Bakugou, Kouji, and Hanta, falling into the water surrounding the single boat. All around them, villains await. Almost immediately, they're attacked.

Kouji struggles, moving only just fast enough, gaining gashes all over his limbs as he flails in the water, unable to get to the surface, or use his quirk to call for any sort of fish less he drowns even faster.

Bakugou instinctively tries to use his quirk . Crap because I'm underwater, it washes away any and all of the sweat I could use. Any sparks I generate dies down at once.

Hanta manages to twist out of the way of an attack. I was lucky, as my tape's stickiness wasn't affected by water, he thought, so he's able to latch onto the ship and pull himself out of danger. As he coughs out all the water that entered his throat, he shoots his tape out, wrapping it around Bakugou and Kouji's waists, pulling them to safety too.

Surrounded by all these villains, they can't do anything. There are no fish in the vicinity for Kouji to use, no structures for Hanta to use to leverage himself, and Bakugou cannot use his quirk at all.

The villains attack without hesitation, severing the boat in half. It's sinking quickly, and there will be no escaping if they sink with it.

Hanta and Kouji quickly try to come up with some sort of plan to escape in one piece, but they're too shaken to formulate a proper one, and they come up with blanks at every turn. As far as they're aware, there is no escaping.

Bakugou can't say anything, can't even move.

Because of me and Eijirou. Kurogiri was given the opportunity to scatter us. I couldn't even resist as I was sent into the water. Hand-to-hand combat won't work against people who thrive in the water, and my quirk is out of use. I'm useless.

Hanta resorted to using his tape to drag the two halves of the ship together, straining as he did. He can feel his tape at its limits, threatening to, not just dislocate but break his elbows. Kouji does what he can, helping him pull, screaming out for any creature to heed his call.

Seeing them, these people, I once deemed as useless, weak extras, actually doing something Bakugou thought . It kicks Bakugou's brain back into working, and he helps them keep it together, trying to find a way to beat these villains with or without a quirk

Meanwhile Mina, Shouto, and Rikidou find themselves falling into the landslide zone, and Shouto immediately throws a platform of ice to catch them all.

But the land moves, and his platform goes with it, diving right towards the group of villains before them.

Annoyed more than anything, he shoots another blast of ice, blocking the villains from them, but the land is still unstable and doing everything it can to ruin them.

And, before the might of the Earth, Shouto's ice crumbles beneath them. Villains with mole quirks, quirks that allow them to traverse Earth with ease, pop out from underneath them, attacking without hesitation.

Shouto's wall of ice holds out well for the remaining thirty or so villains, who can't traverse land, but the twenty-ish villains are more than enough to put the pressure on.

Rikidou is downing sugar packets after sugar packets, his mind blanking as he loses himself in a rage, doing whatever he can to fight off these villains, but they have the home advantage, using it to trick him, popping up behind him and making his large swings hit the air.

Shouto can't use larger attacks, less he hurts his own teammates, and each time he layers the ground with ice, it crumbles by the landslide, and all he can do is attack directly, icing over limbs that are easily taken care of with a hard enough punch.

Mina, however, is a different story. Already used to slipping and sliding, she is able to find stable-enough footing to put up a good enough fight. But her fear and desperation is her worst enemy. Not because she gets hit, but because she forgets to regulate her acid.

Without thinking, she slams a large amount of acid into a group of villains' faces, and they scream, their faces bubbling from the acidity and heat, falling to the ground as they scream in pain.

And that is the worst part for her. But she can't stop doing it, desperately slamming handfuls of acid into any villain that approaches, feeling sicker and sicker as they writhe in agony.

Rikidou pays it no mind, his own far too gone for him to care. Shouto doesn't see the issue with it, far too desensitised to understand why it messes Mina up. Both of them only care that they get out alive, any means necessary.

But they don't get it. Mina knows how destructive her acid is. She knows that it's not just burning them. It's killing them. But she can't stop - not when it's them or her . It doesn't make it any easier.

Meanwhile Tsuyu and Tooru land in the ruins zone, and have to dodge out of the way of a falling building as soon as they do. Tsuyu does it with ease, and Tooru isn't too far behind.

