Just dropping this off to test something.

The final chapter of this three part special won't be too long from now.


My Hero Academia Untold: The Knights of Fafnir

Saga I: Dusk

Arc II: The Incident

Chapter XXV: The Invasion Part 2


"Is every...one alright?" Thirteen asked weakly as she slowly regained consciousness.

"We are, for the most part," answered a slightly injured Tentacole, who was doing his best to take care of his teacher. The teacher had been injured while trying to execute a daring plan to get word back to the main campus. "Iida successfully managed to escape and should be arriving back at school any minute now."

"Oh...good...good," Thirteen managed to wheeze out as her eyes moved to see that the rest of the students were busy watching the battle in the main plaza. Backup was coming; they just needed to hold out for a bit longer.

'Hopefully, my friends will be able to guide the rest of our juniors to safety,' Tentacole thought in frustration. He would've preferred to join the battle like Mirio and Tamaki or find other students like he assumed Nejire-Chan was doing when he saw her flying overhead earlier. But he also knew he needed to stay here to ensure none of the other juniors did anything foolish.

'So far, Alex is still the only senior I haven't spotted yet,' Tentacole pondered as he extended two of his arms pods to the highest they could go to try and scout out for the other juniors. It wasn't long until he noticed movements in the open areas, but there was nothing at the entrance of the enclosed areas. 'With any luck, he should be in either the Downpour or Conflagration Zones. Guiding any students stuck there to safety...I just hope he can stay out of trouble given that his license is still under suspension.'

'What am I talking about?' Tentacole shook his head. 'Even without a license, Alex wouldn't hesitate to fight if it means protecting our juniors. Their safety is our top priority.'


"You're weak, little man!" Rappa roared out, swinging wildly with his arms in his futile effort to strike at the nimble Eraserhead, who dodged easily while trying to counter with his Quirk and scarf. At the same time, he had failed to make a dent in the large, musclebound man with the thin, black, birdlike mask.

Still, he was fairing better than Vlad King, who was dealing with the black and purple monstrosity.

'Why are they staying in the back?' Eraserhead couldn't help but wonder why the supposed bosses remained in the background. 'Are they waiting for something or possibly someone?'

"I think we might have to try something new, Eraser!" Vlad managed to growl breathlessly as he stunned the Noumu for a moment after a solid strike to the head and backed off; he would have fought Rappa. But his size was the only thing keeping the Noumu from getting the edge on them. Add the two bosses in the back they needed to be wary of, and this fight was proving to be a battle of attrition, one they were already on the losing edge.

His blood control quirk proved ineffective against giant foes like the Noumu and Rappa.

/

Tomura was calm but also downright furious that All Might wasn't around to die like a good little hero. Yet, The Pale Prince knew he needed to maintain a certain air of confidence, especially with his new...friend, who seemed to be slowly losing his patience waiting for his prize.

It took all of his skill to convince Overhaul not to leave to find the girl; instead, he had the Yakuza boss deploy his personal pawn to fetch her. However, this also meant Overhaul wouldn't budge to attack the two pros. Even now, the brat was his priority, so unless All Might or someone with the brat came, Overhaul wouldn't move on his whims.

'Damned yakuza pride and stubbornness,' Tomura thought while possibly contemplating killing the man himself if needed. After all, if he wasn't going to serve his purpose here, what use was he to him? Other than bringing the extra muscle to the play in this wild game of death. The answer, however, came when the space behind them began to bend and warp, and a black hole appeared with a slightly more disheveled Kurogiri stepping out of it. His armor was dented, and his suit ripped and sliced in odd places.

Overhaul turned slowly to look at the situation to see how Tomura would react.

"Why are you here, Kurogiri? Shouldn't you be at the entrance, guarding it?" Tomura said, now struggling to keep his composure, as he could already take a guess on why he was all the way back out here earlier than planned.

"I'm sorry, Tomura Shigaraki, but one of the students, a fast one, managed to escape to get reinforcements," Kurogiri responded nervously. The smokey man knew just how volatile the blue-haired man could be and, for a moment, looked like he had utterly snapped as he began scratching at his neck rapidly.

A nervous trick Kurogiri thought that Tomura had outgrown a few years ago.

Tomura continued scratching while producing an almost nervous bout of laughter before he suddenly stopped moving altogether. With a slow angular twist of his neck, Tomura faced Overhaul. Without taking a breath, Tomura began staring at him while producing a wheezing cackle loud enough for only Overhaul and Kurogiri could hear, letting them know that danger was coming.

"Overhaul," Tomura spoke as he continued to stare at his villainous companion with those blood-red eyes almost hidden within the gaps of his hand mask. "It's now or never. We need to start killing these worthless pros now and leave before their backup arrives. Otherwise, it's game over for us, making your little brat harder to reach."

