Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or One Punch Man. They belong to their respective creators.

[-]

When Mia was younger, she remembered taking a test in middle school on what to do in a calamitous villain attack. Her homeroom teacher, Mr. Hiroto, stressed the importance of passing this test in order to advance to the next step of her career into becoming a hero.

She wanted to be a hero more than anything.

It was a 3-week course, in which Mia thrived in. She was always more of a hands-on learner, so experiencing all the different scenarios that could possibly be present was a great boon to her. And in a crowded, humid gym, packed full with instructors and students, Mia soaked in as much as she could.

Then, she took the test. And passed with flying colors. She studied extensively on evacuation procedures, first aid, remaining level-headed, and how to avoid certain hazards on the battlefield.

She thought she was ready.

After all, she just had to remain calm and evacuate as soon as possible if a situation like that happened in real life.

And if all else failed, a hero would definitely come and save them.

But as the heroes and villains clashed and completely leveled the city which she called home, she couldn't have been more unprepared.

She stayed calm at first. Old knowledge kicked in and she carefully and purposefully took her parents by the hands and started to escape the danger zone. Papa had broken his arm when a piece of rubble fell on top of him, but he was lucid and responsive. She didn't even think he felt it, with all the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Mama was a different story. Her head bled profusely from an open wound, and she dragged her feet every time she took a step. Mia wasn't particularly worried at first. Head wounds always bled a lot, and while she was obviously concussed, she was able to walk.

She only really began to worry when the villains were pushed back to Ground Zero by a powerful, but exceedingly careless, pro hero.

They took refuge in a shattered convenience store, surrounded by a few others who had the same idea.

And while the battle raged just a couple blocks down the road, Mia started tending to the other scared bystanders. She wrapped up a crying child's scraped leg with a rag from her ruined skirt. She helped set a woman's foot with pieces of plywood and some duct tape. She covered any open windows with the store shelves. She even spray-painted an SOS on the front of the doors to make sure the heroes knew there were civilians in there.

She gave comfort to the terrified children in with her. There were three of them, none a single day above 6 years of age. She told funny jokes and made silly faces, eventually eliciting several tiny giggles and some genuine smiles. Even a few of the adults cracked a grin.

She began to think that they would all be able to make it out alive.

Then everything went dark when a blast of energy obliterated the ceiling above them, covering the group with rubble before they could even make a sound.

It was only later when she learned that the blast wasn't from a villain at all. It was just from another careless hero that had decided to forgo control and attempt to take down the villain once and for all, along with the help of one of her favorite heroes, who had crippled the villain with her Quirk. It was similar to Mia's own Quirk, in its own little way.

She watched reporters interview him weeks later, and when they had asked if he knew about the civilians taking shelter in a destroyed convenience store, he cried a bit and said that there was nothing to be done, and the civilians were already dead from when the fight had first started. Not everyone had bought it, but they all thought it was a pity.

But Mia knew what fake tears looked like. She knew that the hero knew full well that the civilians were alive and terrified in the store. He just saw an opportunity to take the villain down once and for all, and fired off a round of energy with his Quirk, to hell with the consequences. All for the greater good.

She never got to see what that woman had to say when the reporter's asked her the same question. Her childhood hero just left when they tried. Left and never looked back.

She came to a while later, buried under ten feet of rubble, with her parent's arms draped protectively over her. They didn't move when she tried to shake them awake. Nobody moved when she tried to shake them awake.

It took her several hours to wrench her legs out from the debris. She even recovered some of the bodies. She only got one of the children though. She didn't want to see what happened to the rest.

Her parents still wouldn't move. Mama's wound had stopped bleeding, and she was as pale as a ghost. Mia wrapped her head as best as she could.

Papa's legs were broken alongside his arm. She couldn't see his chest rising and falling. Probably because there was a piece of rebar sticking out of it.

The smell of blood and dust was suffocating.

Mr. Hiroto never taught them how to deal with the smell. After all, unless it was poisonous gas, nobody would even think about complaining about the smell. What would a little bit of grime and dust do to anyone anyways?

But disasters also smelled like spoiled milk. They smelled like coffee grounds and gasoline. They smelled like Mama's expensive perfume. They smelled like burnt flesh.

Mia lay there for what seemed like hours, surrounded by people she knew would never wake up again. "If there's any trouble and you're lost, just stay where you are, and Papa and Mama will come and find you." Papa had once said when she was a child. "And if you're lucky, maybe a hero will get to you first, my little rose!"

Papa and Mama were here, but they wouldn't be able to find her anymore. She hoped a hero would eventually come by and take her somewhere safe. Maybe then, she would wake up and pretend this was all a bad dream.

But nobody came.

Even when night fell and the noise of search helicopters echoed throughout the city, nobody came. After all, there was no way anyone would be alive after the hero's Quirk had so thoroughly destroyed a building.

When she heard the shuffling of search parties in the distance, she tried her best to make any sound. She grunted and groaned and screamed, desperate to get their attention. She couldn't say words anymore. Not when her mouth was ruined beyond repair.

But the search parties scurried off elsewhere, distracted by louder and more coherent cries of help from other civilians in other parts of the city. It was a pity nobody had a good hearing Quirk, if only to hear her cry in frustration and fear.

She was still alone hours later. By then, she had exhausted herself thoroughly. She may have even passed out a few times, each time hoping that when she awoke, she would be somewhere safe.

Eventually that hope turned into despair, and the despair turned into dull apathy. There was no use. Eventually, she was going to die. Whether it was blood loss from her wound or from the rest of the building crumbling down on her. It didn't matter to her.

She closed her eyes one last time, wondering if she was going to see her parent's smiling and happy as she joined them in the next life.

And then he came.

She felt herself awaken when something pulled her limp body out from under the wreckage. It wrapped around her securely, but not tightly. She barely noticed the black tendrils with red, glowing cracks emanating from them.

She flinched ever-so-slightly when cool air hit the open wound on her face. She opened her eyes to see what had taken her out of that hell.

He wasn't any hero that she recognized. In fact, she didn't think that he was a hero at all. After all, what kind of hero would wear an expensive, immaculate dark suit in the middle of a disaster zone?

And his face. Mia took in his face and nearly cried with relief. His eyes were filled with a dark and gentle sort of pity. Even though it was also filled with a calculating gaze that reminded her of a machine, it still filled her with a cool calm.

His white hair gently tousled against the breeze, and she felt him lay her down against a level piece of ground. He smiled a warm but simultaneously cold smile. After hours of seeing dead bodies and faces that would haunt her dreams for years to come, it was a welcome sight.

A soothing hand nestled against her face, undoubtedly coating it with blood. She would have apologized if she could. Green light emanated from his palms as he used what looked like another Quirk. In any other setting, she would have wondered how that was possible.

