We're here, it's our first year into this story's run and I really wish I could have finished this chapter in time for July 2, but hey, better late than never. And honestly, I'm happy with how many followers and favorites this story has gotten this past year. No other story I've written comes close to the count that this one has racked up.

This story has a TV Tropes page, feel free to check it out and contribute whenever you can.

Without further ado, let's dive into the story.

Ch. 22: Game Over

Back at U.A., All Might, in his smaller form as Toshinori Yagi, was in the break room, trying to call Aizawa, Vlad King, and Thirteen, but none of his attempts have been successful.

"Can't get through to Thirteen, Vlad, or Aizawa. Then again, they are teaching…" Toshinori noted. "Unlike me. I'm neglecting my duties because I spent the entire morning commute being heroic. Amateur move, what was I thinking? Maybe I should just show up and say something inspiring at the end. That oughta get a good ten minutes out of my Hero form." His muscles then buffed up and he stood in full glory as All Might. "Time to join my stud-" His heroic line was cut short when a gush of blood escaped his mouth.

"Hold your horses," Principal Nezu said as he entered the lounge.

"Hello, Nezu, sir!" All Might greeted, trying to hide his nervousness.

"That's me!" Nezu said as he raised a paw. "The one who could be a mouse, a dog, or a bear, though the only important thing is… I'm the principal!"

"Your fur looks especially well-groomed and glossy today, sir," All Might said as he crouched down to speak to the much shorter Nezu.

"The secret is keratin. I'm not sure that humans can get this kind of lustrous shine. We can talk about grooming later," Nezu said as he held up a tablet, which displayed news articles about All Might's heroic activities. "Look at the news. Shall I read it to you? It says you resolved three incidents in just one hour."

All Might flinched at the news, causing Nezu to sigh.

"The fault mainly belongs to the ruffians who still cause trouble in this city despite you being here. But you also have to learn not to react every time you hear of an incident. You haven't changed in all these years. You've always been proactive, only now your Heroism must be limited due to your injury. Plus, you've also got the added work of finding One For All's successor."

All Might winced.

"Speaking of, have you decided on a successor?"

All Might winced harder.

"You insist on remaining the Symbol of Peace, and the only way you can justify staying out of the spotlight is by teaching. That's why I gave you this job," Nezu said as steam started coming out of All Might's body. "Oh dear, you're smoking. That can't be good."

In a puff of smoke, All Might reverted to his smaller form. Toshinori didn't want to admit it, but Nezu was right. His teaching job was meant to serve as cover for stepping out of the spotlight to prevent the public from discovering his weakness.

"It looks like you need to stay here in the lounge and relax a little while longer," Nezu informed as he got on the couch. "The other teachers will understand. They're more than capable. But now that you are a teacher here, All Might, I really do wish you'd prioritize your students over your Hero work. They deserve it. After all, there are plenty of other Hero Agencies working throughout the city."

"Yeah, you're right."

Nezu nodded before fixing himself and All Might a cup of tea. "Tell me, have any of the first-year students caught your eye?"

"Yes, actually," Toshinori replied. "Young Midoriya, for one."

"Ah, the one who not only placed first in the Entrance Exams but received the highest Rescue Points as well. His performances in Aizawa's test and the combat training were also exceptional."

Toshinori nodded in agreement.

"Does this mean he's the one then?"

"…I'm not sure yet," All Might admitted. "I mean, it's only the first week, and I want to consider the other students as well. But no doubt, Young Midoriya will become an amazing Hero."

"And what about Mirio Togata? He did catch your eye in his second year."

"Yes, true. I've been keeping tabs on him."

Nezu took a sip of his tea. "I take it you know who trained him, don't you?"

The "who" hung in the air as both Heroes sat in silence. Sir Nighteye: All Might's estranged former sidekick. It had come as quite a shock when he learned that Mirai had helped train the boy, and had pushed for him to be the top candidate for One for All.

"Toshinori, I understand that your successor is ultimately your choice alone, but if I may offer a word, you shouldn't let personal history cloud your judgment. The boy may have been trained by Mirai, but in the end, he's his own person, not a proxy of Sir Nighteye."

"Actually, about that…" Toshinori interjected. "I already offered One For All to Young Togata, except he's the one who turned me down."

"Oh?"

All Might nodded. "His heart is in the right place. He's got the righteous spirit of a Hero. Not to mention, the work he's put into mastering his Quirk is phenomenal. However, he stated that, if he were given One for All, it would just mean he would become a carbon copy of me, the easy way. The boy wants to become the best Hero he can be on his own terms without shortcuts."

"That I can understand. Did you happen to find out how Mirai felt about that decision?"

"According to what I heard, he was disappointed at first, but he ultimately came to respect Young Togata's feelings."

"That's good to hear," Nezu took a sip of tea. "I am willing to do what I can to help you find a successor, but right now, your priorities should be figuring out how to be a good teacher."

"Yeah, you're right, Principal. So I was gonna head over to the USJ to make an appearance now, actually, if you don't mind," Toshinori said.

"Even if you went now, you'd have to return almost right away. So you might as well stick around and listen to some of my teaching philosophies, they could prove useful."