Overhaul looked at the man with his own silent glare. It was a challenge to cooperate with Tomura so far, and even now, he was sorely tempted to kill him every now and then. Yet he also knew that he was right. This was his chance to get Eri back; now that backup was coming, his opportunity was beginning to slip away.

"Very well, Shigaraki, I suppose it is time for us to step in," Overhaul said flatly.

Without another word, the two men began their move toward the battle with the two veteran educators.

/

The two pros had switched opponents mid-way through the fight. Vlad could keep up with the giant man without using his Quirk, which could be risky with a man of Rappa's size, unlike the Noumu, who didn't seem to feel pain. A few weaker villains had also managed to jump into the fray. Only to get knocked out by either a pro or one of the large villains. The Noumu due to friendly fire, while Rappa simply hated the weaklings for getting in the way of his fight.

"Vlad! They're coming!" Eraserhead yelled out to his co-worker, seeing Tomura and Overhaul charge at them. Vlad saw this and quickly adjusted his angle, moving Rappa in front of him to block Overhaul, thinking that the man wouldn't harm his subordinate.

Rappa laughed as he knew what Vlad King was doing; it wouldn't stop his boss.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, both Pro-heroes had the chance to see what Overhaul could do to a man with his powers. The last of the cannon fodder villains who had backed off during the fight happened to be in front of Overhaul's way. The poor bastard didn't know that the yakuza boss cared little for those who did not serve him.

With one quick swipe of his hands, the villain in question was reduced to nothing but a bloody mist of gore, bile, and entrails, leaving the two veteran pros momentarily stunned by the man's powerful Quirk. Rappa was disappointed that his fun had ended with Vlad King.

However, he knew that his boss was in no mood to indulge in his normally more violent antics.

The muscleman quickly sidestepped Vlad while managing to strike the man, pushing him closer to Overhaul's reach. In a desperate attempt to stop the man, Vlad used his Quirk on the slimmer man; unfortunately, when Vlad's blood touched Overhaul's outreached hands, everything went wrong. The pain that Vlad felt as his right arm was suddenly obliterated was almost enough to make him blackout. He fell to his knees as the blood rushed out of the stump, just above where his elbow used to be. It was all Vlad could do to maintain focus and keep himself from bleeding out, using his blood-control powers to stop himself from going into shock.

Unlike Overhaul, who continued moving until he was right over Vlad's hands moving toward his head.

"VLAD!" Vlad heard Eraserhead yell at him. Eraserhead left himself wide open to the Noumu, using his Quirk to save his co-worker.

Overhaul was caught off-guard when he touched Vlad's face with his hand, but the man didn't die. He simply remained with a blank expression there until he was met with a large explosion on his face, sending him skidding back as the beak-like mask was blown away from his face.

"FUCK OFF, SHITBIRD!" Katsuki roared out before launching another explosion away from the yakuza boss.

"Sorry for the wait!" Lemillion exclaimed before punching Tomura out of the way, making the Noumu drop a severely injured Eraserhead to protect his master. This left a slightly out-of-breath Suneater to begin his own assault on Rappa, who had been caught off guard by the ash blond's explosive assault on his boss.

Vlad could barely speak as he felt himself being pulled away from the fight, feeling that something spiky and robust started to coil and wrap around his body.

"Shiozaki?" he managed to say as he could see his student's familiar green vines coiling around him.

"We got you, sir," A lisp-filled voice said to him. Vlad lifted his head to see the purple-clad short boy with rounded hair helping secure him with the vines. While in the distance, he spotted Setsuna and the lanky boy from Class 1-A with the odd elbows securing the unconscious-looking Eraserhead.

"Leave me here," Vlad groaned, too weak to yell at the reckless behavior of the first years. "Get to safety."

"Can't, sir; a lot of us got split up by the misty guy! We just barely got here from the Collapsed Zone," Minoru retorted before giving Ibarra a thumbs up to let her know to begin pulling her Homeroom teacher up.

As he was pulled up, Vlad could see Katsuki, Mirio, and Tamaki fighting aside a set of doubles, focusing primarily on dodging rather than attacking. They seemed to be trying to buy as much time as possible. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Camie making illusions to support the offensive and making fakes to confuse their enemies. Vlad couldn't help but feel a little proud of his students.

"Mr. Vlad!" Ibarra exclaimed, worried after seeing her teacher's condition. Once she had pulled him up to the edge, Vlad was suddenly surrounded by some of the other first-years to help him get over the edge. Vlad had to admit, given the circumstances, that the first years were doing well, as they managed to get him to safety only to be met by Tentacole.

Help was coming; they only needed to wait a bit longer.


