"You're sure you saw it that way? Yes? Thank you very much sir!"

Stumbling in his elongated steps in a desperate attempt to move faster despite his exhaustion, Toshinori Yagi panted as he finally saw the building he was looking for. He had been hastily asking around for details the second he finished cursing himself for passing his time limit. He knew he wouldn't have been able to do anything to the lost villain but he wanted to at least be there, his guilt wouldn't have budged otherwise.

Leaning against a lamppost, Toshinori already spotted traces of the slime villain in front of an apartment building far away. He could already see a few people investigating and forming a crowd. His heart sank as he saw the slime lead up to one of the floors. Everyone there is in danger because of me...

"Ahhhh!"

The piercingly sharp scream broke the expression on the deflated hero's face to one of horror. No... No!

~Line Break~ ~Line Break~

"Stay still. This will only kill you."

"Wha-"

Uraraka's nerves exploded as she just barely jumped away from the sludge man's attack. "I told you to stay still!"

Instinctively screaming as loud as she could, Uraraka ran further into her apartment as green goo slithered after her. A villain is here!? What do I do? I'm not even- "Agh!"

Uraraka shook herself to her senses after getting pinned to the wall by sludge. Hearing the villain laugh in triumph, the gravity girl's heart beat harder. It only increased even more when the villain began his real attack.

"A suitable invisibility cloak; Mr. Number-One-Hero would never suspect a child!"

"Mmf!"

Green slime viciously wrapped around Uraraka's face, covering her mouth and nose. Invading her body, Uraraka began to lose herself to the sludge villain. Her lungs started screaming for air as the clock ticked by, the villain laughing and going on about her being his "hero" the entire time.

Is this it..? Bu-but U.A...

My future...

My...parents...

...My parents!

That's right! My parents entrusted me to become a hero! I promised to help them take it easy and there's no way I'm giving it up now!

Uraraka strained to keep her eyes open as her chest felt like it would collapse any second. Looking to her side, she noticed that her couch was within arms reach.

If I can't even beat one criminal, then I can't even hope to attend U.A!

Gripping the armrest of the couch while activating her Quirk, Uraraka batted the sludge villain off and into the ground with the furniture, gasping as the slime invading her was ripped away. Releasing her Quirk, Uraraka ran out of her apartment as the villain roared in anger. Getting a hit on the villain's vulnerable eyes seemed to stun him a little but Uraraka knew better than to relax while he was still loose.

Crap! I need to run! Wait, no! This is an apartment complex so there's sure to be countless lives at stake here, not just mine. Calm down. Call for help and try to keep him distracted.

Shutting her apartment door, Uraraka whipped her phone out to call the police while she hastily moved away. A quick look of her surroundings told her that there wasn't any items so she wouldn't be as effective in combat here. Still, she stood her ground, even as more and more slime oozed out from under her door.

Wrinkling her brow to a determined glare, Uraraka yelled out strongly.

"...huff...huff...Bring it on!"

~Line Break~ ~Line Break~

Izuku panted as he went over to the edge of the roof. In his rush to get here, he had forgotten how insignificant his physical prowess was.

Dammit! This is no time to rest! Whoever screamed earlier needs help!

Leaning over the edge of the roof, Izuku flinched at the height but continued seeing how he could get onto the floor that has the villain. He noticed that a newly formed crowd in front of the building started pointing at him but he ignored them. His mind was running way beyond what it normally ran at when suddenly, he heard voices.

"Hey! Just try and catch me mud-man!" "Get back here you brat!"

A girl around Izuku's age appeared from the floor that the villain escaped to with haste. Reaching the barrier that protects people from falling over, the girl then recklessly vaulted over it, shaking Izuku to his core. "H-Hey! Wait!"

As the girl began to fall, she quickly pressed her fingers together before going too far down. This seemingly useless action was accompanied with the effect of the girl slowly floating down instead of continuing to fall faster. A huge sigh of relief escaped Izuku once he saw this.

"Phew, it's her Quirk..."