His voice, as smooth as oil and as chilling as a winter's breeze, lulled her to blessed sleep.

"The heroes have failed you, haven't they, my child?" He murmured. "It's okay. For I am here. And you will never be alone again."

She was saved.

A snap of a light switch and the following sudden, blinding light shunted Mia into consciousness.

Immediately sitting upright, she turned to glare at the simultaneously welcome and unwelcome interruption from what had been a reliving of the worst day of her life.

It did nothing to cow the mad doctor, who simply grinned and adjusted his strange glasses. "Apologies, my dear girl! But you told me to wake you when the preparations for your check-up were ready. Are you decent?"

She unconsciously pulled up her sheets over her body, even though she was wearing her usual tank top and yoga pants. But, to be honest, even if she was butt-naked, the Doctor would not have even batted an eye. He had seen worse parts of her, after all.

That still did nothing to diminish her ire. She bit back a scathing retort and took in a deep breath. Manners cost you nothing, Master had once said. "Thank you, Doctor. I'll be down in a minute."

The stocky man nodded and turned to leave, but not before giving a throwaway comment. "Oh, and the Master wishes to see what you have come up with on the two mystery heroes after you are done with me."

Before the spike of panic could register in her mind, the Doctor waved a gentle hand through the air. "And don't worry, he knows you don't have much intel yet. He just wants to hear your initial thoughts on the two. And maybe give you something to help with the investigation."

The woman sighed with relief. "Tell him that I will bring my report to him soon."

She started to shed her clothes when his footsteps faded away. She didn't bother with closing the door. Kurogiri was too much of a gentleman to come bother her, and Shigaraki was too busy throwing things around his room to care.

He had come right up to her after learning she had come back from America, and stuck a shaking finger into her shoulder. "You better find something good about those two, Mia," he had hissed, "They broke my Noumu and they're gonna pay."

She rolled her eyes at the memory. He was always the bossy one. She regretted not smacking some more sense into him when Master had first brought him in. He couldn't have done anything about it either. She was here first, so she had more seniority.

Mia shrugged on a pair of black shorts and an old t-shirt she had bought from New York. She would change into something better before she went to go see All for One. The Doctor's check-ups always left some marks.

Giving one last look in her mirror to make sure she didn't have any unnecessary bed-hair, she left the room, briefly stopping to shut off the lights and close the door.

Her footsteps echoed through the dingy hallways of the base. Once upon a time, she would have turned her nose up to the scent of mildew and stagnant water that always seemed to drip from a wayward pipe. But she acclimated to the criminal underworld and the discomfort that always followed soon enough.

She quickly arrived in front of a reinforced door, complete with a passcode and a palm scanner. The door silently slid open on its gears, courtesy of Kurogiri, who had always hated the sound of creaking metal and the like.

She stepped into the large room, grimacing slightly when the smell of viscous fluid and stale air hit her nostrils. There wasn't much she could do about that though. The Noumu hanging on the walls would die without such conditions.

Gingerly avoiding a large pipe on the ground, she made her way to the empty hospital bed that sat in the middle of the room. She had no idea how the doctor had managed to get that thing in there. He might have stolen it from the hospital he worked at. The doctor was there as well, busy scribbling away at something on his clipboard. The computer situated next to him beeped occasionally.

The doctor looked up at her as she slid onto the bed. "Now that you are here, let's get this show on the road, eh?"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned to face the computer, his hands a blur as they flew across the keyboards. "I trust that you have had no major issues with your enhancements thus far?"

Mia shrugged, feeling the paper covering under her crinkle with the movement. "Other than feeling hungrier than usual, nothing. Is that going to be permanent?"

"Fortunately, no. The enhancements needed to draw some energy from your body to kickstart the process, but you should be back to normal within a few days. In the meantime, I would sneak in an extra bowl of rice or two to fuel it."

Mia nodded. "Understood. How long will this check-up take, Doctor?"

"Oh, not too long at all," he assured, "But you know me. This old man can't help but set up some recordings. You'll appreciate them later, when I am older and can't do such heavy work anymore."

With that, he picked up an old voice recorder off the hospital bed and slipped in an empty tape. She had snorted at that once when she was younger. Those old machines were so ancient, one would be hard pressed to find that even in an antique store. Then he explained that tapes couldn't be traced on the web or hacked, so she left it at that.

Still was funny though.

Leaning back into the bed, she closed her eyes and did her best to drown out the quiet ramblings of the Doctor.

"This is Log 853, and the current time is 7:42 AM. I am here with Mia, otherwise known as Project #8, and have already started giving her the newer enhancements…"

[-]

"We're so fucked."

Izuku wisely stepped away from his place next to Tenya, just in time to avoid his signature arm movements. "I will not tolerate that kind of language, Kaminari! You are setting a bad example for the rest of us!"

"Oh, come on, Iida!" Kaminari wailed, his horrified face twisted in anguish, "You know how strong those guys are! We'd have a better chance fighting against all the teachers at once, excluding All Might!"

Izuku couldn't help but begrudgingly agree, even as Tenya sharply berated Kaminari for bringing down the mood. It was true, he surmised as he shrugged on his hero costume. They did have a huge advantage of numbers over the two heroes, but that would be nothing in the face of such overwhelming power. None of the teens really had much of an opportunity working together as a team, and the two elder heroes must have been in the business together for years. Who knew how synergized they were?

The only real advantage they may have was that Saitama and Genos did not know the full extent of their abilities. Mr. Aizawa made sure of that, at least. If Izuku had to guess, it was probably to give the students a fighting chance, and maybe also to give a good learning opportunity. After all, it would teach them that sometimes, heroes and villains didn't always know the Quirks of the other.

Luckily, the green-haired teen made sure to write down everything he could beforehand about the two heroes' powers, which was somewhat of a relief to everyone else in the class. Ashido had hugged him a little too hard when he brought it up, much to his initial embarrassment. It didn't help that she was being dramatic and had tears dripping down her face.

Kacchan had just smirked and cracked his knuckles, dragging him off to the side to make some preliminary plans. Although, he had made the argument to make the plans entail him ultimately beating the two of them by himself. Some things never changed with him.

He would have to make sure to clue in the rest of the class as they headed off to Ground Gamma. It was imperative that they moved together. If even one of them detached, Izuku was sure that would be the end.

On top of that, there was one other, absolutely major issue. He glanced down at his palms with increasing trepidation. One for All.

As of this moment, he had no way of regulating his power. It was either 100% or nothing. But being a liability on the mission was going to be his downfall. He had to use it.

Using the Quirk in his legs were absolutely out of the question. It would shatter every bone and leave him lying on the floor while his classmates battled around him. He would be taken out of the fight, or even worse, become an obstacle.

He couldn't really use the full extent of his arms either. He only had two, after all. The power was too much to handle.

