Chapter 10 – USJ Part 1

"Alright everyone, form a line and enter the bus in an orderly fashion." Yaoyorozu stood next to the bus door, motioning everyone to queue up.

"I have a question!"

"Yes, Iida?"

"Do we have a seating chart?"

"Uh… no. I didn't make one. Should I have made a seating chart?"

"That would be up to you as class representative, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway." Aizawa cut in. "This bus isn't the type that would work with a seating chart, the layout is different from most school buses. Now, if you're all done chatting, can we get a move on?"

"Of course!" The two replied, practically in unison.

Josuke was standing in front of Yasuho, so she had to lean forward in order to speak quietly with him. "Want to sit together?"

"Sure, got somewhere in mind?"

"Preferably far away from Joshu. And Mineta. Oh, and also Kira and Bakugou. But the first two take priority in the list of people to avoid."

As they filed in, it became apparent that the rest of the class was largely on a similar wavelength as her. It had only been a week, but everyone had started to get a grasp of each other's personalities. Kira was sat next to Tokoyami, and no one was really avoiding her, as she'd apparently been deemed the most tolerable of the more… difficult students. Mineta was in second place in that regard. While he had a few guys near him, the girls were avoiding him completely. With so many seats already taken, Yasuho gripped Josuke sleeve and stopped him when they reached the empty seat right in front of Bakugou. The only other seats left were by Joshu, so she considered it a necessary loss.

Jirou walked up onto the bus and froze, looking out over the few empty seats remaining with a wide-eyed grimace. Yasuho winced, but she wasn't gonna be the one to offer a trade with her. Luckily for the punk girl, Kirishima appeared to take notice of her plight, quietly standing up from his seat next to Asui and strolling over to sit by Joshu, thereby freeing up a seat flanking the wide central aisle.

The last two to enter were Shouji and Yaoyorozu, the latter of whom had been directing their had a similar reaction as Jirou, but reluctantly made their ways over to Joshu.

"Everyone ready? Alright, let's go." Aizawa started up the bus and began driving off campus.

The students were all excited for the trip, but the mystery of it, along with Aizawa's stern presence, had them a bit tense. For a while everyone was mostly a bit muted, either not talking at all or only talking to the people right next to them. Yasuho and Josuke were no exception, the two of them talking about plans for dinner that night.

"I dunno, I don't really feel like going out to eat. We do that every day, don't you ever want to eat at home?" Josuke asked.

"Two counterpoints. First, we'd have to eat with either Joshu or Kyo if we did that. Second, groceries are so much more expensive than eating out in Tokyo. Mister Higashikata might be paying for your expenses, but he's only paying for the rent as far as I'm involved. My expenses come out of my pocket."

"Yeah, fair enough. I guess you're thinking about another ramen bar? I don't get your obsession with them, honestly."

"Hey, don't knock the ramen bars. They are the cornerstone of this nation."

"More than All Might?"

"All Might will retire eventually. Ramen bars will endure forever."

"Wait, you two, what are you talking about?" Ashido butted in, an evil grin spread wide across her face. Yasuho wasn't totally sure how a grin could be evil, but somehow Ashido had managed it. "Are you two going on a daaaaate?"

"Wh-no! That's- no, you're totally wrong!" Yasuho stammered out.

"Yeah, I don't think Yasuho really likes me like that anyway." Josuke said. She could curse his obliviousness sometimes, but it worked well right now. "We're just talking about what we're gonna eat later."

The pink girl cocked her head to the side. "So… like a date?"

Aid came from an unexpected source. "All the Stand users in this class live together. Those two only make plans with each other because they're the only two that're friends out of the four of us." Kira ended the teasing.

"Wait, Yasuho and I-"

"Please stop, Joshu. I said no."

"That's not even what I was gonna say! It's that we're childhood fri-"

"Seriously Joshu, take a hint."

"But that's not… ah man, whatever."

It seemed that argument broke the tense mood that had been keeping everyone quiet, because now conversations were ringing out all over the bus.