'Great. This is turning into a lecture…' Toshinori mentally sighed.

"Here, drink up," Nezu passed him a cup of tea.

'He's always so long-winded whenever there's tea involved!' Toshinori sweat-dropped. 'I'm still a little concerned I couldn't get in touch with Thirteen, Vlad, or Aizawa.'

"Let's start by discussing combat pedagogy as viewed through the lens of ethical Quirk use," Nezu began.

"Well, you haven't changed much all these years either, sir," Toshinori deadpanned.

USJ, Entrance

Mezo's Dupli-Arms had formed into a web of several eyes and ears as he searched all angles, moving up and down, left and right, and forward and back, trying to pick up any of the missing students.

"Shoji, got them? Anything?" Tenya asked.

"They've been scattered across the facility." He answered. "But our classmates and 1-B are all still here."

The students made a collective sigh of relief, happy that their classmates are safe. For now. They looked in front to see the exit where Kurogiri was blocking their way. "What do we do?" Hanta asked.

"This scoundrel seems to be unaffected by physical attacks," Jurota growled.

"And he can apparently teleport stuff," Shihai added.

Thirteen's eyes narrowed as she came to a decision. "Iida?"

"Yes?" Tenya replied.

"I have a job for you. Run to the school and tell the faculty what's going on here," Thirteen instructed. "The alarms aren't sounding and our phones and radios are useless right now. One of these Villains must be to blame. Even though Eraserhead is canceling people's Quirks left and right, we're still completely sealed off from the outside world. Likely whoever is causing this interference hid as soon as they warped into the USJ. They could be anywhere, impossible to hunt down. It'll be faster for you to run and get help than for us to find whoever's jamming everything."

"Yes, but, it would be disgraceful for me to leave you all behind!" Tenya protested.

"Go, Emergency Exit," Rikido said, readying for a fight. "There are lots of alarms outside."

"That's why they're keeping all of us trapped in the USJ," Itsuka clenched her fists.

"As long as you can get outside, they won't follow," Hanta added.

Blow this stupid mist away with those Engine legs!" Hilda encouraged.

"Use your Quirk to save others! Be a real Hero!" Thirteen shouted.

Tenya looked over to his classmates and the 1-B students who were now stepping forward.

"I can help you out!" Ochaco declared. "Just like I did yesterday when I floated you in the cafeteria, okay?! No prob!"

"Please, Class Rep. Do it!" Mina pleaded.

Hearing those words, Tenya nodded as he got into a running position and extended his engines, ready to take off at the right time.

"Even if this is your only option, are you really foolish enough to strategize in front of your enemy?!" Kurogiri asked as he extended several dark misty tendrils toward Thirteen and the students.

"It won't matter if you know what we're planning or not when I'm done with you!" Thirteen flipped open a finger cap and activated Black Hole to suck in Kurogiri's mist. "BLACK HOLE!"

Shipwreck Zone

"What do you mean 'fight?' Are you crazy?! These guys might be able to kill All Might, and you think we can take them?! Did you hit your head when we got warped here?!" Mineta yelled at Izuku, tears coming out of his eyes like a fountain. "The best plan is for us to just wait for a real Pro from U.A. to come and save us!"

"Those Villains down there clearly have an advantage in the water, the playing field advantage," Monoma observed.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" Mineta questioned.

"Does that mean they knew what was in the USJ before they warped in?" Rebecca asked.

"Probably," Tsuyu said.

"HEY! LISTEN TO ME!" Mineta demanded.

"Would you rather help us get out of here, or would you prefer to be the decoy instead?" Dani warned. This finally caused Mineta to shut up.

"Thank you. His crying was murder on my ears," Reiko said.

"Hey, I just realized something," Izuku spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "For a group with such careful planning, there's one thing that really sticks out to me, something that just doesn't add up."

"What is it?" Chacha asked.

"They sent Asu-"

"Ribbit?"

"-Um, whoops! I mean Tsu!" Izuku quickly corrected. "They warped her to the Shipwreck Zone!"

"But why does it matter that she's here?" Mineta asked.

"Yeah, okay. Right! It means the Villains probably have no idea what our Quirks are!" Izuku revealed.

Everyone's eyes widened as they picked up on what he was getting at. "Ribbit! You've got a point. If they knew I was a frog, they would've sent me into that fire zone over there instead of somewhere full of water."

"So they separated us because they didn't know what we could do, and planned to overpower us once we were in smaller groups, easier to pick us off one-by-one," Monoma realized.

"They don't know what our Quirks are. For all they know, the eight of us could be super-powerful," Izuku added, glancing at the observing Villains, some of them seemed somewhat wary. "Look, none of them are trying to climb into the boat. That proves they're a little unsure. But that means they're not going to underestimate us either. They're being smart and playing it safe. For now."

"So we need to act fast," Rebecca said.

"Then, let's talk Quirks," Tsuyu suggested. "I'll go first if you want. Mine's Frog. Obviously, I can jump high. And cling to 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 last part got Mineta blushing, though no one noticed.

"Me next," Chacha volunteered. "My Quirk is Wererabbit. I can also jump high, I have great hearing, and I can burrow in the ground. Not to mention, I can change into a more bestial form that's stronger and faster."

