"So it seems like you've found us some new recruits!" Virus said, clapping as Giran led a group of villains he had hand-selected. "Oooooh, what a colorful array we have here!"

"It wasn't a problem getting them, these guys are some of the best I could get," Giran said, as the smoke of the cigarette floated into the air. His smile hid his annoyance that one of the best ones he had on his list was no longer available, though. He heard some crazy stuff about that cloning guy, only to hear that he's gone straight and is now working at UA as a janitor of all things. "So I hope you got your finder's fees ready for all of them."

The group of villains that Giran had gathered were indeed, rather 'colorful'. One of them was a high school girl with hair buns, with a wide wide smile. Another was a short boy, no doubt still in middle school from the uniform he was hearing, which made the gas mask and helmet he was hearing look out of place. Next to them was a man covered in burn scars, with some of his unburnt skin having to be stapled down.

"What are these clowns supposed to be?" Tomura grumbled.

"Our new allies, of course!" Virus said, as he walked over to them.

"Let's get acquainted! I am Virus-" the red V flashed on his helmet, "- this is Shigaraki and Kurogiri-" he gestured to the disinterested Tomura and the mist man who dried his hands on a towel, "- this is Golkin, you might recognize him as one of the aliens at that concert a while ago-" Golkin glanced up from his phone and gave them a quick small wave before returning his attention to his phone, "- and this is Illne!" Illne didn't even turn to look at them. "So, tell me a bit about yourselves and your Quirks. You, with the shades, who are you?"

"Oh, little old me? I'm Magne, but you can call me Big Sis," a muscular recruit with shades and a big wrapped rod on her back said, pointing to herself. "My Quirk's Magnetism, which lets me magnetize men into 'south poles' and women into 'north poles. It doesn't work on me, however."

"Oh, how quant," Virus said, who then turned his attention to the high school girl. "And you?"

"I'm Himiko Toga!" the girl said, cheerfully. "I saw what you did to Stain! I wanna see him! I wanna be him!"

"Oh? How so?"

"My Quirk's Transform! If I ingest someone's blood, I can become them!" she answered cheerfully.

"Yep, she's wanted for quite the number of deaths by bloodletting," Giran explained. "She's too young, though, so her name's been kept under wraps from the public."

"Gross..." the middle school boy muttered.

"Is that so? Well, do you want to test how alien blood reacts with your Quirk?" Virus asked playfully.

"Yea!"

"No," Kurogiri said, glaring at Virus for even suggesting that. "That vomit stain from Stain hasn't disappeared no matter how much I cleaned it, so I refuse to let you do it again."

"Aw, what a party pooper," Virus said, as the group of recruits noticed the black stain on the ground. "Well, what about you, gas mask?"

"Just call me Mustard," he answered. "My Quirk, Gas, let's me produce a poisonous gas and allows me sense the movement and position of anyone in it."

"Interesting! And you, the cloaked man in the back, with the fake eye."

"Muscular, and I want to fight an alien. You're too weak looking," the cloaked man said. "Get me that Ultraman Hero guy. I want to fight him!"

"I see," Virus chuckled. "And Mr. Leather?"

"Meat..." the leather-clad man moaned, as his mouth was held opened by a series of straps.

"Sorry, he's not much of a talker," Giran said, putting out his cigarette in an ashtray and flicking the butt into the trash. "Just call him Moonfish. He's an escaped death row inmate, and you have three guesses as to what he's wanted for. His Quirk's Blade Tooth, and it lets his teeth grow on command."

"Ooooh, cannibal. Fun. And you?" Virus said, pointing to the burned man.

"Dabi. That's all you need to know," he replied, his hands in his pockets.

"Oh? Well, I suppose what you can do doesn't matter. I can hazard a guess that it's not skincare," Virus said dismissively, as Dabi's eye twitched at the jab. The alien didn't seem to pay much mind to the burned man. "And Top Hat Mask?"

"Mr. Compress," the masked man stated. "My Compress Quirk lets me store objects and people into tiny spheres, like this."

Mr. Compress tossed a small marble-like object at Virus, and in an instant it had changed into a sizeable rock. Virus grabbed it as if he had expected it, and crushed it in his hand with zero issue.

"It seems like you've gotten quite the cast, Giran! I cannot wait to see who else you'll-" Virus said, when Illne hmphed behind him. "Hm? Do you have anything to say, Illne?"

"... So, this is what we're getting?" Illne said, barely looking at them. "Children, small time criminals? Pathetic."

"Pathetic?" Mustard uttered, his right hand balling up into a fist. "That's easy to say when you're an alien. You think you can come here and lecture to us? The downtrodden? The 'villains' that society ignores? You're just like those 'heroic' hypocrites. Don't talk like you understand-"

Illne disappeared from her seat and appeared in front of Mustard. Before he knew it, he had turned around to face the other recruits. For some reason, some of them looked surprised.

"So you turned me around, bravo, what a simple thing for an alien-" he said. He fell to his knees, and fell forward, his head rotated 180 degrees.

"Indeed, very simple," Illne said, strutting over to her chair.

"Well, he didn't last long," Golkin said, finally looking up from his phone when he heard Mustard's body thud.

"Oops, that's one down," Virus said, shaking his head at the sight. "I did tell you that my alien friends were hard to impress, didn't I, Giran?"

"Damn. I'm still getting that finder's fee for him, though," Giran said, sighing. Uh oh. This wasn't looking good right now.

"Ha! Finally, something we can agree with for once," Tomura laughed. "I don't like them. Send them away."

"Aw, don't be like that you two! Tell you what, we should take them to see our other alien friends and get their opinions!" Virus said, clapping his hands together. "Kurogiri, prepare to take us to the spot!"

"Fine," Illne muttered, getting up from her chair and walking onto the wall, turning into a shadow and disappearing.

"Ooooh, is that how you guys move!?" Himiko asked, going to the wall to inspect it after Illne left. "I wanna try that!"

"I don't see why not," Virus said, strolling over to her. He grabbed her shoulder, and started to push her down into the wall. Himiko began to cough and sputter as she felt her body lose its depth.

"ACK! I-I change my mind!" she shouted, not realizing how incredibly painful the procedure was.

"Too late, can't stop it," Virus said, as she continued to be pancaked and crying out in pain. "Anyone else-?"

"Nope, I'm good," Magne said.

"I'd rather not," Dabi said, shaking his head.

"Your losses," Virus said, as he finally turned into shadow, with a flattened Himiko soon following him as they disappeared.

"... God, I hate that," Tomura growled. "You know what, I'll come too. I wanna see what the fuck these aliens will do to these clowns."

"I'm staying here, there's no point in me coming along," Golkin said, turning his attention back to his phone.

"Alright," Kurogiri said, as he opened a portal. "We'll send you your finder's fee soon, Giran. In fact, we might want to get some more high quality members, in case this goes south."

"Sounds good to me," Giran said, shrugging as he walked off as his recruits stepped into the portal. He didn't want to be around and potentially be the next to lose his head. "Good luck, you all!"

Lunchtime at UA

"I still can't believe it!" Mina said, practically bouncing out of her seat as some of the Hero Course students ate at one of the big tables (Katsuki was eating off to the side, eyeing Ardiana and Rigel, though Eijiro was with him to keep him some company). "We've got such great luck to have more alien classmates!"

"What I can't believe is that you're not actually that much older than us," Yosetsu said, pointing at Rigel and Ardiana. "You're really just a year older, Rigel?"

"Yes," Rigel said, tapping his finger against the table. "On Planet Mintaka, we're considered adults at around 16 Earth years, and we go to schools like this to become professional, well, 'hunters'."

"So is everyone from your planet like you then? A professional hunter?" Izuku asked, as he wrote some more into Rigel's entry. "Is being a professional hunter like being a pro hero here?"

"Oh no, Alien Hunters are like any other race. We have doctors, teachers, scientists, even entertainers. We've only got the name 'Alien Hunter' due to how many of our ancestors became bounty hunters once we got the technology to help capture and fight against wanted criminals. And yea, professional hunters are basically like pro heroes here, so I'm fine with going back to school for this if it means doing it legally."

"Does that mean that all Alien Hunters are good-"

"Nope. Like I said, Alien Hunters are like any other race. We've got criminals of our own race on Planet Mintaka, but we usually take care of them ourselves."

"And what about Ardiana? Do all Alien Hunters get their own EM Being to help them-"

"No. In fact, I am but one of few who have chosen to work with another alien," Ardiana stated, as her orb projector floated next to Rigel, having 'retreated' into it since she didn't need to eat. "I personally sought Rigel on Saiphza when he landed on the planet I was doing research on, looking for an Alien Shaplay that attempted to use a material called Glitonium, and his sense of justice and kindness resonated with me."

"Aw, come on, Ardiana, you're making me blush," Rigel chuckled.

"Speaking of which, do all professional Alien Hunter hunters get ships like Saiphza?" Fuka asked, as Setsuna was busy fawning and spoiling the miniaturized ship-turned-robotic dinosaur with chin scratches and giving it small pieces of her katsu.

