Chapter 15 - Encounter With The Unknown

Like most everything he did, Aizawa had chosen his wristwatch based on function over form.

He didn't need some garish silver and gold contraption, designed to draw attention to a fake wealth that he pretended to possess, nor did he need it to be some modern, technological contraption, complete with a compass, sundial and a dozen other settings and twice as many functions that he wouldn't know how to use. His watch was black, set in a thick, plastic band and all it had was a face and three separate hands that counted the hours, minutes and seconds.

And those seconds were drawing close to his deadline.

He'd given the class fifteen minutes to be prepared and told their Class Representative to have them ready to load the bus by that time. Only forty-three seconds remained until his deadline, when their Class Representative, who was the only student who hadn't appeared, finally arrived, which was technically permissible within the rules he'd set, but he'd have to find a way to drill into her skull the idea that time was the great killer.

Seconds wasted were equal to lives lost.

At to make matters worse, he finally got a look at her new hero costume. It was…

"Wow!"

"Your suit looks amazing!"

"Très chic, no?!"

…something.

A solid, navy-blue bodysuit started at her ankles and went up to her neck, covering her legs, stomach and torso, but left her shoulders and arms uncovered. She wore a pair of yellow, low-heeled boots, ending just below her knees with a single white star printed at the top of each shin.

He made a mental note to find a way to encourage the three female students that wore heels, to eliminate them from their costumes entirely.

She wore a metallic silver belt with another star and its centre, the shape dipping as it came towards her navel to form a 'V' shape, which connected to a red, armoured chest piece made of horizontal segments, which had yet another star at her stomach and one along each side of her ribs, all of which was topped off with a metallic, silver collar that matched the shape of her belt and held another three stars at the base of her throat.

Nine stars in total.

Given that they were deliberate, he spared a thought to wonder if they had any specific meaning, before dismissing it as not being worth his time.

She'd taped her wrists up, swapped for her glasses for contact lenses, tied her hair back into a ponytail and added a red hairband to keep it from falling into her eyes, all of which were practical measures that he approved of, but beyond that, she looked like a mash-up attempt of All Might and that American woman who idolised him.

It was a reasonably well-known fact that All Might's first sidekick turned support equipment engineer, David Shield, had created all of his costumes. While, as far as he knew, Star and Stripe's costume designer had never been publicly revealed, many people assumed that it was David Shield.

He'd also been listed on the intake forms as one of the two engineers responsible for his daughter's costume, (the other one being Melissa herself), so if they had looked to some of his old designs for inspiration, then he supposed that her design made sense.

Though that didn't make it any less bright and colourful.

Not quite as garish as Ashido's green and purple variation of leopard print, but it was certainly up there.

Shield would no doubt make her own adjustments as she went, but he would admit that her costume did already look more finalised and professional than the rest of the class, who were still adjusting their designs and probably would be until the time came for them to graduate.

If they made it that far.

"Thirty-one seconds left", he told her, "don't cut it so close next time".

"Yes, Aizawa-sensei".

"Good, now get everyone loaded up".

"Yes, right away sensei".

"And Bakugo".

"What?"

"Your new chair's been loaded. You can get it from the back compartment when we get there".

"Whatever".

=== === === === ===

Ida had encouraged everyone to form two neat lines, sorting them by student number, in order to be able to board the bus efficiently, but not only were none of their classmates listening to him, in keeping with their non-traditional way of doing things, U.A.'s school buses had an open floorplan, rendering his entire strategy useless.

He endured some ribbing, as everyone boarded the bus, but she was glad to see that it was good natured from their classmates, and for his part, Ida seemed to take it all in stride.

Though she still thought that he was a little high strung, he seemed to have a good heart, and for a hero, Uncle Might had always told her that that, was more important than anything.

"Ida, dude", Kaminari told him, lounging back in his seat, "you really need to learn how to chill".

"If we're pointing out the obvious, then there's something I wanna say to you, actually".

Melissa blinked, surprised that Asui was speaking to her directly, "To me? What is it, Asui?"

"You can call me 'Tsu'".

"Oh, okay then, Tsu", she smiled, "what can I do for you?"

"You have a strength Quirk, right?"

Melissa nodded, "That's right".

"And you grew up around All Might, right?"

She bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from snapping, hoping that this discussion didn't go where she thought it was. If Tsu brought up the colour of her hair and eyes next, then she didn't know what she was going to say.

Only that it would not be considered to be 'polite'.

"Uh huh".

"Then you must have had plenty of practice, right? What's it like training with him", Tsu shrugged, "we had our first combat lesson, but we haven't started learning under him properly yet".

"We have done a lot of theoretical work, so far", Melissa mused, "I always assumed that the heroics course would be a lot more focused on practical work".

"It would be foolish for us to rush into heroics without understanding the proper order of heroics operations", Ida told them, "proper methods and understanding are the key to success in any venture, heroics included".

"Right", Melissa agreed, making a mental note to see if she could help Ida find a few ways to relax, "even All Might had to learn the basics before he became the hero he is today", she pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess", Kirishima agreed, his shoulders drooping slightly, "though I guess it also helped to have his Quirk", Melissa froze, hoping no one could see her newfound nervousness on her face, "you can do a lot of cool stuff with an augmentation Quirk like his. Don't get me wrong, my Hardening Quirk's cool and all. It's strong enough to let me beat up the bad guys, but it doesn't look all that impressive".

"I disagree", she told him, "it looks plenty impressive and with a Quirk like that, I don't doubt you'll make a fine Pro Hero".

He instantly perked up before her eyes, "You really think so?!"

"Yeah", she agreed, giggling at how excited he looked, "it's a really great Quirk. It's strong and it looks good".

"My Navel Laser has the perfect combination of strength and panache", Aoyama interjected, leaning in as if telling them some big secret, only to be pulled back by Ashido's surprisingly strong grip.

"But it's way lame if it gives you a stomach-ache, sweetie".

The French Exchange student's cheer dimmed at that, but Kirishima was undeterred by the interruption, "Well, if we're talking about strong Quirks for Pro Heroes, we have to talk about Todoroki", the boy in question turned his head towards them when his name was mentioned, but his expression remained unaffected, "his power and control are amazing", he gave him two thumbs up, which Todoroki looked at blandly, before turning away, but thankfully, Kirishima didn't seem to take offence and Melissa began to wonder if he was always this upbeat, "oh, and Bakugo too", he added as an afterthought, as his head snapped up to face them from where he was seated, in the wheelchair spot at the back of the bus, "your Quirk's pretty powerful too".

"Fuck you! I'm nobody's afterthought!"

Kirishima shook his head, bringing up one of his fists to tap his chest, "Listen to him, so cool, never letting anyone put him down as even second best", Melissa could've sworn that there were hints of tears in his eyes, "he so damn manly".

"Right", she said, feeling her face contort, noticing as a few of the others did the same, but Kirishima wasn't one of them.

"Bakugo might have a strong Quirk, but he does nothing but yell angrily all the time", Asui blandly pointed out them, "so he'll never be that popular".

"What did you just say?!"

They all ignored Bakugo as he turned to yell at them once again, as Kaminari leant back in his seat, shooting him a lazy smirk, "Y'know, we've only known you for about a month, but it's very telling that we all know your personality's a load of crap".

"Fuck you, asshole!"

"Enough", Aizawa's voice, though tired and annoyed, still managed to cut across the confines of the bus, instantly quieting their discussions, as they felt the bus turn, "we've arrived. Stop messing around and get serious".

"Sir!"

"Whatever".

The class chanted back at him, as the bus came to a stop, parking in front of an enormous, domed building, which she noted was bereft of any form of identifying signage or markers. The only marker that they were even in the right place, was that the Space Hero: Thirteen, was stood outside, clearly waiting for them.

As their Class Representative, Melissa made sure that she was the first to depart behind their sensei, checking a mental list of the others off as they followed. Ida stepped to wait beside her, running a verbal head count, while Aizawa waited impatiently.

"…nineteen and Bakugo makes twenty", Ida confirmed, matching up to what she had mentally ticked off, "I can confirm that that's everyone, Class Representative".

"Thank you, Ida", she said, looking towards their teacher, as Bakugo offloaded himself from the back of the bus, "all present and accounted for, Aizawa-sensei".

"Good", he said, before turning to Thirteen, "whenever you're ready".

"Hello, everyone, I've been waiting for you!"

It was impossible to see Thirteen's expression beneath the spacesuit helmet that she wore as her Pro Hero costume, but Melissa got the distinct impression that she was smiling beneath it.

After a month at U.A., it was easy to get used to the sight of the various Pro Heroes that they took lessons from, yet seeing Thirteen in full costume, standing outside what was no doubt their training area, Melissa couldn't deny that there was an undercurrent of excitement, though whether it was from a non-standard instructor, or the anticipation for some practical lessons, she couldn't say.

"Right", she clapped her gloved hands together, "first things, first, let's get you all inside. I can't wait for you to see it!"