Although, looking back, he did use One for All against the Noumu, and faced absolutely zero damage to himself. He had been elated at first, thinking that he was able to control it, even for a second, but that dream was quickly dashed when he realized the more likely reason was that the Noumu possessed an unparalleled Impact Absorption Quirk.

So, it was up to his fingers again, just like how he used them to get out of the Water Rescue section of the USJ. If even one finger was enough to create a whirlpool capable of sucking in nearly twenty villains, it was going to be more than enough to at least function as deterrent for the two pro heroes.

Still, that meant he only had ten chances to fight back. Mr. Aizawa wouldn't be happy about it, but if he wanted to continue fighting and be part of the team, he didn't really have a choice. Until he figured out how to regulate his power, this was the best he could do.

He felt someone suddenly brush past his side, snapping him out of his increasingly grim thoughts. A quick apology rose to his lips, only to be swallowed back when Todoroki glanced back at him. A tense moment passed when the teen's cold eyes bored into Izuku's own.

Then that moment passed when Todoroki turned, leaving the locker room without another word. The other students made sure to stay out of his way.

Izuku was never sure of what to think of the icy student. He was never part of any group, and kept to himself most of the time. He only spoke up occasionally when asking questions to their teachers. Izuku had never seen him show any emotion other than general aloofness, which was a quality that peeved Kacchan quite a bit, for some reason.

Any attempt to talk to him pretty much failed, too. A few students had tried to converse with him in the past, but he only gave one-word responses or even said nothing outright and just stared at the other until they left or stopped talking. Even Ashido, who was relentless with her ever-present enthusiasm and curiosity, gave up after the first few days.

Izuku shrugged on the final portions of his gym clothing and tied up his shoes. Hopefully Todoroki would be willing to work with them when the exercise started. While he wasn't as arrogant as Kacchan could be sometimes, Izuku could tell that he had absolute faith in his abilities. If it turned out that he wanted to split off on his own or not cooperate with planning, then the rest of the class would have no choice but to go on without him.

"Class 1-A, please report to Ground Gamma within 15 minutes," the PA system blared, cutting through the general din of the room, "Failure to appear will result in disciplinary action by your teacher."

Izuku heard rather than saw Mineta shaking underneath him somewhere, murmuring something about death under his breath. The rest of the boys started to either leave or hurriedly finish changing.

A heavy arm draped over Izuku's shoulders, sending him careening forwards. Kirishima's smiling face filled his vision, and the green-haired teen had to fight back a flinch. "Alright, Midoriya, we're counting on you! Asui and Mineta told me about how you were able to think up a plan to beat those villains in like two minutes, so whatever your planning is bound to be great!"

Izuku felt his face heat up under the praise, and a torrent of half-mumbles and splutters erupted from his lips.

Kirishima's smile widened slightly with amusement, but at least it wasn't in a mean way. Being embarrassed was much better than being made fun of. "Alright, lay off of him, Weird Hair. You're gonna give Deku a heart attack."

Kacchan blessedly came to his rescue, his face complete with a smirk that almost matched Kirishima's in size. "Weird Hair's right, though. You better have something good cooked up in that freaky brain of yours, got it?"

Embarrassment slowly faded as Izuku looked back at Katsuki with increasing determination. "It's a huge risk, and I don't even know if we can beat them, but I did think of how we can steal the objective."

Tenya strode up next to them, a small smile gracing on his features. "We have faith in your abilities, Midoriya! Just give us the word."

Normally, Izuku would have been overwhelmed at such blatant praise, but his clear focus trumped such thoughts. "Thanks guys. I'll lay this all out once we meet up with everyone else."

Kirishima slammed his fists together in excitement. "Let's get this show on the road!"

[-]

"So the real purpose of this exercise is to teach the students that they cannot win?"

Eraserhead nodded, not bothering to look up from his tablet to face the cyborg. It was quite a warm day out, yet the aloof teacher did not seem to be affected by the heat, even if Master was visibly sweating and sat underneath the shade of a large water tank.

They stood in a clearing amidst the maze of pipes and concrete in Ground Gamma. According to the information he could gather, Ground Gamma stretched for nearly five miles in diameter, and boasted the record for being one of the most complicated structures in the world. Clearings like the one they were currently situated in were rare, and the rest of the training area was covered in thick shade and dark corridors.

And in the middle of the clearing was a faux laptop, encased in a plexiglass casing. The laptop occasionally beeped softly, giving away its location to prevent hiding it for too long. It was quite light as well, which would allow the students to be able to take it away with ease. That is, if they managed to do that at all. After all, they were just children.

Saitama seemed to share this trepidation as he called over to Eraserhead from the side of the clearing. "Isn't that kind of mean? If they're just kids, doesn't that mean we should give them some chance of winning?"

The teacher fixed him with a deadpan stare. "The point of this exercise is to teach them that there will sometimes be situations where fighting is risky. Their goal isn't to beat you, but to steal the objective. You are both just functioning as obstacles for this."

Genos frowned. "Even so, this seems excessive. Master and I are seasoned heroes. We are no strangers to protecting important VIP's. The students may have the advantage of numbers, but they would find it far too difficult to fight us and steal the intel at the same time."

"And that's exactly the point," Eraserhead retorted, "Hero life is rarely fair. Natural disasters, villains, public image; all those are what these kids are going to have to face on a daily basis. I even expelled an entire first-year class of students because I deduced that they were too immature and wholly not ready for being heroes. Yes, it may sound cruel to set them up to fail this exercise, but the most important thing here is that they learn how to work together, not win."

Genos begrudgingly conceded to the point. After all, it was better to fail in a controlled environment than fail on the battlefield. Truth be told, this style of training heroes was already better than the methods used back in their world. Simple contests of strength and intelligence were good enough to enter the ranks of the heroes, but since most of the heroes tended to stay within the C-Class, they often only really assisted in evacuations and stopping small crimes. As a result, most of the heroes were unprepared to deal with an overwhelming monster attack.

Perhaps he would bring this up with the Hero Association when they managed to get back home. Their world would surely benefit from having some sort of training and education to become heroes. It was really only luck and circumstance that him and Master had their skills honed by years of fighting.

Saitama stood from the concrete floor and dusted off the seat of his pants. "So do you want us to actually fight the kids? I can hold back as much as I can, but they might still get hurt."

The teacher gave him a look. "Of course you're going to have to fight. But you are going to have some severe limitations in your fighting styles to shorten the gap, no matter how small."

He pointed a finger at Genos. "First off, I don't want to see any excessive energy blasts from you from when you fought against Ectoplasm's clones. If you can manage to tone back the output so they don't leave lethal damage, that would be enough. I also want you to disable the tracking program in your eyes. It would be too much of an advantage in this environment."

