The day after the student president and vice presidential election, started off the same as any other school day. The same classes, the same teachers, and the same interpersonal interactions of the previous days took center stage amongst the students of 1-A.
That it would be one of the most important days of their lives was something none of them would have been able to foresee.
As was usual with such things.
I
12.50
It was as the clock was nearing 13.00, that Aizawa dropped something new on his class, out of nowhere, and without suggesting anything about it at all. It was a pattern that almost all his previous students had despised about the man.
His tendency to just drop things on them without any warning or forecast. Sometimes it was for non-serious stuff, other times for the most dire of events.
"For the most foundational skills of Heroics, we'll study today… It was decided that you'll be supervised by a team comprising me, All Might, and somebody else."
A few, like Izuku, immediately picked up on the fact that he had said "It was decided", meaning the higher-ups of the school had debated it, which had its own implications.
Most though, like Sero, a student with tape dispensers for elbows, instead was focused on the more practical question, and so he, with his arm raised up, of course, asked:
"Sensei! What will we be doing?"
Aizawa, like All Might before him, raised up a golden card from the table, and presented the word "Rescue' in scarlet red to the class.
The motion could not have been more different though, with a complete lack of energy behind it.
"...Be the Hero everyone needs, whether it's a flood or any other disaster... It's the Trial of Rescue...!"
The class immediately began talking amongst themselves, about their thoughts on it, and what sort of stuff they personally would handle the best.
"You know Izuku, for all his deep discipline, he really does just let people talk during his speeches, rather than enforcing silence through the entire thing… Do you think he does that deliberately? Let people talk so he can reinforce his image of being a harsh, in charge image by shutting the talk down?"
Izuku, who was busy trying to speculate on exactly how she would use her enormous might, but not exactly versatile powerset, in a rescue environment, was taken completely aback by that suggestion.
Her eyes immediately went to Aizawa, to study him, and sure enough…
Just as the talks began to start in earnest, two burning, laserlike eyes appeared, and shut down any further talk.
"See? He does do that on purpose!"
He apparently did! It wasn't that Aizawa had a natural knack for this way of dominating his students. He simply knew from experience how to do it. Planning the flow of class out for maximum effect.
That realization completely changed Izuku's thoughts on the man. This image and personality of his… Was an act. Or at least part of it was.
Just like with his first history teacher, Aizawa was putting on a performance to test his students. She wasn't sure where it actually ended, but now that she saw it was there, it was impossible to unsee.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves."
Aizawa said after silence was once again reestablished.
As he continued, he fished out a remote, and clicked it, making the wall open out where the class' Costumes were now usually stored when not in use.
"...As I was saying… This time it's entirely up to each of you whether you want to wear your costume or not. Some will not be suitable for the work ahead. Others will need further modifications… The training area is relatively far away though, so we'll get there by bus. That's all. Go get prepared before we leave."
As the class began to do just that, Izuku recalled things from her own past.
She recalled watching the moment that had set her on the path to wanting to become a hero in the first place. All Might's first appearance as a pro, where he saved so many people in one day.
She recalled that same All Might saving her life from the sludge guy, who had tried to drown her.
And finally, she recalled something else… Her own fleeting moment of true perfection, as power and might ran through her, and how she'd used that to save Mei.
Yes… This was what it was all about.
There would be battles ahead in her future. Missions, team-ups, and journeys… But THIS was what being a Hero was all about.
Saving people.
I
Iida and Momo very proudly and energetically(At least for Iida) took charge of the class entering the bus, making everyone line up based on their seat numbers so that those who would be furthest in the back would enter first, and those ahead of them would enter afterwards.
The only problem with that was that the bus didn't have the usual layout of four sets, two on each side, instead having a lower lever in front where people sat in seats by the wall.
The two of them seemed sorta depressed by the fact they wasted 5 minutes of everyone's time, but as usual, it was Iida who was the more melodramatic, prompting Izuku to clap him encouragingly on the back to try to cheer him up.
"You two need to learn to handle things on the spot without planning to." Mei said cheerfully from the backside of the bus.
For once the girl was not fidgeting with some tech, instead sitting calmly with the same huge horizontal bag she'd carried stuff in Aizawa's first test, across her lap.
That didn't seem to cheer either of them up, but most of the class had already forgotten, instead being pleased to be able to sit with whoever they pleased, and they began chatting as they liked to do.
