Author's note: Those that are caught up with the recent manga chapters may notice that something's not right with how a certain character is acting in this chapter. That's because, while I enjoy what the manga is currently doing, I'm planning on going a different direction with it. For anyone who isn't caught up, don't worry, this isn't going to be a real factor in the story for a while. Just something to keep in mind as we go forward.

Also, for anyone wondering what Charr looks like, enjoy this art commissioned from a friend of mine: twitter /AnnieRosaArt/status/1456706691769196548?s=20&t=gprV4R_baNJjxmCtLH2Lag


Shoto dropped through the swirling darkness into the heart of an inferno. Any other person might have frozen at the sudden change, but Shoto was used to being surrounded by fire and immediately went into high alert. He tucked and rolled as he hit the ground, slapping the concrete to dissipate as much of the force as possible and smoothly coming to his feet a moment later.

He took stock of the area as quickly as he could. He was in the middle of a city on fire, or at least a few blocks of one. Beyond the buildings, he could see the curve of a dome in the gloom and smoke, rising up above and keeping the smoke from spreading. He did remember seeing a dome with flames painted on its side when they entered the USJ, and it seemed likely that he had been dropped inside of it.

Despite several of the lights going out across the USJ, and presumably plenty of disruptions to the electrical and plumbing systems, the inferno was still going strong. It was a testament to how well designed the building was in the first place. Given that Thirteen was intimately familiar with disasters of all types, it made sense that she would design her training facility to withstand as many as she could.

At least the inferno dome was an environment he was familiar with. He'd trained in plenty of burning rooms over the years, and this would be nothing new.

"Young Todoroki, are you unharmed?" Thirteen called from behind him

She and Koda had landed a few feet away, but were much slower about coming to their feet than Shoto had been. Thirteen's costume seemed to make fine movements difficult, like so many of them did, and she had to have Koda help her to her feet. Moments like that, and Bakugou's inability to wipe his eyes in the battle trial, reaffirmed Shoto's decision to keep his own to a simple jumpsuit.

"I'm fine," he replied before turning away to scan the area once more.

He couldn't see any signs of an exit through the smoke, which was a bit annoying. Poking around for it would take time, although Thirteen might be able to lead them straight towards it. Then they could get into the fight proper, and Shoto could freeze the villains who had interrupted their training solid. In particular, he wanted to freeze the cocky man in the stupid leather jacket solid.

"And you, Young Koda?" Thirteen asked. She paused for a moment, probably waiting for the boy to respond. When she spoke again, she seemed a little taken aback. "A-ah. I'm afraid I don't know sign language. Are you unable to speak? Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Shoto craned his head around to peek at his classmate. Koda was signing rapidly, his hands shaking so much that the signs were hard to make out. Not impossible though.

"Sorry. I'm fine. Sorry. I can hear, but… can't speak now. Have to sign. Sorry"

"He's fine," Shoto translated. "And he can understand. He just can't speak."

Thirteen let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Young Todoroki. I am glad you know sign language."

Koda, too, shot him a grateful look. Shoto shrugged in response. "My sister taught me when I was little," he explained.

It had been hard to see each other at night with their room so dark, but it had let them talk without their father overhearing. Natsuo knew how to sign as well, though he wasn't quite as proficient as either Shoto or Fuyumi.

"How thoughtful of her," Thirteen said. "Will you be able to translate while moving? We need to return to the others as quickly as possible."

Shoto shrugged. Translating wasn't hard, but keeping an eye on someone else while he was running through a burning city sounded annoying. He could move faster alone and he wouldn't have to mind about hitting an ally with his Quirk by accident.

"You don't have to," Koda signed quickly. "I can follow without talking."

Shoto nodded, grateful that Koda understood. He couldn't fight like Shoto could, and having to constantly keep an eye on him would only slow them down. It wasn't a mark against the boy, just a fact of life.

"You're not going anywhere," a familiar, accented voice said.

Shoto whipped around to find Charr emerging from a building across the street, flanked by a group of three other villains. The left one was dressed in jeans and a plain t-shirt and carried a metal pipe, while the right villain was unarmed and currently shedding his shirt as he walked towards Shoto and the others. The final villain was keeping his distance, as well as keeping a camera trained on Shoto and the others.