Genos nodded. It wouldn't be too much of an issue. He was more than capable of fighting even with his energy blasts completely disabled, and his tracking program was only really used as an aid. He would be a poor excuse of a hero if he could not fight without it.

Eraserhead turned his attention to Saitama. "And you. Your goal is to defend the objective. You can carry it around, but only within the radius of the clearing. It would be too unfair to let you run around with it with how fast you are."

He then addressed the both of them. "If the students manage to get the objective from you in the hour and thirty minutes this activity is active for, they win. But if you manage to defend the objective successfully or take out all the students, they will lose."

Reaching behind his back, the man suddenly procured several sets of what looked like blue measuring tape. "This is what you will use to subdue the students. If you can get this around one or both of their wrists or ankles, it means they are out. The students know what this tape means, so they won't fight back if you put this on them. You can also subdue them forcibly, as long as it is not excessive and doesn't cause permanent damage. The students will also have several sets of capture tape, and if they manage to wrap it around any of your limbs, you will be marked as out. Understood?"

The teacher deposited the tape onto Genos' hands, who nodded and slipped them into a small compartment on his hip. From his spot in the shade, Saitama blinked. "Where's my tape?"

"Like I said," Eraserhead intoned, "Your goal is to defend the objective. You are not actually going to be attacking them like Genos is doing. You can defend yourself and subdue the students if you can, but your main goal is to protect."

That sounded awfully boring, just keeping a laptop away from some kids for an hour and thirty minutes, but he wasn't going to start complaining just yet. It would be sort of cool to see what kind of nifty powers the students had, and how exactly teaching that wasn't in a classroom was done here.

A klaxon shrieked overhead, announcing the presence of the students coming into the training area.

Eraserhead straightened and shot a glance once more to the two heroes. "Remember, this is training only, so don't go overboard. We're giving you two a lot of trust in participating with the exercise. In return for helping us, we will be sure to involve you in any ongoing investigations with the League of Villains so you can see if you can find a way back home. Don't make us regret our decisions."

With that, he unfurled a length of his capture weapon and slung it onto a nearby pipe. "The alarm will sound again in five minutes to mark the beginning of the activity. Go over your strategies within that time."

A quick pull, the pro hero swung off into the darkness, leaving the two heroes behind. Genos watched him leave before turning to Saitama. "Master, I will be scouting out the immediate area so that I can have a better understanding of the layout. Would you like to come?"

Saitama shook his head before laying down in the shade of the structures. "You go on ahead. I'm just gonna rest until the match starts."

"But Master, do you not think we should set up a plan? We do not know what abilities the students have, and they could very well catch us by surprise."

Saitama waved aimlessly before shutting his eyes. "Heroes have to adapt, Genos. We also need to practice fighting against villains even when we don't know their powers."

Genos chided himself internally before nodding sharply. "Understood, Master! I will finish my scouting and be back as soon as possible!"

The cyborg turned and shot off into the darkness, not seeing nor hearing Saitama's sigh of relief. I should really start reading hero training manuals and stuff, he surmised, I can't make up this crap forever.

[-]

The briefing that Mr. Aizawa gave to the class was blessedly short and to the point. The goals were simple. The hero team had an hour and thirty minutes to steal the objective, and the villain team's job was to keep it away from them or take them all out. Frankly, Izuku couldn't think of any plan that allowed them to win against the two pros, but apparently only Mr. Genos was on the offensive. This was most likely done to give the students some semblance of an advantage, which was good news to the group.

Truth be told, Izuku did not think there was any way to win in a straight-up fight. Their opponents just had too much overwhelming strength. Which led the teen to believe their teacher did not expect them to fight at all. Their primary goal was to retrieve the case, and the heroes were just obstacles to pass. It was a straightforward assignment.

But now, only ten minutes into the activity, Izuku was feeling the beginnings of worry. Things were too quiet, especially if Mr. Genos was supposed to be hunting them down.

"So the baldy's gonna be guarding and the tin can is gonna be attacking, huh?" Bakugo grunted as he shunted over a large pipe. "Fuckers are looking down on us."

"I don't think they're looking down on anyone, Bakubro," Kirishima replied, holding up a bundle of wires so the other students could crouch through. "It's probably just efficient that way."

Mineta trudged forward, teeth chattering. "Or they're just so strong, they don't think we're a threat."

"Don't say shit like that, Mineta, you're scaring the rest of us."

"Oh, shut it Sero, you know it's true!"

"Both of you need to be quiet," Yaoyorozu whispered, "Demon Cyborg can be anywhere and take us all out." She then turned to Izuku. "By the way, Midoriya, is there a reason why you asked us to be grouped up? It would make it easier for the villain team to find us, no?"

From his place in the middle of the group, Izuku nodded. All of his classmates, even Todoroki, who had taken some convincing, were bundled up together as they navigated their way through the enormous maze-like structure. Thankfully, they had some idea of where they were headed, with Koda using his Quirk to talk to some nearby rats and Hagakure scouting out the terrain ahead of them. "Mr. Saitama and Mr. Genos are pros. They know how to utilize the environment to their advantage. I don't think any of us have any experience in fighting in a place like this. The second we split up, even to cover more ground, they'll take advantage of that and pick us all off."

And that was precisely why he specific roles to each of the differently situated students. The three in charge of scouting out the area and keeping a heads up were Shoji, Koda, Jiro, and Hagakure, who all had Quirks specialized for such a task. As such, he made sure to put them in the center of the group, where they could be the most protected. Todoroki stayed near the backline, along with Tokoyami, in order to defend the students from behind.

Meanwhile, Bakugo, Kirishima, and Sato were put on the frontline, in case Demon Cyborg decided to take a more upfront approach. Everyone else was put in the middle, either as support to the scouts or the fighters.

It was a simple layout that had equal amounts of advantages and disadvantages, but Izuku dared not to go into more specific strategies. This was the first activity where the class had to fight as a whole, so it was better to play it safe for now.

Uraraka shivered, but Izuku couldn't tell if it was from the chill or anticipation. "I hate this. I know sticking together is the best thing we can do, but it still rubs me the wrong way, ya know?"

Izuku completely understood. From what little combat he had seen so far, the waiting was the worst part. He was by no means impatient, but the stillness and the air of faux calm was anxiety-inducing. Almost as if they were in the eye of the hurricane. And Kacchan was feeling it a little harder than most.

"This is boring as shit," Bakugo griped, clearly itching to let off a few explosions, "I say we draw him to us and blast the fuck outta him."

"Language, Bakugo!" Tenya hissed, "We cannot lose the element of surprise against a pro hero!"

Before Bakugo could say something that would have severely damaged his already rocky relationship with the class president, Jiro hushed the group with a wave of her hands. "Hagakure's back."

Sure enough, the sound of scattered footsteps reached the group, accompanied with heavy pants. "Oh god, I am never running off alone into this place again. It's way too scary."