"Nope. I actually inherited Saiphza from my parents and a couple of their friends," Rigel said, somewhat wistfully as he stared at Saiphza. "Saiphza is a customized Outer Explorer-Class spaceship they owned, giving it the ability to turn into um, what you call a dinosaur, and an artificial intelligence to go with it."

"So it can eat?" Hiroshi asked.

"Nope, he gets fueled up like any other ship. He just likes to move his jaws," Rigel said, right when Saiphza put some of the katsu Setsuna gave it on the edge of her plate. "Don't worry, he gets his jaw cleaned very often."

"Good enough for me. He makes chewing a lot easier," Setsuna said, picking the slightly chewed up bit of food with her chopsticks.

"Don't eat it, Setsuna," Hiroshi said dryly.

"Aw, but it's perfectly good food," Setsuna whined.

"So what else can you-" Izuku said.

"HEY!"

The table stopped talking as Rigel turned around and looked at who was behind him.

"So. More people got let into the Hero Course on an easy pass," Daichi said, as he, Kirika, and Kosuke glared at Rigel. While the three had slowly accepted that Hiroshi and Hero were let in, they couldn't believe their ears upon hearing that yet another person made it in before them.

"Oh no, not you three-" Hiroshi said, his eyes also narrowed.

"Oh hey, it's you three!" Rigel said with a smile. Everyone at the table, including the three General Studies students, looked at him confused. "I never got to apologize for confusing you guys with as an Alien Mutt, Alien Polygon, and Alien Geom."

"How'd do you know that- wait, are you-" Kosuke said, his face paling.

"Yea, I'm that Alien Hunter that talked to you three a while ago," Rigel said, as the three gulped. "Guess you wouldn't recognize me without my suit. Again, sorry for confusing you three for aliens, it's just that there're some races that look really similar to you all."

"Uuuuuum, it's alright," Daichi said, as he slowly stepped back. "I totally get why you'd make the mistake."

"Yep! Totally understand," Kosuke said, giving him a thumbs up. "Anyone can make mistakes!"

"Damn he's hot..." Kirika muttered under her breath, though only Kosuke could hear her, and he shot her a dirty look.

"Why don't you eat with us? I'm sure we can-" Rigel said, motioning to the free spots.

"Nah, it's alright, we don't want to trouble you!" Daichi said, the three finally making a break for it.

"Huh, I wonder what's gotten into them," Rigel said.

"So wait, you talked to those guys?" Pony said, raising an eyebrow.

"They were the first humans I talked to on this Earth when I was trying to find that Alien Scorpek. I confused them for aliens, and then got assailed by police gunfire for a while."

"You are far too casual saying something like that," Kyoka said in disbelief.

"Am I?"

"Rigel, you must remember that even with your suit, that you're far more durable and stronger than a human," Ardiana reminded him.

"Right, right..." Rigel said, nodding as he crossed his arms, tapping his fingers against his biceps.

"So you have high durability and strength..." Izuku scribbled down, deciding to get back on track with his questions. "What else can you do?"

"Oh, I-"

The bell began to ring, signaling the end of the lunch period.

"- guess I'll have to tell you later," Rigel said, as everyone got up to throw away their scraps.

In the world of shadows

"So you got rid of another one," Illne said, as she watched Virus stroll over with the Himiko scroll.

"Maybe. She might make for an interesting addition to our little Unearthly League if she can get out of this state," Virus said, as they walked on over to their usual meeting spot in the mountainous forest. "Right now, though, I want to see what our friends think about the ones that are still 3D. You've sent the signal, right?"

"Of course."

"Excellent!"

As they walked, they found the shadows of Giran's recruits, Tomura, and Kurogiri. Virus hummed to himself as he walked over to Magne's shadow, and prodded it. "Well, since we're here, let's find out more about our new friends."

"Those aliens are... stranger than I thought they would be. But they seem to live how they want. I want that. I want that type of freedom. No shackles, and to live however I want."

"A freedom seeker? I suppose our freedom is something enviable," Virus laughed. He turned his attention to Moonfish's.

"Get work... get meat..."

"Straightforward, I suppose someone like him would have very little in mind," Virus noted, as he poked Muscular's.

"I better get good fights out of this. Haven't had a good challenge in a long time. Not since... Water Moose? Water Loose? Water Goose? Waterhouse- No, Water Hose, that's right. But they're nothing compared to these aliens. I wanna see how tough they really are!"

"Also straightforward. I bet Disze wouldn't mind fighting him," Virus said, as Mr. Compress's shadow floated by him.

"I loathe the idea of working with someone like that alien. But he'll make a good tool to take this society of fake heroes down like what my great great grandfather wanted. Not to mention he'll make a good distraction until it's the right time for me to take the spotlight!"

"Oh my, ambitious! What's the name of your great great grandfather?"

"Oji Harima."

"Sounds like a name I should research. Now onto Mr. Dabi, the most mysterious of them all."

"Are you really going to spend so much time on something like this?" Illne said, catching Virus's attention. "They're not going to be alive after the others are done with them."

"But of course! I simply want to see what we can take advantage of from these humans! After all, they might prove more useful than you think," Virus said, as he poked Dabi's shadow.

"Can't wait to use these aliens. To think, that they could really take on Endeavor. I can't wait to see them kill him and my shitty little brother, and tear this society all to the ground. The best goddamn tools I've ever come across."

"Hm? An interest in us because we can take on Endeavor? Is this related to what Ceteria did?" Virus muttered. "And little brother... tell me, what is your real name?"

"Toya Todoroki."

"Well now, that's certainly something," Virus said, as the red V flashed on his helmet. "He'll be a useful tool himself."

"So this is where those aliens hang around when they're not at the bar, huh?" Tomura said, looking around the forest clearing. "No wonder they bum around there."

"Anywhere would be a better place to hang out than in a forest," Magne said, taking a seat on a downed tree and swatting away any bugs that were getting near her. "I should've brought some bug spray!"

"When are they going to get here," Dabi muttered. "They can't be that slow, can they?"

Mr. Compress pulled out a compressed sphere, and uncompressed it, revealing a small portable fan that he began to cool himself down with. "Who knew that aliens could be fashionably-"

"Here we are!" Virus announced, as he and Illne stepped off a tree. He still had the flattened Himiko in his hand. He tossed her to Tomura. "Hold her for a while, won't you Shigaraki?"

"Aw gross!" Tomura said, stepping back and letting her fall onto the ground, kicking up some dust. "Keep that away from me! I told you I never want to see you bring anyone like that around ever again!"

"And I remember telling you that I won't make any promises," Virus cheerfully reminded him.

"So where are these other aliens?" Muscular growled. "I want to see-"

Shadows formed on the trees behind Virus and Illne, and soon enough, Maladi and Ceteria stepped off them. They took a look at all of the recruits present, as well as Kurogiri and Tomura. "Ceteria, Maladi, welcome!"

"Oh god there really are more of them," Tomura muttered, his eyes narrowed at the two arrivals.

"I came as fast as I could, dear Virus," Ceteria said, strutting over to him. "I just had to see what that Giran fellow managed to scrounge up for recruits."

"... Unimpressive," Maladi grumbled, as she walked towards two trees, created a shadowy hammock to lay in. "Wake me up when it's all over."

"Not even a minute here and you're already sleeping!?" Muscular yelled indignantly, storming up to the lazy Maladi. She created a shadowy barrier around herself and her hammock, preventing Muscular from bothering her. "Hey! Come out here and FIGHT!"

"Disze, take care of him. He seems more up your alley than mine," Maladi said. "Now let me sleep."

Before Muscular could interject, another shadow formed behind the other three aliens, and Disze stepped off, towering above his allies. Muscular took one good look at the titanic muscular alien, before grinning maniacally.

"Now THAT'S more like it!" he shouted. "An alien that looks like he can take a punch!"

"I suppose we can see you all demonstrate your abilities and skills against us!" Virus said cheerfully, clapping his hands. "Oh, let's take a moment for everyone to get prepared."

At UA, Training Ground Beta

"Alright, you sprouts! Today's a simple exercise!" All Might said, as everyone in their hero costumes (excluding Rigel, who was in a UA gym uniform) gathered in front of the Number One Hero.

"Why's he in his muscle form?" Ochako whispered to Izuku and Hiroshi.

"My guess is that he hasn't told Ardiana and Rigel about everything," Hiroshi said. "He's probably still judging whether or not-"

"Mr. All Might sir, is it wise to hold that form while injured?" Ardiana asked, catching everyone by surprise. "The bioelectrical waves I'm seeing from your body are disrupted, signaling an old but grievous injury."

"Y-You can see that?" All Might said.

"It's difficult not to," Rigel said. "If you're more comfortable teaching outside of that form, you should."

"... Alright," All Might said, releasing his muscle form. "I'm surprised you two could sense that."

"When you are made of electromagnetic waves, you tend to be able to see and sense different types of electrical and magnetic signals," Ardiana explained.

"Well, either way, this exercise is a simple one! It's a repeat of the Heroes vs. Villains exercise from the beginning! We'll have four teams of 5 this time around, so as to keep the number of teams even!" All Might explained. "Along with the other rules that were established after the first exercise last time!"

