A Tarnished Hero

Tsuyu swung around a sturdy-looking pole as she dodged the razor-sharp fin the shark villain used to nearly bisect her in half. Sweat pooled underneath her brows as she felt the wind swept past her, eyes looking everywhere for a method of exit for her and her classmates.

Minoru was fortunately ignored by the villains, seeing that he was totally out of it, but if he didn't get medical attention soon, there was a possibility the pervert could die of blood loss.

Ochako, meanwhile, was doing her best to stall the other villains that had come on board the sinking ship to "have some fun". Bunch of sickos.

"Come on, froggie. Don't make this hard!" The shark villain grinned and rushed at her once more while her froggy feet skidded across the smooth floor. "We'll take care of ya! No need for body bags! Hehehehe…"

Shivers crawled up her spine as the disgusting chuckle entered her ears. Tsuyu'd rather die than suffer… that… But if she did lose and she was alive to see the results…

Tsuyu trembled. She'd rather not think about it.

Bending her back near parallel to the floor, she narrowly dodged the razor-sharp fin once more, its blade-like edges mere centimeters from the tip of her nose.

Blinking, she tried to get her breathing in order. She may have trained and exercised to prepare for the rigorous curriculum that was the U.A. standard, but even then, her teen body had limits.

No way in hell would she be able to go up against a fully developed man who looked like he'd been bench pressing since the day he could walk with her still developing body. It was just pure genetics.

She ducked down a punch from the shark villain and kicked him away, only for the man to stand his ground like a rock while she was launched away before she landed on the smooth floor.

Even if her mutation-type quirk gave her enhanced physical abilities, the villain gunning for her also had a mutation-type quirk, so her advantages were null and void. So, no matter how much one tried to deny it, they were well and truly fucked. Literally.

Breathing heavily, Tsuyu tried her best to look for any way out, but the more time she spent avoiding the attacks, the more tired she became, leading to mistakes and bad decision-making.

Case in point, she saw the shark villain rush her again. Normally, she would've called the villain insane for doing the same thing again for the third time, expecting for a different outcome. But this particular rush had one factor that was in his favor.

Tsuyu was getting tired.

She dodged once more, narrowly avoiding certain incapacitation, only for a searing pain to tear through her side. She clenched her teeth and palmed the wound with teary eyes, only to feel something wet and hot dripping from her fingers.

Looking down, her eyes dilated when she saw the profusely bleeding gash, and the pain intensified. She swallowed down the shriek that crept up her throat while she tried to staunch the flow.

"Now look what you made me do." The villain sighed, as if what he was doing was something he regretted. The psychopath. "It ain't too late to surrender, froggie. Bleeding out is a lot worse than it looks."

Tsuyu wanted to scream, to cry. It was just their first month in school. She wasn't supposed to be facing villains this early. Looking to the side where Ochako was fighting, her heart stilled when she saw the brunette slammed to the ground with another villain holding her down, a vicious grin on his face.

Ochako was barely resisting as the villain tore through her clothes, revealing the skin underneath. Tsuyu wanted to gag.

"Well, looks like my boys are already starting." The shark villain approached Tsuyu slowly, his cackles making her heart beat rapidly. "Can't let them start without me, froggie. So why don't you just drop DOWN!"

The shark zoomed towards her once more and Tsuyu tried to dodge again, only for her feet to freeze and drop to a knee. Saliva trickled down her lips as she beheld the villain closing in faster.

She closed her eyes.

Somebody… Help…

She waited for the incoming blow to knock her down, tears streaming down her cheeks. All she could hear were the rapid footsteps and the rapid beating of her heart… And shuffling metal…?

"What the…? Who the fu- Gah!?" She heard a loud smack and something collapsing to the ground. Opening her eyes once more, she looked upon a new figure that towered over the prone shark villain, one of his arms bent like a pretzel with bones piercing through flesh.

The sight nearly made Tsuyu retch, if only she didn't pass out at the same time.

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To be honest, Izuku was a bit pissed at the shark man, or rather, his entire crew, for going after children. Now he might be tooting his own horn here, what with him being a minor himself, but he reasoned that the experience he gained in The Lands Between made that point moot.

Looking down at the frog-looking teenager, Izuku couldn't help but wince at the sight of her bleeding gash. Rummaging through his pack, he quickly took another warming stone - it works on the black-clad man, albeit slowly - and dropped it down, right next to the unconscious teen.

That over and done with, he quickly turned towards the other teenager who was getting molested by another creep, this one looking like he had an octopus for a mother. Pumping energy into his legs, Izuku closed the gap and gave the man a kick to his sides.

His girlish yelp will forever implant itself into his mind as the octopus-looking man tumbled across the smooth ship floor like a rolling stone.

Towering over the brunette with permanent blushes on her face, Izuku couldn't help but pity the poor girl.

Her clothes were shredded, skin showing aplenty. If not for her undergarments shielding her modesty, Izuku would've seen the inverse of Nirvana. Observing closer, he could spot bruises and cuts littering her exposed skin, with some of them bleeding trickles.