She sounded excited and as they stepped inside, Melissa understood why.

The building was a masterpiece of building design and engineering.

A large glass dome may have looked uninteresting from the outside or led you to believe that you were staring at the confines of a large greenhouse, but as they stepped through the main doors and onto a stone walkway, which doubled as a viewing platform, those doubts washed away.

Even Melissa, who had grown up surrounded by the miracles of I-Island, was impressed by what she saw.

"Holy crap! It looks like some kind of amusement park!"

"City ruins. Mountainside. Downpour. Landslide. Flooding. Conflagration", Thirteen began, pointing into the distance, "six specialised zones, each one specially designed and created by me and a team of rescue specialists, so that we may prepare you to deal with the different types of disasters that you, as Pro Heroes, may be called upon to enter, to solve and to save lives. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint… but you can just call it the USJ!"

Melissa didn't know why, but based on their chuckles, the choice in name was amusing to her classmates.

Maybe it was a Japan-joke she didn't get.

"Now, before we begin", Thirteen held up one of her gloved fingers, "let me just say one thing", then she seemed to shake before adding another finger, "well, maybe two things", there was a pause before she started adding more digits, "possibly three, four, or five-"

Aizawa cleared his throat, pointedly, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Right, yes. Listen carefully, everyone, but I'm sure that you all already know that I have a powerful Quirk. It's called Black Hole. With it, I can suck up anything and turn it into dust".

"Yeah, you've used Black Hole to save people from all kinds of disasters before, haven't you?"

Thirteen nodded in Uraraka's direction, "Yes, that's certainly true, but what's important here is that my Quirk could also very easily be used to kill".

A heaviness settled over their class and some of them shifted uncomfortably, exchanging quick, darting glances with each other, as Thirteen continued, "Some of you already have Quirks that can be considered dangerous. Others among you will soon learn ways that your Quirks can become dangerous. Now, in our society, Quirks are certified and very stringently regulated, so it can be easy to overlook how unsafe they can actually be… but you need to remember that for many of you, should you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers will soon turn deadly".

She paused for a moment, letting her words settle over them and Melissa felt her skin ripple with gooseflesh at the seriousness of her tone.

"Even if you're just trying to do something as virtuous as rescue someone", Thirteen continued, "your actions can still have unpredictable consequences. Now, thanks to your Quirk Apprehension Test, you should have a solid idea of your Quirk's immediate potential. Thanks to your taste of combat training, you should now have some experience of how dangerous your Quirks can be, especially when they're used against other people. Remember what you've learned, carry those lessons over to this class and remember to be careful, because today, you're going to start learning how to use your Quirks to save people's lives. I know some of you may wish to jump into combat training, but you won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other here, only to help others, after all, that's what being a hero is all about. Saving lives. Protecting people. Ensuring their safety. Now, that's all I have to say. Thank you for listening".

The students gave her a polite round of applause as she finished, though as she glanced at Todoroki and Bakugo's half-hearted motions, Melissa couldn't but think that some among their class were far more invested than others.

"Listen up", Aizawa said, his voice, no louder than his usual classroom speaking voice, still managed to silence them in the large room, "as Thirteen has said, today is the day that you start putting your skills into practice. You've studied the theory and so far", he eyed a few of them in particular, "you've all managed to pass, but that's not enough. Being a hero isn't about what you read in a book. Knowledge is all well and good, but it's experience that makes the save".

Melissa found herself nodding along with the others at their teacher's words. Their sensei could be blunt, seemingly to the point of rudeness, but she couldn't deny that he had more experience than most Pro Heroes she'd encountered.

"We're going to start by helping you understand your own reactions to unknown situations. You'll all be dropped into the zones in teams, where-"

He trailed off, his explanation dying on his lips, as he slowly turned on the spot, his entire body turning rigid and tense, as his eyes darted about the place.

"Sensei, are you alright?"

"Is everything okay, sir?"

"Eraserhead", Thirteen murmured, "what's-"

"Something's wrong", he breathed, "we should-"

Behind them, right in the centre of the open plaza, a giant portal made of purple mist spiralled into existence and less than a moment later, people began to walk through, each of them grinning menacingly, clearly not involved in the day's activities.

Even at the distance they were, Melissa could feel the malice radiating from them.

And then, at the rear, a line of four stepped through, the portal closing behind them, each of them standing out when compared to the invaders and each one for different reasons.

The first was dressed in a simple waistcoat and trousers, complete with a tie, but his hands and face seemed to be made of the same smoky mist that the portals were comprised of. His facial features were indistinguishable, save for a pair of bright, yellow orbs in place of his eyes.

The second and third seemed to be a pair.

They each had bodies made up of rippling muscles, seemingly carved from marble, but while that they have been an attractive feature, they were nothing nice to look at. Their skin was smooth and shiny, the colour of freshly spilled ink, black with hints of blue and purple; they each wore a pair of torn trousers and no other visible clothing; and worst of all?

Melissa could see their brains.

The face of the first one looked like a bird, with a beak and beady eyes, and an exposed brain sticking out of its skull.

Compared to the first one though, the second one's brain was bulging out of the top of his skull, its head almost seeming to form the shape of a heart, as it pushed up at the sides. Whereas the beak of the first being reminded Melissa of a bird, the posture of the second, and the way its feet seemed to resemble a second pair of hands, reminded Melissa of a monkey, or a gorilla.

And then, there was the fourth man.

Thin and wiry, dressed in a dirty coat, despite being the least physically impressive of their line-up, he somehow made her feel the most amount of fear. Even at a distance, Melissa could feel a cold rage emanating from his body, his eyes were partially hidden behind a mask that resembled a human hand, and Melissa felt herself swallow her nerves.

She doubted that the hand was a fake.

"Thirteen", Aizawa's voice cut through the rising panic, as he slid a pair of goggles over his eyes, "I need you to get the students out of here".

"But sir-"

"No arguments, Ida. These are real villains".

"But-"

"Shield, lead everyone outside and call for back-up", his head snapped towards them, "Kaminari, use your Quirk. See if you can reach the school".

"Yes, sensei!"

Seeing the invading villains draw closers, Aizawa leapt onto the nearest railing, as Thirteen began shepherding everybody away, and seeing the horde that was coming, Melissa couldn't stop herself.

"You need help sensei", she pleaded, "you're outnumbered!"

His head turned to face her, his face blank and his eyes unreadable behind his goggles, "You're training to become a Pro Hero, Shield, so let me let you in on an industry secret", he reached up to grab his scarf, "in the game of Pro Heroes and villains, the Pro Heroes are always outnumbered", he smirked, "thinking that gives them the advantage is always their first mistake".

Turning around, he leapt into the fray.

=== === === === ===

As his colleague, Aizawa would say, it would be 'illogical' for him to be afraid, yet despite that, Toshinori couldn't help but be nervous.

Despite his years of experience in the field of heroics, (years more than most Pro Heroes ever managed - more than some of his colleagues had combined), yet in all of his years, he'd never once had to endure a performance review.

And with Nezu, no less.

As far as he was concerned, he had plenty of reason, 'illogical' or not, to be afraid.

Still, he shook himself, rolling his shoulders and letting the loose material of his shirt and jacket fall over his shoulders, as he raised his fist, but before he could knock on the door, he heard the principal's voice.

"Come in, All Might".

"How does he even", he shook his head and cleared his throat, before reaching for the door and stepping into the principal's office, "good morning, sir".

"Good morning to you as well. Tea?"

He eyed the steaming teapot, containing a brew designed to Nezu's unique tastebuds, "Ah, no. No thank you sir".

"Come now, there is no need to be nervous. Please take a seat", he gestured towards the empty chair in front of his desk, "and we can get started".

"Thank you".

He took the seat that had been offered to him, waiting while the Principal of U.A. finished making his tea and tried to take control over his nerves. Despite the debate that surrounded his legal status, Nezu was a registered Pro Hero, ThePrincipled Hero: Mister Principal, but there was something about him that was decidedly unheroic. Toshinori would never deny all of the good that Nezu had done, but there was always something about the way he did things that served to remind him that Nezu wasn't human and therefore, didn't completely share their human values.

Including their sense of morality.

Again, he wouldn't deny all of the good that Nezu was responsible for, but he also knew that the Principal's definition of 'good' was slightly different when compared to his own.

"You seem nervous".

"Ah, no sir", he swallowed, "I just don't like to think of myself as neglecting my duties".

"I see… I must say that I was concerned that 'neglecting your duties' was going to become a habit after viewing your timesheet for your first fortnight, but I am relieved to see that the arrival of Miss Shield has seen you arriving on time each day. Rest assured that both Aizawa and Kurose were made aware of our meeting this morning. I have informed them to expect you after we finish".

"Oh, right, well… good then… before we get started, might I say that your fur looks especially well-groomed and glossy today, sir".

