread.
"We have to do something!" Iida urgently exclaimed.
"We will." Thirteen reassured him. "Just stay calm. We'll get help and save the others."
"You will do no such thing." Kurogiri suddenly spoke up. "Though you may have escaped my Warp Gate, I am more than capable of handling you six." It didn't sound like he was boastful or arrogant, only stating a mere fact, which made several students feel even more uneasy.
As Tokage's ears and eyes returned to her head, she noticed something off to the side of the pathway. With a cunning Villain in front of them though, she remained as discreet as possible to not draw any attention towards it.
"What do we do?" Sero asked. "This guy isn't affected by physical attacks and can teleport stuff too…"
'He's not completely invulnerable though…' Tokage recalled what Midoriya had pointed out earlier, focusing on Kurogiri's metal brace. 'Perhaps his physical body is protected by that?'
"Iida, I have a job for you." Thirteen called out. "Run to the main campus and alert the faculty of what's happening."
Iida gaped at the suggestion. "W-what? But I can't just–"
"We have no alarms and no phone signal." Thirteen interjected. "Even with Eraserhead canceling people's Quirks left and right, nothing has come back on. The one responsible must've hidden somewhere as soon as they teleported here. By the time we find them, it could already be too late."
There were a few audible gulps, recognizing what "too late" meant.
"It would be more logical for you to run and get help at this point." Thirteen concluded.
"Yes, but… it'd be disgraceful for me to leave you behind, right?" Iida protested.
"You're the fastest one here, Iida," Tokage chimed in. "There are alarms outside, which is why they're keeping us trapped in here."
"I get it." Sato stepped forward along with Sero, both taking fighting stances. "If Iida-san gets outside, they won't follow after him."
"Iida, you can blow this stupid mist guy away with those Engine legs of yours!" Sero exclaimed confidently. "We've got your back!"
Tokage suddenly split her arms, legs, and torso apart to hover in midair. "We'll keep this guy distracted. Just run and get help!"
"Use your Quirk to save others." Thirteen declared. "Be a real Hero!"
Iida took his teacher and classmates' words to heart. After a brief moment, his visage hardened with resolve. Extending mufflers out of his recently repaired Costume, he got in a sprinter's stance–his Quirk revving up.
"How foolish of you." Kurogiri narrowed his eyes. "To strategize right in front of your enemy!" He launched himself forward, a black tidal wave ready to crash down on the group.
"It won't matter when I'm done with you! Black Hole!" Thirteen extended her head and her index finger cap popped back, allowing a powerful vortex to suck up everything in front of her–including the Villain.
"Ah, yes. Your Quirk is indeed dangerous, Thirteen." Kurogiri calmly said. "If I hadn't prepared, I would have been completely at your mercy."
Thirteen's eyes widened. 'Prepared?'
The Black Hole user didn't notice a warp gate appear behind her. At the same time, Kurogiri opened one in front of him, hitting the Hero with her own Quirk. She immediately felt her back being ripped apart and a wave of agony enveloped her.
She couldn't close her glove's cap as the pain made it impossible to focus.
"You're an excellent Hero, Thirteen, but you specialize in rescue operations–not combat. That means you have little battlefield awareness in comparison to other Heroes like Eraserhead." Kurogiri stated matter-of-factly.
"Thirteen!" Tokage screamed in horror.
She shot an arm and leg forward to push Thirteen out of the way of her redirected attack. Using her hand, she grabbed her right glove and closed the cap back over her index finger.
Shoji and Sero, meanwhile, immediately rushed to the aid of their teacher.
"Iida! Get out of here already!" Tokage shouted out.
"Right!" Iida sprinted forward, flames firing out of his leg mufflers. "ENGINE!"
'I'll be a real Hero. I'll keep my classmates safe!' Iida was determined.
Kurogiri turned his sights on the running white knight. "A sheep trying to escape from the wolves? I simply cannot allow that." Activating his warp gate, the Villain reappeared in front of Iida as a black swirling mass. 'If other Heroes arrive, our plan will fail.'
Iida was forced to stop mid-stride as Kurogiri appeared directly in front of him, seconds away from enveloping him in his mist to presumably teleport him somewhere unknown.
DING!
A bell-like sound echoed out as Kurogiri was suddenly knocked aside.
Iida blinked and looked up to see one of Tokage's arms holding a familiar object. "Midoriya's shield?"
The greenette discreetly picked up the indestructible disk while Kurogiri had been distracted.