"I usually say what's on my mind." Asui broke in. "Kujo, why do you have two Quirks?"

Yaoyorozu hummed. "You only used one during the 2v2, but you've displayed another since then. And you told me already about how you have multiple. I must admit some curiosity of my own."

"Oooh, yeah, tell us, tell us!" Kaminari seemed to be excited by this new topic.

"Uh, well, that is… there… was a, uh, Stand. And it did some things. So that's why."

"Whaaaat? Boo, bad story!" Shouted Ashido. "What did the Stand do? How'd it give you another Quirk? Wait, which is your original and which came later?"

"I believe Kira described the Joestar Quirk as a flesh manipulating Quirk, which required the user to maintain a specific breathing pattern. Isn't that in line with one of your own? It lines up with what you said when we were strategising during the 2v2." Yaoyorozu asked. "Also, aren't the Kujos descended from the Joestars? That's what we learned in Snipe's class earlier this week."

"Well… it's just that… um, hey, Kyo? Can I tell them?"

"No. All of you: Learn to mind your own business."

"Wait, what? And how is it your business what Kujo's Quirks are?" Jirou asked.

"Now, now. This is- evidently- between Kujo and Kira, so we should respect their wishes and not pry."

"Come on Iida, don't be a spoilsport!" said Sero. "Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!"

Ashido snorted, before joining in on the chant, and Kaminari quickly followed suit.

"Everyone quiet down. We're here." Aizawa slowed down and parked right beside a large domed building. The chanting tapered off, though not without some moaning and grumbling. They all began filing out of the bus, and Yaoyorozu organized them into two lines of ten before leading them into the building.

"There'll be two other teachers here alongside me today, and we're going to focus on rescue training."

"Who are the other teachers, Mister Aizawa?" Uraraka asked. But her question was answered as soon as they passed the door.

"Whoah, All Might!"

"Yeah, All Might's here! This school is the best!"

"Oh man! I read on my phone that he already stopped three crimes this morning. It's crazy he can do that and still come to school and teach!"

"A hero always has time to help out!" All Might proclaimed in response, bellowing with laughter.

"That's Thirteen! He's a hero who specialises in rescues!" Yasuho was privately surprised that Uraraka could focus on any other hero when All Might was in the room. Sure, they'd met him and had classes with him already, but he was still a legend.

Thirteen launched into an explanation of the exercises they'd be performing today. After Uraraka made a comment about Thirteen's Quirk, Black Hole, the hero gave them all a warning about the possible uses of their abilities. "All of your powers could prove fatal if misused. While that applies to Quirks, it's possibly even more true of Stands. Stands cannot be regulated by any normal means. This is why most Stand-using villains are killed in action, and why heroes require a special permit beyond their hero license to use Stands. Think on that, and understand the dangers that come with using your Stands- and Quirks, as well- outside of situations which entirely necessitate it."

"Yes! And with that speech concluded, we'll begin by splitting into teams, which will take turns playing at rescuers and those requiring rescue. For the first team, we'll hav-"

"Uh, hey, All Might? Sorry to cut you off… but… what is that?"

Yasuho looked at where Kirishima was pointing. There was a swirling black portal, and she sorta thought she see faces in it. Wait, she could. There was a man, covered in what looked like severed hands walking out of the darkness. And even more people were following him.

"Is this part of the test? I thought he said we'd be in teams..."

"Everyone, this is not a drill. Stay behind All Might and myself. Thirteen, take the students and leave. Go find help."

"Thirteen, isn't there an alarm in this building? Why isn't it going off." For once All Might was speaking quietly, his usual booming voice turning into a deep murmur. Even so, he didn't look at the hero he addressed, keeping his eyes on the people pouring out of the portal.

"There are. If they aren't active, one of those people most be jamming it somehow."

"I see. Then get a message out to the rest of faculty once you leave. Send reinforcements."