Unfortunately for them, the villains are well aware of how agile they are, and thus have no issue blocking off their way out.

Their quirks don't take advantage of the zone as others do, but they all have quirks that increase their defense and agility, making it far too easy to either not care about the falling buildings, or dodge them entirely.

Tooru is able to defend well enough, her body built up enough to cause damage to the villains, her quirk quickly ridding her of any pain she feels as pain is a form of energy and her stamina enough to last at least eight minutes in continuous combat, but it's taking the toll.

While she can't feel the pain, her body is still being damaged - something she's not yet used to. She can go stealth mode but she's not escaping without Tsuyu.

Tsuyu is faring a lot less well, forced to do nothing but dodge. While her frog mutation helps her a lot in this regard, it does nothing when she's hit by anything that lands, and she's not built enough to withstand the impacts. It messes her up, and she can't risk leaping into buildings when they're all falling around them.

Every Time she's hit, it results in more hits, as the villains are well-enough coordinated to make combos. The more she runs, the more pathetic she feels, and her worsened mental state only makes it harder to escape their wrath.

Tooru is trying her best to help Tsuyu out, activating her invisibility mode and taking out whatever villain she can, but when it's raining so much, they can tell where she is by the way the rain hits her body. They still have to make a conscious effort to see her, buying her more time to get to Tsuyu, but it's not perfect.

All they can do is flail about and wait to see who lasts longer.

Meanwhile Yuuga, Denki, and Minoru tumble down the mountains as soon as they leave the portal. They can't stop their roll down as they become further and further apart.

It's only when they land at the bottom, surrounded by eager, eager villains that they can finally do something, their bodies unstable as their eyes spin and their stomachs churn.

Denki lashes out with his quirk as the first hit strikes, but it's quickly diffused by the Earth, leaving only one villain to take the hit. One villain out of fifty. To make matters worse, he hits one of the few villains resistant to electricity-type attacks, and all of the villains are wearing grounded shoes to mitigate all attacks of the kind.

All he can do is try to strike them without touching the ground, but they bring out copper rods, stabbing them into the ground to mess up his aim. He panics even more.

Minoru screams, trying to run away, but his legs are far too short to gain any sort of distance - especially when he's trying to run uphill. When the villains cut him off, he throws his balls, doing whatever he can to slow them down.

It works to some extent, but the villains know to dodge his balls, and only a few get tagged. Even then, they aren't stuck to the ground. But it's the only thing he can do, so he does it again and again with less results.

Then it happens. A villain lands a punch to Denki's temple. For a moment, his vision goes black, and when that happens, he loses any and all control, letting his electricity ride all around him.

Minoru notices before the villains, diving into a bush to defend himself as best as he can, throwing balls into the leaves for added protection, from both the villains and Denki's quirk.

The electricity is too much for the rods to contain, and all the villains in his vicinity are struck. They spasm, frothing at the mouth as their limbs shake uncontrollably, before they finally fall, twitching on the ground. Only the electric-resistant villains are left standing, and even they have been affected, stumbling.

Seeing the result of his actions, Denki freezes, his mind going blank. It's the perfect opportunity for the villains left standing, as they regain their footing and rush in.

Minoru peeks up from the bushes, thankful that he used his balls to protect himself as the leaves and branches have burnt, and sees the villains rushing Denki, about ten of them. He realises that they've forgotten about him.

For a moment, he turns around, ready to flee while he's got the chance. He takes a step forward, then hears the first punch land. He freezes, and takes another hesitant step. Another dull thud, followed by a yelp of pain.

Ah. Screw it. He thought. His legs shake mightily, but I want to be a hero, dammit! With this, I finally prove to myself that he deserves to at least try.

So, he turns back around, and launches his first ball, getting lucky and sticking two villains together, resulting in them falling. At once, all of them turn to him.

Steeling himself, he sticks his tongue out and waves his bum at them, before he runs off, leading them away from the still despondent Denki.

Just this once, I'll be brave for someone.

Meanwhile Momo and Eijirou feel the water and wind before they realise they're falling into the downpour zone. Eijirou hardens his body, but he doesn't think he can handle that hard of a fall.

