"And that was that," I huffed to Eiji. "Well, for the first run in, anyway. They just ran off and vanished! Like villains have a weird habit of doing."

"Whoa, sorry, man. Running into real supervillains the first time around is pretty intense."

"What about you? What kinda bad guys did you run into on your work study?"

"Well, not quite as impressive supervillains, but we did run into a guy who gave me a lot of trouble."

"Tell me! You tell me, and I'll tell you what happened next."

"OK. Well, me, Fatgum, and Tamaki were on patrol...

"And Fat was saying "There's no shortage of trouble from gangsters and street punks lately. Makes me hungry as heck! Which's why hero agencies round these parts are in need of good fighters. You were perfect for the job, Red Riot."

"Happy to be here!" I told him. "Fourth kind couldn't take me on, so I sure am glad you were able to!"

"IF only Mirio was around...you scared me with how aggressive you are..." said Amajiki.

"You'll make a fine team emmber too, Tamaki, once we do something about that fragile psyche of yours!"

"That sort of pressure sends me spiraling even deeper," said Senpai. "It's always like this! I swear he scouted me just to have someone to torment! It's an abuse of power! I wanna go home!"

I turned to him, and I'll never get over how shy he is, even with how cool he is. "Pretty sure he's just encouraging you! That's how it sounds to me."

"I'll never be as cheery or positive as you or Mirio."

"I know how it feels, man. There've been plenty of times when things're bad and I'm totally useless. It feels like my classmates are getting stronger and gaining experience, leaving me in teh dust. S'why I wanna close that gap and stand as equals with em."

"You really feel that way?" I interrupted him.

"Sometimes...Well, anyway, so Senpai went on..."

"Right, like I said, you're a positivve first year."

Just then we heard someone calling out, "It's a fight! Someone help!"

"Speak of the Devil," said Fatgum.

"These idiots're trying to do business in my territory!" came the cries of the thugs. A pretty big looking gang, one with sunglasses and a big suit, another in a loose suit and a ponytail, a few more.

"No luckybreaks for us, huh?" they were yelling as they ran. "And we were justabout to make a name for ourselves too!"

"Split up for now, ok?" And just as they thought they'd caught a break, they ran straight into Fatgum.

"It's fat! Shoot, we're sinking in!"

"That's Mr. Fat the sinker to you!" Sensei told them.

But one was able to get away by turning into some ultra thin being. Fat yelled "Hey, you have the same quirk as Edge!"

But Tamaki Senpai was able to grab him in seconds.

"Where'd this stupid Octopus come from?"" the villain yelled. And Senpai looked sad again. "So cruel!"

"No, Senpai! He just means your tentacles! It's not an insult!"

Senpai dragged the villain into the center of the square and slapped him around with a clam hand.

"You're - not an Octopus?" the villain cried out.

"Clams sure are handy. Good on offense and defense," Senpai told him, pinning him down with a chicken claw. "That's why I try to eat them every day."

"Remind me again, what is Tamaki's quirk?"

"Oh,right. Manifest. He can manifest parts of whatever he eats. I was pretty impressed back then. "Looks like he's the real deal after all!"

"I - did good, didn't I?" he was asking.

"Yeah! Awesome! You're a beast at whipping out your quirk all quick like," I told him.

"My little suneater's already as good as any pro when it comes to his skills!" said Fatgum. "Even if his psyche still needs work."

And poor Amajiki was actually trembling.

Then we heard the shot as if from out of nowhere - I saw it hit Tamaki. I knew I had to get in the way of the next one, and my Hardening deflected it. We heard a guy in the crowd shouting, "Run for it big bro!"

And Fatgum yelling "SUNEATER, RED RIOT!" as I saw the shooter, some punk guy with fluffy white hair and big sharp teeth. "You're mine!" I shouted, revving up.

"And then what?" I asked him.

"Well, tell me what happened next with you guys."

"Aw, no fair. OK, ok. I'll tell you So we regrouped and Musha said, "Well, it seems most of the civilians have been cleared. What baffles me is what the villains were trying to achieve."

"Is that really important?" said Splatter. "They're villains, after all. Do they need to have a reason?"

Musha turned to glare at Splatter. "Perhaps. Butterfly, you and Splatter should go search for them. And be very cautious." He gave her a look that I understood better later, and the two of them took off, following the direction the villains had run off in.

Musha turned to us, and beckoned us closer. "Pinky, Invisbile Girl, Can'tstoptwinkling... what test did I give you three this morning?"

"You had us fight your sidekicks?" I said, confused.

"Who did you fight?" he said to Hagakure.

"Well, I was gonna fight Splatter, but then we swapped, and -"

He cut her off. "And you, can'tstoptwinkling? Who did you fight?"

"Your sidekick Splatter, once Hagakure swapped with me."

"Good." He sighed. "Splatter has been with me some time. She would never back away from an investigation. One of those villains must have a shape-shifting quirk."

"And you sent Butterfly off with them?" I cried.

"Butterfly is extremely competent, knows Splatter as well as I do, and will keep the villain distracted while I form a plan. Pro heroes must take risks, and she is more than ready to do so. We will have to find the real Splatter and stop this villain."

We nodded in agreement.

"We shall catch up with them and pretend to have failed in finding the villain. Then surprise the imposter with a blinding attack - you two combine, Cantstoptwinkling and Invisbile Girl, your light attacks. My sidekick and I shall subdue the imposter."

"What do I do?" I asked.

"Save your quirk."

I sighed. OK.

We caught up to hte two of them after a few tense minutes, and I did my best to pretend things were totally fine, and we weren't chasing down a villain. Splatter I really couldn't tell the difference.

"Any luck?" she asked.

"No, I'm afriad these villains are cunning. I can't - see."

BOOM! I covered my eyes and the villain cried out; the blur cleared and they'd been subdued, tied up, and Musha towering over them.

"WHERE IS MY SIDEKICK, VILLAIN?" he demanded. Butterfly was holding acid spit over the villain's head. "You're not our Splatter," she hissed. "C'mon, spill."

"You'll have to torture me first, heroes," the villain hissed out, and I recognized Envy's voice.

"Hey, you're that Envy lady!" I cried. "I thought your quirk was copying stuff."

"C'mon, heroes, you want to torture me, don't you?" Envy was hissing at them, ignoring me.

"We do not practice torture," said Musha. "But you will speak."

"Don't intend to speak. I think I'm getting tired of paint. I'll upgrade to acid now."

Oh no -

And Envy did not - change. She jumped out of Splatter, like she was jumping out of a cupboard in the ground, and came straight at me!