Hikari couldn't tell what was up, what was down, or even if she was upright at all. The portal was taking a while to transport her, where was she—

SPLASH!

Well, now she knew.

Hikari opened her eyes. She was underwater, but there wasn't anything else in the water with her. She looked around, her teal head circling her head belatedly. However, she didn't have to wait for long. Another splash to her right caught her attention, and Hikari could spot the gym uniform and short green hair. 'That's Midoriya!'

She swam as best as she could towards him, but just as she was arms length from him, a different figure swam its way towards Midoriya at an alarming speed. 'A villain! Shit! And he's fast, too!' Instantly, Hikari pushed the boy behind her and created a body-sized shield. She squeezed her eyes shut, ready for impact… only it never came.

When Hikari opened her eyes, Tsuyu had given a swift kick to the villain's side. "Hey, Midoriya! Hinata!" Instantly, her tongue wrapped around Midoriya and grabbed Hikari by the arm as she kicked away the villain.

When they resurfaced, Hikari used her shield as a floatation device as Tsuyu lifted Midoriya onto the ship.

"Damn, so we're in the shipwreck zone," Hikari muttered as she coughed out the water she accidentally swallowed. "We would've been dead meat without you, Tsuyu."

"It's no problem, but call me Tsu," the frog girl replied as she retracted her tongue. "It's your turn now."

Tsuyu lifted Hikari onto the ship and climbed up the side, letting the tealette aid her.

"You saved our lives, Asui," Midoriya thanked her as she reached the ledge.

"I told you to call me Tsu, but this is turning out to be a terrible day of class."

"Yeah, I keep thinking about what that villain said."

"Which part?" Hikari muttered sarcastically as she squeezed the water out of her hair. "The part where they want to kill All Might or the part where we're gonna die?"

The boy shook his head, ignoring her attempt at humoring them. "The change in plans. They knew our whole schedule and who would be here. They must have gotten into school files when we were all stuck in the cafeteria. The teachers were busy trying to get the media off school grounds. That means they've been waiting for the perfect time to attack, just like Todoroki said they were."

"But what about All Might? He can stop them, right? He won't go down so easily," Hikari said as she clenched her fists.

"Think about it, though," Tsuyu interjected, "If the villains spent so much time planning this attack, then they probably figured out a way to kill him."

'K-Kill him?' Hikari's teal eyes widened as she gasped softly.

"And didn't you hear what that smoke guy said? Maybe we should worry more about not getting tortured to death. Otherwise we might not survive long enough to see All Might again. And even if he does show up, who knows if he'll make it out in one piece."

Hikari hovered her hands over Tsuyu's mouth, effectively shutting her up. "O-Okay, that's enough, Tsu!" she chuckled nervously. "My nerves are enough on edge as is, and I don't need more, thanks!"

A loud splash against the ship interrupted their conversation. Midoriya, Tsuyu, and Hikari looked out and saw villains swimming up to the ship. "You bastards! I'll enjoy eating you!" one of them shouted, making Hikari reel away from the rail. 'Gh—! What are we gonna do? There's tons of them heading our way!'

"If they can beat him," Midoriya began, "then we have to stop whatever it is these bad guys are planning. We have to work together and keep All Might safe. No one at U.A knows what's happening." He looked up, and Hikari could see the bright determination in his emerald green eyes. "This is up to us, let's be heroes!"

Hikari looked over at Tsuyu. Though her dark iris betrayed no emotion, they seemed to agree with Midoriya's sentiment.

"Okay, then, we can't wait around like damsels," Hikari said. "But how are we gonna help All Might if we're stuck here?"

"You seem to forget that I'm pretty good in the water, Hikari," Tsuyu replied.

"That may be true, those villains down there clearly have an advantage in the water and assume that's where we'll fight,"

"If that's the case, they must have known what was inside the USJ before they warped in," realized Tsuyu, a finger to her chin as she spoke.

"Y'know, for all this planning, scattering us around the USJ seems pretty careless," Hikari sighed. She gestured vaguely at their surroundings. "If Tsu's so great in the water, why'd she get sent here?"