"Huh, that is simple," Fuka said, crossing her arms.

"Why are we repeating the first exercise?" Kinoko asked.

"My guess is because we have two new classmates that we need to test out, even if they're not officially enrolled yet," Sen replied.

"Exactly, Young Kaibara!" All Might said, as the robots set up the lot boxes. "It's also good to judge how much you've grown since the beginning of the semester!"

"So I guess it's up to us four on which team we get to work with?" Hiroshi said, looking at Fuka, Rigel, and Ardiana.

"Indeed! So pick who you want to work with!" All Might said.

"Alright... Hey Kendo! Wanna team up?" Hiroshi said, to most of the class's surprise. "What? I can't always work with Setsuna. It would be nice if I could."

"Sure, I don't see the problem," Itsuka replied, smiling. "Besides, it's about time you and I worked together!"

"In that case, I think I'll work with Ashido," Fuka said.

"Yea, let's do it!" Mina said, giving her a thumbs up.

"I shall join Miss Yaoyoruzu's team," Ardiana said, as her orb floated towards Momo. "That way, you all can see how I can operate without assisting Rigel. And I am certain that her intellect will complement my own."

"I'm honored that you chose to join my team," Momo said, giving Ardiana a polite bow, which she returned.

"Uuuuum, I still don't know you all well enough to make a decision-" Rigel started to say, when Saiphza popped out of his pocket and trotted over to Setsuna, who picked him up and gave him chin scratches. "Never mind, I guess Saiphza made the decision for me."

"Yes! Who's a good little dinosaur? You are! Yes, you are!" Setsuna cooed, as Saiphza rubbed its head against her finger. "All Might, can we-"

"No, your team cannot use Saiphza when it's your turn," All Might said.

"Aaaaaaw," Setsuna said, as Saiphza sighed, also disappointed.

"Speaking of, Rigel, I'd like for you in this exercise to not use your battle suit," All Might said. "I want to what abilities and skills you have outside of it."

"Fair enough, I'll do that," Rigel answered, nodding.

"Alright, now that's settled, line up and get your lots!" All Might said, as everyone lined up to pick their lots, and soon everyone got onto their teams.

Team A: Eijiro Kirishima, Minoru Mineta, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Jurota Shishida
Team B: Mina Ashido, Toru Hagakure, Yui Kodai, Kinoko Komori, Fuka Furinji
Team C: Mashirao Ojiro, Ochako Uraraka, Hiroshi Furinji, Itsuka Kendo, Reiko Yanagi
Team D: Kyoka Jiro, Denki Kaminari, Kosei Tsuburaba, Ibara Shiozaki
Team E: Izuku Midoriya, Fumikage Tokoyami, Sen Kaibara, Kojiro Bondo
Team F: Hanta Sero, Katsuki Bakugo, Hiryu Rin, Neito Monoma
Team G: Yuga Aoyama, Tenya Iida, Yosetsu Awase, Nirengeki Shoda
Team H: Tsuyu Asui, Koji Koda, Pony Tsunotori, Setsuna Tokage, Rigel Algeva
Team I: Shoto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyoruzu, Ardiana, Togaru Kamakiri, Manga Fukidashi
Team J: Rikido Sato, Mezo Shoji, Juzo Honenuki, Shihai Kuroiro

"Someone change teams with me!" Minoru cried, as he alone was in a group full of guys. Denki and Kosei sighed a breath of relief, having been spared by fate this time. The small teen shot them both a furious glare. "How could you two leave me behind like this!?"

"Sorry, Mineta, that's how the dice rolls," Denki said, walking away.

"Yep, nothing we can do," Kosei added.

"You traitors!" Minoru said, dramatically pointing at the two. He feel to his knees crying. "Just once... Just ONCE, I would like to be on a team with a girl!"

"Is he always like that?" Rigel whispered to Setsuna.

"Yep," Setsuna whispered back, laughing at the despairing Minoru. "You get use to it after a while."

"Alright, with that out of the way, let's get to the first exercise!" All Might said, pulling out two balls. "Heroes! Team J! Villains! Team G! Come get your earpieces and capture tape!"

In the mountainous forest

"Alright, so with everyone out of the way, we can start this little fighting show!" Virus said, as everyone stayed clear of Muscular and Disze. "Now, let's-"

Muscular leaped towards Disze, the ground cracking from his foot, as he reared his right fist back, letting his muscle fibers pop out of his skin and cover his arm like a suit. He slammed his fist against Disze's head, wind kicking up from the strike and threatening to push back everyone around them, sans Virus and the aliens.

"Show me your blood! Let's see how aliens bleed!" Muscular yelled.

"Looks like someone's very impatient," Virus said. A red slanted stylized D appeared on the left side of Disze's helmet, giving him the appearance of a jagged eye. He grabbed Muscular's hand, and tossed him aside, though he landed on his feet.

"That's what you call a punch? Pathetic," Disze said. "All it told me was that you only rely on raw physical strength. No technique, no precision. And here I thought you would make for a good challenge."

"Excuse me!?" Muscular shouted, getting up. More muscles popped out of his skin, covering his body. "Who needs shit like that!? All that matters is strength! All that shit's just lame trickery! It isn't a fight until one of us dies!"

Muscular charged at Disze, throwing punches after punches, while he stood there, barely reacting to them.

"Physical power is but one aspect of strength," Disze said calmly. "It must be refined and trained constantly, of course, so as to avoid atrophy. But your wild and uncontrolled punches mean nothing to me."

"Come on! Throw a punch already! Quit standing around doing nothing!" Muscular said, growing annoyed with the calm alien. "I'm beginning to think that you're not all that strong if you're just standing there and just letting me wail on you!"

"If I'm not that strong, then tell me-" Disze said, finally punching Muscular square in the chest. Even with all the muscle fibers that Muscular had covered himself with, he felt the punch go through it all and hit him in the sternum, knocking him backwards. "Why haven't you moved me from the spot where I've been standing?"

True to his word, when everyone's gaze fell onto his feet, there was no sign of him having moved. Even though the dirt and dust had flown around them from the wind, he had not moved a centimeter. "Your imprecision is your undoing. The strongest punch isn't just about putting all of your weight into it."

"But if you want me to fight, so be it," Disze added, as he took a few steps forward towards Muscular. Muscular grinned, and more muscle fibers popped out of his skin and covered his body.

"Gross," Maladi said, managing to see the extremely fleshy Muscular through her shadow barrier.

"Truly vulgar," Ceteria said, shaking her head.

"So your answer is to add more power to yourself? Pitiful," Disze said, as Muscular began to throw more punches at the alien. Disze took the blows, and began throwing his own punches at Muscular, though he wasn't throwing nearly as many or as fast as the bloodthirsty man.

"Man, he's slow as fuck-" Tomura started to say, when he noticed that Muscular's face was becoming twisted with pain. "What the-"

"What the hell's happening!? I'm throwing more punches! But his- his are stronger!" Muscular thought, as his punches kept slowing down, whereas Disze's just kept getting faster and faster.

"It's like I said, you're imprecise," Disze reiterated, as Muscular ended up slowing down to the point that he could only take the punches. "For every tenth punch you've thrown, I've made one. But each one of mine have landed in the same spots over and over."

True to Disze's word, everyone saw that his punches were moving in a trail, landing in the same spots on Muscular's body over and over again. Soon, the muscle fibers around Muscular's body became torn, with what little bits remaining on him retracting, leaving him unprotected to Disze's barrage of punches. With one final rearing of his fist, Disze punched Muscular square in the chest, sending the man flying, breaking through dozens of trees until he collided with a mountain wall nearby. Muscular coughed, blood streaming down his chin. "I was right... that was the best fight of my life..."

"After all of that, he's still alive?" Mr. Compress said, as Disze walked over to the downed Muscular.

"... Fin... Finish me off," Muscular said, still grinning. "It... It isn't a fight until one of us dies."

"Hm, principled. That's admirable," Disze said, raising his fist. "Tell me your real name, so I can at least honor your conviction."

"Heh, Goto Imasuji," Muscular smiled, as Disze brought his fist down onto his head.

At UA Training Ground Beta

"Man, all of you have such interesting powers," Rigel said, watching as Team B come in from their victory over Team A, with Yui getting MVP thanks to her team taking advantage of using her Quirk to shrink the bomb and having Fuka fly out the window with it, thereby netting them an automatic victory since the objective was now outside of the building. "Makes me feel a little insecure with mine."

"I'm sure that's not true," Setsuna said, as Minoru, Eijiro, and Tetsutetsu walked off, disappointed that the exercise was so short (the former because he didn't get to actually face off against one of the girls, the latter two not getting a chance to fight). "You've probably got some real crazy alien powers to use!"

"Indeed, Rigel does have some 'real crazy alien powers', as you put them," Ardiana said, as All Might pulled out the lots for the next teams.

"Heroes! Team D! Villains! Team I!" he announced. "Let's get ready!"

