"It's another tie."

The class collectively groaned like they were zapped by the same migrane. For some reason, each student of the three vying for class president had received the same votes for the third time. They had been tallying up votes for the entirety of their first class period. However, it seemed that they were landlocked at five votes a piece. In fact, Bakugo noticed most of the students changed their votes every round based off the handwriting.

Bakugo rubbed the temples on his head. They were throbbing like he had been dehydrated outside in a desert.

"Whatever," he roared out. "We can figure this out later. Right now, we gotta start second peri-."

"Sorry I was late, everybody!"

Izuku strode into class like a game show host. He plastered on a bright smile and waved to everyone. "My alarm clock was late by an hour for some reason and I needed to speak to the principal. Isn't it ironic? Me being late? Ha ha!"

The rest of the class breathed a sigh of relief. Spending the whole day with Bakugo was not on their agenda as a good time.

Izuku put down a stack of papers on the desk in front of Bakugo and clasped his hands together. He still had an air of cheesiness to him, like he was babysitting a bunch of little kids. Some found it endearing. Others did not.

"About time you showed up," Bakugo sulked in the leather seat behind the desk.

"So," Izuku said. "Who is ready for their first class challenge?"

The entire class perked up in their seats. Class challenge?

Over the speakers in the corners of the ceiling, a voice came to life and croaked over the wavelengths.

Class Challenge!

"They heard you," Bakugo shouted at the ceiling. The speakers died into silence.

With a deep breath, Bakugo stood up next to Izuku. "I'll explain. So, we built a bomb and planted it somewhere within a twenty mile radius of here. It could be in this building. It could be in Downtown L.A. It could be at some doctor's office. We're splitting you up in teams to find the bomb. If you find it and defuse it, you get an "A" on your first test which is ten percent of your grade."

"But if you don't find it or it goes off," Izuku said with a cheerful grin. "You fail!"

Sitting behind Martel, Leo shrunk in his seat. A bomb? This early in the school year? Surely, this could not be a real incendiary device. In fact, he was certain nobody in this room knew a thing about diffusing a bomb. Unless they did, in which case Leo feared he was behind more in life than he thought.

"I mean, it's not a real bomb," Izuku scratched his neck. "We don't have the ability to do that."

"Damn Deku," Bakugo whispered. "You weren't supposed to tell them that."

"Kacchan, I think all of them would be surprised if we planted real bombs in Los Angeles."

"Whatever. Ground rules," Bakugo said. "Don't kill anybody. Also, the bomb isn't at an airport or any government building, so don't run in there screaming about the place being blown up. Everything you need to know to find it is in this room."

Everyone in the class spun their heads around to view the room. It appeared just like a normal classroom. How would they find anything with a bland looking room?

"We've already divided up the teams," Izuku said. He pulled out a small slip of paper from his pocket. "Listen up. Here they are!"

Team A:

Leo Agravain

Anton Nosoi

Abel Chevelle

Moxie Lee

Team B:

James Guzman

Robyn Guang

Austin Bordette

Lloyd Thomas

Team C:

Hunter Payne

Katsu Muteki

Synaes Haukersdottir

Martel Void

Team D:

Drake Kaiset

Megan Shaw

Blake Marseilles

"Sorry, Team D," Izuku said. "Since we have an odd number of people in the class, you'll have to deal with three. Maybe we will have an even number soon," Izuku said as he looked at you, the person reading this.

"You're time begins...now!" Bakugo shouted.

Immediately, the two teachers rushed out of the room. They left the class to stare at the dormant entryway, their minds still processing the information.

Then, as if a dam had burst, the class scrambled around for their groups. They crawled over seats and leapt over their desks. A few students bumped into each other. Eventually, the all found corners were each of their groups were supposed to meet.

TEAM C

Around a desk, Hunter, Katsu, Martel surrounded Synaes who sat with her head facing downward at her desk. Neither of them had much interaction with the stone-cold Norwegian. However, they were now being thrown into the fire to learn about each other's strengths and quirks.

"So I guess we should ask ourselves," Hunter stroked his chin, his spider arms doing the same. "Where would two Pro-Heroes hide a bomb?"