"Mine, Animal Soul, allows me to take on the form of all sorts of animals, I can do complete transformations or just partial transformations," Rebecca was the next to share hers.

"Poltergeist. I can telekinetically control any nearby objects, though I have a weight limit of about an average person," Reiko explained.

"My Phantom Quirk lets me harness 'Ecto-Energy' which allows me to make myself intangible, fly, or it can be fired like a laser beam," Dani said.

Izuku nodded. "My power is Boosted Dragon. I can take on dragon traits like growing scales and wings, increasing my strength and speed. I can also double my power every 10 seconds, but I have a certain limit."

"Mine is Copy. I can copy a person's Quirk after touching them, and I can do more than one, but I can only keep them for a short time, not to mention, I can only use one at a time. Not as flashy as any of yours, I know," Monoma said, sounding almost melancholic as he explained.

"I think it's pretty amazing," Izuku said, to Monoma's surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, Heroes usually work with each other, so you'll probably always have an ally you can rely on, not to mention, if just one Hero with their Quirk isn't enough, you can lend them a helping hand by using it in conjunction. And you said you can Copy multiple Quirks at a time, right? Even if you can only use one at a time, that still technically means that you have more than one Quirk at once! You're the first person I know who can do something like that! And even if you're only using one Quirk at a time, you could still make it work by switching between ones that really complement each other! Plus, if you can catch Villains off-guard, you can copy their Quirks to turn them against their owners!"

As Izuku explained, Monoma was actually surprised by what he just heard. Someone actually complimented him and his Quirk and had nothing bad to say about it. Since childhood, he was ridiculed by the seemingly useless nature of his Quirk, but now, it was different.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that about my Quirk," Monoma said with a small smile.

Everyone then turned to Mineta. "My Quirk is Pop Off. I've got these sticky balls," He then plucked one off his head and stuck it to a wall. "Their strength varies, depending on how I'm feeling they might stick to something a whole day. They grow back as fast as I can pull them off. But I'll bleed if I use too many. Oh, and they don't stick to me, I just bounce right off of them."

The others stared at Mineta for a moment… Which was more than enough to cause the perverted boy to cry comically. "Don't look at me like that! This is why I say we should wait for the real Heroes! My Quirk is totally unfit for battle and we're all gonna die!"

"No one said anything!" Dani said.

But then, Monoma suddenly yelled, "Look out!" He tackled Dani out of the way just as a giant hand of water slammed down on the boat, slicing it in half. The boat rocked violently as it began to sink.

"I'm starting to get bored! Let's get this show on the road!" The Villain that sliced the boat yelled.

"That's a great power. Now the ship's sinking," Tsuyu commented.

Dani activated her Quirk to transform and started firing her Ghost Rays at the Villains. Some got hit, while the others scattered and hid underwater to dodge. "Looks like they're getting impatient!"

Mineta then went into full-panic mode as he randomly threw his sticky spheres into the water.

"Mineta, don't freak out!" Izuku tried to calm the crying midget. "You gotta stay calm! They'll guess your Quirk!" He then looked down to see the Villains trying to avoid the balls.

"What the hell are these things?" The Shark Villain swept Mineta's balls away from himself.

Izuku looked out at the water, noting how all of the Villains were now concentrated near the bow.

Meanwhile, Mineta continued to panic. "We're fish food!"

"So Mineta, are you really sure the Hero thing is right for you?" Tsuyu bluntly asked.

"SHUT UP! IT'S WEIRDER TO NOT BE SCARED RIGHT NOW!" Mineta exclaimed. "WE JUST GOT OUT OF JUNIOR HIGH A LITTLE WHILE AGO! I DIDN'T THINK I'D BE FACING DEATH JUST A FEW DAYS AFTER STARTING U.A.! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GONNA DIE WITHOUT EVER GETTING TO TOUCH HANAKAI OR SHIRAKABE'S BOOBS!"

That last part didn't really impress his fellow Hero Course students.

"How did this guy get into the Hero Course?" Reiko sweat-dropped.

"Can we use his Quirk to incapacitate the Villains?" Rebecca asked.

"But they're already being careful around his balls…" Tsuyu said.

"Listen up," Izuku said, getting everyone's attention. "An enemy that's certain of their victory is bound to make a mistake. All Might said something along those lines in a TV interview a while back."

"What does that mean?!" Mineta asked with his face drenched with tears and snot.

"You have a plan, Midoriya?" Monoma asked.

"Now's our chance. We can beat them!" Izuku said, and then, he explained his plan to everyone.

"Yeah, that could work!" Chacha said.

"They don't exactly know that Mineta's balls are sticky, so we still have some element of surprise," Tsuyu added.

"It's the best option we've got, let's go!" Dani said.

"Okay," Izuku summoned his Boosted Gear and spread out his wings.

[Boost!]

With one Boost activated, Izuku flew off the boat, followed by Dani.

[Boost!]

After ten seconds, Izuku activated a second Boost, then he got his fist ready for a Smash.

"You're mine!" A Villain attempted to attack, only to get blasted back by Dani.