The principal's ears twitched, "Thank you. The secret is keratin. I am not sure that humans can get this kind of lustrous shine" he waved one of his paws, "but we can talk about grooming later. What I want to talk about, is the training of One For All's successor. You have insisted on remaining the Symbol of Peace, despite your injuries, and the only way you can justify staying out of the spotlight is by teaching. For this reason, I placed you in charge of my First Year Heroics Course. So far, the theoretical lessons have progressed at an appropriate pace. Am I correct to assume that you are on track to commence with the practical lessons in the summer term?"

"I am sir. By the time of the Sports Festival, I expect that our First Year's will have a solid three months of physical training under their belts".

"Most excellent. But now that we have settle that issue, let us discuss Miss Shield. I was able to confirm that neither of you have logged any additional time in any of our training facilities. How has the training at Might Tower been going?"

"Ah… well… that is to say…"

"All Might", the principal's beady eyes narrowed, "exactly how much physical training has Miss Shield had?"

"She's been following the planned exercise regimen that David and I devised perfectly", he stated, a not inconsiderate amount of pride colouring his tone, "her results have been far better than we expected. Her dedication is unmatched".

"And how much of that training has involved the use of One For All directly?"

"Ah… well… that is to say…"

"All Might".

He swallowed, "None".

"Explain".

"It's a very powerful Quirk", he explained, the words ringing hollow even to his own ears, "and I didn't want her to rush into trying it without me present. Then I have to try and keep up appearances and patrol, and Melissa needs to get her schoolwork done, and I promised David that I'd make sure she got plenty of rest-"

"Enough".

His mouth snapped shut, his teeth clacking together and he fought back the urge to squirm, feeling very much like a little boy called into the principal's office, which in a way, he supposed was true.

"Are you telling me that the current bearer of One For All - the world's most powerful Quirk - currently has a sum total of zero hours of training, despite having held the Quirk for several weeks now?"

He winced, "Well, when you put it like that, it sounds bad".

"All Might".

He sighed, "I know… believe me, I know.

"While I do commend your focus on your new duties, you need to prioritise your successor. You alone are capable of teaching her the intricacies of her new Quirk, and as far as I am aware, you and you alone are capable of understanding the change between Quirked and Quirkless".

"Yes", he sighed again, feeling his shoulders sag, "I know you're right, principal, I do, it's just, well, teaching has been a harder transition than I thought it was going to be".

"A far more common notion than you doubtlessly expect", the principal told him, "now, let us discuss your upcoming combat pedagogy as viewed through the lens of ethical Quirk use and your pending approach to your successor. After that, you should have more than enough time to make it to the USJ for the final rescue event of the day and provide your students with some inspiration, unless you have a problem with my plan?"

All Might held back his disappointment, as he realised that, despite his best efforts, his review meeting was about to become one of the principal's lectures.

"Not at all, sir", he told his boss, plastering his trademark smile on his face, "Aizawa and Kurose should be fine, after all", he chuckled, "it's just a training exercise, what could go wrong?"

=== === === === ===

Everything was going wrong.

He pursed his lips together, clicking his tongue, as Kurogiri spoke, his head turning, checking every direction, "The only real heroes I can see are Thirteen and Eraser Head. Perplexing. According to the schedule that you retrieved from UA, All Might is supposed be here as well".

"Yes… so where is he?"

"A thousand apologies, Tomura Shigaraki, but I do not know".

"I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends with me, who're so eager to meet him and he hasn't bothered to show up. They all want to see All Might, the great Symbol of Peace, and he simply isn't here".

"What would you like us to do?"

"Maybe he's feeling shy. Maybe if we kill a few if his kids first, then he'll come out to play", he reached up to scratch at his neck, "and Kurogiri?"

"Yes, Tomura Shigaraki?"

"Get ready to introduce yourself… and when you've done that, make sure the kids make their playdates".

"Yes, Tomura Shigaraki".

=== === === === ===

Aizawa was not what he considered to be a 'people-person'. He was anti-social, largely preferring the company of himself, his cats and the few people he cared enough about to call his friends - in that express order. His general preference for solitude had been a factor, alongside the nature of his Quirk, in him deciding to become an Underground Pro Hero, instead of opting to work in the limelight.

As an Underground Pro Hero, he felt he had a better sense of what he was and wasn't capable of, when compared to the average Pro; for example, his specialty was in predator ambush tactics, swooping in, disabling first Quirks, then people and then retreating to the shadows to do it all over again.

Protracted battles were not something that went in his favour.

The moment he had realised who was responsible for creating the portals, he'd ensnared him with his Quirk, but there was a limit on how long he could hold him in place, and its duration was as long as he could last without blinking.

Using his capture scarf, he pulled forth another villain, one still struggling to understand why his Finger Bullets weren't firing and drove his knee onto his nose. There was a scream, blood, tears and then, unconsciousness, as he fell to the floor and Aizawa moved to recover.

His head twitched sideways, acting almost solely on instinct, as he dodged a punch from one of the villain's partners, his scarf already wrapped around his foot, dropping him backwards onto his head, but whether the villain knew it or not, he had just scored a hit.

Aizawa turned his head, already knowing the outcome, as he glanced at the Lower Plaza, finding three of the villains' leaders instead of four.

The punch might not have struck him, but the air it moved had been enough to cause him to blink, and in those few moments, before he could reactivate his Quirk, the teleportation-based Quirk user had vanished.

=== === === === ===

She had to protect her students.

Eraser Head, as Anan knew him, was not a combat expert in the sense of someone like All Might or Endeavor. While she wasn't a fighter herself, she knew enough to judge them on their merits and was well aware that Aizawa's specialty was in hit and run tactics. He fought from the shadows, ensnaring and defeating his villains, long before they'd even realised that a hero was there.

She also felt she knew how he thought, after several years of working together. He was cold and calculating, not prone to acts of bravado or that which he considered foolish impulses; and she knew that he hadn't put himself between their retreating backs and the villains in some vain quest for glory, or a desire to seek out a good fight.

He had put himself between them, in order to buy her enough time to escape.

He was actively laying down his life, so that his students would be able to survive.

She didn't doubt that he'd seen the make-up of the villain, whose skin was identical to the warp gates used to get the villains into the USJ and she knew that Eraser Head would hold off on blinking for as long as his body could manage, buying them every second he could.

Sadly, it wouldn't be enough.

When the area between her students and the doors began to swirl and distort, Anan knew that whatever Eraser Head's plans had been, he'd failed.

Another gate opened up once again, dark and smoky, as the villain responsible for creating them stepped out, wearing two-thirds of a three-piece suit.

"Good morning students, it's a pleasure to meet you", he began, his voice deep and measured, and despite his words, Anan couldn't hear a trace of mockery in them, "allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Kurogiri and we are the League of Villains", he spread his arms wide, "I know it's impolite, but we have decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say, 'hello'".

"What the fuck?"

She wasn't sure which one of her students had muttered the words, and normally, she would have rebuked them for the use of such foul language, but at the moment, she felt the same way.

"And besides", Kurogiri continued, either oblivious or uncaring of the sheer confusion he was generating, "isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath? I believe he was supposed to be here today, and yet, I see no sign of him. There must've been some sort of change in plans we could not have foreseen, but in the end, I suppose it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play".

With a flick of her wrist, Thirteen popped the caps on her fingers open, preparing to use her Quirk, "I won't let you-"

She was cut off when a pair of students moved ahead of her, one's skin cracking, seemingly becoming stonelike, while the second was rocketing forwards while sat upon a wheelchair, "If you think we're just gonna stand around and let you tear this place to shreds-"

"-the you've got another thing coming-"

"-so, DIE!"

"NO!" She yelled, "Get out of the way, right now!"

Three smaller portals appeared, each one swallowing up one of the students, while Kurogiri remained completely unphased, "Now, I'll scatter you all across this facility to meet my comrades, and alongside them, your deaths".

Six more portals opened around them and Thirteen wasted no time. Her hands grabbed the nearest two students, both of them directly in front of her and practically threw them behind her, before swinging her arms forwards as her Quirk, Black Hole, finally surged to life.

But it was too little, too late.

The miniature black holes at her fingertips were quick to suck in and disintegrate the portal aimed at her, but the delay she'd allowed to protect the students in front of her was enough time for Kurogiri to achieve his goal.

Her students were scattered around the facility; they were all trapped in one of the zones, cut off from any form of aid and surrounded by the members of the League of Villains.

Even if Eraser Head was still alive, he would be in no position to help anyone; and she had a feeling that she was about to have her hands full with Kurogiri.

She offered up a prayer, desperately hoping that someone - anyone - would realise that something had gone wrong with the USJ's systems; or that her new students were combat prodigies; or that All Might's meeting with the Principal had been cut short and he was on his way, because as it stood, their brand new students, who barely had any training, were surrounded by hardened villains, and worse than that?

They were on their own.

=== === === === ===

Ojiro took a moment to mentally thank his sensei for the many years of martial training he'd given him, possibly hours spent in fall practice and rolls, helped as he fell through the villain portal, face first. He tucked, his shoulder hitting the ground as he rolled through, popping up just in time to smack away one of the encroaching villains with his Quirk, Tail.