The girl on the other side of Izuku was one of them Asui Tsuyu, a girl with a frog theme, both in her powers, as well as costume.
"Midoriya-Chan, I usually just say what's on my mind."
"Um… Okay, Asui-San?"
"Call me Tsuyu-Chan. Your Quirk reminds me a lot of Kiryuin Satsuki. Or Despot."
Izuku stared blankly at her, not remembering the name before Fuku helpfully reminded her.
"The daughter of that Ragyo woman your father said was the most evil thing that ever lived."
"O-Oh, her! Yeah, I… I don't know much about her to be honest."
One of the other students in the front looked disappointed. A boy with red hair, and an open shirt, showcasing quite the abs. Izuku vaguely recalled his name to be Kirishima.
"What, no relations at all?"
"N-not that I know of…"
"Huh. I had thought you had to be sisters or something. I mean the costumes are a bit different, but the activation and power sets seem pretty much the same."
So… This Satsuki had a Kamui, did she? Well, at least now she knew where one of those that came before Fuku had ended up.
"Oh, so she has one of… Oh wait no, the Turtlehead boy is here, I can't go into that now.'
Kirishima, oblivious to Fuku talking, continued.
"Personally I'd love that kinda flashy, strength-enhancing power. Even If I had to wear an embarrassing costume with them."
Hee sounded nonchalant, but somehow Izuku doubted he'd be willing to wear what she wore whenever she transformed.
He lifted his arm up at a sideways angle, and as if to show off his quirk, it suddenly hardened, becoming like it was made of sharp, jagged, skin-colored rock.
"My own "Hardening" isn't bad for Punch-ups, but it's not that flashy… Not to mention it's more defensive in nature, not offensive. I hate that."
This easily brought Izuku out of her nervousness.
"Well, I think it's an awesome power! It's definitely a quirk that'll be of great use to a pro."
"Pros huh? But you know Heroics has a lot more about it that's like a popularity contest too, right!?"
One of the other boys, A cute, blonde boy with very distinct European features, tried to butt in, only for it to be derailed immediately by the pink cutie Ashido Mina.
"My Naval Laser is both flashy and strong enough for the Pro level."
"Yeah, but it would really suck if your stomach caved in on itself."
Several of the others snickered at that, and the rather funny way the boy scowled at the girl without losing his stoic smile.
Kirishima continued like no comments had been made.
"If we're talking about Quirks that are both Flashy and Strong though, you can't not mention Bakugo and Todoroki."
To this, Bakuho made a dismissing "Tch" sound, but Tsuyu dismissed that with a calm, stoic voice and expression.
"Bakugo is always fuming though. He'll never become popular."
"YOU BITCH! I'LL BECOME POPULAR FROM DAY ONE!"
"See?" She pointed at him in a very nonchalant manner.
Kaminari, the blonde and black-haired boy who she assumed was the son of Rajin, chimed in with an eloquent speech as he grinned at Bakugo.
"It's only been a brief while since our socialization has commenced and yet already we have been made apodictically cognizant of your personality, redolent as it is of a turd getting steamed in a sewer."
Well, it was clear that literature education was not lost on this boy.
"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF A VOCABULARY IS THAT? I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Momo looked on in disdain, with a comment about the vulgarity of the words, but everyone else had a good laugh.
Well, other than Izuku.
She tried to ignore Bakugo becoming the center of attention and instead was once more forced to consider her own future.
For good and bad, she could see her own future quite clearly.
She had power that was both flashy and extremely powerful… The problem was that she wasn't nearly as interested in being flashy as she was being effective.
That hadn't always been the case though… And just because of her current, and permanent costume.
In her childhood, she had wanted to be the next number one hero, to shine as brightly as All Might had… But she had given up on that part of herself. The new costume had merely tilted the balance all the way to the opposite of that old dream, into now wanting to remain in the background as far as popularity was concerned, but she hadn't been on the opposite side when that had happened.
She hadn't considered the implications of that before, but now that she had been reminded of this part of being a hero, this discrepancy stood out clearly to her.
Why was that? What had changed?
Thinking about it, she realized it immediately.
Her dad. That's what had changed.
Once upon a time, Izuju had thought that bringing hope to all and saving their lives were essential parts of being a true Hero. That you couldn't have one without the other.
She knew better now.