Mina strode forward, quickly shoving Hagakure's clothes to where she assumed her hands were. "Did you find them?"

The gym clothes started to float and put themselves onto the invisible girl, which would have looked weird to anyone else if they weren't already used to it. "Kind of. I found the clearing where Mr. Aizawa said the objective was going to be. It's only about a kilometer where I came from. Mr. Saitama was guarding it, but I couldn't see Demon Cyborg anywhere."

"Then it is all the more reason to proceed quietly. Until we find out where Demon Cyborg is situated, I believe it is unwise to attempt to take the objective. It could very well be a trap that they have set up," said Tenya.

Izuku noticed Hagakure fidgeting, if her clothes were any indication. "Um, here's the thing…I don't think it's really a trap."

Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I found Mr. Saitama, he was next to the case, but I think he was sleeping?"

Izuku blinked. Sleeping?

Kaminari spoke up from the rear of the group, despite various warnings from Yaoyorozu and Jiro to keep quiet. "You sure he was sleeping? He could be faking it to lower our guard or something."

Hagakure's clothes moved as she did something with her body. "I'm shaking my head, by the way. And no, we've all seen Mr. Saitama sleeping in Mr. Aizawa's class. He was definitely knocked out. Snoring and everything."

Everyone fell silent, processing this little tidbit of information. "Then why didn't you try and take the objective?" Mineta asked.

"Are you kidding me? No way! He could have woken up as soon as I touched it and taken me out. Not to mention Mr. Genos could have been anywhere and just waiting for me to take the chance."

Yaoyorozu straightened. "Regardless, this is all very good information. Hagakure was wise to not take the risk. Who knows what could have happened? All we need to do now is to find Demon Cyborg and set up our plan from there."

Ojiro looked around, his tail swishing nervously. "For all we know, he could just be waiting for us to make the first move. We only have about an hour and ten minutes left, after all."

Tenya shook his head. "Our plan depends on us knowing where Demon Cyborg is hiding. Without that, we cannot proceed. We have to find him soon."

Almost as if the universe was listening in and had a sick sense of humor, Jiro froze. "Everyone, be quiet. I'm getting something."

All talking immediately ceased, and the students quickly took on a defensive formation. Nervous eyes bounced around every nook and cranny, and there were more than one gulps of apprehension.

Jiro closed her eyes and focused her attention on the wayward noise. Her ear-jacks stabbed deeper into the piping around her, carefully searching for a sign. The noise that had caught her attention was not the normal sound she had associated with the environment around her. It wasn't a creak of rusting metal or the drip of water off leaky pipes.

No, it almost sounded like a tiny jet engine. And it was slowly rising.

Still, it was hard to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. The worst part about this place was the damn echoes. There were too many spaces where sounds could bounce off of, and finding the source of a specific noise was demanding.

But she didn't spend years of her life fine-tuning her abilities just to get into UA for nothing, so she hunkered down and focused harder, ignoring the beads of sweat dripping down her face.

The noise sharpened as she honed in. She gritted her teeth and punched the ear-jacks further in the metal, chasing it quickly.

Then, almost like a lightning strike, she heard it. She felt the beginnings of a smirk forming on her face and raised her head to tell the others until something new came through the feed.

" —cinerite."

Her eyes widened. "Everyone move!"

It started as a small rumble. The glow appeared before the sound, yet everyone could almost hear the roar of raging energy speeding towards them. Todoroki was the first to react, quickly sending up an enormous wall of ice that covered what little sunlight leaked through from the surface.

The ground shook as the beam hit the ice with the force of a train, holding steady for a few scant microseconds before shattering completely, letting it through. Todoroki felt his eyes widen. While he did admit it was a hastily thrown-up wall, it was still strong enough to tank even a hit from most attacks. Yet this attack had broken through as if it was nothing.

His face hardened. That meant this hero was probably just as strong as that bastard.

Still, the wall did its job. While the broken ice had hit some of the students, nobody was complaining, and the blast did not appear to have hit anyone. Izuku coughed before standing up, heart pounding in his chest. "Is everyone alright?"

Grunts of affirmation reached him, and everyone else stood to their feet, shaken but unhurt. "Well, at least we know where he is now." Kirishima quipped, using a hardened fist to break through a weakened pipe.

Tenya crouched low to the ground. "Everyone, now's our chance to fight back! Those in charge of taking the objective, follow me! Everyone else, keep Demon Cyborg busy!"

Yells of affirmation echoed through the destroyed space before the class split into approximately equal groups, one heading to the objective and the other to intercept the pro that nearly wiped the whole class out in one fell swoop.

Izuku nodded once to Bakugo before turning and running alongside with Tenya and the rest. "Keep him busy for us, Kacchan!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Bakugo replied as he immediately rocketed away, followed closely by Todoroki, Aoyama, Ashido, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sato, and Shoji.

Izuku felt his heartrate increase as the noises of fighting reached him only a few seconds later. This was a risky and reckless plan, but with enough firepower, it just might pull through. It was going to work.

His eyes narrowed with determination. It had to.

[-]

Genos' hair gently swayed in the wind as the backblast of his incineration cannons faded. He glanced down from his perch on what looked like a large generator.

The blast was powerful enough to knock down several structures in its way before weakening, but it did its part. After all, it was intended to miss and scatter the students, knocking out their coordination. The wall of ice that had appeared out of nowhere was a surprising variable, but it still crumbled under the energy.

And judging by the group of students running towards him, it seemed he succeeded in splitting the class up. Of course, that could just be a part of a plan that they had come up with, but Genos was not too worried. Master was more than capable of defending himself and the objective. Right now, all he had to focus on was capturing the students and rushing to Master's aid. Quickly and painlessly, if possible.

Truth be told, he still had his reservations about this whole thing. It was an unreasonable amount of trust given to them, even as fellow heroes. For all he knew, this entire process was just a test of some sorts, to see if they were trustworthy or not. There was definitely an ulterior motive, however, and he had no doubt Nezu was orchestrating this gamble.

However, even if the true purpose of participating in this activity was still unknown, Genos knew that working with the heroes of this world was their best chance of getting back to their world.

That still did not stop the occasional twinge of annoyance and apprehension from having to combat against children.

A sudden rush of frost rushed upwards at him, forcing him out of his musings. With a quick leap, Genos avoided the large spikes of ice erupting from the metal underneath him. A quick glance at the group indicated the student with the bi-colored hair was responsible, if his palm on the frozen ground was any indication.

"Get down from there, tin can!"

A large explosion ripped through the air, sending a snarling teen rocketing towards him with his hand outstretched.

Genos took note of sparks beginning to form on the teen's palm before activating his thrusters and spinning out of the way, allowing the incoming explosion to sail past him.