Katsu sat on the desk in front of the other three and looked out the window. This was very similar to a search-and-rescue mission that Shoto would train him about. The only difference was that the object being searched for needed to be destroyed as well.

"Twenty miles is a big radius," Katsu muttered more to himself. "That covers all of Santa Monica and West L.A."

"I think I have something that can help us," Martel said. He thrusted his hand into his void space and pulled out a white device not unlike that of a large graphing calculator.

"This is the Void Industries DNA tracker." Martel said as he held it up in the sky like a famous trophy. "This object can take somebody's DNA and trace where they have been for the past twenty-four hours down to the nearest tenth of a mile!"

"How does it do that?" Katsu asked in bewilderment.

"A lot of techno mumbo jumbo," Martel smiled at the three. "But I bet we could track down where he's been and has been keeping the bomb."

"That's great, Martel," Hunter said. "But do you think Bakugo will give us a sample of his DNA?"

"Well, it doesn't have to be a direct sample to work," Martel said while rubbing his small thumb on the top of the screen. "In fact, indirect contact with his DNA would suffice. Since all three of you took on Bakugo and had contact with his quirk, you may have small samples of his DNA still latched onto your skin. After all, quirk-induced injuries and contact leave trace marks of the quirk users DNA for around twenty four hours. Also, potential bacteria and germs. That's why you should always wash your hands after battle!"

Synaes huffed out a solemn breath and thrusted out her arm. "Just get it over with."

Hunter and Katsu looked at each other. Shrugging, they both held their forearms next to Synaes.

Martel waved the device on their arms. It hummed and shined an infrared laser on their forearms. After blinking three times, the tracker beeped. On the green screen flashed the face of Bakugo. Martel tapped on a button, and a map of the area surrounding them snaked through the streets on the GPS map.

"Excellent," Martel looked up at the others. "Now, we just retrace his steps from the past day."

Martel somehow pushed the three other students in front of him and shoved them through the classroom. As they exited out of the room, they passed the next group of students that were staring at a poster on the wall.

TEAM B

"This is a waste of time," James growled while smacking his hands on the top of his head.

The four students had been staring at the poster taped to the wall. It was a picture of Los Angeles and the metro area. The eyes had combed over it, hoping that there would be some sort of mark or puncture that would tell them the location of the bomb. On the counter underneath the map was a photograph. It appeared to be that of Deku and Bakugo posing in front of a disaster zone. Their face seemed placid, frozen even with the backdrop of the wreckage behind them smoldering away.

Robyn, Lloyd, and Austin examined the map like it was a prized art sculpture at the Louvre. In fact, they were as still as statues while focusing on the clue.

"Seriously, they wouldn't just tell us with this map," James shouted. "They would make it harder than this."

"But why would they put this poster here?" Austin said in a low tone. "It's too obvious."

"To trick us!"

"What do you propose we do?" Lloyd shot back at James.

"Not stare at a map for the rest of the school day," James said.

"Yelling won't solve anything," Lloyd stated. "If you don't cease this screaming, then I'll have to resort to drastic measures!"

"Wonder what those could be?" Austin asked.

"Drastic like what? Fighting me?" James's fist glowed into a neon yellow.

"Calm down, James," Robyn turned to face the seething boy. She grabbed his wrist, which made the neon light disappear. "No need to blow up on us."

James stared at the girl that reached just above his shoulder height. He blinked as her light blue eyes twinkled in the fluorescent lighting of the classroom. A slight, knowing grin twitched on her angular face.

"Was that a fucking pun?" James said, his teeth grinding at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Everybody, look at this!"

James and Robyn snapped their gazes towards Lloyd. The Canadian boy reached out towards the map, the crinkled paper appearing to bulge out on the bottom corner of the map.

Austin noticed this and grabbed the edge of the map with his fingernails. He peeled back the map and saw a periwinkle envelope taped to the back of the map. Austin ripped it off the corner, the tape leaving white gash marks on the underside of the map.

He took the envelope and tore open the top of the receptacle. The group huddled together to look down at the contents.

"They're coupons," Lloyd said.