"Roger that. Everyone, group up. Don't worry about getting in a line, just make your way to the door. We're leaving."

"Aw man, but I wanna see All Might beat these guys up." Kaminari moaned.

"No buts, just follow me. This isn't a situation students need to be around."

They all grumbled their assent and started towards the door, but they'd barely got a few metres before the same swirl of darkness appeared in front of them.

"Everyone behind me." Thirteen pointed one of his fingers toward the darkness, but didn't open it.

"You must be Class 1-A. The students scheduled for today." A voice came out of the darkness, followed by a pair of glowing eyes. "You aren't really our targets, as we're more concerned about All Might, but we've gone through so much trouble to jam communications. It's not as though we could simply let you go find help." The villain chuckled. "My deepest apologies, but you'll have to die now."

"Like hell!" Bakugou shouted, and jumped forward, blasting out with his Quirk, as Kirishima flanked, slashing wildly at the dark mist.

"That was close." The villain said, as his mist scattered and reformed. "But I'm afraid your efforts are in vain. You cannot touch me."

"You two, move!" Thirteen called.

"I don't feel like dealing with you all myself, so feel free to go far away now." The villain said, spreading his mist out over the gathered students.

Yasuho couldn't see anything through the mist, and she felt like she was floating. The feeling soon vanished, and she found herself in the middle of a cityscape, with simulated wind and rain coming down hard on her face. Had the villain warped her to one of the zones in the USJ? Why? He'd said he was going to kill them, hadn't he?

Looking around, she caught sight of a familiar face.

"Iida! Over here!"

"I see you Hirose!" Iida jogged towards her. "I must say, I didn't expect to still be in the building."

"Think about it. If we were sent here, there must be a trap of some sort."

Iida hummed, holding his chin and furrowing his brow. "The villains. There were so many... they may be lying in wait here. In fact, they could be placed throughout the facility. That way they can divide all of us up."

"It would explain the lack of any of classmates nearby. They're all in different zones."

"Yes. Should we try and make it to some of the others?"

Yasuho lifted her arm. In her hero suit, she had a slot for her phone made available in the arms. "Paisley Park!" The pink Stand went into the phone. "Lead us... lead us to the nearest students."

A map blinked to life.

Fumikage felt sick. Between being swallowed by the dark mist of that villain with the warp Quirk, and the adrenaline pumping through his system as a result of the entire situation, Dark Shadow was nearly berserk. He was just lucky he'd landed in a well-lit area. Otherwise, Dark Shadow may well have become a raging beast.

A quick look around proved he was in the mountain zone, and that he was not alone. Next to him were two other boys from his class, neither of whom he'd formed a very positive opinion of. And all over the area...

"Oh man, are those villains?! We can't deal with this!" Mineta was shaking, and his words came out as squeals.

Higashikata rose straight up and grinned at the approaching villains. "They all look like small fries. This is gonna be a piece of cake. Nut King Call!"

But he quickly jumped back and bared his teeth when a particularly muscular villain with a skull mask stepped forward. Fumikage couldn't tell right away what was different about this one in particular.

"So, you've got a Stand too, huh?" The villain said. "All of you, deal with the bird boy and the tiny kid. I'll kill the one with the shitty bowlcut."

"Higashikata, can you handle him? I think we're going to be occupied."

"Worry about yourself, you feathered freak. I'm gonna kick this guy's ass."

"Noted. Mineta, I'm going to be the primary offense. Make a perimeter of balls around us, so they can't get close."

"Are you kidding? We can't fight these guys!"

"You won't have to, if you just make a perimeter. They're attacking either way, we have to at least hold out until Higashikata can help."

"What can we even do? We need heroes for this!"

They didn't have time to argue, the villains were getting closer, and Fumikage could feel the Dark Shadow's rage bubbling to the surface. He let his Quirk loose, and lifted Mineta into the air.

"Do it or I'll use you as a shield."

"Ahhh! Okay, okay, I'll do it!"