"Gotta say, Shigaraki really came through with this," Charr continued, "I was expecting him to flake out, but he might just be a decent villain someday. Assuming no one kills him for being annoying first."

Shoto didn't bother replying. Talk was cheap, and he could spend his breath better on attacking. Instead, he launched a full power ice blast directly at Charr and his companions. It was supposed to freeze them solid, as well as the flaming building behind them, just in case there were any other villains lurking there.

The icy wave never made it. Charr countered with his own blast of superheated ash, which completely overwhelmed Shoto's ice and came roaring towards him.

It veered to the side at the last second as Thirteen pulled it off course with her Quirk, but the exchange forced Shoto to acknowledge something.

Charr wasn't just some random villain with an overinflated ego. He was a serious threat with power that was comparable to Shoto's father. Not quite in the same league, but the fact that the comparison could be made at all showed how dangerous the man was. Endeavor was the second most powerful hero in the world, and Charr could probably match him in pure destruction, if not in skill.

Shoto lowered his stance to steady himself, ready to dodge Charr's next attack and counter with one of his own. Charr didn't attack, though. He just stood there, staring at Shoto with an amused expression.

"I respect the hustle kid, I really do, but you've gotta know you're fucked here. You're slinging ice around in the heat, and I can melt it faster than you can make it. So why don't you go ahead and run away. I do love a moving target…"

Charr reared back to throw another blast, but before he could attack he was yanked off of his feet by the massive suction of Black Hole. It seemed like Thirteen was done holding back to give the villains a chance to surrender. Her Quirk ripped chunks of the pavement up, drew in flames and smoke, and pulled the villains directly towards her.

"For the last time, you will not hurt these children while I still stand!"

Charr and his two underlings tumbled towards her, unable to even grip onto the concrete to stop themselves from being drawn in. Or, the underlings were unable to. Charr was a bit more creative and created twin jets of ash from his fists that blasted him away from Thirteen. The move saved him, but it also doomed the other two. The shirtless man took an ash blast to the back, screaming in pain and fury at the betrayal, while the other nearly had his head taken off by the other jet.

The ash was absorbed with all the rest as Thirteen continued to draw the remaining villains in. At the last moment, she cut off her Quirk and let the closest villain slam into her fist at top speed. He crumpled in an instant, clutching at his ribs as he fell to the ground in pain. The other didn't even make a move to get up, too busy rolling on the ground and trying to remove the hot ash that was still stuck to his back.

Charr scrambled to his feet, spitting out the remains of his cigar and immediately sticking another into his mouth. He'd lost the cocky grin he'd been wearing so recently, replacing it with an angry glare that said he didn't appreciate being tugged around the battlefield very much.

Shoto was about to try and freeze the man while he was distracted when someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

He whipped around, fist raised, only to find Koda staring at him with wide eyes. The other boy quickly raised his hands in surrender, apparently only now realizing that grabbing someone from behind during active combat was a bad idea.

Shoto was about to send Koda away when the timid boy signed something that caught his attention.

"I think I can stop his attacks, if you let me help…"

Shoto took a moment to ponder it, but in the end his desire to see the villain punished won out over his dislike of having to work with someone else to secure the win.

"I'm listening…"


It was, Minoru reflected as he plunged towards the rain-soaked ground below him, probably the worst day of his life.

First he had been ambushed by reporters on his way to school, and not in a fun or cool way. They had pulled him into the crowd by the gates, interrogated him, and then cast him away when he didn't answer in the way they wanted him to. Then he'd nearly been trampled on his way out of the crowd, since none of them had been watching where they were stepping. At least he was good at dodging flailing feet and knees after having been stepped on or kicked in a crowd plenty of times growing up.

After that, he'd gotten screwed out of being a class representative before he could even make a decent argument for himself! He'd made one joke, and Ashido had immediately shut him down and moved on, which just wasn't fair! He had actual qualifications and reasons for doing it, not that anyone seemed to care. For gods' sake, Midoriya hadn't even wanted to be vice rep in the first place! He just went with it because he was too polite to say no.

And now, to cap it all off, Minoru was going to die before even getting past first base with a girl.

"It's just not fair!" he screamed as the pavement rushed up to meet him.