Kashiko threw the round device overhead, landing with a small splash, and began to sink into the depths of the Flood Zone. The villains instantly scattered, afraid that the device could have been some kind of weapon. At the same time, everyone else on the boat watched Kashiko with bated breath. She fiddled around the settings of her equipment with her wrist-mounted screens that augmented her Quirk's abilities.

'Come on, please work,' Kashiko pleaded. The device she had thrown was a sensor that used echolocation to find people in the darkness, almost like sonar. Yet Kashiko wasn't sure it could be used underwater. It was a gamble, but she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The screen was still calibrating and loading the data, making Kashiko sweat. Finally, after a few more seconds, the screen flickered as it came to life. Connecting with her Quirk, the device processed a highly detailed 3D map of the boat and the water surrounding it, including the locations of all the villains in the water.

"IT WORKED!" She cheered, gaining instant praise from the boys who were with her.

"Holy shit," Sen exclaimed, seeing the hologram chart with the moving dots representing the villains' movements.

"Yeah, that is awesome, Sekigai!" Kosei cheered while Inasa gave a hearty laugh.

"Okay!" Shino began by studying the chart carefully. "Yoarashi, think you can make a whirlpool with your winds here?"

Inasa looked at his vice president and then at the chart before giving him a thumbs up.

"Easily!" Inasa answered with a determined expression. "The only problem is getting the villains in one place, seeing how they're still spread around."

"Yeah, I think I can serve as a decoy and try to get them to follow me here," Shino answered, now pointing at the spot where he thought the whirlpool would have the most impact.

"Whoa, you think you could outswim a whirlpool, dude?" Sen asked, concerned about his classmate and his possible arrogance.

"No, but I do not need to outswim it," Shino responded gravely. His Quirk allowed him to manipulate water regardless of form, which proved valuable in enhancing his swimming abilities. Yet, he still had his limits; a strong whirlpool and an inability to breathe underwater could still kill him like anyone else. "I just need Tsubaraba to make a platform I can jump to from the water just before Inasa makes it,"

"That's a heavy risk, man," Kosei interjected, knowing that a large part of the solution involved making the right-sized platforms to hold everyone in place.

"Indeed it is, however, unless anyone else has a better idea. It is the best of what I got," Shino answered firmly, making everyone frown.

Before anyone could suggest an alternative, a sudden groan, and a crash slammed against the ship's middle, revealing cracks and faults that split the metal body. Forcing everyone to go with this unpopular plan.

"SHIT!" Sen exclaimed as he and the rest of the makeshift team grabbed onto the ship's rails, and it slowly began to sink. The villains began to proclaim their boredom with the waiting game.

"IT'S NOW OR NEVER, GUYS!" Kashiko yelled out while slipping out her wrist-mounted screens, handing one each to Shino and Inasa. "USE IT TO COORDINATE WITH EACH OTHER!"

"THANKS! TSUBARABA! START MAKING PLATFORMS, YOARASHI TAKE TO THE AIR," Shino began to order out while placing the screen on his left arm. "KAIBARA, YOU WITH ME IN THE WATER OR WITH THEM ON THE PLATFORM?"

"I'LL STICK TO THE AIR FOR NOW, BUT I'LL JUMP IN IF I SEE YOU GET INTO TROUBLE!" Sen answered as he and Kashiko jumped up into the narrow first platform together that Kosei made in the middle of the air. At the same time, Inasa took flight, unable to fit the screen into his arm. Instead, he held it in his free hand.

"RIGHT THEN, LET'S GO!" Shino proclaimed before expertly diving back into the water from the edge of the sinking ship. He could see some of the villains were already giving chase of him while a handful of villains were still focusing on his team in the air. Shino swam hard while keeping an eye on the chart, thankful that the device was waterproof. He could see that Inasa was already in position and could see the rest on Kosei's platform; he just needed to signal them. The water bender fluidly dodged and weaved a few more villains before kicking one that had caught his leg before breaking through the surface.

"YOARASHI, COUNTDOWN 15 SECONDS!" Shino yelled out before taking a quick breath and seeing that Inasa began to whip up air violently. The young man dived as deep as possible, hoping to lure as many villains as possible. As well as to build up speed to make a long jump from the water to the air platform, Kosei had made above them while counting down in his head.

Before the villains could notice that something was afoot, Shino quickly doubled back and shot straight to the surface at nine seconds.

'7,6,5,4,3'

Shino was almost at the surface when he suddenly felt a villain grab his leg awkwardly and slip out just as quickly. The young man broke through the water's surface, leaping out like a confused dolphin. He overshot his jump and missed the platform, and the three who were already on it tried to reach for him. His slippy hands cost his grip on the air platform and his teammates' hands.