Life was what mattered. Trauma could break you… But it was meaningless if the person wasn't alive.
Once you were dead… That was that.
It was a hero's job to inspire people… But to her, that now was a distant second to how important it was to save their lives. Nothing else in the world was as important as saving someone's life.
I
The place they ended up at was… Well to be blunt, it kinda looked like an enormous, incredibly well-made amusement park, with a domed sky.
It was huge. With a circular center down below the stairs at the entrance, that led off to separate sections, each with its own theme, like a giant lake, with a waterslide, or a series of buildings that were on fire.
"Amazing! IS THIS THE U.S.J OR SOMETHING!?"
Ashido's incredible cheeriness was a bit more massive than any of the rest of them, but pretty much everyone was impressed in their own way, at this separate world.
The more clever or discerning amongst them, like Izuku, Bakugo, or Todoroki, noticed the more important minor details of the thing.
Like the fact that the waterslide was full of upwards pointing jagged pieces that resembled jutting rocks, that the place that looked the most normal had what was clearly a powerful, artificial rainstorm bearing down on it, or that in one spot the buildings were clearly submerged halfway into the ground.
This was a training center for natural disasters, not a funhouse.
The teacher who had been waiting for them clearly agreed.
"Flood Wrecks, Landslides, Fires… Etc, etc."
The teacher was wearing a very stylized mixture between a poncho jacket, and a space suit. The most notable feature was her helmet, a giant black dome, with two giant, white, blank spaces imitating a friendly set of eyes.
This was the Space Hero No. 13, or more commonly known as just 13.
Izuku, who had seen pictures of her without her helmet, wondered what had made her decide on this look.
Unlike herself, 13. had nothing that required her to wear a suit like this. Beneath it, was an attractive woman with blue hair, and not many unusual features other than somewhat different pupils. It was completely her own choice to wear this getup, which Izuku personally thought looked cool with its astronaut theme.
That was a privilege though, not a right, as Izuku herself had learned.
Most had to accommodate their own Quirks powers into a suit. Not 13.
It was a distinction that once upon a time hadn't meant anything to her. Things changed though.
"This is a practical training area I created, to simulate all kinds of natural disasters and its name… Is the Ultimate Space For Jams!"
Izuku wasn't the only one who realized that the acronym actually was U.S.J. as well… But no one commented on it, as several of the students who had not Squeed over meeting 13. for the first time.
In particular, was one Ochako Uraraka, who absolutely gushed, with rather dramatic motions at meeting her.
That however was cut short by Aizawa, who as usual, uncaring of how his class was reacting, and strode forward up to 13.
"13… Where is All Might. He should have been here by now."
"From what I was told sensei…"
She leaned closer in and through her helmet, she whispered something to him the class couldn't hear, but whatever it was, it pissed Aizawa off something fierce judging by his expression.
"That guy… He's the height of irrationality."
His expression then morphed into his usual one.
"Oh well… Let's get started."
13. Held up an interrupting hand.
"Actually before we begin, there's one thing…"
She turned towards the class.
"Or two… or three… or four…"
She added one finger for each thing she wanted to talk about.
"I'm certain you're all quite aware… But my Quirk is called Black Hole. No matter what material might get sucked into its vortex, I'm afraid it will turn to dust."
"That… That sounds really, really scary."
Fuku wasn't wrong.
There was a reason 13. Was famous throughout Japan, and her stupidly powerful Quirk was at the heart of it.
Izuku herself nodded.
"It's a perfect Quirk for removing wreckage and saving people injured by disasters!"
Besides her, Uraraka Ochako nodded enthusiastically.
13. Agreed.
"Yes… It is also, however, a power that could easily be used to kill people on a staggering scale. And in that way, it is no different from the Quirks of everyone here."
The mood in the entire class got way, way more serious in an instant, as everyone lost their smiles, and instead observed 13. For what she would say next.
"Naturally, in this superhuman society of ours, the usage of Quirks are strictly regulated, and the requirements for their lawful use are enforced. Anyone can tell at a glance, that this is the makeup of our world. That being said, please don't forget that each of you possesses a quirk that can go awry. One wrong step is all it takes to kill someone accidentally."
She motioned to Aizawa.
"During Aizawa-San's physical test, you learned your respective power's true potential."
She motioned with her other hand to her other side, only to realize All Might wasn't there and awkwardly letting her hand drop as she continued.