"You do not need to worry about giving me an earpiece, Mr. All Might sir," Ardiana said, as her teammates and the opposing team went over to get their earpieces. "I can listen in if you all adjust for the right frequency."

As Ardiana helped them figure out the right frequency for her teammates and All Might to communicate through (she was giving the opposing team the courtesy of her not listening in on them to 'cheat'), Setsuna went over to sit with Hiroshi and Fuka, who were both taking a break after completing their exercises (Hiroshi's team having beaten Izuku's by stalling them until the timer ran out).

"Man, Midoriya," Hiroshi said, popping his neck. "You really went all in with that exercise."

"You too, Hiroshi," Izuku replied, as his eyes became glued onto the screens. "You and Hero really did a great job of keeping us from the bomb. I should get some new gear to improve my efficiency... Maybe some new type of glove or something..."

"I just wish Yanagi was a little more gentle with tossing me around," Mashirao muttered, as he kept popping all of his joints and stretching his muscles. "I swear, I think I might've gotten whiplash from how fast I tackled Kaibara... Kirishima or Tetsutetsu probably would've been a better choice for that move."

"I mean, it didn't help that Uraraka also removed your gravity, making you even lighter and faster," Itsuka added.

"Sorry," Ochako said, rubbing the back of her head.

"I also apologize for the way I used my Quirk to increase your agility," Reiko followed.

"It's fine, just gotta sleep it off later," Mashirao said.

"That's something I should try doing myself sometime..." Sen said thoughtfully. "Maybe I could mimic that move Hero used during our joint training with Isamu... It was Hermes Hurricane, right?"

"Yep," Hiroshi confirmed. He turned to Setsuna. "So you ready to be the last one of the day?"

"You bet! Best for last!" she replied, as Saiphza sat on her lap. "Too bad we can't use Saiphza."

"It'd be overkill, Setsuna," Fuka deadpanned. "The only way it'd be fair is if it were Hiroshi and Hero fighting Rigel and Saiphza, and I don't think even Principal Nezu would be fine with the idea."

"I dunno, Principal Nezu seems fine with anything," Setsuna joked. "I bet if he could, he'd turn the campus into a giant robot itself."

"There's no way they'd have the money for that," Hiroshi laughed. "Present Mic constantly reminds me of that when I destroyed all those Zero Pointers with Hero."

"He still seems a little upset for someone who isn't in direct control of the school's finances," Hero chuckled in Hiroshi's head.

"Quiet! They're about to start!" Fuka said, pointing to the screens.

"Team D! You may now enter the hideout! Secure the warhead or capture the villains!" All Might said into the mic. He pressed a button on the console, changing the channel to the other team. "Team I! The heroes have entered the building! Protect the warhead or capture the heroes!"

Hero Team D Vs. Villain Team I

Shoto had the others leave the room so that he could make an ice layer to prevent the other team from entering, while Momo went ahead and created two dummy bombs and sheets to hide them under, and hid them in different rooms so as to distract the hero team from finding the real room. She barricaded herself into one room, while Manga did the same with the other bomb. Togaru was left to patrol the hallways for the other team, with Ardiana doing the same.

"Come on, little heroes," Togaru said, getting into the spirit of being a villain (once again). "Come out here and show me a good fight-"

In an instance, vines grew out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Togaru, though he grew blades out of his body to escape them.

"Nice try, Shiozaki, but your vines are no match for-" he began to shout, when he got promptly electrified by Denki who charged at him and tackled him in a bear hug, followed by Kyoka jamming her earlobes into him and shocking him with strong vibrations. Soon Ibara and Kosei joined the two.

"Y-Yea, t-take that," Denki said, having released a bit too much electricity during the tackle, though just low enough to keep himself coherent. He wrapped the capture tape around Togaru quickly so that he didn't have the chance to regain his senses.

"Togaru Kamakiri has been captured! 10 minutes remaining!" All Might announced through the intercom.

"Let's not rest yet," Kyoka said, jamming her earlobes into the wall. "I'm sensing movement on different floors in different rooms. It's like they're pacing... they might've split up and made fake bombs with Yaoyoruzu's Quirk to distract us. So we're gonna have to figure out which one is the real one..."

"You are very sharp, Miss Jiro," Ardiana said, appearing behind the four.

"AH!" Kosei shouted, startled.

"Get her!" Denki yelled, leaping at Ardiana, only to pass right through her and landed hard onto the wall behind her. "Ouch!"

"Sorry Mr. Kaminari, but I have no physical body for you to wrap capture tape with," Ardiana said. She emphasized this by walking through each of them, as if she were a ghost.

"Ack! Personal space!" Kyoka said, shuddering from having the EM Being going through her body.

"Do not be alarmed, I cannot physically harm you either on my own at least," Ardiana replied.

"Man that's a relief- Wait, on your own?" Kosei said, noting how she said that. All of a sudden, a robot with her orb as its head busted through the wall, startling the four heroes.

"Miss Yaoyoruzu was very swift to get this made for me," Ardiana said, as the robot began throwing punches at them, forcing them on the move. "It was quite impressive to see her make something so complex so quickly and efficiently with her Quirk."

"Do something you idiots!" Kyoka shouted.

"Shiozaki, cover everyone!" Denki commanded.

"I understand," Ibara replied, as Kyoka and Kosei went towards her. She wrapped them all with her vines, while Denki was left outside.

"Now that they're covered, I can go all out!" Denki said, raising his hands above his head before throwing them down, releasing all of his electricity. By the time he ran out, his brain had fried, but the robot and Ardiana were unaffected. "Wheeeeeey..."

"A good effort, but useless against me and this robot," Ardiana said, as her robot wrapped the capture tape that Momo lent her. "We made this robot to withstand high voltages, and I have enough control over my electromagnetic waves to withstand an attack such as that."

"Denki Kaminari has been captured! 7 minutes remain!"

"Shit, let's move it!" Kyoka said, as the three made a break for it, leaving the stupefied Denki. "We have to find the bombs!"

The three went for different hallways. Kosei barreled up the stairs before tripping on a tripwire at the top. It triggered a trap that threw a net onto him. As he struggled to pull it off, he unfortunately stumbled backwards down the stairs, though Ardiana's robot managed to catch him before he landed on his head.

"That was close, Mr. Tsuburaba. I should've taken in account what possible reactions you or the others would've had with some of the traps," Ardiana said, though the robot began wrapping the capture tape around him. "Though that will not stop me from helping my team win this exercise."

"Kosei Tsuburaba has been captured! 6 minutes remain!"

"Nuts," Kosei sighed, as the robot set him aside onto the ground. With the dummy bombs around and potentially more traps around, there was no way they were going to win this."

Later at the Monitoring Room

"Congratulations to Team I for their victory!" All Might said, as they stood in front of him and their classmates for their evaluation. "I think it's safe to say that the MVPs are Young Todoroki, Young Yaoyoruzu, and Young Fukidashi for their combined strategy of barricading themselves and using decoys to throw the hero team off! But we should also recognize Young Ardiana's efforts for using Young Yaoyoruzu's Quirk to make a robot for her to control!"

"It's not fair," Denki said, wiping some tears from his face. "How could we have captured her if she doesn't have a physical body!?"

"Would capturing the robot count?" Ibara asked, looking at him.

"Hm... For now, I'll say 'no', since that isn't her body, though I don't expect that anyone here will be facing off against an EM Being criminal or villain any time soon," All Might said, as the four Team D members sighed.

"It would not have mattered, for at the time I was using the surveillance cameras to project my image while I used my Projector Orb to control the robot," Ardiana said.

"So wait, you could've been projecting your image anywhere in the building?" Kyoka said.

"Indeed, though it was lucky that you were right next to the room where the robot was stored in. Miss Yaoyoruzu only had enough time to make the one before making the smaller traps and the decoy bombs," Ardiana said.

"It was a good idea to begin working on that before our exercise actually started," Momo sighed. "It's going to take some time to regain all the lipids I used on it..."

"I will treasure this robot, then," Ardiana said, as they looked back at the robot (which was now headless since the orb detached from its neck connector), which was sitting with Hiroshi and Fuka. "It would be a waste to get rid of it after you worked on it."

"Well, with that out of the way, I think it's time for the last team of the day!" All Might said, pulling the last balls out. "Heroes! Team H! Villains! Team F!"

"Wow, villains again, what are the odds of that?" Hanta said, remembering how he, Katsuki, and Neito were the villains during their first Heroes vs. Villains exercise.

"Not for me," Hiryu pointed out. "So it's nice to have a change in roles for me."

"You ready for this, Rigel!?" Pony said, trying to pump her team up.

"Yea, I think I am, Tsunotori," Rigel said, chuckling a bit.

"Hey, if we're using first names, you can call me Pony, too!" Pony said.

"Alright," Rigel said, as they got their capture tape rolls and earpieces.

"Good luck, Rigel," Ardiana said, giving her friend a polite bow.

"Thanks, Ardiana," he replied, as they walked off to get ready.

In the mountainous forest

"Well, that was messy," Virus said, dusting his hands after tossing Muscular's body into Kurogiri's portal. "Thanks for helping with the cleanup, Kurogiri."