The thrusters carried the cyborg into a small clearing, where a few of the students were waiting. Touching down on concrete, he was immediately assaulted by a barrage of laser blasts from a student with a strange smile straining against his lips. Genos allowed himself to quirk an eyebrow as he ducked underneath a beam. What an inefficient method of attack.

Blitzing around several structures nearby, the blasts from the student, Aoyama if he remembered correctly, steadily waned. It seemed that he had expended too much energy and was now clutching his stomach.

Still, the attacks were strong enough to topple over several pipes and pillars. A far cry from what his own incineration cannons could do at a lower power output, but impressive for a boy his age nonetheless.

An explosion sounded off above him, and he deftly dodged an overhead strike from the angry student from earlier. Dust and debris rained uselessly down on the cyborg as Bakugo let loose a few more explosions, weaker but more controlled and faster in number. "Stop dodging!"

Quickly reaching for his pocket, Genos grasped at the capture tape, waiting for an opening to appear. Letting off a few blasts of energy from his free arm to block the explosions, he reached up to grab at the teen's outstretched arm.

A rush of ice suddenly came to meet his arm, and although it only took a twist to move out of the way, it was effective in separating the two. "You almost fucking hit me, Icy Hot! Watch what you're doing!"

While arguing on the battlefield was probably one of the worst things to do, Genos took no mind and instead focused his attention on the other students. Because of this interruption, Bakugo's attack had been disrupted. The other students, however, took advantage of this.

Ashido rushed up to him with a smile on her face, her dark eyes gleaming with determination. "Sorry about this, black eye buddy!"

Veritable pools of viscous fluid appeared in both hands, and Ashido threw a flurry of punches at the cyborg, accompanied by the multi-armed Shoji and hardened Kirishima.

Genos weaved through their combined attacks, occasionally striking out at the students with some of his own. With a quick grab at one of Shoji's fists, Genos effortlessly lifted the surprised teen into the air and threw him against Kirishima, who was quick to catch him but staggered under the weight.

Ashido grunted as she picked up her assault, using every trick she had in the book to land a hit. Her body twisted and turned in an impressive show of flexibility, allowing her to relentlessly swing at the hero.

Genos jerked his head to the side, letting a glob of fluid sail past and hit the pipe behind him. With a hiss, the fluid slowly started to eat away at the rusted metal. So it was acid, then. Genos briefly flashed back to his fight with the Sea King and felt his eyes harden. While it was definitely not as corrosive as that monster's, it was still something to be wary of. Even if that level of acidity was not enough to even corrode the outermost layer of his metallic body.

The teen quickly dodged past another glob of acid and reached out at her arm, grabbing it and pulling her towards him. With a yelp, Ashido lost her footing and was swept off her feet, allowing Genos to push her to the ground.

Metal hissed as Ashido did her best to struggle and secrete acid from her grabbed arm, but it was useless. She could only watch in frustration as Genos pulled out some capture tape. His face gave nothing away as he reached to wrap the tape around her wrist.

"No you don't!"

Kirishima roared as he rushed to his friend's aid, his arms hardened in preparation for a blow. Genos spared him a quick glance before abandoning his capture and blocking the punch. While the hardness of the student's arm was impressive, his swings did not contain enough power, and Genos had no problem with tanking a few blows before launching his own attack.

Kirishima's eyes widened as an armored fist rocketed towards his chest, and he was just able to block it by crossing his hardened arms together. Nonetheless, the power behind the punch was enough to launch him back several meters before he cratered a nearby wall, knocking the wind out of him.

Though it was not enough to knock out the boy, it still put him out of commission for the time being. Genos noticed Ashido vault off the ground and make distance. No matter. It was simple enough to attempt to capture them again.

Sato suddenly emerged from the shadows of Ground Gamma, his face contorted in fierce concentration. "Take this!"

The ground that Genos was standing on was left with a small crater on impact. Genos was reminded of one of the Tank Top's attacks, though lacking in the pure destructive power.

Genos was quick to recover and let loose a barrage of fists at the large teen, making sure to avoid the vital areas. As such, he aimed for Sato's chest and shoulders, effortlessly bypassing any defense that he attempted to put up. Sato staggered under the blows, his body already straining under the pressure as the relentless attack rained down on his body. A particularly hard punch knocked Sato's hands away, allowing Genos to wrap a length of capture tape around his wrist with lighting speed.

The teen yelped as he felt himself pulled towards an outstretched palm, which deftly maneuvered his large body into the unrelenting pavement. Sato hissed as a tight yank effectively hogtied his limbs together, leaving him rocking back and forth on the ground. He struggled against his bindings until a harsh klaxon screeched overhead. "Sato is out!"

Genos didn't even pause to appreciate his effective capture. His head whipped backwards as a multicolored laser beam grazed past, disappearing into the darkness of Ground Gamma. His gleaming eyes settled on the clearly violently sick teenager, who let out a high-pitched scream as Genos rocketed towards him. Aoyama did his best to muster up short-burst rounds of his Quirk, but they were unsurprisingly avoided and even deflected off of Genos' metallic arms.

Ashido desperately flung some of her acid to try and deter the hero from going after her terrified classmate. But to her horror, she neglected to acknowledge the fact that while her reach was true, a majority of the acid was on a collision course towards Todoroki, ice steadily flowing from his right side to try and ensnare the cyborg.

The teen could do nothing but yell wordlessly in warning, but thankfully it was enough to grab the dual-Quirk user's attention. The ice stopped with a stutter as Todoroki jerked his body to the side, allowing the globs of acid to sail by and hit the pipes next to him.

He barely had time to shoot an annoyed glare at the sheepish Ashido when the pipes released a cloud of harmless steam, which did nothing but increase his ire.

The interruption of the ice flow ended up being poor Aoyama's downfall. Genos had discerned that the ice could have intercepted him and was about to change his course, but when the freeze stopped in its tracks, he shot towards Aoyama unhindered. The student gasped as he felt his legs getting swept out from under him, and his breath left him in a rush just as quickly as he felt the tight twist of capture tape around his ankles. "Aoyama is out!"

Leaving Aoyama clutching his stomach on the ground, Genos turned to face the rest of the students, noting that nearly all of their previous bravado had been replaced with frustration. It was understandable. It was barely two minutes into their altercation and the group of eight had been knocked down to six.

Bakugo felt his brow twitching with annoyance as the hero simply stood at the edge of the clearing. His body was open and exposed, but they knew that he could snap to fighting form in a second the moment one of them got hasty. And after what had just happened, even he wasn't willing to lose his cool and get captured.

Still, even with two of their fighters down, they still had a chance to turn things around. After all, Stomach Ache's laser blasts weren't just trying to hit the hero. He spared a glance at Icy Hot, and would have laughed straight at his face if he didn't look so damn murderous with his new steam-induced puffy hairdo. "All of you extras better stick to the damn plan! Weird Hair and Tentacles, you're with me! The rest of you look for an opportunity to attack!"