The sight did trigger a memory from the battle trial, though. He and Midoriya had been in a similar situation, and Pop Off had managed to save them. He figured that if had worked there, it would probably help here too.

As quickly as he could, he ripped the balls off of his head and hurled them at the ground until they formed a cushion that he could safely land on. He finished not a moment too soon and landed on the makeshift platform with a grunt. Unlike Midoriya, he didn't stick to the balls, but bounced at least half his height in the air before coming back down.

He had only just stopped bouncing when something slammed down onto his back and nearly squashed him flat. It was quickly followed by two more impacts, though they were a lot less crushing than the first had been.

"Are you freaking kidding me!" Minoru wheezed.

"Oh shit, sorry bro!" Kirishima said, rolling off of him.

Minoru scrambled to his feet and looked at the absolute assholes who had done their best to squish him flat.

Kirishima looked apologetic, at least, rubbing at the back of his head as he shot Minoru a look of contrition. Asui wasn't even paying attention, spinning in place to look at the city around them. She didn't seem to be bothered too much by the rain and wind that were driving against them. It was impossible to tell Hagakure's expression, obviously, but her posture looked pretty apologetic. Minoru could tell that much better than usual, thanks to the rain coating her which made it surprisingly easy to see her outline.

He was in the middle of appreciating said outline when Asui's tongue lashed out and smacked him so hard that he saw stars.

"What was that for?"

"Crimes against women," she replied without turning to look at him.

He grumbled, but didn't say anything further. He knew he'd just get the others piling on, despite the fact that he hadn't done anything wrong! Hagakure was the one who was walking around butt naked in a rainstorm!

Something moved at the corner of his vision, and Minoru turned to find an incredibly strange sight. There was a woman hanging from the streetlight behind him, her long, dark hair blowing freely in the wind as it hung beneath her and large ears twitching back and forth. At first, Minoru thought that she was wearing some kind of leather coat, but he quickly realized that she had leathery wings that she had wrapped around herself, probably to protect her from the wind and driving rain of the storm dome.

As Minoru stared at her, the woman adopted a soft smile, and gestured at him to step closer. She had long, delicate fingers and while her nails looked sharper than he would have liked, Minoru was not going to refuse a request from a lady.

He made it halfway to the woman before he was lifted off of his feet and into the air. It was a familiar sensation after the battle trial, and Minoru hated every moment of it as Asui yanked him back and tossed him unceremoniously into Kirishima's waiting arms. That was just about the last place he wanted to be at the moment, and Minoru quickly pushed his way free and glared at Asui.

"Oh come on! I was just being friendly! She was the one that waved at me!"

"Ever heard of stranger danger, kero?" Asui responded.

That… actually that was a good point. Minoru had been so distracted by being sat on, then seeing Hagakure that he had nearly forgotten about the whole "under attack by a group of crazy villains" thing.

He turned back to the woman, now regarding her with suspicion. She looked amused by the exchange, with a small smile on her face. Slowly, that smile grew until her lips finally drew back and revealed her teeth. Or, more accurately, her fangs. Each and every tooth had been filed down to a point, a jagged one in most cases.

Minoru reeled backwards in surprise and alarm, and the woman chose that moment to strike. She spread her arms wide, unfurling her wings with a snap, and launched herself forward with a gleeful shriek that hurt Minoru's ears.

Now that he could see the rest of her body, Minoru could tell that she was freakishly thin, and she was dressed in ragged jeans and a plain t-shirt with numerous holes in it. It was a far cry from Jirou's casual punk style, and mostly just made the woman look like some combination of crazed and homeless. As she approached, he could even see that she had numerous tiny scars and marks running up and down her arms. With a start, he realized they were track marks, and his pulse skyrocketed.

He couldn't move, though, not even to get out of the way as she bore down on him with sadistic glee in her eyes.

A moment before she grabbed him, Kirishima slammed into Minoru's side and pushed him out of the way. In a flash, his skin hardened and he took the blow in Minoru's place. The woman didn't even slow down as she slammed into Kirishima's chest, kicking him and bouncing backwards in one quick motion.

Kirishima was shoved back along the slick pavement, but his guard didn't break and he didn't seem to be much worse for wear.

"Dammit!" the woman hissed, coming to rest back on the streetlight. "You're not supposed to be hard! You're supposed to squish, and scream, and dance with me! We need to dance, and you're making it impossible!"