"During All Might's trial of Battle, I think all of you took from it a sense of the true danger of brandishing those powers against one another."
"Wait… THAT was what that was all about?"
Izuku wondered how many of them, if any at all, had actually realized that intended lesson. Because she had not.
Oblivious to this, 13. Cheerfully continued.
"This lesson will serve as a brand new start! Let's get to studying about how to wield our powers for the sake of Human life! Your Quirks Emphatically do not exist to hurt people! I want you all to leave this exercise having fully understood that your powers exists to help other people.
"Huh… That's not entirely true though… We have the power of Destruction in our hands… There is more to it than just destruction, but… We were made to fight right?"
Izuku actually smiled at her suit's complete obliviousness to 13. Message, and as 13. Finished her speech she considered how to explain it to him.
She got applause for her speech, in particular from Uraraka, but no one more than Ida, who in his usual manner was clapping with ludicrous dramatic motions.
"BRAVO! BRAVO!"
"The fact you're not actually a teacher's pet makes that even sadder Tenya."
"What is that supposed to mean Hatsume-San? I am merely giving our teacher the appropriate reaction for her hard work and dedication!"
Most of the class snickered at that.
Aizawa wasn't one of them, and instead, he walked over to the top of the staircase leading down to the circle that bound all the zones together.
"...All right… First things first…"
And that was where he stopped, and his head snapped around, eyes immediately focusing on the circle below.
Several of the students near him did the same at his reaction, but no one was all that concerned during those few moments.
Everyone was still cheerful, at ease, not a guard at all.
Then the entire plaza below exploded into dark, black, and purple smoke!
Out from that smoke, figures emerged, dozens of them. Some were huge, some smaller, but everyone looked very ragtag, and downright Villainous.
"GET TOGETHER AND DON'T MOVE!"
Aizawa roared, his usual carefree tone as blown to the winds.
Some of the students were already beginning to panic, but with others, it hadn't even set in that something was even wrong.
"Hmmm… That can't be good."
Mei noted in a stoic, carefree tone, even as Kirishima, completely uncaring about Aizawa's order, stepped up beside him to look out over the plaza.
"What is that? Is this like that training pattern at the entrance exam?"
"DON'T MOVE, THOSE ARE VILLAINS!"
Out of the mists, a head of the same shadowy smoke-like substance formed, with two, huge yellow, glowing eyes.
He scanned the group of students and teachers.
"Hmmm… Eraserhead and Number 13. According to the school curriculum that Nui procured yesterday, All Might-San was supposed to be here, and yet…"
The many Villains who had now stepped out completely from the mists had mixed reactions to that, but one thing a lot of them had in common, was that they glanced at one particular member who had frozen at the news… And then his back arched upwards, going rigid.
It actually took Izuku a second to realize that he was the leader here. He looked… Absolutely ridiculous. Average height, and with white hair, he was clearly wearing a set of black pajamas, coupled with sneakers, and around his entire upper body, he had a dozen disembodied hands clamped down on it.
She was feeling a bit of panic coursing through her at this new development(Probably far less than she probably should) but the sight of this man didn't bring any sense of fear into her. More…
"That's their boss!? He looks like an absolute neet! He couldn't look less stupid and undignified if he tried!"
That basically.
"Their boss guy looks absolutely retarded."
Bakugo added on his own, thinking he was the first to comment on it.
Said Boss guy did not seem to hear him.
"Where is he… We went through all this trouble… And rustled up so many of us to bring along… You can't tell me that All Might… The symbol of peace isn't here…"
His head turned upwards towards the group there, though how he could see them with a giant hand on his face was a different matter.
"I wonder if he'll show up if we kill the kids?"
A lot of the students seemed to wake up at that line. The fact they were now in a real, genuine life and death situation.
It was strange.
Izuku was amongst those who felt a pang of massive fear shoot through them… And yet somehow, that fear was nowhere near as terrible as the last time she had danced with potential death at someone else's hands.
It probably helped a lot that the one issuing the threat of death was so, so utterly unimpressive and laughable.
Maybe looks could be deceiving in this regard… But somehow, despite his words, Izuku could not see much threat in the man. He sounded more like… A whiny child, than anything else.
The fact that after saying that, he just… Stood there, hands down, shoulders slumped, not really doing anything to follow up on his threat just reinforced that idea.