Ojiro knew his strengths and weaknesses better than most people his own age. His Quirk gave him a large, extremely muscular tail; it wasn't anything fancy, but if he was smart about using it, then he knew how much it could enhance his own strength and mobility.

It just took practice.

And a lot of it.

He didn't know what the next villain's Quirk was, but he did see how he stumbled as he moved towards him, and in that moment, Ojiro was already ducking, spinning away, as his tail slammed into his face, sending him falling down, unconscious.

Beside him, Shoji was slower to recover, pushing himself up, but his own Quirk, Dupli-Arms, was already at work, creating extra limbs for him to work with, and as he rose, he withdrew the extra hands that he'd used to trip up Ojiro's attacker.

"Thanks".

"Don't mention it".

He looked around at the area that they'd found themselves in, "Where are we? Some kind of war zone? Are we even still in Japan?"

Shoji turned, taking in each of the destroyed and dilapidated buildings that surrounded them, "That villain… Kurogiri… he said he was spreading us throughout the facility".

"Yeah, but he's a villain", Ojiro pointed out, "lying's kinda their thing, well", he shrugged, "one of their things, anyway".

"True, but you haven't looked up yet".

"Huh? Up? Why, would- oh".

Above them, they could both still see the glass ceiling of the USJ dome, "Okay then", Ojiro nodded, "that's convinced me. Now we need to figure out where we are, if anyone else is here and what to do next".

"We're in the City Ruins Zone. I'm guessing that at least one more person made it here and we should head to the centre; that's where Thirteen was".

Ojiro blinked, "How do you know all that?"

"There was a map next to the door when we came in. It was colour-coded and labelled. There are six training zones and twenty students, so I'd assume that three or four students made it to each zone and based on the names and the appearance of this place, this has to be the City Ruins Zone".

Ojiro blinked again, "There was a map?"

"Colour-coded and labelled", Shoji confirmed once again, "I'm not sure if anyone else bothered reading it though".

"Well, I'm glad you did".

"Me too".

They shared a chuckle, as they both looked up at the ceiling, seeing where each of the panes were facing, "Right then, unless the shape of this place changed, then we need to go that way", Ojiro said, pointing down one of the crumbling streets, "to get back to the centre. Agreed?"

"Agreed".

"TAKE THAT VILLAIN!"

"Or we could go there first".

Ojiro's joke was lost as the two boys took off down the street, not needing to share a glance, as they headed straight towards the source of the noise. The sounds of their boots clattering on the pavement felt amplified by the ruins around them, but as they drew towards the source of the yell, the noises of crashing and more yelling drowned them out.

Someone was fighting.

Ojiro hit the ground again as they went around the last corner, ducking under the swipe from one villain's fingernails, which were hissing painfully. From the corner of his eye, he saw Shoji sprout new limbs, over a dozen fists forming to strike at the villains, as Ojiro rolled back to his feet, with his hands already formed into fists.

He didn't know the Quirk of the man in front of him, nothing that was immediately obvious, and nothing, Ojiro noted with satisfaction, which stopped him from being punched in the face. Ojiro had been sparring against opponents for years, but never once before had it felt so satisfying.

As he fell down, he saw that remaining villain in front of him held a knife, which he was using to stab at a boy with bright red hair.

Kirishima was the one who had yelled.

Thankfully, his Quirk, Hardening, was doing its job well. Kirishima's skin was as hard as any stone, meaning he was able to use his arms to block what could have been life-ending wounds, but the grin on Kirishima's face told them how much he was enjoying it.

"RIOT PUNCH!"

Ojiro frowned at the name, but as Kirishima drove his hardened fist into the underside of the villain's jaw, knocking him out, he would have to admit that it was effective.

Behind him, Shoji had pummelled the fingernail villain into the ground, leaving the three of them as the only ones standing.

Shoji nodded at him, before his gaze fell onto Kirishima, "Are you alright?"

The redhead laughed, "Yeah! I'm good. Villains are beat up and I'm not. Just wish I'd got that warp guy too, before he got me", he frowned, "what are you guys doing here?"

"Warp guy sent us here", Ojiro said, "I think he scattered everyone about the place".

"Damn", Kirishima muttered, "I should've stopped him".

Ojiro shrugged, "I don't think there was anything you could have done against that Quirk".

"Maybe", he replied, "but I still feel like I could've. I feel like this is my fault".

"It is", Shoji told him bluntly.

"Dude", Ojiro hissed, one hand coming up to cup his mouth, "don't-"

"Had you and Bakugo not gotten in the way, Thirteen could have stopped the villain. You got in that path of her Quirk and she had to stop to avoid killing you. If you hadn't interfered, she could've beaten him and everyone would still be safe".

"Dude".

"Aww… so Little Red's the dumbass we have to thank. Good to know".

"Yeah. Shigaraki said it'd be easy pickings. Helps when the heroes are dumbasses though".

The three of them turned to find more villains walking up on them, this time a group of five, and the biggest one, standing over eight feet tall and with a pair of rubber mallets for hands, smashed them together, "Enough talk. Let's get 'em!"

The trio braced themselves, preparing for a fight. Five on three were bad odds, but if they could split up the group, Ojiro felt more comfortable with only having one or two villains to deal with.

He eyed the building they were all standing besides, which was incredibly detailed. U.A. had gone all out on their reproduction of the ruined city, including the fire escape attached to the side of the crumbling wall and felt his lips twitch upwards.

"Going up!"

He yelled, even as he used Kirishima as a springboard. Best case scenario was one or two of the villains attempting to follow him, but even if they didn't, he could use it to get around and behind them.

"NO - WAIT!"

Shoji's warning came too late.

His tail hit the bottom of the fire escape, intending to use it to pull himself up, but U.A. really had gone above and beyond in their designs, and as he applied his bodyweight, the metal staircase and brick wall both gave way. Ojiro hit the ground, landing on his tailbone, the impact driving the air from his lungs.

Then the wall came down on top of him.

Only Shoji's arms, expanding and extending to grab him, saved his life, as they pulled him free from the mass of debris he had just created. Kirishima helped pull him to his feet, as he forced himself to look back at the pile of bricks, broken metal and bones that just moments before, had been a group of villains.

"Are they okay?"

His voice was quiet, his throat was dry and his struggle to breath made it hard to speak, but he had to ask.

Kirishima's voice was equally quiet, "I don't know".

"It doesn't matter", Shoji told them, "but if there are other villains around, then they'll have heard that. We need to move. Now".

"He needs a minute", Kirishima told him.

"No", Ojiro protested, "he's right, more will be coming".

His first step failed, but he found himself not falling, as Kirishima slung his arm over his shoulders.

"Let me help".

"Thanks", he said, smiling gratefully, before he turned back to the destruction he'd inadvertently caused, "I'm sorry".

"What was that?"

He looked back at the redhead, "Nothing. Let's go".

=== === === === ===

All Melissa had wanted from the day was her first introduction into real heroics; actual rescue work. The same thing that she'd watched her dad and Uncle Might do for years. Getting to field test her new costume was a nice bonus; and she had hoped, if she was truly lucky, then today would be the day she got to field test her Quirk for the first time.

One For All.

Just thinking the name still left her arms with goosebumps.

Eight users, eight wielders - eight heroes - before her had all held the power that was now her responsibility, and she wanted to do the power, justice. Rescue work, the very art of saving lives, was the backbone of the Pro Hero industry. It was its most important feature; the one that defined everything else and Melissa was excited to finally reach that part in her journey.

She been first aid certified for years, for use with adults, children and babies; she'd read every technical safety manual that I-Island could provide for her.

She just never expected to be putting her knowledge to the test on day one.

The warp villain, who'd introduced himself as Kurogiri, had fled almost instantly once he'd portalled away the students. She and Ida had been flung behind her, falling to the floor, as Thirteen had opened up her Quirk once again, only this time, Kurogiri had been prepared. A portal had swirled to life in front of him, and behind her, so when Thirteen had attempted to take out the villain, she'd torn away at herself instead.

Now?

Now, she was bleeding to death. Black Hole had ripped away the back of her suit, before proceeding to tear at her body, taking pieces of her hair, skin and other things that Melissa didn't even want to consider.

"Quick!" She whisper-yelled at Ida, "Help me!"

Her words spurred Ida into action. Together, they tore up pieces of what remained of Thirteen's spacesuit to create temporary bandages, as Melissa took off the bandages that she'd used to tape up her wrists and they worked together to do their best to patch up the torn pieces of flesh that continued to drip blood, slowly staining the ground at their feet.

The more bandages they had packed in, the more the flow had slowed, but it was obvious that it wasn't going to be enough.

"Run".

The word was softly spoken, breathless, but Melissa had clearly heard it, "Sensei?"

"You need…", she and Ida saw a concerned look, they could physically see how much effort she was exerting, "to run. Get back to the school… get help".