"What does that even mean?" Minoru asked, only to be met with a maniacal giggling and a smile filled with sharpened teeth.

This wasn't what he'd signed up for! He wanted to be a hero, a popular guy who went around helping people out and getting rewarded for it. He wasn't supposed to be in any real danger, especially not during training!

His knees shook, his stomach wouldn't stop twisting in knots, and he honestly felt like he was going to faint any second. It didn't help that the woman kept talking about absolute nonsense, things about dancing and lights that made Minoru wonder if she was on drugs at that very moment. She only stopped when Asui hurled a trash can at her head, forcing the woman to leap off of the street lamp. The woman then took to the air, winging her way around the group in loose circles, just fast enough that trying to throw anything at her would be pointless.

She had no difficulty attacking them, however. After just a few circles, she dove in close to the group and let out a shriek that drove Minoru to his knees. It sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard, but a million times worse. He had thought that a shout from Present Mic was the worst audio assault he would ever be faced with, but it seemed he was very wrong. Even standing was impossible as the shriek wormed its way inside his head and tore at his concentration. Next to him, Kirishima dropped to his knees as well, his skin visibly softening as his control failed. Seeing her opportunity, the woman swooped in and slashed at Kirishima with her sharpened fingernails, drawing several bloody scratches across his chest.

The upside to the attack was that she stopped screaming during it. Minoru scrambled to his feet and dashed out of the way as fast as he could, only to run directly into Hagakure, who was heading the opposite way.

"Agh!" she cried, as she tumbled to the ground, "Watch where you're going!"

"You're invisible!" Minoru called back, clambering to his feet as well.

He didn't really have a plan of where to go, he just wanted to be as far away from the crazy lady as he could possibly be. A nearby alleyway caught his eye as a possible hiding spot, and he started to make his way over to it only to be confronted by a new threat before he could reach his destination.

A group of villains stepped out from the alleyway, each of them dressed in rain gear of some sort. A couple were even carrying umbrellas, though they were struggling to keep them up in the face of the storm dome's driving wind. Most of them were also carrying weapons, including spiked baseball bats and honest-to-god machetes.

Minoru paled. He'd already seen more than enough villains for an entire lifetime today, and without a teacher standing between him and the villains, they looked even scarier. Or maybe it was just the way their rain gear obscured their faces and made them look like horror movie extras.

With the immediate exit cut off, Minoru made a hard to the right, skidding slightly on the wet pavement, only to see the bat villain hurtling through the air towards him. Apparently she had decided to pick off the one who was fleeing the group, which was extraordinarily bad news for him. Her eyes were wide and manic as she came at him, and her fingers were extended to claw at him!

He shrieked in fear and threw himself to the side as hard as he could, only barely making it out of the way in time. He felt the breeze from her passage as well as heard the cry of annoyance as she was forced to swerve to avoid crashing into the group of villains behind Minoru.

Before he could continue his strategic retreat, a familiar tongue wrapped itself around his waist and pulled him back towards his classmates. This time, he didn't object in the slightest. In fact, the moment he was free of Asui's grip he tried to give her a hug in thanks, only to be sidestepped and ignored.

He stumbled slightly but managed to keep his feet underneath him as he turned back around to face the villains. The bat woman had disappeared again, but the other villains had gathered in the street and seemed to be readying themselves to attack.

"Anyone got a plan?" Kirishima asked, eyeing the villains dubiously, "Because I don't think I can fight that many guys by myself."

"Me either, kero."

"I vote we run!" Minoru added helpfully.

"Dude, that's so unmanly!"

"And getting killed isn't?"

"Dude, we're not going to die!"

"Oh, but you are!" the woman shrieked as she shot from a nearby alleyway.

She slammed into Kirishima, sending him flying down the street, then turned on Asui. Claws flashed in the rain, and Asui cried out in pain and stumbled backwards under the woman's assault. For a second it seemed like Asui would be overwhelmed, but then the woman was suddenly thrown to the side as Hagakure slammed into her side. The bat villain shrieked and took to the air once more, fluttering across the street to hang from a traffic light while glaring balefully at them.

"Are you alright Tsuyu?' Hagakure asked as she helped Asui to her feet.

"Been better," she croaked.