With a roar of his Quirk, Bakugo blasted across the clearing, followed closely by Kirishima and Shoji.

Genos rushed forward as well, meeting the students head on. While he could have avoided them and attacked the students supporting from the back, it was clear Bakugo was relentless and would no doubt pursue him if he tried. Not to mention also avoiding the multiple-armed Shoji and Kirishima, the latter of whom had an increased resilience to his strikes and energy blasts thanks to his power to harden his body.

Explosions rocked the clearing as Bakugo let loose his Quirk upon his target, taking care to dial back when the other two would attack. To his eternal frustration, it looked like the young hero was barely even trying. The detonations hardly seemed to faze him, and the grapples and punches thrown his way were deflected with ease. Water sprayed from the pipes the three students burst open with their attacks.

A particularly large explosion blew open a water container, sending the deluge splashing over them. Of course, that did little to hinder the pro hero, and Bakugo hissed with annoyance when water coated his palms, washing away some of the natural nitroglycerin.

At least part three of their plan was complete.

Genos' body glowed slightly as his incineration cannons fired up, letting loose a short wave burst of energy, not dissimilar to Bakugo's own ability. Kirishima grit his teeth as he hardened his body to the limit in order to shield his classmates. He was blasted back several meters and his hardening faded, but it was still a necessary block for Shoji to launch a counterattack.

With a yell of exertion, the hulking teen's arms erupted with a flood of extra limbs, all aiming to whittle away Genos' defenses. It was impossible to dodge all of them, so Genos only blocked the fists that attempted to hit his face, letting the rest of Shoji's attack pound harmlessly against his metal body. "Machinegun Blows!"

It was as if Shoji was now on the opposing side of his own attack. Reinforced fists powered through his multi-armed defenses, relentlessly hammering against the teen's form. Shoji retched and doubled over after a particularly powerful punch to the gut and was knocked backwards, sending him splashing through the thin layer of water that was now coating the concrete.

With a roar, Bakugo risked a powerful explosion, sending up a cloud of sweet-smelling smoke in the aftermath. While Genos could have easily seen through the smoke with his eyes, he was instructed to not make use of them. Still, smokescreen or not, the students would not have an easy time to attack him, as the smoke would no doubt hinder them.

He readied himself for a blow from the last standing member of the attack force, especially when he heard Bakugo yelling through the smoke. "Now!"

A beat later, Genos felt an explosion rock the ground, yet nothing came his way. The ensuing blast blew back the remains of the smokescreen, revealing to Genos that the teen had not even attempted to attack him at all. Instead, it seemed that Bakugo was now attempting to retreat, rocketing himself into the air with a bruised and winded Kirishima in tow. Shoji also seemed to have recovered, and was quickly climbing up onto a concrete structure.

Genos frowned. While it was a legitimate and understandable tactic to retreat after that counterattack, it did not look natural. Instead of trying to cover as much ground as possible, the three had instead chosen to position themselves onto the highest structure they possibly could.

A dull whine akin to a defibrillator charging up reached his ears. He spared a look at the noise and felt his eyes widen a sliver.

The group that had been ordered to stay behind had clearly been busy. Destroyed pipes spewed water across the ground, making an oversized puddle a few centimeters deep. Residual acid dripped from the ruined metal, gently hissing as it hit the water below.

A small foundation of ice blanketed a section of the pool, keeping Todoroki, Ashido, Sato, and Aoyama clear of the water. Ashido had a grimace on her face and her arms shook, no doubt due to the huge number of acidic secretions she had been producing. Todoroki was in similar shape, frost covering his entire right side as he panted heavily. He had clearly reached his limit after creating a huge wall of ice and his attacks from earlier. Still, they both looked down at Genos with determination in their eyes.

The last member of the group, however, was not standing in any structure, but was instead knelt on the ground, both palms placed firmly into the water. A smirk cut through his face as jolts of electricity arced off of him.

In a flash, Genos understood their plan. While their primary goal was to attempt and subdue him, their secondary goal was to spread as much water throughout the clearing as possible. Aoyama's laser bursts that had missed were specifically aimed at the many pipes that surrounded them, and Bakugo's deafening explosions and relentless attacks had been to distract Genos from Ashido melting through the pipes with her Quirk.

And now, the final part of their plan was finished charging up his Quirk. Kaminari felt his body go numb as electricity pulsed through his arms and into the water below. "Indiscriminate Shock 1.3 Million Volts!"

Steam erupted from the water as powerful surges of electricity flowed through. Arcs of energy zapped between the rest of the metallic structures surrounding the area, coming close to Bakugo, Kirishima, and Shoji. Luckily, they had the peace of mind to seek out concrete structures as their vantage points. The rest of the classmates were safe as well, primarily due to the fact that ice was a very poor semiconductor.

The crackles of electricity died down as the rest of Kaminari's energy left him, leaving him slumped against the ground with a dopey look on his face. "Whey…"

Silence reigned as the students looked down with bated breath. Midoriya's plan was ingenious, and it was just the right amount of crazy to possibly work. It was the best he could come up with in the time span that was given and the limited amount of information he had on hand, but it seemed to have succeeded. Bakugo let a feral grin come on his face. Now all they had to do was follow through with the last step of their plan and capture the hero while he was down.

The others seemed to have similar thoughts as they readied themselves to leap down from their perches.

"Impressive."

Eyes widened as a shockwave of heat buffeted the area, dispersing the steam in the air. Bakugo clenched his fists. "Are you fucking serious?" he seethed.

The pro hero looked up at the group, completely unharmed and perfectly operational. Not a hair was out of place. In fact, he looked even stronger than before, if the glow in his eyes and body was any indication.

Genos flexed his fingers as newfound energy flowed through his system. The attack was indeed impressive, and the fact that it was created by a class of young teenagers made it more so. If he did not have a cybernetic body, he would have been knocked out instantly. Unfortunately for them, the electricity did the complete opposite effect and instead energized him completely, topping off his reserves at 100%. In fact, he now had more power than when he had started this exercise. It was a wise move to not have avoided the attack.

Of course, this fatal oversight was not completely their fault. After all, they did not know that the metallic chassis was not armor, and the fact that he was a cyborg. He would have to think of a convincing reason why the attack didn't harm him later. For now…

He crouched low to the ground as his body hummed with power. The students were on their last legs, and while they may still put up some resistance, none stood a chance against the pro hero.

"Accelerate."

[-]

High above Ground Gamma, several drones whirred through the air, their cameras resolutely pointing at the ground below. While a majority of the drones had split to oversee the operations of the students and the new instructors, a few hovered in place to focus on the entire training field.

Nezu gently stirred a fresh cup of tea from his seat in the observation deck, his shrewd eyes never leaving the large screen encompassing the wall. So focused was he, that he barely acknowledged Eraserhead and All Might stepping into the dark room.