"Get going!" Tokage yelled urgently.
Nodding, Iida sprinted forward toward the exit. 'Don't worry classmates! I'll be back in a flash!'
Kurogiri grunted as he picked himself off the floor, narrowing his yellow eyes in frustration. "I won't allow it!"
As he was about to pursue Iida, Tokage's body parts suddenly flew around him–including the arm holding Midoriya's shield, which she kept in front of the Villain. "Hey, hey! Eyes on me!" She snapped her fingers for emphasis.
"Impertinent child! Move aside!" Before he could lash out, several sets of arms suddenly wrapped around him.
Shoji fell to the ground, keeping a tight hold over Kurogiri–which included his metal bracer. "I got him!"
"GET OFF ME!" Using his warp gate, he teleported out of Shoji's hold and reappeared behind Iida in pursuit.
"You won't set foot outside those doors!" Kurogiri angrily shouted.
'What if the doors are locked? Will I be able to pry them open in time?' Iida worriedly thought.
Tokage swung the arm holding Midoriya's shield around in a circle. 'Aim for the brace in the mist!' After gaining enough momentum, she released her hold to send it flying toward her target like a frisbee; however, there was a slight problem.
Her aim was off.
The shield soared past Kurogiri going wide-left. It struck the path's railing and harmlessly ricocheted off to the side.
'Dammit! I missed that badly?!' Tokage berated herself.
Wanting to make up for the bad throw, all of the greenette's disconnected body parts shot forward. As Kurogiri was about to engulf the Engine user, he was stopped by a floating pair of arms wrapping around his bracer and pulling back. Two legs then appeared and proceeded to kick him hard.
The attack only served to anger the black miasma rather than hurt him.
"YOU PEST!" Kurogiri roared.
Before the Villain could retaliate, a net of white tape-like strands suddenly wrapped around his bracer. Glancing back, he saw Sero standing behind him with several tape strands coming out of his left elbow.
"Heh!" Sero smirked. "Not the prettiest net, but it'll do."
"Release me!"
"Sure thing!" Tearing the tape off his elbow, he handed it off to Sato.
The well-muscled young man spun around and pulled Kurogiri away from Iida. After a few spins, Sato released the tape and sent Kurogiri flying upward toward the dome.
"RUN IIDA!" Sato shouted.
Iida reached the doors and, using all of the strength he could muster, he managed to pry them open just enough for him to squeeze through. As soon as he stepped outside, flames burst out of his mufflers.
"Engine… BOOST!" Iida blasted away at full speed, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.
Kurogiri regained control of himself just before he hit the roof. He looked down to see the knight-esque student had already escaped.
'This is very bad.' Eyes narrowing, Kurogiri twisted in on himself and vanished–leaving the group alone at the entrance.
Sero sighed in relief, slumping his shoulders. "Did we win?"
Shoji looked at the open door and back toward the rest of the USJ, where the rest of their peers were fighting for their lives. "We'll know soon if the Heroes arrive in time."
Tokage floated back to the ground and reconnected her parts. "Our classmates are strong. I'm sure they can hold out until then."
The group nodded in agreement, but still couldn't help but feel concerned. Though Tokage was confident in her classmates, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't even a little worried.
Turning, Tokage spotted the shield off to the side. Disconnecting her left arm, she used it to retrieve Midoriya's equipment and bring it back to her. For a moment, she looked at the green, white, and red disk introspectively.
'Midori makes throwing this thing look so easy. And it's heavier than I thought too…Yet he carries it around like it's nothing.'
Tokage realized the incredible skill her fellow greenette possessed to gracefully wield such an object in the manner he did. She honestly felt embarrassed with herself thinking that she was capable of throwing it like Midoriya could without any sort of practice.
'Yeah… I definitely overestimated myself on that one.' She admitted sheepishly.
Shoji, Sero, and Sato meanwhile were kneeling down by the injured Thirteen–who had passed out from the intense pain.
"Hey, Sero… can you do anything for her with your tape?" Shoji inquired.
Sero nodded. "I'm no medical expert, but…" Producing tape from his elbows, he patched up Thirteen's torn back. It wasn't pretty, but it was better than leaving it exposed to the elements. "There. That should help a little."
Sato nodded. "At least long enough until help arrives… hopefully."
"Help will arrive." Tokage walked over, holding the shield from its leather straps. "Iida won't let us down." She smiled widely, showing off her sharp teeth.