"Sorry, she caught me by surprise!" Kirishima said, dashing over to stand with them again.

"Yeah, us too. I didn't even see her coming!" Hagakure replied.

"Can we get to running now?" Minoru said, reminding everyone what the real priority was.

"Dude, why is that your first priority?"

"Because I'm not crazy? We can't fight that many guys! I can't even fight one guy! And you heard the crazy hand-guy! These people want to kill All Might! What kinda chance do we have against that?"

"A better one than if we just run away at the first sign of danger!" Kirishima shot back.

"How about we focus on staying alive first?" Asui said.

"Easier said than done," Hagakure added, stepping up to stand beside them. To her credit, she wasn't even shivering in the pounding rain and wind of the storm dome.

Minoru thought about it for a moment, then moved to stand beside them. He was still terrified at the idea of fighting, but he had to admit that he'd rather have other people watching his back than try and run from the villains by himself. One of them could even have a gun, which was a terrifying thought.

"I'll take staying alive," he said simply.

"And I'll take your heads!" the bat woman screamed. "A dose for every head, that's what he promised, and I intend to collect! Grab them, beat them, do whatever you want! Then we go hunting for more!"

Her voice grated on Minoru's ears and was almost as terrifying as the words she was saying. Even the other villains looked a little uncomfortable around the woman, and Minoru couldn't blame them. But, he had to admit, he did feel a little better when Kirishima moved to stand in front of them all, hardening himself and taking a fighting stance.

"Bring it on! I'm hard enough to take you all on!"

Minoru snorted. He'd give Kirishima this; the man had come up with a war cry Minoru could get behind.


Kyouka's first thought on plunging into the freezing water was that she was infinitely glad her mother had made her take swimming lessons when she was younger. Her second thought was "Oh shit, my boots!"

Of all the scenarios she had imagined when designing the sound amplifying footwear, being dropped into a lake was not one of them. To her immense relief, though, it seemed as though the support department had thought of something like it and had waterproofed accordingly, keeping both the electronics and her feet surprisingly dry.

She quickly kicked towards the surface, her lungs already starting to burn from the lack of oxygen. She was halfway there when a flicker of motion caught her eye. A shark-like man with scuba gear was surging through the water directly towards her. Whatever he said was muffled by the water, but the evil smile on his face left no doubt as to his intentions.

Kyouka swam as fast as she could, but it was no use. The villain darted through the water at a speed she couldn't match and closed in on her in a matter of seconds. She twisted around at the last second, trying to get out of the way of his gnashing jaws and partially succeeding. Rather than tearing her throat out, the villain's teeth simply raked against the collar of her jacket and the side of her neck. The teeth punched through the jacket, but a lot of force was lost in the process, and she merely suffered scratches instead of a mauling.

It hurt like hell, but it did give her an idea. A long time ago, her father had told her a story about his leather jacket saving his life when someone pulled a knife on him at a concert. She figured that shark teeth and knives were similar enough that it should be enough to protect her.

As the shark villain swam around for another pass, Kyouka ripped her jacked off and wrapped it around her right arm as best she could in the water. There wasn't enough to cover her whole arm, but it did give a little bit of protection and that was all she needed.

As the villain closed in again, she brought her arm up in front of her to block his jaws. He bit down on her arm with tremendous force, but his teeth couldn't pierce the wrapped leather. He shook his head from side to side, trying to saw through the material, but Kyouka wasn't content to let him keep biting away at her. She jammed both of her ear jacks into the villain's face, aiming directly for his eyes.

One of her jacks bounced off of the goggles the man was wearing, but the other jack managed to pierce the glass and stab the man in the eye. He let go of Kyouka instantly, rearing back to clutch at his face in pain and giving her a chance to escape that she happily took.

The surface felt even further away than it had before as her vision began to turn black around the edges. Her lungs were on fire and her arms and legs were leaden. She was starting to see things too. As she reached for the surface, she could swear that she saw an angel reaching down towards her, complete with a glowing halo.

A moment later, Kyouka felt something poking into her neck and for a moment she feared that the shark villain had caught up to her. Then she was jerked upwards by her collar, out of the water and into the air. She got the brief impression of a boat floating in the middle of a lake surrounded by a group of very surprised looking villains before her arc brought her down onto the deck of said ship.