Inasa, however, didn't notice Shino falling back into the water as he continued launching the whipping air into the water. Instantly forming a massive whirlpool that dragged all of the villains in the depths along with Shino down as he splashed back into the water headfirst. The team could only look in horror as their classmate began to be dragged down into the depths, with several villains going down with him.

Shino thought this was the end for him, knowing that if the whirlpool didn't drown him, the remaining villains that survived the whirlpool would. Thankfully, he felt his head break through the water wall where the air was being forced down, seeing Inasa above him. He tried to scream until his voice became hoarse, but his words were drowned out by the strong winds that also threatened to force him back under.

Then suddenly, the winds stopped, and the water slammed as the space was immediately refilled, launching everyone at the whirlpool's eye upward. Shino slammed headfirst into a villain, knocking him out instantly before flying into the air, only to be caught in Inasa's arms.

"I GOT YOU, REP!" Inasa managed to yell out, flying further away from the water. Seeing that help was coming, Midnight and Shouto Todoroki stepped into the water, instantly freezing a large portion of the artificial lake with every step from the latter.

SPLAT! CRACK!

Several villains who had also been launched into the air began landing violently on the freshly made ice. Only to be frozen with an extra splash of Shouto's powers for good measure. Much to the relief of the remaining team, their plan had gone awry, but some quick thinking and backup proved to be their salvation. As Inasa and the group slowly stepped onto the ice, careful not to break it and fall back into the water, they met with Midnight and Shouto.

"I'm so glad to see you guys alive. Shame that Mizuoji got the rough of it, though," said Midnight before wrapping Kashiko and everyone else from Class 1-B and drawing them into a hug. Shouto, however, continued his work of freezing the lake villains, who started to break through the ice for air, chilling them to the bone.

Kashiko and Kosei struggled not to cry while Sen tried to keep it cool. Still, he had to admit to being scared for a moment or two after seeing his vice president almost die. Inasa simply laughed despite the situation; they managed to escape.

"Over here!" they all heard a voice say above them as a frantic-looking Nejire-Chan descended on them. Midnight immediately broke off the reunion to get a status report from Nejire-Chan, a message that shocked Midnight.

"Everyone except for Todoroki, head toward the Mountain Zone and meet up with Yaoyorozu's group there. Nejire-Chan, I want you to guide them. Once you're done, join up with us in the Central Plaza." Midnight ordered, all of the humor completely lost in her voice. She did not realize just how bad the situation had gotten. Thankfully, with the information they had gotten from the villains in the Landslide Zone, she had a good idea of how to try and cut off the villain's escape.


"This way!" Izuku exclaimed as they made their way through the hellish flames of the Conflagration Zone. The trio of Izuku, Tōru, and Mashiro heard the earth-shattering roar that rang out earlier as they tried to navigate through the burning city, easily fighting small-time villains along the way.

"We're sure that was Kasei, right!?" Tōru questioned as she carefully navigated through the debris, needing to be extra careful to not have her bare skin touch anything too hot.

"I'm pretty sure that was him, right, Midoriya?!" Mashiro yelled, who knew that roar from previous training sessions.

"Yeah!" Izuku answered as they got ever closer, where they could hear voices in the distance. While Izuku was worried for their classmate, knowing he could be in trouble, his ultimate priority was that Eri might not even be here, or maybe she could be with Ryu. The green-haired boy shook his head; no matter what, Izuku needed to move to save his classmate, hoping with everything he had that Eri was somehow safe.

The trio had managed to arrive to find several villains arguing and fighting with each other while spotting several bodies on the ground, clearly dead. Some were still on fire, while others seemed to have several vicious-looking whip marks littering their frames.

"The cash is mine, boys!" A fair-haired villain with a whip yelled out her acid-green eyes full of malice, threatening the other villains.

"You think we're just gonna let you collect the bounty solo? After trying to kill us, ya bitch?" A giant villain with large gray tusks argued back with a few small-time goons backing him up while remaining were vary of the female's flaming whip.

Izuku and Mashirao quickly tucked themselves into a corner. While Tōru scouted ahead, making her way closer to the villains, trying to take a headcount thanks to her invisibility. As she got closer, her nose began to pick up the faintest smell of burnt sugar waffling in the air. Then she spotted a familiar costume: Ryu's limp body was slumped against the wall, completely still and silent.

Tōru could feel her heart sink as she stopped her count and made her way back to her makeshift team.

"Guys! Kasei's over there! I think he's really hurt or...worse," Tōru whispered her report to Mashirao and Izuku. Making the teens scramble up a quick plan of action in the hopes of saving their classmate.