Four slips of paper lay in the envelope. James plucked one out and read the slip of paper. It held a corner of a red semi-circle on the top right corner of the rectangle stub. In big golden letters were embossed the words "Pacific Park Admit One" on the top of the ticket. They all took one slip each and held them in front of them.

"Tickets to Pacific Park. That's the amusement park on the Santa Monica Pier," Robyn read over James shoulder.

"Personal space," James took a step away from the excitable girl. She had hardly met this girl, yet she was already annoying him with her close quarters contact and her hyper demeanor.

"I've always wanted to go there," Robyn said and hopped on both her tiptoes. "I heard they got amazing hot dogs, and I always wanted to go on that ferris wheel."

Austin shrugged and took one of the coupons. "I guess we should get the next bus over there, then."

"Alright, then let's go," James said.

Austin and Robyn turned to Lloyd. He tapped a finger on his face. "I suspect we should do that," he said while thinking through the situation.

"What?" James complained. "Why'd you two look at him like that. He's not our leader. If I say we should go, you should listen to me, not look at him for re-assurance!"

As James shouted at an apathetic Austin and a giggling Robyn, Lloyd looked down at his ticket. Something seemed off to him about the ease of finding the location. On his ticket, he noticed the red curved line on the top left of his stub. There was even a star just a centimeter within the boundaries of the circle. This detail had to mean something! If these were the situations he would be in as a Pro-Hero, he could leave no room for error. There are innocent lives that would be at stake, and he would never sleep at night if he overlooked something.

"Let's go, red-head!"

Lloyd snapped up to see the other three halfway out of the classroom. James had his arms crossed, and he scowled at the boy lagging behind.

With a sigh, he massaged the ticket stub between his finger and hustled out behind his group. So fast, he brushed past a small blonde boy that jumped out of his skin. A girly yelp, he clutched his hands together and tried to lasso air into his lungs.

TEAM A

"You okay, sweetie?"

Leo flinched at the soft touch of the warm hand on his arm. Moxie looked at his flustered face, a few beads of sweat already forming around his brow.

"I'm...fine," he said in a weak voice.

Moxie twirled a strand of her hair with a slender finger. She had noticed two other groups already left the room, and she had to admit she was growing nervous. There was a jolt of excitement that fried her spine in this competition, but she had never been good at these sorts of situations. It did not help that she was surrounded by what were strangers to her. If she had been paired up with others she had known, maybe her mind would have been at ease.

Looking around the room, it appeared to be the same regular classroom that she had seen yesterday. There was the grandfather clock ticking the seconds away in the corner next to the teacher's desk. In fact, it sounded like the clock was ticking in double time to emphasize the race they had entered. A brown antique globe sat on top of the wooden cabinet on the wall opposite the windows. On the chalkboard, a trail of ivory etched out the start time and the time that the exercise would be over.

"Have you noticed the clock is an hour behind?"

Moxie turned to the frail voice behind her. Leo pointed at the golden face of the grandfather clock.

"It's an hour behind."

"Maybe they...forgot to set it right?" Moxie asked more to herself. What could that possibly mean?

"Hey, guys," Abel popped in between the two. Leo hopped up again from shock. "I think I have an idea!"

Abel paced to the teachers desk. He placed himself behind the desk and peered down at the drawers. He pointed at them and gave a cheeky smile. With a flourish of his hands, he opened up the drawer and dug through it's contents.

"Is it really smart to dig through the teacher's desk that way?" Anton crossed his arms.

"No big, bro," Abel jeered while sifting through the papers. "If they didn't want us to go through it, they would've locked it! Hey, look at this."

Abel pulled out an old disc cover. It appeared to be the long disk case for a DVD and a short, plastic case for a music album.

"It's the movie "Con Air," Abel said in a proud gravel. "And, look what was underneath it? This old Lynyrd Skynyrd album. Notice how Deku mentioned the word "irony" in his speech? Now, in Con-Air, who was the guy that mentioned the irony of flying in that plane to Sweet Home Alabama?"

"Literally nobody cares about Con Air," Anton said.