Some deeper instinct told Izuku that pretty much everyone else here was a far, far greater threat than the leader of these invaders.
Her brain told her the man with the teleportation mist was probably the biggest danger. That sort of quirk was scary.
The rest of the class wasn't handling it as relatively calmly headedly as Izuku was.
"Villains!? No way, what sorta idiots would be dumb enough to stroll into a base full of Heroes?"
Momo, both clearly afraid, yet more level-headed, turned towards 13.
"Sensei, aren't there sensors for intruders?"
"Yes, of course there are, but…"
Todoroki, the stoic boy with red and white hair, continued the obvious chain of logic.
"If they were working, the alarm would already be set off right? It is not, which means it's blocked somehow. Which in turn means someone is responsible for that, most certainly one of those guys' quirks."
He shifted his eyes towards the leader, as the entire group below just seemed like they were waiting for their prey to make the first move, judging by the fact most of them seemed at ease, and had huge grins.
"This place is far from campus. They picked a time when there would be few people here… Not to mention this Nui person was able to obtain the plans necessary for this plan to begin with. Assuming those would be stored on campus grounds, that means this villain must have some formidable abilities to get in and out undetected. Regardless, it all speaks to one thing. They aren't as dumb as they seem. They must have a plan and an objective they wish to carry through. This was way too well coordinated for just a random attack."
Mei stepped up beside him, nonchalantly pulling something out of the bag with one hand.
"Yeah, that's probably true. They aren't too bright though. Crowding up like that while facing us? It's like Longbowmen at Castillon."
"What?"
Izuku didn't get the chance to also verbally question Mei's bizarre comment, for the girl pulled out what looked like a flare gun from her bag, aimed it downwards at the plaza, and pulled the trigger.
Izuku heard a massive bang, blinked, and then the entire plaza exploded into smoke.
Screams cries, and coughs were suddenly everywhere.
Aizawa glared at her, but it was her fellow students who reacted verbally.
"What the hell was that!?"
"A gas bomb I've developed using an acquaintance's Quirk-based substances. It needed to be powerful enough to easily spread around, but not so powerful it would be instantly lethal. Regardless, those guys are gonna have a bad, bad time now."
Then everything happened in a flash.
The dark mists surged across the entire plaza, the smoke that had hung so thick in the air almost immediately vanishing into thin air, which showcased the fact that as Mei had said, everyone who had been there as the bomb went off was having a very, very bad time."
The mists surged all around them, teachers and students alike.
"Begone."
Izuku barely got her hand up to her mouth before finding herself engulfed in the mists. Everything vanished in that darkness, the sounds all around, the people she had been with, and so on.
The transformation happened as it usually did, while she was completely engulfed in that black mist, seemingly cut off from everyone and everything.
She had hoped it would remove the darkness, wipe it from existence. It did not. The mists, however, they worked, were alive then.
"Writhe in torment, until you breathe your last."
Then she found herself back in the world, as the darkness suddenly, and without warning vanished, leaving her falling through the air… A lake below. The flood zone of the Ultimate Space For Jams.
"Oh goody, water. Great. We'll get to fight soaked then."
They slammed into the water's surface and were indeed engulfed in it.
Izuku immediately felt Fuku's head move up and clamp itself over her mouth, providing fresh air to breathe.
As usual, her sight beneath the water(which was far, far less muddy than the river she had first discovered this in) was stupidly good… Allowing her to see the face of a guy with the head and back fin of a great shark, equipped with diving equipment.
"There you are!"
He said cheerfully, showcasing that he didn't actually need the oxygen tank strapped to his back.
He then opened his mouth wide, revealing a massive hole, surrounded by razor-sharp teeth.
"Nothin personal, kid, but… SAY GOODBYE!"
He was relatively lucky.
If he had managed to surge forward right into her, Izuku would have grabbed both the top and bottom of his jaws, and, inexperienced in underwater battle as she was, she would have accidentally ripped his lower jaw off.
As it was, he merely found himself slammed into the side of his head by a set of feet moving at considerable speed for being underwater.
The feet belonged to one of her classmates, Tsuyu, the frog girl, who underneath one arm carried the dwarf kid named Mineta.
Izuku barely got the time to blink, before her tongue shot out through the water, wrapped around her midsection, and pulled her along as she used the shark guy's body as a launching off point as she went up to the surface of the water at massive speed.
She was built for underwater work, Tsuyu was.