Katsuki had never been shown up like this. Out of all the villains in the ruined city zone, he had taken down less then a third, by his count. Todoroki was an absolute monster. He was freezing them left and right.

During the 2v2, Katsuki had been somewhat impressed by the other boy's abilities, but he'd still believed himself superior. If Todoroki made an ice wall, it could be blasted apart. Same for any attempts to freeze him. But the 2v2 hadn't displayed the sheer power the other boy could wield.

The destroyed streets and buildings comprising the zone had been turned into what could be mistaken for a post-apocalyptic ice rink. Villains were frozen to overturned cars, entire complexes were frosted over, and if he wasn't careful with his footing walking across certain roads, Katsuki could slip and fall flat on his ass

It was blindingly apparent he couldn't take Todoroki in a straight fight, which sent his mind reeling. His Quirk was amazing. Katsuki hadn't ever met someone he couldn't beat before.

If his mom were around, she'd scream at him to stop grinding his teeth or they'd crack. This time she'd probably be right.

"I think that's all of them. Shall we interrogate them?"

"Who gives a shit. I don't care why they're here, I just need to beat 'em up. I'm headed somewhere else, do whatever the fuck you want."

Katsuki had to get out of here. Go find more villains, prove he was the best. The entire fight here had been absolutely humiliating. He couldn't lose to some half-n-half bastard. Somebody, somewhere was about to get their ass kicked

He was almost outside of the zone when he crashed into something he couldn't see.

"Bakugou? What's wrong?"

"Fuck off, half-n-half. I'm fine." Katsuki ran his hands across an invisible wall of some sort and growled. "Must be a villain left. Some sort of force field Quirk. It's blocking the exit."

He sent off a few small test blasts across the entire width and then height of the ruined road, with each one impacting the force field. It was a damn big one.

Todoroki hummed. "Looks like we'll have to circumnavigate this. Let's find a different road."

"Fuck are you talkin' about?" Katsuki grinned. "I ain't circumnavigating shit- I'm gonna find the guy behind this and beat his ass."

Laughter rang out from somewhere in front of them. Since they were near the limits of the zone, only one building was left beyond the force field, so Katsuki naturally focused his attention there, trying to see the villain through the shattered windows.

"I'd like to see you try." Motion flickered from the top of the building, by a large hole blown through the side. A small villain, with a lizard like body was leaning out of the hole, a camera in hand. "I don't wanna spoil the surprise… but I'm willing to say this: no Quirk on the planet can help you escape my trap now. No road will lead you out. No building will have a path you can use to escape. The entire city is my trap. You're stuck here until I release you."

"Ha! Didn't anyone teach you not to brag about your abilities like an idiot? If your Quirk extends over the entire zone, then it has to have a different weakness, to make up for it's range. And I'd guess that's..." Katsuki took several steps backwards, and aimed his gauntlet straight at the force field, his finger hooked around the pin. Todoroki came up beside him, and began creating several swirling spikes of frost. "Its durability!"

They let loose their attacks, and the invisible wall was simultaneously assaulted by a massive explosion, and an even bigger iceberg. After both attacks impacted the wall, the explosion sent the ice flying all around them, smashing into the road and shattering into a fine mist.

When the mist settled, the two began walking forward towards the building the lizard villain was in- but they crashed yet again against the force field.

"What the- how is it still up?! What the hell are its limits?"

The villain chuckled yet again. "Those rules you seem so certain of? They're be correct… if I were using a Quirk." He drew a picture out of his pocket and showed it to them. From this distance, it was hard for Katsuki to make out any details, but the outline of the buildings and streets, and the white colouration from the layers of frost were recognisable enough. It was a picture of the city zone that they were in. "You are trapped inside the limits of this picture, which I can manipulate to my liking… behold, the unbeatable power of my Stand: Atom Heart Father!"

Thirteen was on the floor, the back of his suit- or his body, perhaps- torn open. The mist villain had warped Thirteen's own attack into the hero, and now they were a bunch of students alone against him.