"Disgusting," the mist man muttered. "I suppose I'll need to handle any other bodies, do I?"

"Hopefully not," Virus replied. He turned to the remaining recruits. "So, who's next?"

"Depends. I want to fight the one who can use fire," Dabi said, pointing to Ceteria. "If she isn't gonna fight, count me out."

"Hm, I suppose that I could use the exercise," Ceteria said, stretching her limbs as she strutted to the 'ring'. A red stylized C appeared on her helmet's forehead.

Dabi smiled. While he had an idea of how strong these aliens are, he figured that he test them. He needed their power to take down Endeavor and ruin his life for sure, but if they weren't up to stuff, he could get rid of them.

"Alright, let's-" Virus started to say, when Dabi unleashed a giant stream of blue flames from his body towards Ceteria. "Wow, all of you are quite an impatient bunch! I should remind you all that we need to keep this place a secret, so don't be too flashy!"

"We're in a forest, who'd see us!?" Tomura pointed out. While everyone had to keep edging backwards to avoid the encroaching wall of fire, Ceteria yawned as the inferno blazed about.

"Is this the hottest that you can make your fire? How droll," she said, crossing her arms. "I was expecting something a bit more... spicy."

"Excuse me?" Dabi said, his eyes narrowed. "My fire... My fire's the hottest there is!"

"It's barely better than that Endeavor's," Ceteria replied.

"BULLSHIT!" Dabi screamed, releasing even more fire at her. He wasn't about to let her talk down on him like this. She was going to burn for what she said. "THERE'S NO WAY MY FIRE ISN'T HOTTER THAN HIS!"

"Hey! Do something about this stupid fire!" Tomura shouted, looking at Virus.

"Oh, it won't be me doing anything," Virus said, pointing to the scarfed alien at the center. Ceteria held her hands out, and soon the fire around them began to converge into a small ball of flame in her palms, while Dabi kept on making more and more fire.

"I'll give you credit, you can certainly make big ones," Ceteria said, as she spun the ball of flame on her right index finger, as Dabi's fire continued to be drawn into it. "But it's like what Disze said with that... what was his name?"

"Goto Imasuji."

"Yes, that man. You lack technique. All you're doing is hoping that I'll burn with this slightly warmer fire of yours with all these big blasts, but as you can see, it's not working," she said. She pointed the ball of fire at Dabi. "From what I can see, you have no resistance to your own fire. So, kindly take your fire back, and turn to ash."

With that, Ceteria released the ball of fire she had been concentrating. Dabi closed his eyes and began to feel the overwhelming blast of his fire returned to him, stronger than what he had been expecting, though he realized that the fire hadn't touched him directly. He opened his eyes, and saw Virus standing in front of him, his hand redirecting the fire up into the sky.

"What's the meaning of this Virus?" Illne said. "I thought we could get rid of them however we felt like."

"Indeed, you let me crush Imasuji's head without issue," Disze noted.

"I don't mind you saving him, but I would like an explanation," Ceteria added, her hands on her hips.

"Why, it's because I see the potential this man has!" Virus said, chummily tossing his arm around Dabi's shoulders. "He might not have as strong a fire as you, Ceteria, but I can see something big happening with him! With him in particular, we can see quite the show of despair that these humans can give us!"

"Hm... I see. Well, if that's how you feel about him, I suppose my test is over," Ceteria said, shrugging her shoulders as she went to join Magne and sat on the downed tree.

"Get your hands off me," Dabi growled, shoving Virus away. "You're lucky that I need you around for my plans."

"And you're lucky that I want you around for our plans!" Virus said, putting a hand on Dabi's shoulders, pulling him in to whisper into his ear. "So give us a good show... Toya."

Dabi froze upon hearing his real name. He never told anyone about it. He made sure of it. So that shit about him and his allies getting truths from people's shadows was true. If he could, he was going to burn his own shadow for ratting him out like that.

"So, what about you, Maladi! After all, you're the only one that hadn't tested any of them out yet," Virus said, looking at the shadowy barrier. "And no, Illne, you may not test them again, you've already made your point when you snapped Mustard's neck."

"... Fine, I guess," Maladi said, the shadow barrier dissipating as she got up from her hammock. "Just give me all of them, I don't care who I fight. Just as long as I can get back to resting soon."

Villain Team F

"So I guess the only unknown here is just Rigel, huh?" Hanta said, looking at his teammates.

"Yea, especially since we don't know what he can do without his suit," Hiryu replied.

"Doesn't matter," Katsuki said, cracking his neck. "I'm the one that's gonna fight him. The rest of you extras can do whatever you want! I'm going to go after him!"

"Are you going to go on another crusade against another alien!?" Neito said, in absolute disbelief. He touched Katsuki's shoulder, Copying his Quirk before Katsuki brushed his hand away.

"I won't keep losing to aliens!" Katsuki growled. "He's just another obstacle in my way, and I'm not about to be left in the dust by Furinji and Deku!"

"Well, we should figure out a plan," Hanta said. Katsuki sighed, as he took off some grenades off his waist and handed one to each of them.

"Each of those is filled with my sweat," Katsuki said. "Use it whenever you think you need to! Tapey, do what you did last time! Otherwise, stay out of my way!"

"Team F! The heroes have entered the building! Protect the warhead or capture the heroes!" All Might said over their earpieces. With that, Katsuki left, followed by Hiryu and Neito.

"Yea, I guess I'll just do that then," Hanta said, going over to the door to close it, and started taping it up. "Don't fix what's not broken. Hopefully this won't get broken though and I don't get a faceful of door again... Oh man, what if Rigel has a super strength like Furinji and Hero or Midoriya?"

Hero Team H

"So any idea what they'll do?" Rigel asked, tapping his foot as they waited.

"Well, there's a likely chance that they'll leave Sero do repeat what he did the last time we did this exercise," Setsuna reasoned. "He's got the ability to make tape with his elbows, so he'll probably be handling the traps around the bomb."

"And Bakugo's probably going to try and play offense," Tsuyu added. "He'll probably go after you, Rigel."

"Then I guess it's up to me to take care of him," Rigel shrugged. "He can... make explosions, right?"

"Yep! I'll scout ahead for the others while trying to find the bomb," Setsuna said, her body separating into parts. "I'm good at that."

"I can fight Rin, my Horn Cannon against his Scales is a perfect match!" Pony said, pointing to her horns.

"And since Monoma can't Copy mutant-type Quirks, it might be up to me to fight him," Tsuyu added.

"I'll communicate with some of the animals around here and-" Koji began to sign, when they all heard a purring sound behind them. They turned, and saw Toko scrambling towards Koji, who lowered himself to the ground to pick them up.

"Toko? What are you doing here?" he whispered, as he pet the Lunah. The Lunah purred and meowed. "You... want to help with our exercise? I... Maybe it's allowed? You are an animal and my Quirk works with animals..."

"All Might did say we couldn't use Saiphza. Nothing against using Toko," Setsuna said, with a mischievous grin.

"Team H! You may now enter the hideout! Secure the warhead or capture the villains!" All Might said through their earpieces.

"Alright, let's begin the hunt," Rigel said, popping his fingers.

"What? 'Begin the hunt'?" Setsuna said, as they walked into the building.

"Oh, it's something I say whenever I start a mission or the like," Rigel said, blushing a bit. "It's sort of an affirmation, I suppose."

"I like it!" Setsuna said, flashing him a thumbs up as they went their separate ways to find the bomb.

At the Monitoring Room...

"Seems like Sero's repeating the same thing he did in the first Heroes vs. Villains exercise," Ochako said, as they watched the CCTV with Hanta on it. He was busy taping up the door again, while also shooting out tape around the bomb.

"I mean, it's a smart plan, but it's a little predictable now that we all know what his Quirk can do," Hiroshi said. "The only difference now is that they're down a trapmaster without Honenuki."

"That's true," Juzo replied. "Without my Softened floor traps, the hero team will probably have an easier time to find the bomb room."

"Hey, Koda has Toko!" Toru said, pointing to the screen with a lone Koji, who was walking the hallways with Toko on his shoulder. "Is... is that allowed?"

"Well, I only told them that they can't use Saiphza in the exercise," All Might said, scratching his chin. "I'll allow it, since his Quirk does rely on working with animals."

"Seems like they all have a solid plan on what they'll do," Momo said, watching Rigel tapping against the wall constantly before coming face to face against Katsuki.

"Looks like we're gonna see another Bakugo-alien fight now," Fuka said, seeing the sneer on the explosive teen's face.

"This Bakugo, his Quirk creates nitroglycerin-like sweat that he can explode using his hands, correct?" Ardiana asked.

"Yea, that's how his Quirk works," Izuku confirmed, being far too familiar with Katsuki's Explosions growing up.

"Then this fight is in Rigel's favor," Ardiana said, to everyone's confusion.

In the hallway...

"My luck's just too good at this," Katsuki said, sneering as he reared his arms back. "To think I get to fight another alien!"

"Well, it's my first time to fight against a human from this Earth," Rigel replied. "So it's going to be a new experience for me."