"Dragon… SMASH!" Izuku threw a punch toward the water's surface, creating a shockwave that caused the water to be pushed away, forming a vortex.

Then, the other students began to leave the boat: Rebecca changed her arms and legs into bird wings and feet to fly while carrying Monoma by the shoulders, Chacha also transformed into her wererabbit form and carried Reiko, and Tsuyu carried Mineta before hopping off.

Mineta clenched his fists as he thought about what Izuku just did. 'What the heck, Midoriya? How do you do it? You're acting so cool and I'm not helping you at all!' Remembering the plan, Mineta roared as he began plucking his spheres off his head and threw them at the Villains. "TAKE THIS, YOU VILLAINS! YOU CAN EAT MY STICKY BALLS!"

Monoma, who had copied Mineta's Quirk, was already doing the same, both throwing as fast and as many as they could. Then, Reiko used her Quirk to control the balls and aim them at the Villains, who now had to deal with both the vortex and the swarm of sticky balls.

"What's going on?!"

"I'm getting dragged in!"

"Did these come from that kid?"

"I can't get them off me!"

Then, all the water came rushing back to the center of the vortex, dragging all the Villains in and causing them to all get stuck to each other right before the water erupted, sending the clump of Villains and the destroyed boat high into the air.

"We rounded them all up. Not too shabby," Tsuyu commented as she and her friends all left the Shipwreck Zone behind. "You guys are amazing. All of you."

"We've made a pretty good team," Monoma added.

"I guess we passed the Shipwreck Zone," Rebecca said.

Landslide Zone

Izuku's group wasn't the only ones who managed to clear their hurdles as the mountain group was handling things fine as well.

"KA-THUNK! KA-THUNK! THWOMP!"

Suddenly, giant words fell down on several Villains.

"Where the hell did that come from!?" One yelled in shock.

"Haha, take that!" Manga taunted.

"Get him!" Several of the Villains ran toward the speech bubble-headed teen, only for several horns to come flying in to stab them.

It was from Pony, who had fired her horns like projectiles, which were quickly replaced as they were shot out.

Asia put her hands together and closed her eyes as if she were praying; her blonde hair sprang to life and transformed into green vines that lashed out at the Villains. Before they knew it, all the Villains near her were suspended in the air, tied at their hands and feet, unable to move due to the large vines holding them in place.

Meanwhile, a layer of ice spread out from Shoto's feet, freezing all the Villains in the vicinity in ice.

"Aren't you embarrassed to lose to a bunch of children? For God's sake, you're adults. Put up a real fight!" Shoto said. And since he was away from Asia's earshot, his mentioning God didn't cause her a headache.

"This power… He froze us the instant we warped here…" a half-frozen Villain shivered.

"Those other brats got some crazy Quirks too…"

"They're not kids, they're monsters…"

"Looks like that's all of them," Manga said as he, Pony, and Asia came over to Shoto's side.

"Seems their plan was to scatter us and then kill us," Shoto scoffed. "But they were woefully unprepared. In fact, it looks to me as though they've had no training. They hadn't the slightest idea how to use their Quirks."

"They're total lame-os," Pony agreed.

"Um, what those Villains said… Do you think they really intend to kill All Might?" Asia asked fearfully.

"I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends who are eager to meet All Might."

Shoto then walked toward the Villains while thinking back to what the leader said. "They wouldn't have come here unless they had a solid plan to kill him," He replied, to the shock of the others. "But how do they plan to kill him? At first, I thought they gathered a force of elite criminals who could simply overpower him, but that can't possibly be their master plan…" Then, one remaining Villain charged at them, but Shoto froze him instantly. "Most of these Villains are low-level thugs. Just pawns."

"You're right. I was worried at first, but they were much easier to restrain than I thought," Asia said.

"From what I can tell, there are only four or five truly dangerous people here: that mist Villain who warped us here, that hands Villain, the woman in black, that brain monster, and whoever is jamming communications."

"What now?" Pony asked.

"What we need right now is information," Shoto replied before turning to the frozen Villains. "Listen well, If you stay frozen, your cells will slowly die as your body succumbs to frostbite and hypothermia. Luckily for you, I wanna be a Hero. So I'd like to avoid any unnecessary cruelty."

Some Villains started shivering, though not from the cold, with one even starting to cry.

Shoto then approached one and put a hand in front of his face, releasing a cold mist. "But I can only do that if you tell me how you plan to kill All Might. That's the only way you'll survive."

"He gives me the shivers, in more ways than one," Manga said, with Pony and Asia nodding to his statement.

Mountain Zone

"This is quite a mess," Yui said, her blank expression still present on her face.

While some Villains had a serious, mission-focused expression, most of them wore a lecherous, predatory look.

"Look at that, boys! We might get to have some fun!" One of them said, eyeing some of the girls.

"I seriously don't like what that guy just said," Kyoka said.

"Then let's not make ourselves easy targets," Ethel said. "Requip!" Ethel's body was briefly enveloped in silver aura, and then, she was suited in full-body silver-colored armor and armed with twin rapiers with glowing blue blades.

Momo followed through, creating a bo staff for herself and other weapons for her friends.

Asuka clenched her fists, and a pair of pink energy blades extended from the mechanical gear on her arms along with a smaller pair from her feet.