Izuku hadn't even noticed the fact that there was a boat, just floating in the middle of the water zone, before Tsuyu's tongue threw her up, and onto the deck.
She immediately shook her head and climbed to her feet, as shortly afterwards, Mineta joined her, and judging by the force as he hit the deck, Tsuyu had thrown him far, far more forcefully than Izuku.
"T-thanks Asui-San."
She said in a genuinely thankful tone as Tsuyu climbed up the boat, and lifted herself over the rail.
"Call me Tsuyu. But we seem to be in a bit of trouble here."
"You know, when she said she just said whatever came to her mind, this wasn't exactly the manner I thought she meant."
Fuku's voice was completely nonchalant, as his face extended down around her neck as it usually was.
He clearly wasn't taking this particularly seriously, despite his eagerness for action.
Maybe he just didn't think this would be much of a challenge.
Izuku didn't ask to clarify.
She had to actually do this now. She didn't have time to think and debate with her suit.
No, what she considered was the mist guy's words and the obvious implications from them.
"They knew our schedule completely. Like Todoroki-Kun said… They've prepared all of it for this moment… And if the boss is to be believed their Goal… Is to Kill All Might."
Mineta replied in a rather screechy, hysterical tone as if he finally realized what had just been said.
"But-but there is no way they could ever Kill All Might! He'll trash them once he gets here, BAM! POW!"
Kill All Might. What a stupid plan. No chance of success… Except…
Izuku's mind went back to an image from her past. A tired, sickly, emaciated man, with a horrible stomach wound.
Tsuyu didn't know about that, but she clearly was able to think quickly and under pressure.
"Mineta-Kun… there is no way they'd come here without some way to kill him. They'd just be setting themselves up for a beating otherwise."
The smaller boy recoiled in shock as if he'd not even considered that, but Tsuyu went on.
"I wouldn't put it past them. That one guy promised to kill all of us after all."
Mineta flinched again.
"Who says we can even hold out until he gets here? Even when he does show up… Who's to say he won't be killed?"
"Do you think she's intentionally trying to rile up the fear in him?"
Izuku wasn't really thinking about either of her companions' reactions.
She instead recalled All Might telling her the amount of time he could be active was limited. She also recalled the strange talk their Teachers had engaged in before everything suddenly went to hell.
They wanted to kill All Might… Who wasn't here… There was a reason for that… If he wasn't here… It was because he couldn't be seen by his students… Which meant he was out of time for the day… Which meant he would NOT be coming to save them… which meant…
Mineta, seemingly having completely given up on seeking emotional support from Tsuyu, grabbed Izuku's hand, and screamed out her name as he suddenly pointed out towards the water below.
"That BRAT! I'LL KILL HER!"
All around the boat, with various sounds, a whole platoon of aquatic quirk users popped up to the surface from the depths.
"A WHOLE SCHOOL OF THEM!"
Izuku looked out over the group, the realization hitting her face on.
"All Might won't be coming."
It was… Strange the way she just said that, without fear, or hesitation. Just calmly, like stating a fact.
Strange. That was so unlike her, wasn't it?
"We're gonna have to fight and win. By ourselves."
It crystalized in her mind then.
She realized what had happened. The rest of the class had also been hit by the mists. Meaning they were somewhere else in the building, being attacked by other villains.
No outside help was coming, and if it did, it would not be in force, but because someone came to check out what was taking them so long. No one knew they were in trouble, and unless they happened to take out the guy responsible for jamming the alarms, that wasn't going to change.
I
Mei was not fond of battle.
Her sneaking into the base the day she first met Izuku to make sure everything ran smoothly for her, and no photos or videos of her had been recorded, had illustrated the problem rather clearly.
Getting into actual combat had a tendency to get your teeth kicked in.
She barely dodged a fist-shaped like stone, a small outputting from the rocky hide causing a small, but long scratch across her cheek.
The pain flared there as if she'd been cut by a jagged knife.
Bother.
Her hand shot up and closed around his side, palm first.
With the other hand, she quickly pressed a button hidden inside of her harness.
There was no external lightshow, the way you saw in anime or manga, but the electrical volts running into him through the gauntlet were very real… As the smell of urine as he wet himself from losing control over his body suddenly flared, and the thump as he collapsed to the floor proved rather empirical.