"Whatever, just don't hold back against me!" Katsuki shouted, though he remembered that he shouldn't use his grenade gauntlets, or else get disqualified for repeating the same mistake as last time. "I want you to come at me with your best!"

"With pleasure," Rigel said, smiling. With a mighty yell, Katsuki launched himself forward towards Rigel, throwing his right hand into him and making an Explosion.

"Looks like you're too slow-" Katsuki said, when Rigel's right hand came towards his face in a right hook. To his horror, when the alien's fist came into contact with his cheek, an explosion went off, sending him flying backwards. "W-What the hell!? You can use explosions too!? HOW MANY ALIENS CAN USE EXPLOSIONS!?"

"It's not only explosions I can use," Rigel said, walking out of the smoke, looking no worse for the wear, save for the slightly scourged gym uniform. "I can absorb, store, and control all forms of energy, and I change it into different forms. Kinetic, heat, light-"

Blue and purple electricity began to spark around Rigel's body. "- and my favorite, electromagnetic energy."

In the Monitoring Room

"No! No we can't have another electric guy in the Hero Course!" Denki said, pointing at the CCTV with Rigel and Katsuki in horror. "That's my thing! We can't have another Kirishima-Tetsutetsu situation here! I don't want to be redundant too!"

"Hey!" the two aforementioned boys said, hurt by the words.

"Remember, it's just not electricity. It's all forms of energy," Ardiana said.

"That'll explain the tapping," Hiroshi said, as he remembered how Rigel was just tapping his fingers and foot away while he would talk. "He was just storing up kinetic energy over time. And he can release it in explosions."

"So he's basically another Bakugo, too. The more he moves, the more kinetic energy he can store and release in an explosion, while the more Bakugo moves, the more sweat he makes which lets him make more or stronger explosions," Fuka replied, seeing the pissed off glare that Katsuki was giving Rigel. "Looks like he's enjoying the discovery, too."

"A Bakugo-Kaminari fusion, huh?" Mina said, sticking her tongue out in thought. "So he's like their kid!"

"Don't say something like that!" Denki said, shuddering.

"Since he can use electromagnetic energy, is that one of the reasons you wanted to work with him?" Izuku asked.

"Yes, that is one of the reasons. His proficiency for the electromagnetic aspect of his energy abilities complements my nature as an EM Being," Ardiana said. "Thanks to his control over EM energy, he's able to use similar abilities that I have."

"Man, that guy's got a power lottery!" Yosetsu said. "Energy powers, a battle suit, a multipurpose weapon, and a ship that turns into a dinosaur?"

"Aliens have so much! Lucky!" Kinoko said, pouting a bit.

"On the contrary, I wish that us Ultras had more naturally varied powers like humans on this Earth have," Hero said in Hiroshi's head. "It's incredibly impressive to see all these unique powers."

"Honestly, I think this whole thing is going to depend on how much the villain team can hold them off," Hiroshi said, as Tsuyu and Koji ended up crossing each other, only for Neito to appear in front of them, while Pony and Hiryu started a shootout with their Quirks (Hiryu had thrown the grenade that Katsuki gave him to try and blind Pony, but she managed to knock it back with one of her horns), and Setsuna struggled to open the door that Hanta had taped up. "Because right now, they're doing a pretty good job of it."

"Ardiana, just... just tell me," Denki said, dreading her answer. "Does Rigel fry his brain when he uses his electricity?"

"No, he does not have that particular weakness that you have," Ardiana answered.

"Oh no..." Denki muttered.

"Wow, a Bakugo-Kaminari fusion who doesn't lose coherency when he uses his powers?" Kyoka said, ribbing the electric boy. "Looks like someone's taking your place as our class's electric user."

"Shut up!" Denki cried.

In front of the bomb room...

"Guys, I found the bomb room! It's the fourth inner room in the first hallway you get into from the stairs!" Setsuna said, as she kept kicking at the door's hinges with her detached legs. "But it's all taped up like we thought it'd be! Someone come here and help me bust it down! I'm not strong enough to do it myself!"

"I'll come there as soon as I can," Rigel answered, with Katsuki's screams and Explosions filling the background noise. "Bakugo is very persistent."

"Sounds like it," Setsuna muttered. "I can feel the vibrations from your fight from here."

"8 minutes remain!" All Might's voice announced over the intercom.

"Oh man, I really hope this won't come down to the wire like with Midoriya's exercise," Setsuna said, as she kept kicking at the door's hinges.

"Quit it!" Hanta's voice said, muffled by the closed taped door.

"No!"

Meanwhile...

Katsuki kept throwing more and more Explosions at Rigel, who was surprisingly agile. This wasn't good. The alien's powers was just a fusion of his and Lightning Fringe's Quirks, but even better thanks to the fact that the more he moves, the more kinetic energy he can store and change into more explosions and electricity. And he's absorbing all the energy from Katsuki's Explosions, meaning that he can just keep getting hit by them only to return them! How infuriating!

"Tired yet, Bakugo?" Rigel asked, as he rolled away from another Explosion and unleashing his own with his feet, knocking Katsuki off balance. To think that he could even make explosions using his feet! He couldn't do that, his Quirk's ability to set off his Explosions was located entirely on his hands. "Because I'm just getting started!"

"No way in hell!" Katsuki shouted. He was frustrated; if he could use his gauntlets, he'd have the advantage! He'll settle on the next best thing, though. He pulled off one of the grenades on his waist, pulled the pin, and threw it at Rigel. Rigel held his hand out and used magnetism to repel the grenade back at Katsuki. He only had a second to move back to avoid the explosion, though he got hit by most of it anyways. "Dammit!"

Before Katsuki could move again, Rigel burst through the smoke cloud, his hands covered in electricity. He grabbed Katsuki's arm, shocking the boy. Katsuki grunted as he felt his body seize up and become paralyzed from the electrification, and Rigel slammed him against the wall. Before he could retaliate as he regained feeling, Rigel wrapped his capture tape around Katsuki's wrist. "Sorry about that, but I wasn't the top of my graduating class for nothing."

Katsuki's eyes widened. This guy was that good, even on his home planet!?

"Katsuki Bakugo has been captured! 4 minutes remain!" All Might announced on the intercom.

"Alright, Tokage! I got Bakugo!" Rigel said onto his earpiece. "I'm heading to you right now!"

Meanwhile...

"Well well well, seems like I have two 1A students to take down!" Neito said, as he approached Koji and Tsuyu. "I'll show you the superiority of Class 1B!"

"But three of our teammates are from 1B," Tsuyu pointed out.

"Silence! I shall not fall for your 1A deceptions!" Neito said. "Not to mention that your Quirks are no match for my Copies of Explosion and Scales!"

Koji fidgeted, not knowing what to do, when Toko nudged his cheek. "You have an idea, Toko?" he whispered to the feline alien.

Toko nodded, and jumped off of Koji's shoulders. He opened his mouth, revealing his razor sharp teeth, and starting to vacuum Neito towards him.

"W-Whoa what!? H-Hey! No! Stop that!" Neito shouted, as he used Explosion to launch himself away from Toko. Toko did not stop, however, as he only hopped closer to Neito. Neito activated his Copy of Scales, and slammed his fingers into the wall, digging them so he could have a grip on something. He threw the grenade that Katsuki had given him, but Toko just ate it, unaffected by the explosion it made. "Stop! You can't eat me! I'm not food!"

"Wow, I didn't know that Toko's vacuum mouth was that strong," Tsuyu said, turning to look at Koji. "Did you know?"

Koji shook his head no.

"C-Call your pet off! This isn't funny!" Neito said.

"We will if you surrender," Tsuyu replied.

"You wouldn't!"

"We might."

"Alright alright! I give! Just don't let that thing eat me!" Neito said. As soon as Toko closed his mouth, Tsuyu hopped towards Neito and wrapped her capture around his wrist. Toko went back to Koji's shoulder, looking very pleased with himself.

"N-Neito Monoma has been captured! 3 minutes remain!" All Might's voice said over the intercom, unsure of how to process Neito nearly being eaten.

"Y-You weren't actually going to eat him, were you?" Koji asked. Toko nodded no, to Koji's relief.

In the Monitoring Room...

"C-Could Toko really have eaten Monoma if he wasn't stopped?" Itsuka said, as most of the Hero Course students, including All Might, sweated at the thought.

"No. Lunahs may have voracious appetites, but they are unable to eat anything bigger than themselves," Ardiana replied. "Their ability to vacuum food into their mouth can be very strong, however, which can make it seem like they can."

"Oh thank goodness. I don't want to worry about waking up with Toko halfway around my waist," Mina said, relieved.

"I have to hand it to them, I didn't think someone like Koda would've come up with something like that," Sen said. "Guy seems a little too timid for a plan like that."

"Maybe it was Toko who came up with it," Fuka joked. "Toko seems more of the intimidating type."

"Either way, the hero team's really coming down to the wire," Hiroshi pointed out, seeing Koji and Tsuyu running to catch up to Setsuna with Tsuyu dragging Neito with her tongue, and that Pony and Hiryu were still having their shootout. "They've only got less than 3 minutes left."