"They're distracted. Hagakure, use your light powers to blind them, and then Ojiro and I can go for quick knock-outs," Izuku suggested in a low voice. His anger was building up, knowing that his classmate could be dead or dying without backup. He felt the need to save him as quickly as possible. "Sound good to you guys?"

"Agreed. But we should leave at least one of the villains conscious so we can interrogate them and figure out what exactly happened here," Mashirao interjected after pointing out the odd number of dead or unconscious villains that dotted the battlefield.

"Okay," Izuku agreed since he had a good point, while Tōru whispered her approval and made her way back to the villains. Izuku and Mashirao both waited for a few moments while adjusting themselves to spring into action as quickly as possible, waiting for the signal.

"I'll take the big one, Ojiro."

The young martial artist looked at Izuku, and that was when he saw the fresh anger in the green-haired boy's face. In the short time that he knew him. Mashirao didn't think Izuku could be capable of making such a face and now found it...unwise to disagree and simply nodded.

"PEEK-A-BOO!"

They heard her yell out as a large flash of light appeared, followed by many screams from the now-blinded villains. Izuku and Mashirao hopped out of their cover to begin their assault on the remaining villains. The latter jabbed and tail-whipped his way through the small crowd of villains. At the same time, Izuku was quick to jump on the biggest one, pinning the large man down, slamming his slightly clawed fist next to the man's head, and cracking the street.

"Talk!" Izuku roared, not knowing that his eyes were flashing rapidly between emerald and ruby. Between the hellish heat, the frustration of not finding Eri, and now being able to confirm his classmate's limp body only a few feet away against the wall. Izuku's anger was really starting to get the better of him.

While Mashirao began to tie up the villains, Izuku interrogated the giant tusked villain.

Tōru slowly moved to Ryu's location. She began to tremble nervously as she got closer; the smell of burnt sugar grew stronger. The invisible lass started looking over him, discovering that he was bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth as his face was heavily bruised. His black costume was missing its signature red scarf, while large tears and gashes barely hid the long, thin, bleeding cuts. In addition, Ryu was covered head to toe in dust that featured shoe and boot prints, as though he had been stomped on by the villains in question in an effort to finish him off.

"Kasei?" Toru whispered as she placed her hands on him, hoping for signs of life. After a few nerve-racking seconds, she found a faint pulse and the very quiet, labored wheezing of the Fire-eater, still breathing as painful as it sounded to her.

"How's he doing?" Mashirao asked behind her, now looking over Ryu since he had secured the remaining villains together. He feared the worst as Tōru had been silent the whole time.

"He's alive, but barely," Tōru whispered back as tears began welling up in her invisible eyes. They were still kids who were barely weeks into their training as Pro-Heroes. Yet, here was one of her classmates who was possibly knocking on death's door after being violently assaulted alone without help.

"WHERE DID THEY GO?!" Izuku suddenly roared out, slamming his fist against the street. A heavy amount of blistering wind pressure whipped violently, making the two teens look at him in surprise, not knowing that Izuku could ever sound like that.

"Th-there!" The tusked villain answered as he pointed down the street, his voice full of fear as if he had just seen the Devil himself. "They're being chased by a short guy in a bird mask who had joined up with us! He kept talking about getting some little girl that the other students had! That's all I know!"

Izuku scanned the villain's face, looking for hints of a lie, before raising his fist high.

CRUNCH!

Tōru and Mashirao flinched as Izuku's fist slammed into the man's head with that sickening sound. The two made no effort to say anything as they simply watched their class president secure the now unconscious villain. It didn't help that they both flinched when Izuku turned to face them, seeing the wrath barely contained within his eyes.

"Eri was here," Izuku said quietly with a blank face, though his voice and body still shook in anger.

"Along with Asui, Tokoyami, and possibly a few from class B. It seems like Kasei saved them before making them leave him behind to buy them time...We need to move quickly; they're still being chased by a villain."

"What about Kasei?" Tōru piped up, fearing that Izuku meant to possibly abandon him.

"Ojiro and I can both work together to carry him while still being able to move fast," Izuku answered as softly while motioning Mashirao to try to hoist Ryu from under his arms. "You can go ahead of us, Hagakure, and scout for other villains."

It was here that Izuku noticed a familiar smell that reminded him of Katsuki, a scent of burnt sugar, but that was just the thing. Katsuki wasn't here. Given his temperament and Quirk, Izuku would have known if his best friend had been here.

So why was he picking up his scent?

Ryu began to groan as he was lifted up by the two teens, his body dragged as they began to make their way to the exit.

"Just hold on, Kasei, we'll be getting you help soon," Mashirao muttered to the dark-haired boy.