She braced for the crash, but was surprised to find herself landing in a pair of strong yet gentle arms.

"I've got you," a familiar voice said.

Kyouka looked up into the gently smiling face of Momo Yaoyorozu. It seemed like she'd been dropped in the lake too, given that she was dripping wet and her normally impressive ponytail was plastered to her back. Somehow she still managed to look remarkably put together, though.

All of a sudden, Kyouka realized that she had been staring at her classmate without saying anything for several seconds, and it was starting to get a little awkward.

She scrambled to her feet, Yaoyorozu letting her down gently, and gave her savior a small bow.

"Um, thanks," she said, "For saving me."

"You should thank Sato as well," Yaoyorozu replied, "He was the one that actually pulled you out."

Kyouka turned to find their somewhat intimidating classmate standing sheepishly behind her. A large fishing pole was clutched in one hand while he gave her a small wave with the other. It might have just been her imagination, but Kyouka thought his muscles were even larger than she remembered, and there was a slightly vacant look in his eyes as he stared at her.

"Thanks," she repeated.

"Don't mention it," he said, giving her a small smile in return.

Not even a second later a scream echoed across the lake, coupled with the sound of furious splashing as someone desperately tried to escape the water. Kyouka dashed over to the side of the boat and looked down to see Aoyama floundering about as a group of villains circled him.

"Je suis trop fabuleux pour mourir! Help meeeeee!"

Thankfully, Sato was on top of things. He whipped the fishing rod forward, snagging Aoyama's costume in the same way that he had retrieved Kyouka, and pulled the screaming boy onto the boat with a mighty heave.

"Merci beaucoup," Aoyama groaned, once he had recovered from the sudden rescue.

"Hey, why don't you make it easier on all of us and come down here!" a new voice called from the water.

It was the shark villain who had attacked Kyouka who spoke, with the others nodding along as he did. He'd ditched his broken goggles, and the eye that Kyouka had stabbed was closed in pain, though she hadn't jabbed him that hard, so it was probably just sore.

"We would prefer not to," Yaoyorozu replied with an amazing amount of poise considering the man was obviously threatening her.

"Guess we're doing it the fun way then. Perfect. You cost me an expensive pair of goggles, girlie, and I'm going to take the cost out of your hide!" the shark villain called back. "Sink the ship, boys!"

The villains dove under the water, and a moment later Kyouka felt the entire boat lurch. A massive bubble burst up around the edge of the hull, and the entire thing began to list to the side, forcing everyone on board to shift around to prevent themselves from sliding along the deck.

"I don't know a lot about boats, but I think that's a bad sign!" Sato shouted.

"They've breached the hull below the waterline, causing us to take on water," Yaoyorozu informed them.

"Can we stop it?" Kyouka asked, trying hard to keep the panic out of her voice.

"We could, but I don't think it would help," Yaoyorozu said. "I could make a patch, but the villains could simply make another hole once I was done. It's much easier to break things than repair them."

"Well we gotta do something quick!" Sato said, glancing down at the water below them. "We're sinking fast and I'm not a great swimmer!"

He looked about as scared as Kyouka felt, just like the rest of them. Aoyama's ever present sparkle had dimmed and even Yaoyorozu, who had seemed like the picture of grace under fire during the battle trial, looked pale.

"Ready to give up yet?" a villain called from below, poking his head out of the water to taunt them. "I promise we'll make it quick!"

Kyouka didn't even really think about what she was doing. She was just tired of hearing the smug prick's voice and wanted to shut him up. She swung her leg up onto the railing, pointing her boot speakers at the villain as best she could, and fired off a concentrated soundbeam at the man. Given how fast her heart was beating at the moment, it was probably even more potent than usual and the villain cried out in pain before diving lower into the water to escape the sound.

Kyouka clicked her tongue in frustration. She'd been hoping to knock the man out with the sound, or at least send him running for shore. Him just diving out of the way was more frustrating than she wanted to admit.

"That's it!" Yaoyorozu cried as she dashed to the railing. "Jirou, are the speakers on your boots special in any way?"

"No?" Kyouka said hesitantly, "I just asked for something that could amplify the sounds I make with my jacks."

"Perfect!" Yaoyorozu replied, dropping to one knee.