"Sensei, I…"

"What cannot abandon you", Ida told her firmly, "if we were to leave now, you could die. You'll need our assistance-"

"If you don't leave", she interrupted, "your friends will die. Run back to U.A. and get help, you're the only one fast enou…"

Then she was silent.

Melissa hands flew to her pulse points, while Ida turned one of his over and hovered it above her mouth and nose.

"She's still breathing", he told her, his voice filled with relief.

"Her pulse is barely there though", she murmured, "she's so weak".

"What do we do?"

'… get help'.

"We do what she told us to do", she said, her eyes drifting up towards the USJ's entrance, where protective shutters had come down. No alarm had sounded though, and Melissa could only assume that one of the villains had done it to seal them in, preventing them from escaping through the windows.

Beneath her skin, she felt it; an ancient power lurking beneath her skin, waiting, practically begging to be unleashed on the metal casing.

"We get help".

=== === === === ===

This was the worst possible combination that she could think of.

Technically, Jiro knew that her Quirk was still functioning properly, but she couldn't use it the way she wanted to, because the moment she tried to use it to listen in around her, she was practically deafened by the roaring of the flames around her. She'd already stripped off her jacket in a vain attempt to cool off, but it was for naught.

The Conflagration Zone was designed to keep burning, to teach students what it felt like to rush into a burning building, so a smart design, the right materials and a fresh oxygen supply system made sure that the fires were kept burning and the students were kept from suffocating, for the ultimate on the job experience.

Unfortunately, the term 'roar of the flames' wasn't a misnomer, and the noise was now keeping her deafened to what was around her, meaning that for all she knew, they could be completely surrounded by villains and as if that wasn't bad enough?

She was having the best time of her friends.

She'd landed next to Asui, who would've been a great partner of choice in any other scenario, except for his one, because she had barely made it a few minutes in the zone, before her Quirk, Frog, had kicked in, and she'd collapsed, already seemingly suffering from dehydration and Jiro didn't know how long Asui could last in this kind of environment, before the dehydration became serious, or worse, progressed to something even worse.

They needed to get out of there and they needed to do it now.

But she was kind of on her own.

Her Quirk was working, but Asui was down and Tokoyami had been rendered functionally powerless.

In any other circumstance, Tokoyami would have been a first-choice teammate. They were barely into the school year, but she already knew that he was smart, level headed and he had an incredibly powerful Quirk, that essentially would have taken their group from a trio into a quartet, but as she was learning, Dark Shadow, came with a single, major weakness.

Light.

With every second that passed, not only did the three of them grow physically weaker, but Tokoyami's Quirk did too. Dark Shadow was incredibly powerful, and in any other instance, she'd be overjoyed to have him on her team, especially if it meant that she didn't have to fight against him (her? It?) herself, but now, he was in as much danger as they were.

And they didn't have a way out.

Unlike the other zones, all of which had openings in place of a ceiling, the Conflagration Zone was covered with a roof designed to trap the heat and the flames, to keep any accidents contained and keep the fire from spreading. They had no way of knowing which way they had to go, how many villains were waiting for them, or how long they had until someone arrived to help them.

But they couldn't fight the villains and protect Asui at the same time.

Tokoyami had nodded when she pointed that out to him, his body tense, as if wanting to protest, but his head ruled his body, not his heart, and he'd been the one to take Asui into his arms, cradling her, as they ran.

"We must find somewhere, where we can remain undetected and cloak ourselves in the dark".

"Right", she agreed, still unused to the way that Tokoyami chose to spoke, "we need to find a place to hide".

They'd managed to find a walk-in closet inside what she thought was meant to be the bedroom of an apartment, and had hunkered down in there, jamming the door closed and covering Asui with Tokoyami's cloak, hoping that the fabric would help off the worst of the fire's effects, but even with that, the temperature was still too high for any of them to remain hidden, long-term.

They needed help.

And they needed it now.

=== === === === ===

Melissa's eyes scanned over the shuttered doors. There were no locks to pick, no access pad for her to electronically bypass and no shutter control system for her to open up.

In short, there was no way to open the door.

Her only option was to make one.

She looked down at her hands, no longer wrapped in bright white bandages, with her nails filed down. They were slim, with no indication of the strength that she knew she was capable of wielding.

The strength of All Might.

"I'll make a door", she told Ida, as she clenched her hands into fists, "but it'll make a lot of noise when I do. You have to run".

He shook his head, "It would be cowardly of me to leave you-"

"IDA", she snapped, "if you don't run to U.A. and get help, everyone in here is going to die. As Class Representative, I am ordering you to get help".

"But I-"

She slapped him.

It was relatively light, done with her left hand to help pull back the force of it, both protecting her hand and his head, but the shock of his helmet bouncing from side-to-side was still enough to startle him. She grabbed the collar of his armour and pulled him down to her level, "You are going to run. You are not going to stop. You will make it to U.A. and you will get help", she shoved him back, sending him stumbling towards the entrance, "is that understood?"

He nodded, "Yes, Class Rep", she couldn't see his face through his mask, but she could hear from his voice, just how tightly his jaw was clenched, "but how are you going to make a door".

"The Detroit Way", she told him.

"The Detroit Way?"

"Yeah", she nodded, "the Detroit Way".

They'd held off on her Quirk training, even since One For All had been passed onto her and she hadn't minded. She trusted All Might's wisdom in waiting, and as excited as she was to finally wield her own Quirk, she'd also spent years being able to study her dad's data on All Might and felt that she was uniquely qualified to understand just how powerful her uncle was. Every day she spent training was just another day she had to prepare her body to handle that awe-inspiring power. She knew that if she didn't respect it, that same power would be enough to destroy her.

But right now, that same power was going to help save her.

She clenched her fist tighter.

She'd never used it before; Uncle Might had held off on teaching her, wanting her body to better acclimate as its vessel, but she could feel it now, humming in her veins.

Reaching down, deep inside of herself, she found something; a spark, a plug, a power source, seemingly infinite, and grasping it with her hands, she pulled it towards herself.

And then, she was burning.

"Oh, my…"

Ida could only watch on, half in awe, as his Class Representative's body lit up in electric power, as cackling rays of white electricity, tinged with electric blue, surrounded her. The tips of her hair began to curl upwards, and within his chest, he felt something unlock itself.

She drew her arm back.

He half-expected her to yell out, like her uncle so famously did, but she did nothing of the sort, her teeth grit in concentration, as she managed but a single step, before slamming her fist against the protective shutters.

They folded in on themselves, before vanishing.

She had hadn't disintegrated them though.

She'd simply hit them hard enough that they'd flown away and out of sight.

"Your turn", she gasped out.

"Very well", he agreed, before turning to face her, "I- your arm!"

A moment ago, her arm had been pale, smooth flesh, but it was now red and purple, smoothness fading away to its mangled appearance.

"Don't worry about me", she gasped out, "you need to-"

"I need to help you-"

"You are wasting time", she snapped, her voice growing angrier with every syllable, "every second you stand there wanting to be my knight in shining armour, our friends could be dying".

"But I-"

"Get out of here!"

"Shield, I-", he hung his head, "I'm sorry", he whispered.

And then, knowing that everything he did made him a coward, he turned on his heels and ran away.

=== === === === ===

Yaoyorozu didn't know what to do.

None of her training had prepared her for a scenario like this.

Ever since she'd first stated her desire to become a Pro Hero with her powerful Quirk, her parents had indulged her desires and obtained the finest tutors available to teach her. She'd had the basics drilled into her, lessons about what she was supposed to do in scenarios and taken mock exam after mock exam on the accepted practices and movements required from a Pro Hero.

Only none of them had prepared her for this moment.

She was a Yaoyorozu, a leader among people, who should be more than capable of leading her fellow classmates in times of crisis, but the universe seemed determined to prove her wrong.

First, her classmates had voted for Shield, someone who hadn't even been in their class for a full day, to be their Class Representative over her.

Second, when the school had suffered a minor invasion of the press, it had been the Gen-Ed student that had stepped up. She'd even made the megaphone that he'd used to calm everyone down, but she hadn't even considered using it herself and had simply handed it over for someone else to make use of. The other student had handled the situation with a calm grace, while she had floundered and worse than that - he wasn't even training to become a Pro Hero!

This was the third strike.

She should've been able to lead them out of this, only she had no idea what to do.

She'd landed in the Downpour Zone, beside Koda and after a moment, she realised that Hagakure was standing alongside them. Visibility was low and the water was freezing, but she'd already conjured up a set of ponchos to cover them from the worst of the water's effects and now, they simply had to fight.

She'd created a staff for herself and a pair of batons for Koda and Hagakure, but it was clear to her that neither of them had much, if anything in the way of combat training. They had no idea how to properly wield the batons that they had been given and their Quirks weren't suited to combat.

Koda's Quirk was Anivoice and it gave him the power to command any animal in range of his voice. It was suitable for most environments, useful, but also not exactly something that she would call combat ready.