Tokage's confidence rubbed off on the three young men as they smiled too; Shoji's was hidden behind his mask.
The Lizard Tail Splitter user shifted her gaze to Shoji. "Hey, Shoji-san," the multi-armed man perked up. "Were you able to pinpoint Midoriya's location? I couldn't spot him anywhere…"
"No," Shoji looked out at the facility, "but I didn't hear or see him in the Mountain, Flood, or Landslide Zones. There's commotion in the Ruins… but I can't tell if he's there or not. As for the zones with domes… I can't hear enough to determine who exactly is inside them."
'Well, that crosses off half of the zones at least.' She mused. "Alright then, I'm gonna head out and find Midoriya."
The three men looked at her in confusion.
"Huh? But why?" Sato asked.
"It could be dangerous… There's a ton of Villains out there, right?" Sero pointed out.
"That's exactly why I need to find him and return this." She held up the shield, "Don't you think he could use it right about now against hordes of Villains?"
All three young men looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"Alright. We'll watch over Thirteen in the meantime." Shoji said.
"Thanks!" she grinned roguishly.
"Just be careful out there." Sato said.
"Heh. I'm always careful!" Tokage split herself apart and flew into the air.
Her eyes and ears split off from her head and searched over the facility. 'Alright Big Green… where are you hiding?'
Knowing that the Mountain, Landslide, and Flood Zones were off the list, she focused her attention on the three remaining zones: Ruins, Conflagration, and Downpour.
With the Ruins and Downpour Zones being closer, she split her attention to check them first. But as one of Tokage's floating eyes and ears headed toward the Downpour Zone, she noticed some commotion in the central plaza. Glancing down, she was met with a gruesome sight.
"Oh sh*t…" Tokage grimaced.
Aizawa was lying face down on the ground. Both of his arms looked mangled and blood was pooling around his head. Standing over the Pro Hero was the jet-black skin monstrosity with an exposed brain, clutching onto Aizawa's head with its large hand.
'Aizawa needs help! I gotta do something, right?' Tokage frantically thought. 'But I can't do anything for him with that thing standing over–Wait!'
The greenette beauty froze, spotting something out of the corner of her eye. She perked up when she recognized who it was.
'Perfect timing!' Tokage's mouth grinned.
Her body parts floated closer together as if they were a flock of birds and soared above the plaza in the direction of the Downpour Zone.
"Alright, Uraraka, we're just here to see how things are going." Jiro stated as she, Asui, and Uraraka quietly walked around the shoreline in view of the main plaza where Aizawa was still fighting.
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry. We'll run away the moment it's too dangerous." Uraraka replied.
The three girls tried to stay hidden by crouching below the shoreline ridge, observing the battle as it transpired.
Multiple bodies were spread across the ground as Eraserhead kept on effortlessly dealing with all of the cannon fodder thugs that stood in his way. After tying up two people with his scarf and knocking them out, he looked up to see Shigaraki Tomura charging straight for him with his right hand extended.
"23 seconds… " Shigaraki said under his breath.
"Final boss?!" Aizawa said as he threw his long scarf towards him in an attempt to immobilize him.
"24 seconds… Then it was 20 seconds… Now, 17… "
Aizawa attempted to elbow Shigaraki in the chest, but was blocked at the last second.
Shigaraki held Aizawa's elbow in a tight grip.
"Damn." Aizawa said as he realized his attack had failed.
"It's hard to see because you keep moving around, but I found your tell. It's your hair." Shigaraki began to say as Aizawa widened his red, dried eyes.
"That's when you deactivate your Quirk. The space in between has gotten shorter and shorter. Don't push yourself, Eraserhead." Shigaraki finished as the skin of Aizawa's elbow tore apart, revealing bloody red muscle and bone as cracks spread across the skin of his right arm. "You may just fall apart. Wouldn't that be a shame…"
Aizawa jumped away from Shigaraki, feeling the intense pain in his right elbow. "My elbow's crumbling!"
The fodder Villains took this as an opportunity to get the jump on Aizawa. He dodged all of their attacks as he panted, feeling the fatigue from fighting a big group for a long period of time.
"Your Quirk isn't suited for long drawn out fights against a large group, is it? Aren't you a little out of your depth here, Eraserhead? You specialize in surprise attacks, not prolonged battles. Even so, you jumped right in to fight us directly. Was that to put your students at ease?"
As Shigaraki taunted Aizawa, despite being down an arm, he continued to take down the other Villains trying to ambush him.