Momo panics, before she finally gets her head straight and shoots out a thick sheet of sorbothane underneath them, absorbing the impact of their dive. It tears where Eijirou lands with his hardened skin, but it absorbs most of the shock anyway.

The villains charge in as soon as they land, attacking without restraint.

Eijirou jumps in front of Momo, acting as a shield for her, but he can't do much else as his mind is in shambles. The reason everyone was scattered in the first place was precisely because of me and Bakugou rushing in despite heroes being right there. He can only grit his teeth and let his hardened arms take the hits.

Momo, refusing to let Eijirou bare this alone, takes a few steps away from him and creates a claymore. She hasn't trained much in regards to it, but she knows how it's supposed to be used, and starts swinging it in front of her, batting away any villains that try to approach.

And that's all they can do. Defend. Push villains away. They can't run, as that would just give them the opportunity to strike their turned backs.

All they can do is defend.

It frustrates both of us, as we were so ready to become action heroes, yet we're unable to take down a single one. Even with my claymore, I can't take down any of them, only batting them away as I'm nowhere near strong enough to use the claymore to its fullest potential.

What's worse is this: we're only defending ourselves. Heroes-in-training, yet the only person we're able to protect is ourselves.

How pitiful.

Meanwhile As soon as their classmates were dragged into the portals, Mezou, Tenya, Fumikage, and Ochako could only dive out of the way as Kurogiri sent another portal their way.

Thirteen, however, was far more collected, opening their glove to start dragging Kurogiri into their blackhole.

Unbothered, Kurogiri merely opened two portals: one encompassing their hand, and the other behind Thirteen.

Tenya notices first, calling out to Thirteen, but it's too late. They shut off their blackhole as soon as they realize what's happening but the blackhole moves faster, destroying their back.

Fumikage calls out to Tenya as he stands in front of him, Ochako and Mezou already rushing at Kurogiri. He reminds him of what Izuku asked - to get help from U.A.

I will not leave my classmates in such a dire scenario said Tenya.

You getting help may be the most important thing to do , said Fumikage.

Please, Iida-kun!" Ochako yells as she lunges for Kurogiri's neck brace - the only physical part of him. "We're all relying on you!"

Kurogiri refuses to allow this, however, as tries to trap them. Unfortunately for him, Snipe finally notices Thirteen's down body, and shoots at Kurogiri's brace, making him falter. Angered, Kurogiri turns to them, intercepting the next bullet, but Snipe easily dodges the exit portal.

Go now, said Snipe. Yes sir Tenya said as he run away

Ochako slams a hand on his back, making him lighter as he fires up his engines. Fumikage turns, allowing Dark Shadow to slam into the doors, denting it. Mezou makes his own move, punching into the doors hard enough to crack it.

Finally, Fumikage and Mezou hit it at once, and the doors go flying off, just in time for Tenya to escape.

Meanwhile, Snipe continues to battle Kurogiri, shooting at him and ducking and weaving the bullets that are shot back at him. Kurogiri fights well enough, but Snipe is formidable.

The kids get to work on Thirteen, with Dark Shadow encompassing Thirteen's back to lengthen their time. Mezou steps in front of them, ready to battle any attack that comes their way.

The first attack lands, and Snipe buckles with his bleeding thigh.

It's the beginning of the end.

Meanwhile Izuku stands before Tomura, his wrist still bubbling from the villain's hold. He wonders momentarily how Kyouka and Mashirao are holding up, but shakes the thought away - he's got far more to worry about for the time being.

"Welcome," Tomura greets him with a grin, and it's more chilling how genuine his glee is than anything else.

The Noumu has stopped its attack on Mic and Aizawa, but that doesn't mean much when they look half-dead already. Blood pooling around their bodies, Aizawa's arm twisted the wrong way, and Mic's leg pulled longer than the other. Not even a twitch from either of them.

Izuku feels sick, and Tomura loves seeing it so evident on his face.

Horrid sight aside, Izuku turns to Tomura. "Why me?" Why did Tomura choose to speak to me? Of all people.