The ensuing battle between Demon Cyborg and a few of his students had been exhilarating so far. The fact that Izuku Midoriya had come up with such an ingenious plan by himself was the icing on the cake. He would have snapped up such a prospective student if All Might had not already claimed him.

Still, although his focus was on the visitors from another world, he could not disregard the avatar on the side of the screen. "A penny for your thoughts, Councilman Sakamoto?"

There was no response for a few seconds. Then the avatar lit up. "These heroes are indeed powerful. Even when stacked up against undertrained and inexperienced students, I can tell that they have equal destructive power to some of our top heroes."

Nezu ignored All Might's shuffling in the background. "Not only are they powerful, but they have demonstrated exceptional battle prowess and intuition on the field. Mr. Saitama and Mr. Genos has shattered all records from previous pro heroes so far, and could be a huge asset in our operations."

"My praise does not mean I am happy or accepting of them, Principal Nezu," the councilman interrupted, "I still think it would be in your best interest to show this footage and evidence to the rest of the Council. After all, it is not every day that we get literal aliens or extra-dimensional beings on our front doorstep."

"With all due respect, Councilman Sakamoto, the rest of the Council are…limited in their views and foresight. The second they try to snap up Mr. Saitama and Mr. Genos for their government research, we may lose any good relations we have built up so far. I gave them my word to help them get back to their world, after all."

A sigh crackled through the speakers. "Then what do you expect me to do? The Council is already scrambling to find more information on these heroes, information that you have fabricated if I may add, and it's only a matter of time before they find the truth. You can't just have two powerful heroes pop up out of nowhere with no record of their feats being listed anywhere on the globe."

Nezu sipped his tea. "That is where you come in, old friend. You hold much sway in the Council, and if you can prove that these two heroes are legitimate and not a threat to national security, suspicion will be dropped and we can continue to help them without interference."

Nezu could almost picture Sakamoto rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This is ridiculous. Everyone knows about the USJ and their involvement in the attack. Two powerful heroes showing up and defeating a villain that All Might himself struggled to fight? It's not exactly subtle, Nezu."

"But," Nezu smiled, ignoring the way Toshinori shuffled behind him, "with your vast array of connections, it would be child's play to create more false information. It does not need to be excessive; only enough for the Council to scramble around for the next few months."

Another sigh. "This is a dangerous game you're playing, Nezu. I can cover my tracks and pretend that I had no idea the information was fabricated, but the Council will have your head if they find out you've been withholding knowledge from them."

"We will help you with the details later, of course," the principal added, "And I will also be making the necessary calls to cover my tracks. All we have to do is find the League of Villains with their assistance and send them on their way. With luck, we may be able to keep communication with them and link up relations between two worlds."

Sakamoto hummed in thought. "Eraserhead, All Might, what are your thoughts?"

"We are heroes, so we are obliged to help, of course," All Might answered instantly, "Even if they are from another world, they are fellow heroes and should be given all the assistance necessary." His voice dropped slightly. "Not to mention that they can be paramount in stopping him once and for all."

"Eraserhead?"

The baggy-eyed man was silent for a few seconds. "I think that they are just lost and want to go home. Even if their views on heroics and morals are shaky at best, they are still heroes. Giving them up to the Council would probably only delay their progress home, and with how powerful these two are, I don't want to risk them turning on us."

Sakamoto groaned slightly and fell silent. Nezu suspected he had stood up from his chair to pace around his ornate office.

He casually sipped some more of his tea until the avatar glowed once more. "Fine. I will make the necessary calls. I'm not only doing this because I owe you a favor, Nezu. We need to take All for One down for good, and these two could be valuable assets in doing so."

Nezu chuckled delightedly. "Thank you for your assistance, Councilman Sakamoto. I will be sure to send you the necessary footage and data to make sure the information looks legitimate later."

"Just be careful, Nezu," Sakamoto warned, "This is a dangerous gamble. Build trust with the heroes as best as you can, or else All for One will be the least of our worries."

With that foreboding final message, the call cut out, allowing the screen to show the entirety of Ground Gamma once more.

"I hope your plan is airtight, principal," Aizawa said, "If your plans involve my students and put them in danger, I'm going to be tempted to go to the Council myself."

Nezu turned in his swivel chair and smiled placatingly at the disgruntled hero. "Not to worry, Eraserhead. I, for one, do not wish to involve the students at all. However, they are going to have to interact with Mr. Saitama and Mr. Genos in the future, if only to maintain the image of being instructors."

A beep from a drone and a flurry of activity drew Nezu's attention back to the screen once more. "And speaking of Mr. Saitama, it seems that the students have finally found him."

The three heroes crowded in front of the screen, giving the live feed undivided attention. Shock and awe followed several minutes after, leaving All Might ecstatic, Eraserhead grudgingly impressed, and Nezu smiling. After all, it wasn't every day that Izuku Midoriya learned to finally control his power with the guidance from a man who really did not have any idea of what was going on.

[-]

Howdy folks, it's been a while!

I should really stop making the promise of me releasing a new chapter as soon as I can, cuz holy crap things have been rough.

Not only has this chapter been difficult to make for whatever reason, but I've been super busy with real life stuff. I finally graduated from college and ended up getting a job and started applying to some grad schools throughout the country, so I have had very little time to actually write.

I can't promise a new chapter will be out quickly, but I can promise that I will make a legitimate effort to get back into the swing of things. Maybe I'll start releasing shorter chapters, even though that's difficult for me to do, cuz when I get started on writing, it's hard to stop.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! Genos versus some of the students was a very hard fight to write, as I kind of suck at writing fight scenes. Still, I hope it was at least a little engaging to you guys.

And before some of you complain that Genos could have wiped the floor with every single one of these kids, I am going to absolutely agree. Even with a low power output, Genos is still ridiculously overpowered by BNHA standards. But the main point of the fight was to show that Genos was seriously holding back, and to try and show that it was as much of a learning opportunity for him as well as the students. I'll expand more on it in the next chapter, but for now, I hope this sufficed.

Also, some information on Mia! I've gotten some choice DM's about including an OC into the story, but I do have a reason for that, even if some of you don't like it. Props to those who figure out what exactly is going on with Mia and her little doctor's appointment.

Next chapter is mainly gonna be about Saitama versus the rest of the students. I'm planning the scenes and schematics of the fight as we speak, and I'll do my best to improve my writing as a whole. Still kinda bad at writing fight scenes.

Alrighty, well that is ultimately it from me. Please leave a review and tell me how I can improve or what you like about the story so far or even a remark on how stupid this story is and how it's the worst story on this site. Any and all reviews are welcome.

In the meantime, I hope you guys are staying safe and healthy! I'll do my best to see you all soon.