Hagakure on the other hand, had an entirely different problem.

Her Quirk was Invisibility. That could have been incredibly useful in any combat scenario, other than the one that they found themselves in. She could have crept up on people, gotten herself behind them and then struck them before they realised that she was there, only there was a problem. The constant downpour made sure that falling water kept bouncing off of her body, rendering her semi-visible to everyone in the area.

Her best ability, her ability to be her team's strongest secret, had been stripped from her.

Without it, she was just another teenage girl, and unlike herself, she had no combat training to fall back on.

With every second that passed, they remained on the lookout for villains and swung their weapons at anything that moved, but they were tiring quickly.

The cold was making it harder for their muscles to move and before long, Yaoyorozu knew that no matter what they did, they were going to run out.

Out of time, out of space, or even, out of luck.

Already, they'd been back into a corner.

She should have something, she knew, to act as a solution. She should have already come up with the answer to her problem and executed her plan, just like she'd been taught, only she had nothing.

No answers, no solution, no plan.

She didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry", she whispered to her friends, as a fresh set of villains approached, "but I don't know what to do".

=== === === === ===

The essence of our family's line of work, his father had once told him, is sticking around, even when things are at their worst. It's holding your ground in the storm, helping others get into the shelter, rather than sheltering away from it yourself. It's not easy, it's hardly ever fair, but that's what makes us heroes.

Tenya had hung onto his father's every word. The sight of him and his elder brother in their Ingenium armours had been imprinted on his mind from a young age, and even back then, he'd known what he wanted to do with his life.

He wanted to be Ingenium too.

The hero name had defined the Ida Family for three generations now, passed from his grandfather to his father, then from his father to his older brother, and he hoped, one day, his brother would either see fit to pass it onto him, or he would finally get around to listening to their mother and make him an uncle, with a nephew who would one day bear the mantle.

Merely the potential of working alongside his idol, his elder brother, had driven Tenya to excel. First, was his placement at Somei, top of the class rankings; then was his sixth-place entry in U.A.'s entrance exams; which he had followed up by securing fourth place in Aizawa's Quirk Apprehension Test.

He was growing, improving, still striving to be worthy of the legacy of his family.

And with every step he took away from the danger, he felt less and less worthy of the Ida name.

His legs burned, his engines already running far beyond the point of safety and he didn't need to look to know that his skin was damaged around the protrusions. With every step he took, pain lanced up his calf muscles, sharp and stabbing, yet he persisted in retracing the bus route they had taken that morning. His lungs screamed at him to stop, to pause and allow them to replace the oxygen he was using up, as they struggled to fuel his Quirk and his body at the same time, but he was so close!

Already, in the distance, he could see the main building and with it, the Pro Heroes of its staff would be waiting for him.

And then, he chose to do something foolish.

"Recipro Turbo!"

With a scream, he activated his family's ultimate move.

The 'Recipro Turbo' technique was their usual running technique ramped up to eleven. Their Engine Quirks would work at over five times, their usual output for a short burst of power and speed, but it came with several drawback; first, not only did it require a lot more fuel and oxygen, it also produced much more heat as well; and second, once it ran out, his engines would stall and that would be it for his running ability.

But he knew how long he could last, he knew how far he had to go and he was certain that the eight seconds would be more than enough.

And luckily for him, it was.

Every step seemed to allow him to leap across the road before him, until he was already at the main entrance, but he didn't stop there. He smashed through the glass door, setting off a dozen alarms, as he took to the stairs, his body bouncing and ricocheting off of every wall as he ascended the building. The Principal's Office was on the third floor and he was outside of it before he realised that his ultimate move was wearing off.

A burst of white hot pain tore through his shoulder, as he collided with the Principal's door, tearing it from its hinges, as he barrelled his way through it, his arm wrenching as he hit the ground, his engines spluttering out, even as his body rolled across the floor.

"Mister Ida-"

"Villains", he gasped out, as the sickening sweet smell of burning flesh finally reached his nose, "U.S.J.", he added, as an acrid odour that turned his stomach followed it, "help".

And with that, Ida found his body surrendering to the bleak darkness encroaching upon his vision, unable to speak even one word more.

=== === === === ===

When Uraraka had gotten out of bed for class this morning, this was not what she had expected.

They'd known that their first rescue class was coming up and she was excited for it - rescue work was the thing that she most wanted to learn - and to begin with, it had looked like it was going to be a great day.

Aizawa-sensei hadn't been angry at anyone for being late. The trip to the USJ had been fun. The USJ itself was so far beyond impressive that she felt that she needed to invent a new word to describe it, and then, the cherry on top of her ice cream of awesome?

Thirteen was here.

The Space Hero, her idol and her favourite Pro Hero of all time, was there to teach them.

Best day ever!

Or so she had thought so, right until the moment that the villains had invaded her lesson.

For a moment, it had looked as if everything was going to be okay; Eraser Head was holding the villains off while they fled, and when the teleporting villain had appeared in front of them, Thirteen had been ready to blast him away.

Only for the other students to get in her way.

The next thing that Uraraka knew, she was no longer in the atrium and instead, seemed to be standing on the side of a mountain.

"Woah".

If it hadn't been for the fact that she could still see the roof of the USJ high above her, then she would've thought that she really had been teleported onto the side of a mountain.

Seriously?! How big was U.A.'s budget?!

She knew that there were another half-dozen zones, and if they were each as well-designed and built as this one, then the cost of this facility alone had to be mind boggling.

It was making her nervous just thinking about it.

"Uraraka, duck!"

She did as she was told, practically dropping down to the floor, as she heard a 'swish' pass over her head and she scrambled away, kicking up dirt as she rolled onto her back and found that what she'd ducked under was a woman, (a villain, her mind supplied), who was carrying a ridiculously large scythe.

And she was already pulling it back.

There was a tearing noise, and then a strip of paper - tape, she realised a moment later - flew over her head, sticking to the villain's face and sending her falling away, blinded.

She yelled out in pain, trying to pull the tape from the sensitive skin on her face, even as she rolled down the mountainside, and that was when Uraraka saw them.

More villains.

She muttered a few choice words that would have gotten her a severe reprimand, if any of her teachers had been around to hear her, even as she turned and ran.

Kaminari had been the one to call out to her, possibly having just saved her life, and Sero had been the one to take the villain down, but even together, the three of them weren't enough to take on over two dozen villains.

Why were there so many of them?

Float could get her up high, but it wasn't great for moving across distances and as high up as they were, there was nothing for Sero to stick to, so combining their powers and just carrying Kaminari wasn't an option either.

Kaminari's Quirk was their best option for offence, but it also had one incredibly significant drawback.

"Are you crazy?! I can't control where it goes! I'm just as likely to hurt you as I am the villains!"

He screamed at them, even as they ran, trying to get to even higher ground, or better yet, a defensible vantage point, from where they could defend themselves.

She moved to grab a couple of the smaller rocks as they went, using her Quirk to render them weightless, before flinging them backwards and overhead and returning their gravity to them. She heard some yells and hoped that she'd at least managed to slow some of them down.

But more than anything else, she hoped that help would arrive.

=== === === === ===

For a moment, neither Toshinori nor Nezu moved, letting the panicked child fall to the floor, as his mouth struggled to give noise to the words he wanted to speak.

"Villains… U.S.J.… help…"

It was only when his body crashed into the floor, the two Pro Heroes acted.

"Masameda!"

Nezu barked his secretary's name, the young man poking his sapphire tinted skull through the door for a moment, before disappearing. He was calling out words, but all of Toshinori's attention was on the boy in front of him, as he pulled his armoured helm clear from the rest of his body, casually tossing it across the room to reveal the sweaty and slightly steaming teenager within.

"Here", Nezu pushed a cool bottle of water into his hands and he wrenched the cap loose, before dumping half of it over his head, instantly cooling him, before pressing the rim to his lips, letting a few droplets fall in. He noted that the boy coughed, but otherwise, gave no indication that he was alive.

He tried a few more droplets, the results not changing, as Nezu pried apart the armour along his lower legs.

Nezu hissed as he pried the final panels apart, and even at a glance, Toshinori could see why.

The entire area around the boy's engines were burnt red raw, the skin already blistering, and badly at that.

The boy - young man, his mind corrected itself - had clearly pushed himself beyond his absolute limits, sustaining what could be permanent damage to get help, as quickly as possible, and that meant…

"Villains… U.S.J.… help…"

…something had gone catastrophically wrong during the lesson.

"Out of my way!"

Recovery Girl snarled at them, arriving with all the speed that her aging legs could muster. She took one look at young Ida, before extending her lips, pressing a kiss to his cheek and activating her Quirk, Heal.

Only, nothing changed.

"I need this boy in the infirmary. Get me a robot", she ordered, and to his credit, All Might that Nezu didn't even consider arguing with her, stepping towards the wall, where he began tapping on the buttons that would summon one of his mechanical servants, but he moved back towards Ida instead.

"I can carry him".

"No", she told him.