Kyoka connected her earphone jack to the speakers in her legs, creating a large and powerful sound wave, pushing back and knocking out several of the Villains.

Momo made rapid swings with her staff at a bunch of Villains, who had no idea how to counter her as she thrust at, struck, and tripped them.

Tomoe, armed with a katana, charged at two Villains armed with swords. Thanks to her greater speed, she managed to cut the first one down (non-lethally) before he could even react, then as the other one attempted to bring his blade down on her, she quickly blocked it before knocking the sword out of his hands before kicking him in the face.

Yui threw some pebbles high into the air and then brought her fingertips together to enlarge the pebbles to the size of boulders, causing the Villains to panic and run for their lives as the giant stones came crashing down on them; some unlucky ones got pinned down by the boulders.

Ethel fought through a wave of Villains with her twin rapiers, sending out rapid thrusts to drive them backward, and then she exchanged one of the rapiers for a shield, which she used to block a Villain's fist before smacking the thug in the face with it.

Asuka fired a compressed blast of wind at a Villain, sending him flying back. She then used her wind manipulation with her blades to send out sharp gusts of wind at some other Villains.

A Villain carrying two swords jumped down from above, swinging his blades at the closest student: Setsuna. The green-haired teen didn't have time to react as her body was neatly sliced into three parts. Her head rolled to the ground, the top half followed, and the same happened with the rest.

"Ha! That's one down!" The Villain gloated. "Now for the-GHYAAA!" He dropped his swords, his voice taking on an unnaturally high pitch as a leg kneed him in the groin.

"Surprise!" Setsuna shouted, her smirking head suddenly floating to the Villains' horror.

It wasn't long until all of the Villains had been dealt with. "That's all of them," Tomoe said, looking over at the pile of unconscious Villains.

"That was of minimal difficulty," Yui said.

Some of the other girls turned to look at Yui in horror. "Did you just say this was easy?" Kyoka asked. "You never say it was easy, ever!"

Yui raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Before anyone knew what hit them, a hidden Villain emerged from the ground and snatched up Tomoe, holding her by the back of her collar. "Get your hands up. And no Quirks, got it?" The Villain demanded. "Use your powers and I'll kill your friend here." Sparks of electricity crackled from the Villain's free hand.

The girls immediately complied, putting their hands in the air.

"That's why," Kyoka grumbled.

"Damn Villain… He totally caught us with our pants down!" Asuka hissed.

"An electric-type…" Setsuna hissed. "He must be the one jamming communications."

"Normally I don't like to kill, but I will if you make me…" The Villain's electrically charged hand inched closer to Tomoe's head.

However, despite the threat, Tomoe wasn't remotely intimidated. In fact, she was waiting for the right time to get out of the Villain's grasp.

"Now then, what should I do?" The Electric Villain taunted.

"Here's a suggestion…" Tomoe groaned. "Worry about yourself!" Quickly, Tomoe curled up and transformed into a ball, the thug losing his grip on her.

"Why you…!" The electric user fired a bolt of electricity at Ball-Tomoe, who was completely unaffected by the attack. "Impossible!"

Before he could get the idea to threaten the other girls instead, Ball-Tomoe quickly started rolling and rammed into the electric evildoer, sending him crashing into a nearby rock wall where he hit his head, rendering him unconscious.

"That's what you get, creep," Ball-Tomoe said as she changed back.

"Hey, how come the alarms aren't going off?!" Setsuna questioned. Even though the Electric Villain was out of commission, the alarms did not go off.

"What gives? I thought that guy was the one jamming everything." Kyoka noted.

"They must have completely fried the system." Momo guessed. "Though with him down, maybe we can call the school now."

"Who has their phone? 'Cause I don't," Tomoe said.

"Me neither," Kyoka added.

"Negative," Asuka denied.

"Should we head back to the entrance then?" Yui asked.

"What about other classmates?" Ethel asked.

"Yeah," Setsuna nodded. "Not to mention there are a lot more Villains left to deal with."

"That's a good point," Momo said. "In that case, we should head to the entrance."

"We're almost there," Monoma said, the Flood Zone group was currently wading through waist-deep water as they neared the Central Plaza.

"I had a good poop this morning which makes my balls stickier. They're not going anywhere," Mineta bragged.

"Great. Didn't need to know that first part," Chacha deadpanned.

"There's the exit!" Rebecca pointed at the exit door which was a good distance away from the shore.

"We should make getting help our top priority. If we follow the shore to the exit, then we can avoid the Central Plaza entirely," Izuku stated.

"Good idea. That way we don't run into the Villains Mr. Aizawa and Mr. Vlad are facing off with in there," Tsuyu said, looking over at the Central Plaza.

'Yeah, but… Can they handle them on their own? How long can they hold out against a big group like that?' Izuku thought in worry. "If they don't get some backup, then they're going to overexert themselves. They'll end up defeated by those Villains because they were trying to keep us safe."

"Wait, don't tell me you're suggesting…" Dani asked.

"Are you trying to get us killed or something?" Mineta finished.

"I'm not saying that we should jump into the middle of a battle. But, maybe we can find a way to take a few of those guys down and lighten our teachers' load."