There were also some black markings around her neck.

Grabbing another warming stone - he had a lot because he relied more on Crimson Tears rather than consumables - he plopped it down next to the girl and watched the magic happen.

Slowly, her wounds began patching itself up, the gashes and tears across her skin slowly closing. Now that the threat on board was kind of a non-factor, the next thing was making sure those in the water don't come up with intent to harm and safely get these unconscious teens to shore.

Not like he could do anything against those people surrounding them if they continued staying underwater. As for how he got up here in the first place with the large body of water holding up the sinking yacht, he jumped.

Also, dragonclaw was useful generating enough force to fling him across the artificial lake.

That reminds him, there was another one who looked like one of the teenagers he was protecting. He had purple balls for hair - a weird quirk, but quirks in and of itself were weird anyways - and was missing a few fingers.

Izuku winced. Losing fingers was not a pleasant feeling. He may have been used to pain and dying all the time, but during the beginning, even a single cut was enough to send him bawling his eyes out, followed by more stabbing or crushing until his consciousness left him.

Grabbing another warming stone, he plopped it next to the midget and breathed a sigh of relief that the smaller guy wouldn't be dying of blood loss anytime soon. Can't say the same about his lost digits, but that was preferable to dying.

Now, how is he supposed to get these three off the yacht in the first place? His armor was too heavy to even think of swimming, and he was pretty sure he needed air to live, the last time he checked, so no walking at the bottom of the lake.

As time passed and the yacht continued sinking even farther, one of the men in the water probably decided that waiting wasn't fun and jumped to scare the shit out of him, only to get the flat side of All Strike to the face once his feet touched the floor, immediately knocking him out cold.

Also, he was wearing some kind of goggles and breathing apparatus, so it was safe to assume that the man couldn't breathe underwater naturally.

Izuku sighed, another one to bring to shore. He might detest these people from the bottom of his heart, but he hated killing even more when there were alternatives. It just didn't sit right with Izuku to ignore the morals he was brought up with in this hero-centric world of his.

It was also a reminder that, for all the inhumane feats he had, like his pseudo-immortality, he was still a human at his core. A reminder that he wasn't a monster like those roaming the Lands Between had been.

He was sane. Still sane. His mind was his strongest weapon, and he would make sure that it remained sane until he finished his task…

Izuku couldn't let it be otherwise… Otherwise…

He shivered… He didn't want to forget… That faceless figure that always made sure he was well taken care of… What did she look like?

Why couldn't he remember the face of his own mother…?

A splash of water took him out of his rumination, and he glanced over another one of the men hiding underwater rushing him with his claws out. Thankful for the sudden interruption, Izuku paid it back twofold by ducking the attack, grabbing the man's outstretched arms and yanking him down as he flew overhead, the sudden pull dislocating the man's shoulders as he shrieked like a banshee.

Disliking the noise, Izuku brought foot up and stomped on the shrieking man's head just hard enough to not turn it into a mess of gore and knock him unconscious.

Sighing, Izuku slowly went to the railings and mused that the water was getting closer now. Maybe it was time to finally act?

The three teens were still unconscious, frog face because of exhaustion, brunette because of asphyxiation - the black markings being a dead giveaway - and the purple midget because of shock and probably blood loss.

He bundled the three together and called upon Torrent.

"Hey, buddy. Help me with these three, please?" Izuku gave his valiant steed a small smile hidden underneath his helmet. The horse neighed and rubbed his forehead across his hands. "Thanks a lot."

Placing the three bodies on the saddle and fastening them to Torrent with rope he got from all around Limgrave, Izuku grinned and went for Torrent's underbelly.

"Okay, here's the plan." Izuku made sure that his hands weren't too much of a bother for Torrent. "I throw you to the shore and you double jump to break the fall."

Torrent neighed and all Izuku could translate from that was 'All right, but if I land on water, I'll buck you.' And frankly, Izuku wouldn't take it any other way.

"Good boy." Izuku then transformed both of his arms into dragon claws, and with a shout, flung torrent across the lake. Now wasn't that a sight? A horse with antlers - maybe an elk, still spotty on his steed's race - gliding past the air with the grace of a dancing swan.

Once he was close to the shore, Torrent double jumped, like Izuku said he'd do, and trotted along the ground as the flight came to an end.

"Good boy, Torrent." Izuku smiled as his steed trotted along the concrete floor while looking at him from afar, waiting. "I'm on my way."

Izuku was about to jump, before he looked at the two unconscious people that were still on deck with him, and they had a prominent feature which they both shared.

They had breathing masks, which he destroyed. So, he was sure that if the yacht sunk with them, there was a chance of the two of them drowning if their friends still underwater didn't help them… Or if they even had friends left waiting for them…

Well, Izuku was no monster, so enemy or not, he will save them. At least, until they decided to kill him again, in which he'll kill them next.

Fool me once? Shame on you. Fool me twice? It's not happening a third time.

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