"Absolutely not", Nezu snapped, "if my school is under attack, then I need all hands at the U.S.J.".

He nodded once, "Then I'm going ahead".

"Don't wait on my account", the Principal told him, and while the high pitch of his voice didn't so much as waiver, every trace of his usual cheery demeanour was gone, instead, his tone had been replaced by that of an apex predator whose habitat was under threat.

With a deep breath, Toshinori reached for the fire inside of him, feeling it enlighten him, illuminating every pore of his body with its power, swelling his muscles with a strength that existed beyond normal men, until the visage of Toshinori was gone and in his place stood All Might: The Symbol of Peace.

He didn't have anything to say, tearing off his suit jacket and tie, as he stepped towards the office window, and then simply leapt through it. Glass exploded outwards, the carpet behind him tearing and the floor denting, as All Might took to the skies.

Far below him, back down on Earth, Nezu reached for the intercom button, "Attention all personnel-"

=== === === === ===

When Mineta opened his eyes, all he felt was a stinging pain. He yelped, or tried to, but there was water in his mouth, filling him, suffocating him and then, belatedly, he realised that he was completely underwater. He span around, his body panicking, as he looked for the surface and was happy that he could at least see the top of the USJ.

His legs were as little as the rest of his body, so climbing to the surface took far long and required far more effort than it would for a normal person. The distance was relatively farther, but he was already so close!

His muscles ached, his lungs burned, and then, just as few was barely a hand's length away from breaching the surface, did Mineta see him.

The Shark Villain.

He had the face of a hammerhead, and all Mineta could see where his teeth: a row of sharp, pristine white needles that were about to tear the flesh from his bones.

"AARGH!"

The noise left his mouth with a flow of bubbles, as he scrambled to the surface, carried by his desperation and a new flood of adrenaline.

"Nothing personal kid", the Shark Villain told him, sounding entirely too pleased with himself for Mineta's comfort, "but you gotta die!"

He was too young to die!

He hadn't even convinced Yaoyorozu to show him her boobs yet!

Or convinced Ashido to give him a lap dance!

Or convinced Uraraka to let him-

"Gah!"

From out of nowhere, Mineta was saved from his impending death by a spear made of solid ice. It slammed into the Shark Villain, (if he had a name, Mineta decided that he didn't care to learn it) and sent him spiralling off to the side. In his last act of desperation, Mineta kicked his legs with as much force as he was capable of mustering and finally broke through to the surface.

Before he could even inhale in relief, or cough out the water in his lungs, he felt himself being torn though the air. His body tried to scream, but all that came out was a garbled mess of noise and water, as he finally spat out everything that he'd already swallowed.

Grunting and groaning - and not in a fun way - his back hit the floor, and when he opened his eyes, he realised that he had to still be alive.

For one, the deck of the boat he was lying on, was too nice to be in hell, and he couldn't be in heaven, because instead of busty, beautiful and scantily clad angels to take care of him, all he had was the sight of Aoyama and Todoroki.

At least that little fact explained where the spear of ice had come from though.

"Are you alright?"

He shook his head, trying to clear it, as Aoyama helped him back to his feet, slipping the lifebuoy they'd used to reel him in over his body, before helping him lean against the railing, coughing several times more, as a mixture of water and foam left his lungs.

"I'm good", he eventually managed to spit out, "I think… but where are we?"

"Still in the USJ", Todoroki told them, his eyes locked on the water, "we must be in a simulation zone based on at-sea rescue conditions", he continued, one of his hands idly gesturing to their surroundings, "we'd have had to get someone off this ship or pull somebody from the water, without letting us or them drown".

"We could actually drown here!"

Aoyama shot him a funny look, as if he were half-concerned and half-laughing at him, but it was Todoroki's voice that answered him, "There's no training without risk, but the real risk was the one the villains took in coming here".

"Désolé", Aoyama placed a hand on Todoroki's shoulder, "but I do not understand?"

"There should be alarms going off, but if the sensors haven't been triggered, then it stands to reason that one of the villains somewhere in this facility has a Quirk that's blocking the signal. They chose this facility, instead of the main school. It's isolated, out of the way and they chose the exact moment that a class was being taught here, so we know that they have access to information about the school's schedule", Todoroki shook his head, "they're fools for coming here, but they've clearly thought this out. They have an objective here, but what is it?"

"They want us dead", Mineta snapped, "isn't that enough?!"

"No", Todoroki replied, his tone still flat, almost bored, "because there are many better ways to kill a group of people than setting up an attack like this".

"Wait", Aoyama held up his hand, peering over the side of the boat, "if they do want us dead… then why aren't they attacking?"

Mineta blinked, "What?"

"The villains", Aoyama gestured towards them, as they waited in the water, encircling the boat, but making no move to climb aboard, "they aren't attacking. Why?"

"Because they don't know our Quirks", Todoroki realised, "they don't know what we can do. U.A. regularly produces some of the strongest Pro Heroes on the face of the planet, so until they're sure what we're capable of, they're going to keep their distance… for a short while, at least".

"Oh, that's comforting", Mineta hissed, as Aoyama grimaced uncomfortably, "our Quirks are useless here. My balls need something to stick to, your ice needs something to stick to and his blast thingy-"

"My Navel Laser-"

"-gives him stomach pains when he uses it. We are functionally useless here", his face fell, "which means that we are functionally dead".

Todoroki stared at him, "Do you always complain this much?"

"Only when I'm about to die".

"You're not about to die", Todoroki told him, Aoyama perking up as he spoke, moving towards the edge of the water, "because I'm going to get us out of here".

Mineta rolled his eyes, "And how are you going to do that?"

Todoroki smirked, the cockiest expression that Mineta had ever seen the boy put on, "Like this".

And then, he stamped down.

He drove his foot in the freezing water - Mineta knew from experience just how cold it was - and from there, the water began to turn to ice.

Mineta had thought that Todoroki could only make his own ice; he hadn't known that he could freeze existing water, but even still…

"How much of this are you planning to do?"

"All of it".

Mineta and Aoyama shared a concerned look behind the other boy's back. Sure, Todoroki was clearly the strongest kid in class; he'd probably had more training under a top Pro Hero than the rest of them had had combined, but this fake lake was insanely huge and while Todoroki's choice of words were confident, the strain already present in his voice told them a different story.

His body was already shaking.

With every second that passed, more and more of the lake, (or at least, its surface), turned to solid ice. The villains were already scrambling to get out the way, but Todoroki had already trapped a few and Mineta and Aoyama both watched on, slightly in awe of their classmate, as his ice grew and grew, until it stretched from manufactured shoreline to manufactured shoreline.

"Putain de merde".

"You said it".

Todoroki straightened up, pulling his foot out of the water, and turned to face them, his expression a combination of smug satisfaction and pride, "I told you I could do it, I-"

Then, like a puppet with his strings cut, he collapsed.

They rushed to catch him, before his head hit the deck, managing to cradle it in time to prevent any serious damage to his skull, but they couldn't help but wince as they saw the rest of his body. There were harsh red marks all over his body, and while they could be mistaken for burns, both boys were educated enough to know better.

Frostbite.

Todoroki wasn't as immune to his own power, as he had made it seem.

The emergency treatment for frostbite was to gently warm up the afflicted areas and get the person suffering from it to a medical professional.

In unison, they both looked around at the enormously empty lake, where the already cold temperature had just been dropped by at least a dozen degrees.

"Shit".

"Oui".

=== === === === ===

"Attention all personnel. There is an emergency staff meeting to be held immediately. Class Representatives will take control of their classrooms. This is not a drill. Repeat. This is not a drill".

From the moment that Principal Nezu's voice had cut across them, Present Mic's smile had been replaced by a frown, and it hadn't so much as twitched.

"Midoriya, you're in charge".

Even his voice was flat.

Present Mic was 'peppy', or at least, that was what Togeike had called him and Izuku didn't disagree. He was always so upbeat with them, even when he probably should've been trying to be harder on them.

Seeing him act so serious, was really concerning.

"Sensei, are you-?"

"Just keep everyone in here", he told him, not bothering to wait as he strolled out the door.

And just like that, Class 1-C had been left to its own devices.

And nobody knew why.

Moving to stand at the front of the classroom, Izuku took a look at Present Mic's notes, after all, they had been in the middle of an English lesson, but he had to assume that the emergency meeting really was an emergency, because there were no notes on what, if anything, he was supposed to do next.

"Just… talk amongst yourselves, I guess?"

That was pretty much all of the encouragement anyone needed and before ten seconds had passed, they were already moving to sit in their own groups, as cellphones were taken out and his classmates had devolved into gossip and watching videos online. He saw Shinso move to the back of the room and slip on a pair of earphones, while Togeike, Agoyamato and Asa all came up to the front of the class to sit with him.

Togeike knocked his shoulder with hers and he made sure to roll with it, "Any idea what that was about?"

"No more than you guys".

"It sounded serious", Asa pointed out, and he couldn't help but notice that she looked nervous, but Agoyamato waved her fears away.