At the mountainous forest...

"So it's all of us versus one alien?" Magne said, as she, Mr. Compress, and Moonfish surrounded Maladi. "Seems like unfair odds. But I'll take them."

"Yea, unfair odds against you," Maladi said, a red stylized M appearing on her helmet's mouth. "Just go ahead and start fighting whenever you feel like. As long as this doesn't last too long."

"If you insist!" Magne said, pulling the rod off her back and unwrapping it, revealing it to be a stick magnet the size of a small log. She pointed it at Maladi, though nothing happened. "Well that's never happened before-"

Maladi ran over to Magne, grabbed the magnet and rammed it into Magne's gut. She coughed as Maladi began spinning her around, releasing her grip on it and making her fly into Mr. Compress, who moved out of the way to flick a compressed sphere at Maladi, uncompressing to reveal a large spear. She raised her forearm to block it, and it shattered into shards upon impact. He grabbed another and flicked it at her, but right as he was about to uncompress it, Maladi grabbed the sphere and flicked it back, revealing it contained Dabi's blue flames, lighting the man on fire.

"AAAGH!" Mr. Compress cried, as he dropped to the ground and rolled around in an attempt to smother the fire.

Moonfish's teeth grew out of his mouth, aiming them at Maladi. She sighed as she created shadowy energy that coiled around her arms, flowing around as spikes formed from them, turning her arms into drills as she punched the teeth and shattering them. New points kept forming from his teeth, as he aimed them at the alien.

"Alien... meat... wanna taste!" Moonfish cried out. Maladi held her arms up to protect her face, as she ran closer to Moonfish and punched him across the cheeks, shattering his teeth.

"Eugh, you're the grossest out of everyone here," Maladi said, as Moonfish's teeth began to grow back in. She knocked him down, and placed her foot directly over his mouth. "Right next to that fleshy guy."

"Muscular. Goto Imasuji," Disze reminded her, as Maladi stomped her foot down, walking away from the now still cannibal.

"Well, he's just the same as that guy now," Maladi grumbled.

"Damn, that's the third one dead," Tomura said, as Kurogiri sighed and teleported Moonfish's body away. "Giran really should've tried harder."

"Shall I get rid of the other two?" Maladi said, pointing to a moaning Magne and Mr. Compress, who had finally finished smothering the fire out.

"Hm... no, I think we'll keep them around," Virus said, his hand on his chin in thought. "Magne simply had bad luck that her Quirk doesn't work on aliens, and I think Mr. Compress's Quirk could be useful to us as well!"

"Thanks..." the two moaned, grateful that they were at least spared from death (Mr. Compress in particular thankful that he wasn't suffering third degree burns).

"Alright then, I'm going back to rest," Maladi said, walking back and reforming her shadow hammock. "What a waste of energy..."

"Well, I suppose that was as good of a show as always, you three!" Virus said, clapping. "Hopefully the next batch Giran will give us will be more impressive than the dead ones!"

"I'm not sure how the Teacher will feel about having to pay Giran finder's fee for three dead recruits," Kurogiri muttered. "At least you spared us the expense of having to deal with all of the bodies."

At Training Ground Beta...

"I'm here, Tokage," Rigel said, going up to her as he jogged in place. "So this is the door?"

"Yea, could you help me-" Setsuna began to say.

"Of course. Stand back," Rigel said, pointing his right hand at the door. With a simple push, the door exploded, breaking off its hinges as it fell forward.

"Wow! You can use explosions like Bakugo?" Setsuna asked.

"Yes and no, it's a lot to explain," Rigel said, as the two walked into the room with a stunned Hanta.

"S-So you've managed to make it here, heroes!" Hanta said, as he shifted his gaze around. He took out Katsuki's grenade, preparing to throw it. "But you're too late! Time is almost up, and as you can see, I have laid tape traps all around! One wrong step, and you're stuck! You can't reach me and the bomb in time-"

Setsuna detached her hands and they soared towards the bomb, avoiding all of the tape traps.

"Or you could do that," Hanta said.

"The warhead has been captured! The Hero Team wins!" All Might announced over the intercom.

"Seems like we're late to the victory," Tsuyu said, as she and Koji joined them.

"Wait, you had Toko with you?" Hanta said, pointing to the Lunah on Koji's shoulder.

"It tried to eat me!" Neito cried.

"What?"

"We'll explain later," Tsuyu said, waving him off.

Elsewhere

"Woohoo!" Pony shouted, jumping up and down in victory. "I knew they could do it!"

"Well, that's just how the dice fall," Hiryu sighed, shrugging as they walked to the monitoring room. "Nice job, Tsunotori."

"You did great too, Hiryu!" Pony complimented.

Elsewhere elsewhere

Katsuki stared at his feet as All Might's announcement rang in his head again.

He lost.

Again.

He lost again, against another alien! Furinji and Hero, Virus, and now Rigel, when will he finally best an alien!?

When... When will he beat one of them!?

He grumbled as he got up, and sulked towards the Monitoring Room. This can't last forever. He's not going to stop until he's finally shown that he's the best by beating them all.

In the Monitoring Room

"I think it's safe to say that it's Young Tokage who's the MVP of this exercise!" All Might said, as the two teams stood in front for their evaluation. "She took charge and kept communicating with her teammates, as well as be the one that captured the bomb! Young Algeva and Young Bakugo were close though, the former for being able to keep his composure in a fight, and the latter for providing some assistance to his teammates and distracting the hero team's strongest member! Not that any of you are weak, mind you."

"Nah, we know that Rigel and the other aliens in our class are pretty much on a different level," Hanta said, shrugging. "Not that we're gonna stop trying our best!"

Katsuki scoffed as class was dismissed, and sulked away when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, congrats on a good job," Rigel said, with a grin. "You did pretty great-"

"Shut up!" Katsuki snapped, shoving Rigel's hand away. The alien raised an eyebrow while the rest of the Hero Course students stared at the scene. "I fucking LOST! That's not 'pretty great'! I need to be better than that! I should be better than that! So don't you fucking pity me by telling me 'congrats on a good job'!"

Katsuki stomped off, leaving a slightly confused Rigel behind.

"Did... did I do something wrong?" Rigel said.

"Bakugo's... Bakugo's a very tough person on himself," Fuka said, trying to figure out how put it polite terms. "He has very high standards for himself as a hero, which translates to his love for fighting. And the fact that you beat him, well-"

"- He sees as a threat to those standards for himself?" Ardiana finished.

"In a way, yea," Fuka said.

"He's a jerk, but at least he's a jerk that puts in the effort to be what he talks himself up as," Setsuna said, shrugging. Rigel and Ardiana looked over to Hiroshi, whose expression was surprisingly hardened, as if he was contemplating saying something, before he took a deep breath and sighed.

"Are you alright, Hiroshi?" Ardiana asked, catching the boy off guard.

"Y-Yea, I'm fine," he answered. "Just... fine. I just don't have anything nice to say about Bakugo. Our experiences with each other hasn't been great. We're both trying to get better, but I don't know. It's kind of hard to just forget about experiences like that, even taking into consideration the circumstances behind them."

"Hiroshi..." Setsuna said, walking to her friend and putting a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, I... it's about time for my appointment with Hound Dog, I should go and talk to him. Later guys," Hiroshi said, shaking his head. "I'll meet you all later at the dorms."

After Hiroshi left, Rigel looked at the others. "Is it alright if I asked what happened, or...?"

"Yea, it... involves a few of us, so it's just as much of our story to tell as his," Fuka said, as Momo, Setsuna, and Yui nodded. "It'll be best if talk about it when we're all more comfortable."

At the seedy bar in the suspicious alley...

"I'd say that today was productive, don't you agree?" Virus said, as Magne, Mr. Compress, and Dabi tended to their wounds. The Himiko poster was taped up on the wall, much to Tomura's annoyance. Only Virus and Golkin were there, as Illne opted to remain at the meeting area with the other three.

"I wouldn't call getting burned alive productive," Mr. Compress muttered.

"I didn't sign up to be maimed by my own allies," Magne grumbled.

"Oh, is that a resignation?" Virus said, walking over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder, and began to squeeze it tightly, making her wince. "Because I can make sure that it's a permanent one if you're not happy..."

"No, I'm good... I just better get something really good out of this deal," Magne said, raising her hands to stop him. She wasn't about to be the next one on the chopping block.

"I think that can be arranged, right Mr. Teacher?" Virus said to the monitor.

"Hmph, might as well, seeing as three of Giran's recruits are dead. I'll add their pay to the survivors of your friends' 'tests'," the Teacher's voice said through the monitor. "In return, I'd like more aliens in addition to whoever else Giran finds."

"Oh, greedy aren't we?" Virus laughed. "Alright, you got yourself a deal. I think I have some ideas about what to do about that."

Virus got up from his seat and walked to the wall next to Himiko. "Well, I think I'll need to go and chat with Illne and the others for a bit. Take some well earned rest, everyone!"

After Virus disappeared, Mr. Compress glared at the wall as he finished wrapping up his burns. "I can see why you don't like aliens, Shigaraki."