He was unsure if Ryu could even hear him, but he did his best to at least send the guy some positive thoughts. Izuku, however, kept silent as several thoughts began running through his mind. The most troublesome was what the villain had said about someone in a bird mask who seemed hellbent on getting the little girl.

'Could he be the one that was the source of Eri's night terrors? The one that made her a human test subject? Could he be one of the Bird People? If they're here...I will find them...I won't let them take her...I won't let them hurt her...BECAUSE IF THEY DO...'

"Midoriya! You're holding Kasei too tightly!" Tōru voice yelled out.

"What?" said Izuku as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"LOOK!"

Izuku stopped only to realize just how tense he was, which was putting unneeded pressure on Ryu's already damaged arms. He hadn't even realized he was crushing the boy's arm despite the painful-sounding groans coming from him. It took Tōru to snap at him to make him realize something was horribly wrong with him.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, Kasei!" Izuku squeaked before giving his grip some slack, making Ryu go into his silent, labored breathing once again. Tōru, however, wasn't having it after seeing Izuku's strange behavior for the last few minutes.

"Midoriya...go on ahead of us," The invisible girl started up, knowing that Izuku was most likely worried out of his mind because Eri was still in danger. But...she also wouldn't mind some distance between them.

"Wait, but–" Izuku started before being cut off by Tōru again.

"But nothing, Midoriya! I know you're worried about Eri! We all are! But I'm nowhere near as strong as you or Ojiro, and our classmates need help! I can carry Kasei. Please go on ahead; you can beat the bad guys if there are any ahead of us, right?"

Izuku looked at Mashirao, who didn't seem to have a straight answer but answered nonetheless.

"I'm good with any choice you make, Class Rep, but I'm worried about Eri and the rest of our classmates, too."

Tōru managed to pull Izuku aside and take over, lifting Ryu, albeit struggling to keep the tall teen's weight up.

"Go help our friends, Midoriya! We'll catch up soon," Tōru finished up, using Ryu's right hand to point toward the exit. Izuku looked at these two classmates and then at his father's unconscious doppelganger before agreeing and beginning his run toward the Zone's exit, allowing his Quirk to top out at his costume's limit.


Meanwhile, back in the Mountain Zone, Nejire-Chan had Momo and her makeshift team stay put while she looked for others to lead back to the Mountain Zone from the air before she headed to the Flood Zone. They were safe here and had a prime vantage point to see what was going on in the rest of the USJ.

The team looked on from their vantage point after securing all the villains, ensuring that none could recover to attack them again. Momo had made a small set of binoculars for each team member to look out at various Zones. While others were busy watching the battle of the Central Plaza continue and seeing that some of their teachers had been injured severely.

Ochako, however, would use hers to continue to look for Eri. The moment she saw that the child was either alone or in danger, she would not hesitate to disobey the order to stay put so she could go after the small girl she had come to care for so much.

'Eri, please be okay,' she prayed as she continued to scan the battlefield for her.


Eijirou continued staring at the Downpour Zone entrance as he paced around. After seeing the battle in the Central Plaza from their position, the four had successfully made it outside, free from the torrents that had left them all completely soaked to the bone. Eijirou suspected that backup wouldn't come anytime soon like he had promised, making them worried about the senior they had been forced to leave behind.

"How are you holding up, Kendou?" he could hear Mina ask Itsuka, who had gone pale from blood loss, cold, or both. The Class 1-B Representative leaned on the pink teen, shivering while still holding on to her injured hand, wrapped tightly with scraps from her costume.

"I-i'm do-doing bet-better now, that we're..out of th-the-there." Itsuka managed to answer as Tetsutetsu did his best to find her a comfy place to sit down and rest.

"Sorry, Kendou, but it's the best spot I found," Tetsutetsu said, offering a spot by the sign that read. "Downpour Zone"

"The spot there is pretty warm since it's right by the glowing lights."

"Tha-thank y-you." She breathed as the silver-haired boy guided her to the spot.

Now relieved of her charge, Mina turned to look at her red-haired companion. She remembered when his hair had been jet-black and facing down before becoming Horn Buddies. It still amazed her to see how much Eijirou had changed in about a year. A transformation that she had to admit wasn't displeasing to the eye; she scanned his muscular back before noticing that he seemed to be tensing up and shaking.

"Kiri?" Mina gently called out to him, making him turn around and revealing tears welling up in his eyes.

/

Poni arose with a nasty bump on her head, being awoken by rain pouring on her for an unknown amount of time. The blonde awoke disoriented, struggling to get up as she found herself cold and alone.

'Where am I?' Poni thought as she found her barrings of being in an alleyway.

'Wasn't I supposed to be training? Ow...' The girl noticed that she was in her Hero Costume, which wasn't allowed to be used outside of School. Meaning she must still be somewhere on the grounds. At least, she hoped. 'Why is it raining?'