She did not stop to look over what she had done. Instead, in the brief moment when the other 3 men there right beside her flinched from the sudden takedown of their buddy, she pointed her hand in a finger gun, her index and middle finger pointed very deliberately at one of the men, and her thumb clamped down on the middle index of her ring finger.
That triggered an internal mechanism, and using magnetic force, a small metal ball was launched from the top of the middle finger.
Nowhere near the force of a true bullet… but that didn't matter when the goal was a soft, squishy target.
The man she was pointing at screamed, and collapsed to the ground as a metal ball punched into his groin. If her testing this thing was any judge, and the red stain coating where she'd hit, she was pretty sure she just crushed and ripped open one of his testes.
This caused both of his friends to recoil from her in horror and more than a little fear.
That was good.
The smart thing would have been to surge forward and overpower her.
She was, after all, an average-sized high school girl with no greater levels of strength.
If they had charged like that random security guard, they would easily have been able to overpower her.
In close quarters, she would need to rely on this kind of fear.
Without missing a beat, she pulled out a tool from the bag, one that looked like a gun.
Not that she actually had one of course. That would be illegal for a girl like her to own.
The taser hit one of the men right on, and in a brief split second, she saw the fear in his eyes as he realized what the cable between her "Gun" and him was.
Then volts of electricity ran through him like they did everything else.
She dropped the gun and was about to pull out another tool, her grappling hook, when suddenly out of nowhere a dashing knight kicked the last standing guy in the face and followed it up by kicking the guy on the ground and sending him flying, the crack that sounded making it very, very clear that he'd broken an arm.
The poor unfortunate, half-castrated villain crumpled to the floor with a whimper, and there he remained, making no further motions beyond cradling his bleeding groin with his one good hand.
"Mei-san! Are you alright!? I humbly apologize for not arriving immediately, but I was surrounded by 7 guys on my end, and I had to deal with them decisively before moving on!"
"I'm fine."
She said her regular smile back on her face as the immediate danger had passed.
Iida's helmet turned from her to the man he'd just kicked, and he involuntarily winced.
"That was… Rather brutal."
"Of course it was. This is a life or death battle where these guys wants to murder us and in my case, probably rape me first if they managed to knock me out. This is what real, kill-or-be-killed combat looks like Tenya. It's not like the overwhelming triumph of heroes you see on TV where they have all the advantage and thus can afford to hold back."
From someone else, it would probably have sounded like she was berating him on it all.
She wasn't, nor did it sound like that. She was stating the truth in her usual manner.
"I… I see… You… You sound like you're rather familiar with this kind of fight."
"I am. The first time I and Izuku-Sama fought side by side, she nearly caved in a guy's skull with a pipe to save me from getting killed."
The way she said it, probably made it sound like it was but one of many such scrapes, when it was, in reality, her only true experience with real battle before now.
"But enough about that. We need to make our next move. The entire group was split apart by the mists, and are now most likely under a similar attack as we were."
"Egads! You're right! We must rush to their rescue at once!"
There was something really endearing about his eagerness.
Not that she disagreed though.
Instead, she was putting her brain to use, in regards to where they were and what to do.
She hadn't gotten a full look of the park before they were spirited away from the entrance, but from what she could see, she was near the edge of a treeline between a walled-off section with much a much bigger treeline poking up from the top to the right, and a steep mountain to the front.
In front of her though, she had a clear line of vision to the lake area, and with her supernaturally strong vision, she could see the sight of Izuku-Sama on a boat in the middle of the lake.
"Izuku-Sama is on the lake, so we don't have to go there-" "What!? Why not?"
"Because she is hands down the most versatile powerhouse we have? She'll be able to handle herself and whoever is with her. It's the weaker members of the class we need to worry about. Do you think the likes of Koda or Sero would last long without help? No, we need to locate the closest group, find them, and then aid them in their fight before we find another group and repeat, and the closest one…"
She raised her head and looked upwards towards the small, artificial mountaintop where she could hear the faint sounds of fighting.
Iida immediately nodded.
Right, we need to get up there, now! Though we will need to go quite the way around!"
"That's okay, I hav-eeph!"
Iida had, without any warning, suddenly scooped the smaller girl up in his strong arms, and was now holding her bridal style.
She opened her mouth to say they could probably use her grappling gun to scale the mountain wall… But before she could say anything, they were already half a hundred meters around, and already up the side of the mountain through the pathway.