Before Izuku could think, the villain from before finally reappeared, launching off the ledge in hot pursuit of the girl. Missing her in the air, the villain's liquid body easily took the fall to the ground floor. Looking up at the floating girl, he let out a shriek of frustration. The crowd that he landed near screamed in fear, which only brought the villain's attention towards them. "Looks like I won't need the girl after all, heh heh!"

The crowd quickly started to retreat, however a few stragglers were still easily in the agile villain's reach.

Bringing his hands to the sides of his head, Izuku felt panic rise within.

This isn't good! The girl is safe but looking closer, she's still drifting down towards the villain. And that's not to mention all those lives down there in danger right now!

What can I do? There's no way I can climb down fast enough to make a difference!

Th-Ther... There's no way I can be a hero! Where's the real heroes? I'm sorry! Izuku panted as tears dropped down from his revelation.

He would have continued to do this, if it wasn't for what happened in the next few moments.

"Alright, who to pick? Any volunteers? Ha ha ha!" The villain tauntingly spoke.

"No..." Izuku could hear the floating girl utter in horror.

The villain, deciding he had his fun, started to reach for a kid that had fell down in the chaos. "Help! Help, please! Someone, please!"

Widening his eyes, Izuku moved before he could even resist.

!?

Leaping off the roof, Izuku's heart did the same as he saw his height. He quickly ignored that for the sake of the child.

Think quick! I jumped straight at the villain's body so he's going to definitely going to notice me instead. That slime should also cushion my fall, I think! But now I have to worry about not getting caught myself after I'm back on the ground. How would I..?

On his way down, Izuku's notebook dropped out of his backpack, flying past his face for a split second. Recognition lit up in his eyes as his heart and mind went into overdrive. Aerial attacks utilized by most heroes are used for taking down the villain, pinning them until capture, surrender or defeat. These attacks make use of the hero's full weight and momentum to make for a larger impact.

Slinging his backpack into his right hand, Izuku let out his fear in a scream to get the villain's attention. Zipping past the floating girl, his concentration on saving the kid made him miss the surprised expression on her face.

"What?" The villain turned to face him, his own eyes widening at the falling boy.

Bracing himself, Izuku launched his backpack straight at the villain's eyes, making him screech in pain. All of the sludge faltered and rested into a pool of goop that Izuku landed into on his right side. However, the liquid wasn't enough to cushion him fully so Izuku's cry of pain was also accompanied by a sickening snap.

Above still in the air, the girl gasped with her hands covering her mouth as many of the people on the ground screamed in horror at the boy's reckless action. Slowly, she continued to descend until she reached a height she could safely fall down. Bringing her fingers together, the girl deactivated her Quirk and ran over to the almost unconscious boy after landing.

Daaaamn iiiit! Ah, it hurts so much! I... My...I think my arm broke. And my shoulder definitely dislocated. Izuku thought through the tears falling from his eyes. Dazedly seeing the kid he saved run off in tears, the timid boy managed a small smile to himself.

I...I did it. I think I really did something right for once. Finally.

The girl finally reached Izuku's side and she grit her teeth once she saw his right arm. People surrounding the two clamored in chaos, several on their phones for emergency services while others were recording in morbid fascination. Laying her hand on the boy's left shoulder, the girl spoke encouragingly. "Hey, you're going to be okay. Ambulances and police are on their so please, hang in there!"

Groaning, Izuku simply nodded. Trying to relax, the pseudo-calm that was starting to set in was broken violently by the pool of sludge beneath him and the girl suddenly shudder.

People screamed once more as the sludge rose up around Izuku and the girl, blocking them from escaping. Despair filled them both as the villain's face formed into a hateful glare. "This is why I hate kids! You two will die just for the hell of it! Trying to be heroes or something? Too bad!"

Getting up feebly, Izuku tried to place himself over the girl as the villain prepared a fatal attack. Vision beginning to fade, Izuku couldn't hear the girl's concern as he began to wearily think about his mother.

Mom, I'm sorry for being such a burden. I've never hated you for not supporting me... I'm sorry..!

The villain growled furiously as his raised sludge arm sharpened into a point. "Die!"