Tomura snickered, the sound as dry as his skin, almost scratchy in its noise. "Fair enough," he conceded, head twisting to the side, like some sort of puppet. "It's weird. I bet you were treated worse than filth, weren't you?"

Izuku flinched, doing whatever he could to stop his eyes from dragging away.

"Ah, yeah, I bet they stepped all over you. They treated a piece of gum under the desk better than you, didn't they? Kids were ruthless. Adults didn't make it easier, no, they made it harder."

It was as if Tomura has been keeping an eye on him since he was diagnosed. Since he was branded with the name 'Deku', since he was first hit, since the teachers first told him off for being hurt...

"Nobody saved you, did they?"

It was as if he knew.

Tomura grinned, seeing exactly how right he was as Izuku's defiant eyes slowly moved to the ground. He was winning this duel, he knew it.

No one saved you, so why do you want to save them?"

And, here, Tomura loses.

Because Izuku's already been through that. He asked himself that very same question when he was eight and he nearly lost his hearing because Bakugou thought it'd be funny to hit him with an explosion to his ear.

He knew the answer a long time ago.

Because I know what it's like!" he snapped, a pinch of satisfaction hitting when he saw Tomura take a step back in shock. "I know what it's like to be hurt, so why would I do that to anyone else? That's not justice, that's just petty revenge!" He stepped forward, ignoring how Kurogiri tensed, ready to attack should he do so. "And you? What do you gain from all this? From attacking kids who aren't even heroes? Why!? Why are you doing all this!?"

Tomura scowled, pushing forward, head butting against Izuku's. "Because I know what it's like." Hearing his own words used against him, Izuku stumbled back, and Tomura pressed further. "I know what it's like, but the rest of the world doesn't. So, why not teach them? Why not let them get a taste of what they did to me?" His eyes were wide between the fingers of the hand on his face. "Why not destroy the society that begets violence on the innocent?"

Because that was what they were. Innocent. And it was society that ruined it.

Izuku knew that. His innocence was destroyed when he first learned how cruel the world was. He learned that when he was the young age of five and Bakugou used his quirk on him for the first time, for the crime of standing up for a bullied kid. He knew it - that not all people are created equal...

But.

"Because that only creates more violence."

They can grow to become equal.

Tomura sniffed, looking down at him, stretching his scarred neck. "And?"

Izuku realised then and there - it didn't matter what he said. Because this man lived to destroy.

Shaking his head, he took yet another step back. "You don't care, do you?" Tomura froze, twisting his head to stare at him, eyes boring into his soul. "You don't care about people like me. People who have suffered as you claim to have. You don't care."

And Tomura grinned. "Correct."

With a snap of his wrist, Izuku's wrist snapped too, and he screamed. The Noumu didn't care, lifting a bulky fist, and slamming it on his arm.

Meanwhile Ochako could hear Izuku scream, but she couldn't do anything but feel her heart break as she did her best to keep the villains away from Snipe and Thirteen.

She wanted to cry, for the destruction surrounding her, but she couldn't. Not when it would mean giving the villains a chance to hurt her teachers and friends.

Fumikage and Mezou were doing their part, and Tenya was getting help as fast as he could. All she had to do was do her part.

As she pushed another villain away, watching him fall into the line of twenty villains, a gust of wind rushed past her.

No, not wind.

"Have no fear..."

Looking up, she saw that all those villains were now at the ground, knocked out. And a mighty figure stood in front of the Noumu, fist low as it reeled back, ever present smile gone, replaced by a look of pure rage.

"FOR I AM HERE!"

With that, All Might smashed his fist up, right into the Noumu's chest. Seeing him, the Symbol of Peace, Ochako fell to her knees, eyes watering. He was here.

They were saved.

Back to Izuku .

Izuku blearily peered up. His pain tolerance has always been good, what with being beaten up since he was young, but this was almost too much.

Hurting didn't even begin to describe it. It was as though his arm was gone, even though he could see it - mangled as it was.

All Might was here. His uppercut sent the Noumu off of him, but not as far as he expected. No, it was more like the Noumu merely tumbled off.

It regained its footing soon enough.