Kyo was more than willing to follow the pro-hero's orders. She knew escaping and getting help would be more useful to her classmates than anything she could do in combat. But all the same, she simply wasn't able to.

"Kira, come on, hurry! We've got the door open, use your Stand and go already!"

She couldn't respond. Couldn't move. It was easy enough to figure out why. The mist villain, Kurogiri, he'd called himself… he had a Stand of his own. She'd seen her own face, hidden in his mist. Somehow, he was controlling her. Why did the Stand look like her? Did it have a range? The specifics didn't really matter, she guessed, as she would need to break free of it's hold to take advantage of any weakness it might have. And that was the rub, wasn't it? But wait… why was she the only one affected? If Kurogiri had just used his Stand on all of them, he'd be able to wipe them out immediately.

This power was simply too strong, so in terms of drawbacks, maybe there was a limit to how many people he could control. And if the Stand had taken her form specifically, that must mean it could only target one person at a time. The form it took indicated its target. In terms of single combat, this Stand was basically unbeatable. At least for her, since she had no way of making the villain open anything. She didn't want to rely on him… but it didn't seem like there was a choice anymore.

"Kyo, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? You've brought your Stand out, why haven't you gotten on?" Kujo was looking at her with his head cocked and mouth open, displaying that massive gap in his front teeth.

She couldn't respond, so she stared at him, and started flicking her eyes towards Kurogiri. Kujo's Stand had ranged attacks, what with those bubbles of his, so he would be able to fight even after getting attacked by the villain's Stand. Then she could run and get the teachers.

"What? What is happening with your eyes?" Dammit, she thought, now was not the time to be oblivious. Why couldn't he just save that for his girlfriend?

Her hands came up to her own throat, and began to squeeze.

"Is he controlling her somehow?" Ashido said. "But I thought his Quirk was the warp gates..."

"He's a Stand user." Soft and Wet finally materialised next to Kujo, who'd turned to regard the villain. "But that's alright. All we have to do is keep him occupied. Then Kyo can escape. Ashido, back me up, throw some acid."

Black spots were appearing in her vision, and she was grinding her teeth so hard she almost thought they might crack. It sure took them long enough to figure it out.

"Oh? I see you're another Stand user. My, this class certainly seems capable." Kurogiri chuckled. "But that Stand seems like a short range type. You think you can keep me occupied? I don't see how you'll manage that from the other side of the building."

It was clear. If Kujo got too close, the villain would open another warp gate, and send him away from the battle. Then they'd definitely be finished… unless… wait. He would have to open a warp gate. Kyo dematerialised her Stand. If she set it to it's automatic mode, with the humanoid rider attached, it could target Kurogiri whether she was being controlled or not. The moment he opened a warp gate, her Stand would attack. The gate would close quickly, but that could give her enough time to free herself.

Unfortunately, Kujo was playing it too safe, sending out bubbles and being sure not to come too close to the villain. That meant no warp gates were being opened. But while Kujo tried to suck the mist into his bubbles, the villain just kept making more. It was like trying to bail out a sinking ship with a spoon. And all of Ashido's acid was going straight through that same mist without doing any damage whatsoever. Kyo was feeling light-headed; she didn't think she'd be hold on much longer.

"Ah! How did-! I thought I'd avoided all of your acid! How did you burn me?" Kurogiri's mist was fluctuating wildly, and his massive glowing eyes had narrowed, fixated on the pink girl.

"Wh-what? I didn't. Did I?"

"No… no, you didn't, did you? You did." Kurogiri gaseous head twisted to look at Kujo. "Those bubbles of yours, you hid some acid in them didn't you?"

"And I don't have to worry about aiming them either. I just need to wait until they bump into something solid, and then spill the acid onto that."

"Well, my warp gates can deal with that! If they can't reach me, your attacks are useless." But just as soon as he opened a gate, Born This Way came speeding into him. "What? How are you attacking me, I have you immobilised!"