"Then let's split up," Monoma suggested. "Some of us go help our classmates, while the rest go help our teachers."

Everyone, even Mineta, nodded. "Okay, me, Asu-" Izuku paused when he saw Tsuyu look at him. "I-I m-mean Tsu, Chacha, and Mineta will head to the central plaza. Everyone else will head to the other zones to help our classmates. If anyone's injured, take them back to the entrance."

Ruins Zone

"SAY GOODBYE!" Katsuki shouted as he blew two thugs back into a wall.

Eijiro, using his hardened arms like swords, easily managed to shatter a Villain's sword before knocking him down with a chop.

Tetsutetsu, with his body coated in steel, blocked a Villain's hammer with his arms, causing the hammer head to break off before he hit the Villain with a right hook, KO'ing him in one hit.

As all the Villains were rendered down for the count, the three boys relaxed to catch their breaths.

"Think that's the last of these guys," Katsuki said. "Bunch of weaklings."

"Alright, let's hurry and find the rest of our classes," Eijiro said. "If we're still in the USJ, then everyone else probably is too. And not all of them have the offensive skills we do. We gotta make sure they're safe."

"Especially since we screwed things up when we got in the way earlier," Tetsutetsu added, feeling guilty for preventing Thirteen from doing her job. "If Thirteen had been able to suck up that Villain, then we never would've been separated like that. We have to make it up to the others!"

"You wanna track everyone down, have fun. But I'm gonna go destroy that Warpy Bastard!" Katsuki said.

"Huh?! Our physical attacks didn't hurt that guy!" Tetsutetsu protested.

"Yeah, don't be an idiot, man!" Eijiro said.

"Shut up! I'm gonna take him down because he's their way in and out! If I cut off their escape route they'll be stuck here and have to pay for what they've done! We'll just have to figure it out!"

Meanwhile, an invisible Villain snuck up on them, pouncing to attack. "Hope you had fun chitchatting, too bad you let your guard down-"

*BOOM*

Katsuki reacted quickly to intercept the chameleon-like crook and blasted him with an explosion. "Anyway, if all these Villains are small fries like these guys were, then our classmates can handle them."

"That reaction time was insane!" Tetsutetsu said.

"Also… since when do you act so calm and rational?" Eijiro asked.

"Really?" Tetsutetsu blinked. "What's he normally like?"

"Usually he's all like…" Eijiro imagined an image of an angry Katsuki with a scary look and sharp teeth shouting "DIE!" repeatedly.

"I'M ALWAYS CALM AND RATIONAL, YOU RED-HAIRED LOSER! DIE!" Bakugo yelled, having a scary look on his face.

"See?" Eijiro grinned.

"Wow, you're right," Tetsutetsu said.

"Go find the others if you want to," Katsuki threw the chameleon Villain down and turned for the exit.

"Wait, hold up. I think what you're really saying is that you believe in our classmates," Tetsutetsu said, pounding his arms together as he activated his Quirk. "And that's thinkin' like a man."

"If you do believe in them, then that means you believe in Midoriya, too," Eijiro said as he also activated his Quirk and pounded his arms together. "We'll tag along then."

Bakugo frowned at hearing Izuku's name but stayed silent.

Conflagration Zone

"Damn it! He's too fast!" A group of three Villains were running around looking for someone. As they came to a fork in the path, they split up.

As one Villain ran one way, Ojiro came from behind, using his tail to swing down and knock him out with one blow.

"I see him! Up there!" The Villain's comrades heard the commotion and came running, forcing Ojiro to flee. However, waiting to ambush them was Shoda.

As the other two Villains came running, Shoda emerged from his hiding place and struck both Villains in the face with his fists, though that didn't seem to do much.

"You bastard!" One Villain cursed.

"Forget the tail kid, this one seems like an easier mark!" His partner suggested.

"Twin Impact!" Shoda called out, and right at the spots where he had struck the Villains earlier, they suddenly felt another impact which was way more powerful than his initial attack.

"We have to help the others," Ojiro said as he came down by Shoda's side.

Not far off, Sen was rotating his arms like a drill as he punched a Villain. Meanwhile, Denki was freaking out as he dodged the attack of another thug.

"Idiot!" Sen threw another spinning punch at the Villain, sending him flying.

"Thanks!" Denki huffed.

"You have electrical powers, don't you?" Sen asked the blond. "Just zap them!"

"It's not that simple," Denki replied. "I can cover my body with electricity! But if I try to shoot it out, it'll go everywhere! I'd take you down along with them!"

"Ugh, then we should just keep moving," Sen hissed. "Wait! I think I see Shoda and your classmate that way!"

The two then ran in their friends' direction, but then…

"We've found you!"

"Oh crap!" Denki gasped as several more Villains charged toward them, when suddenly…

"Ghost Ray!" Two green energy beams shot past the two Heroes-in-training, hitting some of the Villains.

Then, a boulder came flying in to knock down the other Villains.

"Huh?"

Denki and Sen turned and saw Dani, Reiko, Monoma, and Rebecca running up to them.

"¡Hola, amigos!" Rebecca greeted.