Looking around, he spotted the prone forms of Aizawa and Mic, settled by the flood zone, and felt his awe rise and realised what All Might did: moved Aizawa and Mic away before they were caught in the crossfire.

"Midoriya-kun!"

His lungs stuttered, unable to draw in air properly, and he managed to move his eyes to the approaching figures. A teary-eyed Mina, a heavy-lidded Rikidou, and a clearly frustrated Shouto.

Mina rushed to him first, her hands hovering over his body. Tomura was far too engaged in the fight between All Might and the Noumu to care, and Kurogiri was busy shielding him from the rubble that was produced with each punch to do anything to stop them. Lucky.

Shouto leaned down, eyes dragging from the fight to the ugly sight of Izuku's arm. He held himself back from wincing. Instead, he reached out, "I'll ice over your arm," and did exactly that.

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut as the cold layer settled over his arm, stinging as it soothed his torn muscles and broken bones.

"We need to get out of here," Rikidou declared, taking Izuku's feet as Shouto grabbed onto his shoulder, ignoring how Izuku whimpered at the action.

Mina nodded, following them as she kept an eye out for any villains, her fists shaking and her mind still on those she left to suffer, but she would do anything to defend her friends.

Shouto took one last look at the fight as he helped Izuku, eyes widening at the sight of the Noumu's claws digging into All Might's sides. But, although annoyed that he had to, he looked away, focusing on getting Izuku to safety.

All Might had been struggling, at first. With Kurogiri supporting the Noumu at every turn, making its movements unpredictable, he'd been unable to keep up.

Not to mention the targeted attack to his injury, which hurt like hell how they knew about it. Unless it was a lucky shot, but I can't write it off as one, considering this thing seemed to have multiple quirks.

And there was only one man who did such a thing.

But, as the battle waned on, he couldn't focus on such a thing. He could only focus on the fight, and his rapidly decreasing strength and stamina - a side effect of pushing past his three hour limit.

Mic, Snipe, Thirteen, Aizawa. They were all on the verge of death, and Izuku was close to approaching them had he not arrived.

And where was he when this all happened? Stopping D-Class villains, purse snatchers, petty theft... Drinking tea as I was scolded by Nedzu. How pathetic.

He was busy doing meaningless tasks as his students and his coworkers - his friends were nearly killed.

His rage towards himself increased, and so too did his power.

Pathetic, he thinks to himself as he throws a barrage of punches at the Noumu, rushing back in whenever the Noumu lands a swing. I was too damn pathetic. Who was I to call myself a hero if I failed to save even one life?

I thought my ego was humbled by Gran Torino? How laughable! I was as egotistical as ever, believing I needed to be the hero for petty crimes when I allowed this disgusting organised attack to occur?

Whose fault was it that this happened? Who was the one drinking tea while his students and coworkers suffered?

"Who was it!?" All Might screams as he lands a punch to the Noumu's liver, teeth grit to the point it nearly drew blood.

Who played hero and forgot to be one!?

Who knew exactly what could have happened today and still wasted time lollygagging!?

"WHO!?" An uppercut to its jaw, followed by a hook to its temple, a step back and a straight to its chest.

It was me .

It was my fault.

And I shall rectify it here and now!

Maybe I'm running on steam, but all I had to do...

Was Go Beyond!

"PLUS!" -a fist to its torso- "ULTRA!"

An uppercut to its chest, enough force to ignore that shock absorption, sending it flying, away and away, smashing through the glass ceiling and far from his sight. Good.

His legs quivered, and his fist refused to clench.

He was running on steam earlier, and now he only had a few drops left. Still, he couldn't back down.

Turning to Tomura and Kurogiri, he glared into their heads.

"Well?" he taunted. "What's next?"

Kurogiri shifted. "Shigaraki-sama, perhaps we should escape."

Tomura scowled. "Why?" He drew in a scathing breath, feeling it slither down his throat. "Why?"

The Noumu was created specifically to end All Might. How is he still alive!? He promised - HE PROMISED!

"WHY!?"

"Shigaraki-sama!"

Tomura ignored him, rushing at All Might, who didn't move an inch.