Poni began to walk to the edge of the alleyway and into the rainy streets, completely alone. At first, the young half-American girl thought she could hear something strange in the distance, like a clashing of metal upon metal. She was still having trouble reading the street names, given that they were all written in Kanji.

'Why does Japanese need to be so hard to learn?! I mean, really! Who's smart idea was it to come up with a language that basically has you learn 3 alphabets*?' Poni thought with annoyance as she continued to make her way to the noise while fighting the pain that continued to pulse down her head. It wasn't until she got close that she realized that two people were fighting with a large pool of blood under them.

CLASH, SHINK!

'ALEX?!' Poni thought as she spotted her senior and fellow American fighting hard against an unfamiliar figure with two long blades. She could see that Alex had many thin cuts littering parts of his costume, with another unlucky slice landing on the edge of the boy's shoulder. Remembering the kindness he had shown her after their clash at the bomb trial, he had helped put her mind at ease as a fellow foreigner and American who had her doubts about whether she could succeed at UA.

Alexander Springfield had inspired those back home who wanted to break the mold and head to UA, and Poni was determined to help him.

/

Blink was getting tired in his fight against Pit Viper. His Quirk was beginning to strain his eyes, adding to the fatigue and increasingly sore limbs thanks to the extra gear he was wearing without a chance to remove it. And Blink was fighting a losing battle. For every hit he landed on Pit Viper, he received two or more cuts, which only cost him more stamina and pain.

The Assassin had proven that he wasn't a pushover, having the skills and talent to match up with Blink's increased speed even when using his Quirk.

"You're getting slower, boy! So much for me being a so-called 'discount Stain.'" The man mocked as he continued to slash and hack at the lad. At the same time, Blink answered by blocking with his armored gloves. He was unable to retort due to trying to maintain a current rhythm of circular breathing, which could be interrupted with one of his usual smart-ass quips.

'Damn it! I can't use my special move like this!' Blink thought as he tried to think of a way to regain his initial edge at the beginning of their fight. The fighter thought he saw a brief opening and went in for a wide punch, only to miscalculate his reach, allowing the villain to duck and make a sweeping kick that knocked Blink off his feet into the reddish water.

Pit Viper was quick to slither up and strike the foreign boy in the shoulder with his fang-like blade without a second's hesitation.

"ARGH!" Blink screamed out as the blade sunk deep into his body and straight into the bone.

"TIME TO DIE, BOY!" The villain roared as he brought down the second blade, going for the kill. Only to be hit by a pair of horns slamming into his left side.

"WHAT?! THE HELL ARE THESE THINGS?!"

'What?' Thought Blink as he felt the blade retreat and realized that he wasn't dead yet; then he saw the familiar flying horns causing the villain's distraction. 'Wait...those are...'

Upon seeing his chance, Blink used the distraction to get up and gain some distance to remove his heavier, unneeded gear. He managed to spot his savior thanks to his distant eyesight.

'Poni!'

"I'LL CARVE OUT YOUR VERY SOUL BITCH!" Unfortunately, Pit Viper had also noticed the new interloper and made a beeline for her. Knocking the sets of flying horns aside and making a sprint with his blades at the ready. Poni had lost the element of surprise and didn't expect the speed at which the villain was able to run as he made his way toward her. Her headache only worsened as she tried to regain control of her horns. However, fear started seeping into Poni as she saw the wrath and malice radiating off the man's face.

While she couldn't understand his threat, she knew he meant business.

Blink finished removing the heavier pieces of his gear and removed his mask, making the conditions for using his special move, Flash Blitz, possible.

'No time for second guesses; it's do or die!'

It all happened in an instant.

"DIE!" The villain roared out, bringing down his blades on the confused and terrified Poni. Only to have an unmasked Blink suddenly appear in a blue flash right in front of him, shielding her.

'What...?'

This word would serve as Pit Viper's final thought as his blades pierced through the foreign boy, caught off-guard by the lad's newfound speed and not knowing it would be the last thing he would ever see. Poni screamed as a pair of red-stained blades appeared through her Senior's body; time seemed to have stood still, her brain still processing the sight of Blink and Pit Viper both collapsing in front of her.

Blink, who had been ready to take the hit and use the opening to counterattack. Using those few vital nanoseconds to help guide one of the blades into a less lethal area of his body with his left hand. However, Blink's right hand had rocketed into a vicious, mach-speed right hook that connected right into the villain's left cheek.

SLAM, SNAP!

Unfortunately, the build-up had been too strong. The villain's head ended up turning one hundred and eighty degrees, snapping his neck and killing him instantly.