She pulled the thick book off of the back of her costume, and flipped through it before finding whatever she was looking for. Then, to Kyouka's shock, she proceeded to tear her top open, entirely exposing her chest. Sato immediately spun away from her, red in the face, while Aoyama averted his gaze much more gracefully. At the same time, Yaoyorozu's chest began to glow and shimmer, while a look of deep concentration crossed her face.

"A shame to waste an outfit like that," Aoyama commented casually, as if women regularly tore their clothes off in front of him

"I can make more clothes once this is over," Yaoyorozu replied.

"Ah, but for the moment you are unclothed upon the battlefield. Such lack of decorum does not befit a hero. Indeed, our duty is to shine fabulously at all times and you cannot inspire if those around you are forced to turn away!"

"Pretty sure it's not the people looking away that are the issue here," Kyouka snapped, not quite sure what to do in this situation.

Part of her felt like she should turn away as well, while a small yet insistent part insisted there was no way in hell she could do that. She did her best to squash that second one down, but her efforts were thwarted when something large began to emerge from Yaoyorozu's chest and stomach. In seconds, a massive speaker was resting in front of the girl, along with a thick coil of rope and what appeared to be a climbing harness.

With her creation done, the glow around Yaoyorozu faded, and she pitched forward in exhaustion. Kyouka lunged forward and barely managed to catch her classmate before she smacked her face on the deck.

Yaoyorozu looked exhausted by the act of creation, and her cheeks looked sunken compared to a few moments ago. She stared up at Kyouka with eyes half lidded by exhaustion, but ones that were clearly filled with pride as well.

"I've got you," Kyouka said, shifting Yaoyorozu's head slightly into a more comfortable position.

"Thank you. I needed more dense materials than I anticipated, which was taxing. I should be fine with rest and some food, though."

"Here," Sato said, bending down to hand Yaoyorozu a candy bar that he had pulled from his belt, "They're not as efficient as pure sugar for me, but I keep them around for variety."

Yaoyorozu took it gratefully, and began to munch away at the treat while filling them in on her plan between bites.

"Sound waves travel faster underwater, and reflect more easily. So, with a large enough speaker, Jirou's Quirk should be able to damage all the villains at once, provided they're underwater at the time. I made it as waterproof as I can, so all we need to do is have Sato lower it into the water, and you can hit them with a massive burst that should stop them. Or at least give us an opportunity to swim for shore and find the others."

"What if they attack the speaker before we're done?" Sato asked.

"Aoyama will need to distract them," she replied, turning to face the blonde boy. "Do you think you can keep your Quirk up long enough for us to lower it down?"

"I shall sparkle most brilliantly!" he declared confidently.

"Then let us begin."


Kaminari cried out in alarm as he dropped out of the darkness and saw the ground hurtling up towards him. Before he could slam into it, however, something grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked him upwards. It let him go a moment afterwards, but it had been enough to cancel his momentum, and all he got when he hit the ground was a bruise, rather than any broken bones.

He crawled to his feet as quickly as he could, wincing slightly as he did so, and took a look around. It was harder than usual, given that quite a few of the overhead lights were off, but the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the various windows and skylights made it possible.

He was high up, well above even the entrance to the USJ, sitting on the edge of the large, mountainous-style area on the far side of the building. Far below him he could see the various domes and pathways of the facility and, if he squinted, he could even see some flashes of color in the ruined city that he assumed were his classmates and the villains that had ambushed them.

"A timely save. Thank you, Tokoyami," a voice said from behind him.

Kaminari turned to find Iida, Tokoyami, Sero, and Shoji dusting themselves off. Iida was the one who had spoken, giving Tokoyami an approving pat on the back.

"Dropping through all that darkness gave Dark Shadow a power boost," Tokoyami explained. "Not enough to run wild, but enough to catch you all."

"That's right!" Dark Shadow crowed, emerging from under his cape. "I'm the greatest, and you should all bow before me!"

"Apologies. The gloom agrees with him," Tokoyami said, looking a bit sheepish, even if Kaminari couldn't exactly say what part of his avian expression gave that impression.

Dark Shadow did look a little bigger than usual, now that Kaminari thought about it, but maybe it was just his imagination. Either way, he was glad to have Tokoyami with him. After the battle trial, Kaminari had a very healthy respect for his comrade's abilities and Quirk.