He readied his scarf and honed in on Shigaraki, ready to fight him head on. "I have to admit, you really are so cool. Oh, by the way, Hero… I'm not the final boss."
A large shadow was cast over the haggard man. He gasped when he turned to see the robust creature with a beak full of sharp teeth, jet-black skin, and an exposed brain.
The creature brought its hand down and smashed Aizawa to the ground. Blood and a pair of yellow goggles went flying.
"This is Nomu. The bioengineered Anti-Symbol of Peace." Shigaraki stated.
Aizawa looked up at the monstrosity crouching over him, trying to erase its Quirk; however, it had no effect. Nomu grabbed his head and smashed it into the ground, creating a small crater. Nomu then lifted up its leg to step on Aizawa's right arm, breaking it in the process.
Aizawa cried out in utter agony.
"You can erase Quirks. That's cool, but not overly impressive." Shigaraki grinned in twisted delight at the sight of Eraserhead being broken. "In the face of overwhelming power, you might as well be a Quirkless child."
Fighting through the pain, Aizawa turned his gaze back to Nomu; his eyes turned red to signify that he had activated his Quirk. However, Nomu remained unaffected and snapped Aizawa's other arm, making him scream once more.
'He's breaking my bones like they're toothpicks… I know I erased his Quirk. That means… he's super-strong even without a Quirk.' Aizawa internally analyzed. 'He may be as strong as All Might!'
Nomu picked up Aizawa's head and smashed it into the concrete again, creating more cracks and inflicting even more damage on the Erasure Hero.
Meanwhile, the three young women watching couldn't believe their eyes. Their instructor was being broken so easily. That Villain…that monster…was treating it like it wasn't even a warm-up. How could someone be so strong?!
Was it even a person?
"T-this… this is bad." Jiro stammered fearfully. "We gotta get out of here before we get hurt…"
"Kero…" Asui was in agreement. She was having trouble watching this gory scene.
"But… Aizawa-sensei…" Uraraka shivered. "We can't just…"
A familiar black mist suddenly appeared beside Shigaraki.
"Shigaraki," Kuroguri gained his ward's attention.
"Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?"
Hearing this, Uraraka's breath hitched in her throat. 'No…' She felt a deep pit in her stomach. 'Not Thirteen…'
"Thirteen is out of commission, but there's been a complication. Some students were able to evade my mass warp... and subsequently, one of them escaped the facility." Kurogiri reported. "He is likely already contacting the school right now."
"Someone got out? Kero." Asui whispered.
"That's what I heard." Jiro confirmed.
Uraraka lowered her head thoughtfully. Who could have escaped? The only ones she knew who could outrun the sudden teleportation would be Midoriya, Bakugo, and-
Iida...
Her eyes widened. It had to have been Iida!
"What…?" Shigaraki's voice cracked as he slowly turned to Kuroguri. "Why didn't you chase after him?"
"I would've sounded the alarms had I gone outside. The Heroes and local authorities would've arrived much sooner."
This, however, did not please Shigaraki. Not. One. Bit.
The dry-skinned, teal-haired man began to scratch at his neck roughly. "Kurogiri… you damn fool!" He hissed as his body shook with rage. "If you weren't our ticket out of here, I'd turn you into f**king dust right now!"
"All Might and the teachers are on the way." Jiro sighed in relief. "Man… That's music to my ears."
Uraraka and Asui both smiled as well. All Might may have been late for whatever reason, but he could still save the day!
Just when Shigaraki was ready to rip open his own throat, his arms fell limply to his sides and his whole body slumped, his face staring up at the ceiling. "Dammit… this sucks." He sighed loudly.
Uraraka was flummoxed. 'W-what?!' One second that man looked ready to murder anyone; now, he was whining like a spoiled child.
Jiro blinked twice in confusion. She certainly hadn't expected that reaction.
Asui merely croaked nervously. For some reason, Shigaraki's unhinged personality only made her more nervous.
"We can't win if an army of Pros show up. It'll be game over." Shigaraki groaned. "Let's just go home."
Jiro gained a hopeful look. "It sounds like they're leaving."
Uraraka narrowed her eyes suspiciously. 'This doesn't make sense. Why would he just give up? He should know UA will increase their security after this. He won't get another shot like this again. Why is this 'game over'?'
"Kero. This isn't good." Asui sounded apprehensive. "He's like a child throwing a temper tantrum…"
"Yeah… So, what's the big deal?" Jiro shrugged. "They're leaving, right?"