"Man, are we glad to see you!" Sen said.

"Ragh! You brats!"

Denki shrieked as the Villains began to get up.

"Animal Soul: Cat!" Rebecca's appearance changed: Her hair became unbraided, her hands and feet became catlike, and she had pink feline ears, whiskers, a choker with a round bell, and a pink striped tail. She then charged at the Villains with enhanced agility and slashed at their faces with her claws, leaving them with painful scratches.

Reiko, and Monoma copying her Quirk, levitated a big piece of rubble and threw it at some Villains that were attacking Ojiro and Shoda.

"Nice save!" Ojiro thanked.

"Yeah, glad you came!" Shoda added.

"Is that all of them?" Monoma asked.

"Probably, yeah," Sen said.

"Good, then let's bail," Dani said, and everyone made for the exit. Once outside, Dani fired her Ghost Ray like a welder to weld the door shut. "That should keep them from coming after us."

Downpour Zone

"What the hell is this?!"

"Why do I have mushrooms growing on my body!"

"They just keep popping up every time I get rid of them!"

Some of the Villains were having a strange predicament as they found mushrooms of various types popping all over their bodies, and no matter how hard they tried to get rid of them, the mushrooms kept respawning.

"You baddies are in truffle now, shroom!" Kinoko declared. "A dark and humid place like this makes the ideal environment for my spores to grow!"

"That bitch!"

"Get her!"

However, before the Villains could harm Kinoko, Togaru stepped in and, activating his Quirk, formed blades from his arms that he used to slice up their weapons and deal some damage to the Villains themselves as well.

Elsewhere, the Villains were being attacked by a swarm of rats, which were crawling all over their bodies, with the bad guys desperately trying to get rid of them.

Then, the shadowy hand of Dark Shadow appeared from the Villains' left, slamming two into a wall. Before the others could react, they were suddenly pulled into darkness, where sounds of screaming and multiple punching and kicking were heard before the Villains were tossed back out.

Then, Fumikage and Orihime (the latter in her Makami form) stepped out of the darkness while Koji exited from an alley as Kinoko and Togaru joined up with them.

"That's eight of them down." Fumikage gave Koji and the three 1-B students a thumbs up, which they returned.

"We're reducing their numbers, but very slowly. I hope it helps in the long run," Orihime said, a mist of cold air escaping her mouth.

Entrance

Tenya, Ochaco, Rikido, Mezo, Kosei, Mina, Awase, Hanta, Shihai, Jurota, Itsuka, Juzo, Kojiro, Hilda, and Hiryu stood behind Thirteen as the Space Hero used Black Hole to suck in Kurogiri.

"Ah, Black Hole… The Quirk that sucks up matter and turns it to dust," Kurogiri observed, despite bits of his body getting sucked into Thirteen's finger, he sounded surprisingly calm. "Such an astounding power. However, you're a rescue Hero, Thirteen, skilled at saving people from disasters. Consequently, that means you have little fighting experience or battlefield awareness."

That's when a portal opened behind Thirteen. The Hero yelped as she started getting sucked in, much to the horror of the students.

"He opened a warp gate!" Thirteen yelled. Then, the back of Thirteen's suit was torn apart and pulled into the Black Hole. Destroying the Hero's back as it was turned into dust.

"How unfortunate. You've turned yourself to dust," Kurogiri mocked.

Cutting off the Black Hole, Thirteen fell to the ground. "I'm sorry," the Space Hero said. "He got me."

"Thirteen!" Mina screamed and ran over to her.

"Iida! Get out of here!" Rikido yelled. "GO! NOW!"

Remembering what Thirteen told him, Tenya took off at top speed, heading for the exit.

"The sheep trying to escape from the wolves… I simply cannot allow that," Kurogiri said, turning to the scion of the Iida family. "If other Heroes arrive, it will be harder for us to put an end to All Might."

Tenya skid to a halt to try and avoid Kurogiri's Warp Gate. 'This responsibility… was entrusted to me! Everyone! I'll keep you safe!'

Suddenly, Kurogiri was enveloped by Itsuka's giant hands, with Mezo joining in with his web of arms wrapping over her hands.

"Run!" Itsuka shouted to her fellow Class Representative.

"We've got him!" Mezo added.

Tenya promptly fired his engines again and resumed his dash. 'I'll be back! In a flash!'

"You impertinent child!" Kurogiri escaped from Itsuka and Mezo's grasp and went after Tenya.

Then, Ochaco noticed something within the mist that formed Kurogiri's body: a metal plate.

'I'm close! Will I be able to pry it open in time?!' Tenya thought as he got closer to the exit.

"I have no time for this! BEGONE!" Suddenly, Kurogiri was right behind him, enveloping Tenya in his dark mist.

But suddenly, Ochaco got her hands on the metal plate on Kurogiri's neck, activating her Quirk to send the plate, and Kurogiri by extension, into the air.

"I don't know what his Quirk is, but he's wearing some kind of weird armor. So he must have a physical body inside here somewhere! Now! Run, Iida!"

"YOU PEST! HOW DARE YOU!" Kurogiri exclaimed, surprised by the unexpected attack, as he was thrown in the air.