Kyo didn't respond, she just started running. He'd dropped his hold on her in his shock.

Kurogiri closed the gate, and Born This Way disappeared, but Kyo was already near the door. All she had to do was escape whatever range he had and she would be home free.

"Clever. Your Stand revolves around me my Quirk, or something like that. But it' not quite good enough." Another warp gate opened, this time right in front of her. Kurogiri had evidently decided to take her attack for now. A mirror image of her walked straight out of the gate and stared her down, and Kyo found she couldn't move yet again. When the gate closed, she knew she wouldn't get another chance to attack him.

"My Quirk and my Stand work in perfect tandem. If you escape my Stand's range, I'll just send it to meet you. You are totally under my control! Behold, the power of my Surface! None of you will be escaping from this place."

Using a Quirk in a Stand battle? It's like bringing a knife to a gunfight… but maybe that would have its uses too. Kyo focused her breathing. She sent the ripple through her leg, and forced it to move. It twisted wildly, and her foot was barely able to hold up her weight, but it was now further ahead of her then it was.

Surface… it couldn't mimic her Quirk. So it couldn't control it, either. She just had to keep using the ripple to move force her body to move, and she could escape.

"Ahhh, I see. You are a member of that family. Unfortunately for you, I'm well aware of your family's Quirk. You see, my master was once an ally of the man know as DIO. We've been briefed on how to deal with your kind."

In front of her, Surface began to suck in huge breaths, and then exhale in short bursts, before varying it up by doing the opposite. To her horror, Kyo found she was involuntarily doing the same thing. Kurogiri was disrupting her breathing, and preventing her from using her Quirk!

What else could she do? Just wait and hope Kujo defeated the villain? He could kill her before that happened, and then he would be able to use Surface on Kujo.

"Kyo. Summon your motorcycle."

She wasn't able to turn, but she knew it had been Kujo who spoke.

"The others can't see it, so they can't mount it. But I can. I can get help. It can be either of us who gets out, and he can't control us both."

And then what would happen, Kyo thought to herself. Kurogiri would kill her, and Born This Way would disappear. He'd be able to catch up to Kujo and stop him. The only thing that had prevented her from being killed earlier was Kujo attacking. Without that, she would be finished. But she knew deep down, that Kurogiri was cold and rational. Realistically, he would retreat once one of them escaped, not willing to face the entire faculty.

"Kyo, stop wasting time. You don't like me, right? But you need to do this, and you're going to, like it or not. Use that logic of yours. This is your best option."

She… didn't want to. Petty though it may be, she didn't want him riding her Stand, it was hers. And he was just a fucking corpse that couldn't stay down. If it were Yoshikage here they wouldn't be in this mess, he'd have killed Kurogiri easily. Where did the zombie get off telling her what to do? But… did she have to? If it was the only option, then she couldn't afford to keep deliberating, or letting her emotions get in the way, could she… She reached into herself, and started to-

A grey projectile, too fast to see clearly, flew through the air, and into Surface, knocking it to its knees. A warp gate appeared behind it, and it leapt through, back into the safety of Kurogiri's obscuring mist.

Kyo grinned, despite herself. She was released from the Stand's hold, and she didn't even have to let Kujo ride her own. It was over. Reinforcements had arrived. She knew Snipe fought with guns, so that projectile… the faculty had arrived. She strained to see them, but the group in the doorway was obscured by the shadow from the giant doors. She could see their silhouettes, but… why were there only five of them?

The group stepped out of the shadow, and Kyo's heart plummeted into her stomach. The person who'd fired the bullet wasn't Snipe, but a green haired girl, whose hand was still transfigured into a gun. But the one that had really caught her eye… was her niece.

Leading the group was Jolyne Kujo; one of America's Most Wanted. The villain known as Stone Free.

Just a warning: there will be character death. I've already trying to somewhat mimic JJBA with gore, but pretty soon this is gonna start looking like Part 5 in terms of the killcount.