Which was why it was so devastating to see him collapse a moment later, clutching at his side as he cried out in pain. It was sudden too, and Kaminari stumbled back in surprise, nearly falling on his ass as he whipped his head around to look for the source of his classmate's injury.

A few meters away, Kaminari saw a group of villains emerging from the rocks, grins on their faces and weapons in their hands. One of them, a man covered head to toe in spines, had an arm raised in Tokoyami's direction and a gruesome smile on his face.

"Nice shot, dude!" one of the other villains called out, raising his hand to give his compatriot a friendly slap on the back before thinking better of it.

"Been practicing," the first one said proudly.

"What the fuck?" Kaminari shouted.

"Language!" Iida said. "But I agree with the sentiment. What gives you the right to attack us?"

"We're villains, duh!" another villain called out, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That is not a legitimate reason!" Iida shouted, suddenly shooting forward for a roundhouse kick.

Honestly, he seemed more angry about the villains' poor logic than them actually attacking the school, which kind of tracked. Kaminari hadn't spent much time around the guy, but he seemed like the type to get super tightly wound over little things while missing the overall picture.

"Dude, don't just charge in!" Sero called after him.

It was no use. Iida crashed into the spiked villain and sent him flying with a single kick before turning on the nearest enemy. The second villain proved far tougher than the first, taking a blow to the stomach without being knocked over. He struck back, but looked a little dazed by the force of the kick as he did so. Even still, the punch looked like it would hurt a lot.

To Kaminari's surprise, Iida dodged the blow with ease, bending like a gymnast before dashing backwards a few steps.

"Kaminari, Sero, I would appreciate your assistance!" Iida said, not looking away from the villains.

The other villains were keeping a healthy distance from him, and Kaminari could see why. Credit where it was due, Iida kinda looked like a badass at the moment, especially after dispatching a villain so quickly. The rest were looking at each other, waiting for someone else to be the first to attack so they didn't have to.

Kaminari wasn't really sure what he could add, but he jogged forward to stand beside Iida.

"How well can you direct the electricity you emit?" Iida asked the second Kaminari reached him.

"Not at all!" Kaminari chirped.

Iida looked a little disappointed at the reply, but recovered quickly. "In that case, we shall stick to melee. I will need you to deal with whichever opponents I cannot knock out. Sero, please restrain those who we defeat afterwards."

"Dude, that is a lot of guys," Kaminari said, eyeing the group of opponents before them. "Shouldn't we just run or something?"

Even with Iida being a badass, the villains had them seriously outnumbered and a lot of them looked pretty strong. Kaminari didn't like the idea of trying to fight them since he and the others could easily get surrounded and attacked from behind. Plus, the villains were starting to recover their morale after Iida's initial assault.

"Yeah, shouldn't we get Tokoyami some help?" Sero said.

"Without knowing our opponent's abilities, it would be dangerous to expose our backs to them," Iida replied. "If they have ranged Quirks, they could pick us off as we try to make our way down the mountain. Even if they don't, we must stop them here. If they leave the mountain and flank the others, they could be in serious danger. If the others came to harm because I allowed villains to roam free, I would never be able to call myself a hero!"

If it had been someone else, Kaminari might have suspected them of coming up with the speech ahead of time and waiting for a moment just like this to deploy it. But Iida was way too straightforward for that. He really meant those words, and they resonated with Kaminari more than any perfectly crafted line from a movie or TV show ever had. They made him want to stand up and act like a hero!

"Dude, that was an awesome speech!" Kaminari said. "I'm in! Let's kick some butt and help our buddies out!

Sero nodded as well, grabbing some strips of tape from his elbows and readying himself for combat.

"Shoji!" Iida called. "I leave the defense of our comrade to you. Make sure he stays safe."

Shoji didn't reply, but Kaminari was pretty sure he got the message. He moved to stand over Tokoyami's still prone form, unfolding his arms to block any projectiles that might come their way. He reminded Kaminari a lot of the frilled dinosaurs from the old Jurassic Park movie he'd seen a long time ago.

"With me, everyone! For UA! Plus…" Iida shouted.

"Ultra!" Kaminari called in perfect time with Sero as they dashed towards the villains.