Blink, no, Alexander couldn't feel the lower half of his body, but could still feel the stinging pain from his eyes from overusing his Quirk. That and the pain from the blades sticking from his left lung and stomach. In reality, he mostly felt the harsh rain pelting his face. He struggled to breathe as the familiar metallic taste of blood flooded his taste buds. His focus was already fading; hell, he was sure he could see the Specter of Death already standing next to him, ready to take his soul to the afterlife.

"Alex!" Poni screamed out in English as she knelt by his side with tears pouring down her eyes. "Speak to me, please!"

"Poni..." Alex managed to grasp out in English. He remembered that she still had trouble speaking Japanese when they had spoken briefly after the battle trial.

"I'm sorry, save yourself and just leave me here..." Alex struggled to say as he tried to point down the street, only to be surprised by the re-appearance of Eijirou and Mina running down the road towards them.

Alex silently cursed; they didn't need to see this; they didn't need to deal with the trauma of his final moments.

"Help him, please!" Poni shouted at the two, not realizing she had gone back to English. Her hands shook, and Alex was already starting to lose consciousness.

"Springfield!" Eijirou yelled out, kneeling down to his Senior's level.

While Mina stopped a few feet away with a look of horror. It didn't take long for her to see that the water pooling around Alex was already a deep scarlet. He was losing volumes of blood by the second. It wouldn't be much longer until his remaining time on this earth would be over.

"Damn it...Rockman...Ashido...why are you...back here? I told you...I had it...covered..." Alex managed to say in Japanese, between painfully wheezing breaths and haggard bloody coughs. Yet, he still managed a toothy red-stained grin as Eijirou helped Poni sit him up carefully.

"We got to get him out of here!" said Mina as she started to grab Alex's legs. "It will be quick if we all work together!"

"Save yourselves...don't worry about me..."

"I'm sorry!" Eijirou cried out as he and Mina all began to try to lift up Alex as carefully as possible. "Backup wasn't coming yet! I...We couldn't just stand there waiting... I'm so sorry."

"Put him on me!" said Poni as she got on all fours, her costume adjusted to allow someone to literally ride her like a horse. "I carry! You keep him steady!"

"Donno...what you're...being sorry abou...I just did...what a hero should do...right? Just go...and be safe...and calm down...I...ain't dying...yet." Alex answered, trying to ease their worries as the duo worked together to seat him on Poni. Alex's head slumped forward as he continued losing strength; it didn't matter; he was too far gone. His chances of survival at this rate would be nearly zero, but they didn't need to know that.

"Alex, please just save your strength..."

"We're not far from help, Springfield!"

"Just hang on, bro...We, we're going to save you!"

Even at the very end, Alex was determined to keep up a front for them. Despite his personal regrets about dying so soon, at the very least, protecting his juniors wasn't going to be one of them; he had done his job. And even as the Specter of Death began to follow them, silently and invisible to everyone but him.

Alex had already accepted his fate.

"Just watch...guys...I'm still owed money...ya know? Can't die...yet...not til' I collect..." Alex slowly managed to turn his head on Poni's hair to address his quiet, surprisingly beautiful companion. "How...else am...gonna bribe...the reaper when she...comes for me...for real, right...? I'm...too ugly...to even try...and...seduce...her...heheh."

Eijirou's face turned to stone as he watched the blue glow from Alex's eyes start to fade...his Senior was dying before his eyes.

"Hey...Miss Reaper...I know this sounds kind of pathetic..." Alex softly called out in English with a bloody chuckle, inching his hand up as high as he could at the empty space next to him. "Could you please hold this sad virgin's hand? If I have to die today, then I'd like to...at least like to go out holding a pretty girl's hand."

"You hold his hand!" Poni told Mina as tears flowed down her face. The two other teenagers couldn't understand Alex's rambling. "Please..."

Mina did as she was told, gently grabbing the foreigner's cold, clammy hand. She did her best to be a comfort to her foreign companion, hoping that this act of gentle compassion could ease the boy's pain. She felt his hand close to her own.

"Thanks..." Alex finished with a smile as darkness came over his eyes, and he saw nothing more.


Authors Commentary

There is something interesting on the history of these chapters when I think about them. I'll go into more detail in the next upload, but the real kicker for me was expanding the USJ incident into a three chapter long event. In the original outline, I had estimated it would take 2 1/2 chapters, but had managed to condense it to just two chapters, and while I had expanded on those chapters using the remastering. I realized that it really hurt the pacing with just how many scene changes there were.

Finally with this version I bit the bullet and finally made it into three parts which not only fixed up those pacing issues, but allowed me to expand and add on other scenes. Again it's just another sign of my learning by experience and I am glad I did.

That should cover things for now, until next time.

ZX

-ZX