"EVERYONE!"

Tenya's voice echoed across the USJ, as a cement wall blocked Tomura, then more protruded from the ground, forcing him away.

"I BROUGHT HELP!"

Faced with a wall of heroes, Kurogiri reacted as fast as he could, dragging Tomura into a portal before the heroes could react.

Hanta's elbows were bleeding, and it would have been a lot worse if Bakugou and Kouji weren't there to help. But, their grips were slipping and it wouldn't be long before they let go and met the ocean.

"INCOMING!"

All three of them whipped their heads around, just as they were grabbed by multiple heroes and taken to dry land, the water quickly spinning into a tsunami, taking down the villains.

The clones of ectoplasm disappeared, and Ectoplasm announced, loud and clear, "You're safe now!"

Ectoplasm is a tall, slender man with completely blank eyes tilted inwards.

He wears a tan cloak that covers most of his body, the area over his torso, and the high collar resembling that of a double-breasted trench coat. Underneath this, he wears a skin-tight black bodysuit with a golden striped neck area and a matching black helmet that covers his entire head, a jaw-guard attached over his nose and around his jaw, and circular mufflers. He also wears baggy dark gray pants and a pair of thin, lightweight prosthetic legs.

His quirk is clones which allows him to release a viscous substance from his mouth and shape it into clones of himself.

All around them, the villains dropped, and a hand slammed around their mouths. Tsuyu and Tooru struggled, only for a familiar voice to say, "It's okay, sweeties."

Midnight stood behind them, her arms bare as her pink gas spread, knocking out the villains.

"You're safe now."

Midnight quirk is Somnambulist which allows her to make a pink gas which makes people fall asleep. It has no effect on her

Her hero costume is a traditional dominatrix. She wore a breastless, black leather leotard—similar in style to a corset—over a thin, skin-tight, white bodysuit

which accentuated her voluptuous figure. The center strip of her leotard was embellished with red gemstone-like accessories in a vertical pattern, extending from her collar to her midriff. She also wore translucent, black, thigh-high garter stockings, which were attached to a burgundy utility belt decorated with gold studs around her hips, a matching pentagonal buckle in its center, and black knee-boots. She had a small red mask outlining her eyes, and a handcuff on each wrist. She was often seen carrying a flogger-style whip. The white bodysuit was made of thin material that is easily rippable, so she could more easily use her Quirk.

Denki and Minoru stood among the field of villains. None were left standing, yet they couldn't bring themselves to relax. Not when their nerves were so high.

As they painted, a hand clasped around each of their shoulders, "Hey, kiddos."

Screaming, they turned, ready to attack, only to freeze when faced by one Lunch Rush.

"It's okay," he assured, bringing their heads to his shoulders. "You're safe now."

Lunch Rush wears a cooking apron and a chef hat, as well as a mask that covers his face. He also wears white gloves and shoes. There's also a tube that connects from his mouth to his back.

His quirk high time it increases both his stamina and his speed.

Momo gasped, panicking as a large hand clamped around her claymore, forcing her to stop swinging. She pulled, desperate, then paused as she looked up.

Eijirou turned, wondering when the villains stopped attacking, and stopped altogether.

"Yo!" Power Loaded greeted, with a cheer they wanted to hear so dearly. "No need to worry anymore! You're safe."

Power Loader is a short, skinny man with a very youthful appearance for his age. He has spiky ginger hair, reaching just past his shoulders, and dull blue eyes, as well as a notably large mouth. His hands appear to be the largest part of his body, disproportionate to his rather small frame, and, due to his Quirk, he has an orange L-shaped piece at the end of each finger.

He wore a large yellow helmet in the shape of a rectangular excavator claw, the top piece of which protruding outwards to cover his head and most of his face, and the bottom piece left to act as something of a long jaw-guard. He leaves himself shirtless and also wears a pair of large, fingerless gray gloves with metal guards that extend down his arms, as well as a pair of plain cyan pants.

His quirk is Iron Claws which turn the end of his fingers Into metallic claws.

They were saved.

That day, there was no shame as they cried, relief pouring through their body, and all they could think...

Was that they were safe now.