Tenya then reached the door and tried to open it, only for it to be locked.

"Iida, we got the door!" Hilda as she and Jurota ran towards the door, their fists winded back. Tenya quickly moved as the two powerhouses punched the door open, the hinges flying off from the impact.

"I got you!" Due to his body's mist-like composition, Kurogiri quickly managed to regain stability.

Hilda and Jurota then used all of their strength to pry open the doors. As they cracked them, Kurogiri speeded towards them to attack again, only to slam into an air wall created by Kosei.

"Not so fast!" Hanta then fired a roll of tape from his elbow, latching onto Kurogiri by his metal armor. Kojiro then followed through by spraying glue at Kurogiri for good measure. Finally, Rikido grabbed hold of the tape and yanked him back to swing him around before letting go to send him flying off into the distance.

Hilda and Jurota then managed to pry the door open, allowing Tenya to escape.

"ENGINE… BOOST!" Tenya shifted to high gear to speed back to U.A.

"He's going to call for backup. It's over…" Kurogiri sighed. Narrowing his eyes, he warped himself away to warn his leader. They need to leave before the Pro Heroes arrive.

Central Plaza

Mineta, Izuku, Tsuyu, and Chacha all reached the edge of the Flood Zone to the Central Plaza but stayed in the water to avoid detection.

"Remember, Midoriya, we're just here to see how things are going, alright?" Mineta whispered.

"If we get caught, we're dead," Chacha said.

"Ribbit," Tsuyu said.

"Yeah, I know," Izuku responded. "We'll get out of here the second it seems dangerous."

Peeking up, the four saw Eraserhead and Vlad King, surrounded by a multitude of unconscious thugs, knock out the last person to rush them. That they were still standing despite the obvious strain was commendable, as was their readiness in the stance they took in case any other Villain decided to attack.

Meanwhile, the Villain leader narrowed his eyes as if he was ready to attack. "Keep Vlad King busy for me, I'm going after Eraserhead." He ordered.

"Isn't he just gonna erase your Quirk?" The woman in black asked.

"Yes, but I figured out his weakness," the leader said before dashing toward Eraserhead.

"The Final Boss!" Aizawa threw his cloth forward to try and immobilize him.

'First, it was 23 seconds. Then, it was 24 seconds. Then 20. Then 17…' The Villain observed as he grabbed onto the cloth to pull himself closer to Eraserhead. He then reached out with his hand to grab Aizawa, but the Erasure Hero was quicker and elbowed the Villain leader in the stomach.

The nearby students smiled at the teacher getting the upper hand. Or so it seemed.

The Villain had used the opportunity to grab onto Aizawa's elbow and held it tight. Then, Aizawa's hair fell down.

"It was hard to see when you were jumping around, but I found your tell. It's your hair," the Villain said, causing Aizawa to gasp. "When it drops, it means you've stopped using your Quirk…" The elbow Shigaraki caught started to turn grey like ash or stone. Then it started to crack, making the teacher grunt in pain. "You're having to blink more often. Don't push yourself too hard now. You might just fall apart. Wouldn't that be a shame?" It appeared the Villain had some sort of decaying Quirk as a part of Aizawa's sleeve was already torn, exposing his elbow, which was also starting to break down, with the skin breaking apart, revealing the muscle underneath.

Acting quickly, Aizawa punched his adversary away and jumped back, looking at his elbow. 'He destroyed my elbow!' Then, more mooks came running at him to attack, but he was able to fight them off using his good arm and legs.

"Vlad-!" Aizawa tried to call for Vlad King's help, only to see him unconscious with blood streaming down his head. Standing over Vlad was the giant bird-faced humanoid, while the hooded woman stood close by, brandishing a weapon that Izuku instantly recognized, and the one it belonged to.

'There's no way…!'

His fellow Devil, Chacha, also recognized the weapon, even if she didn't know the specific individual wielding it.

The woman held a red spear of light, which was in the exact same shape as a certain Fallen Angel that Izuku and his friends fought several months ago. 'Raynare…' Izuku mentally said.

Aizawa tried to help Vlad by sending his Capture Weapon forward, but it was cut by Raynare.

He then tried to activate his Quirk, but the bird monster suddenly appeared behind him.

"A word of advice, Hero. I am not the Final Boss," the Hand Villain informed.

The monster attacked Aizawa, drawing blood and causing his goggles to fly off as the monster grabbed the Hero and slammed him into the ground.

The students could only watch in shock and horror as they saw the Pro getting beaten. He was being held down, while the monster broke and bent his bad arm out of shape.

"What do you think of him, Eraserhead? He's the bioengineered Anti-Symbol of Peace. But you can call him Nomu."

Well, good news. Pretty much all the students managed to fight off the Villains in the respective zones they were sent to, and Tenya was able to escape to go bring backup. But bad news, Eraserhead and Vlad King are down, and there's Nomu, apparently the Villains' solution to dealing with All Might. Not only that, Raynare's back. Who managed to figure out that it was Raynare since the last chapter? I did drop subtle hints about her identity, after all.

Rebecca's Quirk is based on Lisanna Strauss's Animal Soul Magic from Fairy Tail.

See you next time. Go beyond! Plus Ultra!