"It's probably nothing".

"At most", Izuku told her, "it'll be like that mess with the reporters. I wouldn't worry about it".

"Right", she agreed, with the slight nod of her head, "there's nothing to worry about".

=== === === === ===

You had to be fucking kidding him.

Of all the places that he could end up, he had to land in the one fucking zone where his wheelchair couldn't move.

He'd give U.A. credit where it was due, the Landslide Zone was a perfect replica of what a landslide should look and feel like, but even after he'd pushed himself to his feet and managed to stumble over to where his chair had landed, picking it up and dropping himself into seat, he'd found that his tyres had sunk into the mud.

He was, quite literally, stuck in the mud.

He needed to re-redesign the chair now, if this was going to be a common occurrence.

This was supposed to be his first field test of his new design; he'd added force stabilisers that would allow him to make full use of his Quirk's power, without causing him to fall off his chair, every time that he set off an explosion; motorised controls meant that he didn't have to waste time wheeling himself everywhere, even if it was a pretty good upper body workout; and there were combustion tubes running along the sides that meant he could even use his Quirk to give himself a dose of explosive speed, if he needed it.

The damn thing was a work of art, but apparently, his dumb ass hadn't accounted for being stuck somewhere muddy.

Well, Power Chair Version One-Point-One was going to have new wheels installed as soon as he got himself out of this mess.

While everyone else was busy panicking or sitting on their asses and waiting for someone else to show up and save them, he was going to save himself. He didn't need anyone showing up to help him.

Least of all, Raccoon Eyes and Big Lips.

They weren't even smart enough to save themselves, but they thought that they could save him?

He had the excuse of being stuck in a wheelchair that was stuck in the mud, but at least he could still fight. Raccoon Eyes couldn't use her Quirk without ruining the ground and risking making the landslide worse, or better yet, causing another one to happen; and Big Lips might be strong physically, but the moment that he swallowed that first packet of sugar, he became a bigger idiot than he already was, rendering him even more useless than he already was.

Why couldn't he have landed with someone remotely useful?

"We stay here and hold our ground", he told them, ignoring the look they shot each other.

"Well", Big Lips said, "about that-"

"No", Raccoon Eyes finished for him.

"The hell do you mean 'no', what the- PUT ME DOWN!"

"Still no", Raccoon Eyes told him, her face bright with her own amusement, as Sato slung him on his back, carrying him like he was a goddamn backpack.

"Put me the hell down, now".

"Oh, stop complaining", she told him, "getting carried around for free by a big, handsome man like that should be everyone's dream".

"I'm not some damn princess-wannabe!"

"Between your pretty boy looks, that hair and your ego, you could've fooled me".

Any retort that he could've made was cut off, when Big Lips span them around and Bakugo brought his right hand up, setting off an explosion that blasted away the villain that had crept up on them, but also had the drawback of almost sending him and Big Lips sprawling to the floor, with only Raccoon Eyes' quick move to prop them up, keeping them on their feet.

"DUDE!" He snapped, "DON'T DO THAT! YOU'RE HANDS ARE RIGHT NEXT TO MY EARS!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND FIGHT THE VILLAINS, ASSHOLE!"

"We just had to get Bakugo, didn't we?"

"WHAT WAS THAT, RACCOON EYES?!"

She sighed, but Bakugo was too busy setting off his next explosion to hear her.

=== === === === ===

Thirteen was heavier than she looked.

Perhaps, Melissa thought, she should have assumed that the very realistic looking spacesuit weighed more than it appeared to, given that it was as much a suit of armour as it was a cloth costume, capable of handling the stress of her teacher's Quirk.

Or maybe, she realised, it was just the fact that she was trying to drag herself and her teacher to safety with only one working arm.

"Come on", she urged, before her grip slipped and she dropped Thirteen's shoulders, jarring her body, the Pro Hero groaning through her unconsciousness, "dammit!"

She resisted the urge to kick something, to scream, to just…

Do something.

She was supposed to be better than this.

She was Melissa Shield, the Ninth Bearer of One For All, the daughter of David Shield and the legacy of All Might. Her classmates had trusted her to lead them. They assumed that she had all of the answers, that All Might's niece of choice had the skills and knowledge to push them higher than even they thought was possible, and she wanted to live up to that ideal.

Yet in truth, despite being two years older than the rest of her peers, she was by far the least experienced member of the class.

The grand total of times she had used her Quirk was now at one.

How on Earth could she lead anyone with those kinds of statistics?

She needed to be better.

When she got out of here - and she would get out of here - she vowed that she wasn't going to rest any longer. She'd been treating her time in Japan as a vacation. The catch-up classwork had been easy and the idea of becoming a Pro Hero had felt like a dream come true, which was why, perhaps, she hadn't been pushing herself to work her hardest.

But no more.

Starting today, she was going to push herself to become the best Pro Hero she could be - the best Pro Hero that this world had ever produced - and when it came to Uncle Might, she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

And then, as if answering her prayers, the entrance to the USJ exploded.

From her poor attempt at a makeshift hiding spot in the shrubbery, she found herself staring up at her uncle, holding back the urge to sob in relief, as he stepped inside, his form seeming to blaze with power, as he looked around the arena, before his eyes locked onto the central plaza, and for once, she realised that he wasn't smiling.

"Have no fear students", he spoke, not yelling even a single word, yet his voice carried across the entirety of the USJ and Melissa didn't doubt for a second that everyone could hear him, "for I am here".

=== === === === ===

"Everybody, get back".

Izuku didn't know where the order in his voice came from, but the mere sight of the small, swirling mass of black and purple smoke set him on edge.

There was something strange happening in the classroom and Present Mic hadn't returned from his staff meeting yet, which meant that as far as he was concerned, Izuku was the one responsible for everyone's safety.

And he didn't like the small smoky dot that had appeared in their classroom.

Then it started expanding.

Shades of black and purple swirled together, growing and flexing, as the small dot rapidly span about itself to become a full and complete circle, encompassing the entire doorway, with the bottom firmly set against the floor, while the highest whisps of smoke were drifting against the ceiling.

Idly, he pulled Asa behind him, seeing Agoyamato try to do the same for Togeike out of the corner of his eyes, even as she pushed past him to reach for her water bottle, snatching it up and gripping it tightly.

Then, he stepped out.

Dressed in a waistcoat and trousers, the man who had smoke for skin appeared before them, the very portal he had stepped out of, seeming to emanate from his hands and face, the smoke drifting off from him, and his bright yellow eyes seemed to scan across them all, leaving shivers to run across their spines.

Then, it, appeared.

For a moment, Izuku thought it was a gorilla, but it was unlike any gorilla he had ever seen. In place of fur, was skin so dark that it looked to have been dipped in black ink from head to toe. Its body was shorter than the waistcoat-wearing villain beside him, but overshadowed him in sheer bulk, with it seeming to have muscles upon its muscles, and something deep down inside of himself, told Izuku that it wasn't for show.

But by far, the worst feature was its face.

It had a man's face, but mashed up with a gorilla's maw; a mouth of human teeth had two vicious fangs jutting out from each half of its jaw, and then, Izuku could see its brain, bulging out of its skull, almost seeming to form a heart-shape with the rest of its face, but if it was meant to be a lovely sight, then Izuku thought that someone had failed massively.

"Good morning students, I am Kurogiri of the League of Villains, and this", the waistcoat introduced himself, his voice was surprisingly measured, as he gestured to the creature that stood beside him, "is the Nomu known as 'Humanite'", he told them, as simply as anyone might have done when introducing themselves and their guest, "and sadly for you, your first look upon it will be the last thing you ever see".

=== === === === ===

Author's Note

This chapter's title is taken from the My Hero Academia Volume Two Chapter and Season One episode of the same name.

Fun Fact: The chapter title, 'Get Help', was also considered at one point, as a nod to the film, 'Thor: Ragnarök'.

Parts of the dialogue during the arrival at the USJ were lifted from the English Dub of the My Hero Academia anime.

For a visual aid on her face and hair, Melissa is using the same style she wore with her formal dress in the movie, 'My Hero Academia: Two Heroes'.

From a writer's perspective, I'm surprised by how hard Ida was to write at the USJ. The small appearances beforehand were quite simple, but putting Ida into a high-stress situation made it very difficult to find his voice. Hopefully, though, you'll think I did him justice.

Nezu's secretary, Masameda (正目田) is named after the Star Wars character Mas Amedda. Both men have blue skin, with the kanji in his name being "Masa" (正) meaning "correct", "righteous" or "just", "Me" (目) meaning "eye" or "vision" and "Da" (田) meaning "rice field". His Quirk, "Correcteye", allows him to amend written and printed documents, simply by looking at them.

Aoyama uses the occasional French word or phrase in his speech, with 'Désolé' meaning 'Sorry', while 'Putain de merde' was the best equivalent translation I could find for 'Holy shit', and 'Oui' simply means 'Yes'.