"It means that the villains have no idea what our quirks are!" exclaimed Midoriya.

The frog girl blinked in comprehension. "You've got a point." She looked over to the dome with flames painted on the outside. "If they knew I was a frog, they would've sent into that fire zone over there instead of somewhere full of water."

Hikari exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding. "At least you're okay, Tsu."

"Being trapped on this boat isn't okay either, Hikari."

"They probably separated us because they didn't know what we could do," continued Midoriya. "They planned to over power us once we were in smaller groups. Easier to pick us off one by one. We can use that to our advantage."

"How? Our only way out is way over there." Hikari gestured beyond the water and near the exit where the warp villain transported class 1-A.

"They don't know what our quirks are, so for all they know, the three of us could be super powerful."

Hikari looked from her classmates to the villains in the water. The feeling of hopelessness clenched in her stomach, threatening to empty her stomach contents. Her fists clenched. She didn't like that horrible feeling, she wanted it to go away, but as much as she tried, she simply couldn't will it away. Hikari was only fifteen, the only other time she felt this much despair was when…

'It was when Mom died.'

Midoriya's voice brought her back to reality. "Look, none of them are trying to climb back into the boat. That proves they're a little unsure, but that means they're not gonna underestimate us either." A grim realization entered his tone. "They're being smart and playing it safe, for now…"

"So let's talk quirks. I'll go first, if you want." Tsu casually spoke, as if Midoriya hadn't micro analyzed the grim reality of their situation. Her tone was even, as if she were talking about the weather. "Obviously, I can jump high and cling onto pretty much any wall, and of course, there's my tongue. I can stick it out about 20 meters. Oh, yeah, and I can spit out my stomach so I can clean it. That's not really useful. Finally, I also secrete a toxic mucus. It just stings a bit."

"That's… pretty versatile, Tsu," breathed Hikari. She suddenly felt Solar Shield paled in comparison

"We can probably only use my jumping and my tongue here, forget about the last things."

"I figured you were powerful, but that's amazing," Midoriya complimented. He raised his fist to his face. "I have my super strength, but it comes at a price. Once I use it, I'm pretty much out of commission. It's a double-edged sword until I can control it."

The greenettes turned to look at Hikari, who awkwardly cleared her throat. "Guess it's my turn then." She manifested a weak shield over her wrist, one that didn't need so much sunlight, and she could see Midoriya's eyes shimmer. Whether it was from amazement or it was the reflection of her light, she couldn't tell.

"Solar Shield lets me create shields of various sizes. Their strength also varies, too, it depends on how much sunlight I want to put into it. This one's weak right now, I don't wanna waste anymore than I need to right now." She willed it away, gold dust floating in its wake. "My body is like a solar panel. My skin absorbs sunlight so I can create them. If I have an excess of energy, then my body gets restless and antsy. If I don't have enough energy, I get all sleepy. Overuse of my quirk causes migraines and burns on my body, so I have to be careful."

Midoriya and Tsuyu were quiet as Hikari spoke, unnerving the girl as she realized it. "B-But it doesn't look like it'll be useful right now, haha!"

"N-No, Hinata! It's great!" Midoriya reassured her, feeling equally panicked. "But we'll just have to figure out how to use it—"

Before Midoriya could finish, however, a massive tramor shook the boat. Hikari felt herself rock violently from side to side and fall onto the deck floor. She looked up to see a giant hand made out of water hovering in the air.

"I'm starting to get bored!" a villain angrily shouted. "Let's get the show on the road!"

"That's a great power, now the ship's sinking," Tsuyu lamented.

"Well, crap," was all Hikari could muster to say. Her teal irises shrank as she overheard a villain crow that the ship would sink in less than a minute. Fear and dread continued to churn in her stomach, making it harder to breathe. 'Don't be a coward, Hikari, you can do this. Why are you letting yourself get scared?'

"Listen up." Midoriya's voice cut through her internal turmoil again. "'An enemy that is certain of their victory is bound to make a mistake.' All Might said something along those lines in a TV interview a while back." Hikari saw his fists clench through the white gloves as he turned around, resolve shimmering in his eyes once more. "Now's our chance. We can beat them!"