"I have little siblings and I can tell you from experience that little kids don't lose gracefully." Asui stated plainly.
Uraraka and Jiro felt a new sense of dread overcome them, realizing what their frog-like friend was implying.
Oh no.
"But before we go," Shigaraki straightened up, turning his head a little, "there's something I want to do."
At incredible speed, Shigaraki rushed toward the three girls at the shoreline.
"Let's smash All Might's pride by killing some of his students!"
The girls had no time to react as Shigaraki was upon them, his hand reaching out for one of them. The one in the center.
Uraraka was frozen in place. Everything happened so fast and was left with zero time to react. His hand was already going for her face and she wasn't fast enough to move out of the way.
He was too close to dodge. Too close to block. She was caught. Recalling what the man had done to Aizawa's arm just by touching, she came to a grim conclusion.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the end.
Time passed.
One heartbeat. A second. Then, a third. Nothing had happened. In fact, she didn't even feel the man's hand touching her yet. Confused, Uraraka opened her eyes to a floating purple arm blocking Shigaraki's hand from touching her.
'Wait… purple arm…' It then clicked for her. 'Tokage?!'
Cracks suddenly grew across the arm and, in mere moments, it turned grey as it crumbled away to dust.
Shigaraki was confused, but before he could say anything he felt something quite solid strike him really hard in the side. The cause was a greenish-white circular disk that sailed out of nowhere. The force knocked him to the side and sent him tumbling across the ground. In the process, the hand covering his face flew off and landed several meters away.
'Wait…' Her eyes widened in recognition. 'That was–!'
"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM!" A new voice shouted out.
Moments earlier…
"YES! We're finally out of that stupid monsoon!" Ashido cheered the moment she and the others ran out of the doors lining the Downpour Zone's perimeter.
"Ugh…" Mineta tipped his diaper-like bowl to the side to pour out water. "I hate the rain so much…"
"You get used to it after a while." Captain Midoriya shrugged, unaffected by being wet. His suit did a good job keeping him dry, for the most part.
Taking off her small tan jacket, Ashido started twisting it to wring out the water. As she did, Mineta's gaze lingered on her as her wet skin-tight costume hugged her body's generous curves even more than usual.
"On second thought… Maybe the rain isn't so bad at all. Heh-heh," He grinned lecherously.
Ashido narrowed her gaze. "You better avert your eyes or I may just accidentally spray acid in them."
Mineta swiftly looked away, a nervous sweat-drop racing down his face.
"Alright, focus!" The Captain regained their attention. "There were many Villains emptying into here earlier, so we need to remain cautious. Let's head for the entrance and try not to draw–"
"GREENIE!" A voice shouted out.
The trio jumped at the sudden exclamation.
The verdette quickly recognized the voice. "Tokage?" He looked around the courtyard, but didn't see her.
"Up here!"
They glanced up to see a mass of floating purple body parts flying toward them. Included were her head with one eye and ear attached, her torso, legs, and one arm. Her arm though was carrying a familiar object.
"Lose something, Greenie?" Tokage's arm lowered to hand him the shield, which he graciously accepted.
'Good to have you back, old girl.' He smiled. "Thanks, Tokage."
"No problem, but listen we have a big problem." Tokage sounded urgent, which mildly unnerved the group. If Tokage was worried, then things must be really bad.
"Look!" With her floating arm, Tokage directed their attention to the courtyard.
The first thing they noticed was that there were less Villains than before as they lay scattered across the ground, unconscious. A ways off were three Villains off to themselves: the teal-haired man in black clothing and covered in hands, Kurogiri, and the bird-brain monster that stood taller than All Might. But there was something else that caught the trained soldier's attention.
"Aizawa-sensei!?" Ashido gasped in horror.
"Is… I-Is he dead?" Mineta stammered.
Aizawa laid face down on the ground with the giant monster kneeling over him, its hand grasping the man's head.
"No… at least not yet," Tokage said grimly. "But he needs help soon or he will be."
"We need to get that thing away from him first." the Captain stated.
"But how?!" Mineta cried, panicked.
Before he could respond, a fearful expression took shape on Tokage's face. "Oh no…"
"What is it?" Ashido asked.
"I see Uraraka, Jiro, and Tsuyu near the Flood Zone. They're okay, but…" Tokage's other eye and ear hovering over the courtyard with the three main Villains in view, "I think Hand Guy knows they're there. I see him glancing in their direction!"