"I don't like him, either," Golkin said, as the others stared at him. "What? Just because I'm an alien too doesn't mean I get along with him."

As the others chatted about their mixed feelings about their situation, Dabi kept to himself, brooding over his loss. This wasn't what he thought it was going to be. Yes, the aliens were indeed strong than Endeavor. But they were also stronger than him. That made them much more unpredictable than he thought. They're useful for sure, but he'll need to play his cards much more carefully if he was going to use them. Especially with that Virus. The alien knew his real identity. He hated that he had that over him. All those years keeping his secrets well guarded, all gone to shit thanks to his shadow squealing it out to Virus.

The only upside to this was that Virus seemed willing to play along with his plans. However long, he doesn't know. Hopefully it'll be enough time for him to bring down his bastard of a father and his shitty little brother.

Nighttime, at the mountainous forest...

"So we're really going to just go along with these humans?" Illne said, as she and her compatriots stared at Virus, who was busy examining their Devil Splinter supply again. "Why are we wasting time on this?"

"Indeed, Virus. The only good challenge I got was with Goto Imasuji, and he was one of the most unskilled beings I've ever fought," Disze replied.

"And that Dabi's fire was only slightly better than Endeavor's," Ceteria added.

"I just want to get this over with... we're taking too long on this Earth," Maladi complained. "We know where the gate is, why don't we just open it now?"

"Patience, you four," Virus said. He covered his hand in shadows, and gripped one of the Devil Splinters with it. He focused and transferred the shadows onto it, concentrating it until finally, he created a small purple crystal from it. He took a second one, and repeated the process. "The seal on the gate is powerful enough to filter out the darkness behind it, so we'll need to wait for the most optimal moment to generate a great amount of despair and hopelessness to break it."

"Wouldn't unleashing all of the giant aliens and robots we've gathered be enough for that, then?" Maladi stated, creating a shadow ball and started to toss it into the air while she laid in her shadow hammock. "Seems like a quick and easy way to get a lot of despair."

"That's too boring, just cutting straight to the main show," Virus answered, taking a third Devil Splinter and making it into a small purple crystal. "We've never seen an Earth like this before! We spend so long looking at Earth after Earth after Earth, and now that we've finally found the right one and all of its humans are finally interesting, we should have some fun with it before getting to the main show!"

"It's precisely why we want to get this over with!" Illne snapped, as Virus kept made a fourth one. "We spend so much time looking for this Earth, and here it is, in our grasp, and you want to wait even more! Especially with that Ultra around!"

"Illne's right. There's no point in waiting even longer!" Disze said, punching a tree next to him down. "We're all growing weary of the wait!"

"Even I am reaching the end of my patience with this, dear Virus," Ceteria added, shaking her head. "These humans, as different as they are, do not warrant that much attention."

"Let's just get this over with," Maladi growled. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner-"

Maladi stopped short when a shadowy tendril wrapped itself around her neck. Illne, Disze, and Ceteria had no time to respond to her as shadowy tendrils wrapped themselves around their necks as well, lifting them in the air. They struggled to pull the tendrils off, but they only tightened. Virus sighed as he stood up, the shadowy tendrils coming from the shadow around his feet.

"Need I remind you all of your places?" Virus said coldly. With a wave of his hand, he whipped and slammed the four against the trees, the rocks, the ground, and each other. Energy travelled through the tendrils, shocking all of his allies as they yelled in pain. Once he was done, he pulled them back towards the ground, forcing them to kneel.

"In case you've all forgotten, I'm the most powerful here. I'm the fastest-" he appeared in front of Illne in a flash, slamming her head onto the ground with his foot, "- I'm the strongest-" he appeared next to Disze, grabbing his head and headbutting the giant before slamming him to the ground, making him grunt in pain, "- I'm the most skilled-" he appeared next to Ceteria, as more tendrils wrapped around her and shocked her, and he blasted her with a blast of shadows, "- and I'm the one that's best at using all of them!" He appeared next to Maladi in a flash, grabbing her head and kneeing it, before releasing his tendril around her neck, only to toss her into the air and blast her with a shadow beam before she landed. "I'm the leader for a reason, and what I say, goes. And I say we enjoy ourselves and take our time."

He snapped his fingers, and all of the tendrils disappeared, letting the others breathe as he stared coldly at them. "We've done things the same way over and over before with each Earth, with each planet. Observe, take what resources we can sneakily so we can use them on the Earth we needed to find, and rinse and repeat. It was getting stale, and you all know it. So why not actually enjoy ourselves for once, and take the time to cultivate the despair and hopelessness to break the seal? Enough of this 'we need to hurry' business."

"... Sorry, Virus," Illne said, as she fixed her position to properly kneel before him, her gaze on the ground.

"Of course..." Disze said, following Illne's example. "My apologies for doubting you, Virus."

"It was... a momentary lapse in judgment," Ceteria followed.

"My bad..." Maladi added, though she shivered after Virus's reminder. "I promise I'll be more patient."

"Excellent!" Virus said cheerfully, as if he hadn't just brutalized them all in seconds. He grabbed another Devil Splinter, and made a fifth small purple crystal. Humming to himself satisfied, he shut the case of Devil Splinters closed and stored it inside his trench coat. "Glad we came to another understanding!"

"So... what are those five Devil Splinters for?" Illne asked. "You've been turning them into those... crystals."

"Oh! I'm just experimenting!" Virus answered, as he held the converted Devil Splinters in his hands. "I decided that I wanted to try combining our brand of darkness with Belial's DNA, and I think I got something interesting! I think I'll call these... Despair Cores."

"What do you plan to do with these 'Despair Cores'?" Disze asked.

"Well, the idea is that the Devil Splinter serves as a carrier of our power rather than just Belial's, and to counter their berserk side effects," Virus explained. "If it goes as planned, I'll be able to grant some of our powers and Belial's to a new host. Though I anticipate that some of the Devil Splinter's original corruptive abilities will still affect them."

"Wait, are you-" Maladi said.

"Indeed. I think it's time to convert some humans to our side. After all, it's only been us five for so long, I think we're due for some new blood among our ranks. Unless there's any... dissention about my decision."

The four looked at each other from where they were kneeling, before looking down at the ground again.

"No," they answered.

"Good!" Virus said. "I think we deserve some time off! Go ahead and explore this Earth a bit more. Figure out more ways we can create more despair!"

The four nodded, getting up and walking onto the trees, disappearing into shadow. Virus stood in the forest alone, as he let the moonlight glisten on the Despair Cores.

"Now then... let's decide who the first candidates will be."

ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:

- Hey everyone, thanks to DJ-Toku on AO3, UHA has its own TVTropes page now! Go and give it a read! Add some tropes to it! I'll be giving it a helping hand every now and then, but I'm gonna try avoiding being TOO active with it, since I'm still unsure of how much involvement a fanfic writer can have with their own TVTropes page (at the very least I know that I can't make YMMV pages). But I will help with adding some tropes eventually. /Fanfic/UltramanHeroAcademia
- I'll admit, Iiiii've never been too particularly fond of Toga. She's an interesting character, sure, but I dunno, I just never vibed with her like other fans did. Don't worry, this won't be the last time we see her... but we won't be seeing her for a while.
- Rigel's home planet, Planet Mintaka, is another name for Delta Orionis, which, as you can guess by the name, is another star in the Orion constellation.
- The Alien Shaplay thing is a reference to the fact that in some previous appearances, they've tried to use minerals called Ultonium and Slimtonium. Figured I could continue that sort of thing by mentioning it.
- I'll admit, I'm kiiinda edging into edgy (heh) territory here with the deaths of Mustard, Muscular (even if you don't see it on screen with Muscular), and Moonfish, but I figured it was a good way to show how differently Virus's allies treated people. With Muscular, I kept going back and forth on whether or not I wanted him to die, but at the end, I felt like Disze would be the type of person who'd honor an opponent's wishes if they showed a consistent principle like Muscular did. With Mustard and Moonfish, I just didn't care too much for them to begin with.
- Another reason I did this is to show off Virus's allies a little more, since they've been pretty much in the background. Figured that everyone got a sneak peek at what they're like.
- With the fact that Muscular's dead now, will this affect Kota? Not necessarily. I imagine that in the same sort of situation with a different character might end with a similar result, but it will lack the same sort of emotional punch the canon one had.
- I decided to skip most of the exercises except for Rigel's and Ardiana's since it'd make this chapter unnecessarily long, even for me. I don't think I need to go over in depth about why I chose to focus on theirs instead. Would it be great if we saw ANOTHER fight with Hiroshi, Hero, and Izuku? Yea, it would've, but again, this chapter isn't supposed to be about them.
- The line about Principal Nezu turning UA into a giant robot is actually a little reference to a comment that Fallengamer13 on SpaceBattles made. It's not gonna happen, but I thought it'd be a nice little joke to have in the story itself.
- Rigel's ability to use energy actually comes from the fact that his name is pronounced 'RAI-gel', and 'rai' is one of the Japanese words/characters that means 'thunder'/'lightning', and I thought "I could do something with that", and I did.