Captain Midoriya perked up at that information. Snapping his head toward the courtyard, he looked between Aizawa and the three Villains near him, and then to the lake where he spotted Uraraka, Jiro, and Asui near the shoreline.
His enhanced analytical mind considered the options available to him. In mere moments, he had a plan.
"Ashido, Mineta… Listen up!" Both perked up at their names. "You both head to the stairway and wait. When you have a clear shot, swoop in and carry Aizawa-sensei to the entrance! You have to be quick about it!"
"But–"
He cut Ashido off. "We don't have time to debate. Please, just do it! For our sensei's sake!"
"Ashido-san, let's just go!" A hand on her leg from Mineta stopped Ashido from arguing any further. Giving the verdette one last look, Ashido took off. Mineta lingered a few steps behind. "Good luck, Midoriya…" he said before he and Ashido headed for the stairway.
"Tokage, with me!" He took off in a mad dash toward the courtyard; specifically, the Flood Zone shoreline. Tokage's body parts soared alongside him, her head to his right. "Listen, I need you to gather as many of our classmates as possible. Tell them to meet up at the courtyard."
"Hold on," Tokage's eyes widened, "you're not suggesting–"
"Until the Pros arrive, we have to defend ourselves. We're gonna need all hands on deck! See if you can find–"
Before he could continue, the situation changed in front of him. The man covered in hands had suddenly rushed across the plaza at an incredible speed and was within an arm's reach of the three girls.
He had no idea what the man's Quirk was, but it seemed to involve his hands as he was stretching out his right arm to them; more specifically, Uraraka.
Then, at the last second, Tokage's other arm soared down and blocked the man's hand before it could touch Uraraka's face.
However, what happened next utterly shocked the super-soldier. In seconds, Tokage's arm had been reduced to dust.
"Oh sh*t…" Tokage uttered apprehensively.
She didn't seem to feel any pain from losing the appendage, but the fact that this Villain could destroy anything he touched was very frightening.
'With a Quirk that powerful, if he touches any of them…' The thought of Jiro, Asui, and Uraraka being reduced to ashes played over in his mind. 'NO!'
Rearing back his left arm, the Captain threw his shield forward. It soared through the air and struck its target in the side, sending him tumbling to the ground. More importantly, it created some distance between him and the three girls.
"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM!" Captain Midoriya shouted.
The girls turned to see Midoriya running across the courtyard right towards them with Tokage's other body parts floating alongside him. He caught the shield that had rebounded off Shigaraki's body and back into his awaiting left hand.
"Midori-kun!" Uraraka happily cried out.
"Kero…" Asui sighed in relief.
"Perfect timing, dude," Jiro smiled a little.
The verdette stopped in front of the group, checking them over for any injuries.
"Are you guys okay?" He immediately asked.
"Kero." Asui nodded. "I'm okay… all things considered."
"Same here." Jiro acknowledged.
"Me too, but," Uraraka directed her gaze to Tokage, "Tokage, your arm–"
"It's alright," She held up her other arm, giving a thumbs up, "I can regenerate any lost body parts later. So don't worry about it."
Uraraka deeply exhaled. "That's a relief…"
'Although it will drain my stamina...' Tokage thought.
The Captain directed his attention to the body splitter. "Tokage, go round up the others quickly!"
"But Midoriya, help is–"
He cut off her protests. "I realize help may be on the way, but we can't wait around for the Pros! We have to defend ourselves until then!"
Tokage looked out at the plaza; specifically, the monstrosity still standing near Aizawa, motionless. Its gaze was practically dead–which only unnerved her even more.
She had a really bad feeling about this. The fact that the Hand Guy could disintegrate things with just a touch only made her even more apprehensive.
But Midoriya was right. If they were going to have any shot of living through this, then they would have to work together. At least to survive long enough for help to arrive.
"Alright, Greenie. I'll trust you on this. Just try to stay alive, alright?"
"I don't intend on dying today."
Nodding, Tokage took off into the air. "You guys stay safe. I'll be back with some more help!"
"Uraraka, Asui, Jiro." The three girls perked up.
It was surprising to hear Midoriya speak with such command and composure. The same guy who got flustered in most social settings, especially around cute women.
In Uraraka's mind, she was reminded of the Battle Trials last week. Only now, her best friend seemed even more dialed in… if that was possible.
Meanwhile, the Captain's attention was focused on Shigaraki and the two other Villains a little ways off across the plaza.
"I need you three to listen to me very carefully."