"Steve Buscemi!" Abel shouted. "So, it's clear. The bomb is at Steve Buscemi's house!"

A pause. Even the remaining group in the back of the classroom stopped to gaze at the proud Abel.

"Have you ever thought that maybe Deku just likes southern rock and 90's action movies?" Anton said with a deadpan stare.

Abel chuckled and put on his headphones. "It can't be a coincidence. I bet everyone is in on it. Just gotta look up the guy's address online, and we can go and save him!"

Anton frowned over at the excited boy with bushy hair. Despite his hesitance, he had no better options at the time being. It seemed that the whole room was filled with clues, but only one thread of hints would lead to the actual bomb. He looked over at Moxie. The southern girl just shrugged, dropping her previous line of thinking.

"It can't hurt to take a look?"

Anton shook his head. "It actually can."

Yes! I love Steve Buscemi. Maybe I'll ditch you for him. He'll actually be grateful when I do things for him!

Anton ignored his selfish Pathogen and followed Moxie over to the desk where Abel pulled up Steve Buscemi's home address.

Leo, as timid as he was, stood still and looked right ahead at the face of the grandfather clock. The clock itself had a black face with ivory lettering. The day before, he could have sworn that the numbers shone in a dulled gold. In fact, the clock face looked familiar, like it matched the color palate of something he had seen as he rode on the bus to the school for the first time.

As he stared, another trio of students behind him rushed past him. They walked beside each other like soldiers preparing for battle once they exited to the hallway. One of them appeared to be holding a flimsy photograph. They traversed the marble tile on the floor, the clacking from their feet echoing in the hallway as they headed down to the exit.

TEAM D

"So, where are we going?" Blake asked.

"I can't think in that classroom," Megan said. "We're better off going outside anyway."

Drake Kaiset held the photograph in his hand. It was the same picture from underneath the map that the other team had ripped earlier. Looking down at the picture, he looked carefully at the figures of Deku and Bakugo. He had an odd fascination to the photo, and he decided to bring it with him.

Drake was secretly excited about this experiment. It was like a live-action game of chess. He imagined there was only one correct course, and they needed to act fast unless some other kids got to the bomb's location first. He was always prepared for these mind games, and he jostled down the stairs with the other two as they blew through the giant atrium.

Once they ran out of the giant oak doors, they trotted down the marble steps to the parking lot. Drake squinted, and he saw a bright orange car veering out of the parking lot onto the main highway. Beyond that, he noticed that a group of four bodies piled into a public bus that lurched forward behind the vintage Dodge Charger. It was the other students racing off to where they believed the bomb was located.

In the uninterrupted sunlight, Drake could see better the photograph. Deku and Bakugo did not look quite how they were supposed to. It seemed that an editor touched up the photograph, perhaps smoothed their skin. Why this would be taken after bad is beyond him.

As a fleck of sunlight hit the picture, his eyes flickered to the corner of the photograph.

"Wait."

Drake stopped in his tracks. The other two ran a few more feet before noticing the quiet boy scowling at the photograph. He raised it up to the sky and put it directly in his line of sight to the sun. A watermark appeared in a mirror-like image within the photo. Faint malachite letters appeared on the surface, but he could not quite read the lettering.

"It says something," Drake explained to the other two. "I can't make it out."

"Is it like invisible ink?" Blake asked.

"I think so."

"Maybe it needs heat to be seen," Blake said. "If you put heat on it, you could probably see it. My parents used to hide things with invisible ink for their friends all the time, but you could see what it said after you put some heat like a blow dryer or if you put it in a grill."

"We can't put it in a grill," Megan said to Blake. "This isn't even our photo. It was just a hunch that it meant something."

Drake took a short breath. He had the perfect source for where the heat should come from. He held out the picture towards Blake and Megan.

"Hold this. And don't worry. I won't burn you."

Megan grabbed the picture and held it out facing Drake.

"Whaddya mean by bu-."

Flames blazed out of Drake's mouth. He shot the fire just to the edge of the photograph's face. With the flames disappearing upward, the heat and smoke brushed onto the surface. As it did so, the letters grew larger and brighter over the images of Deku and Bakugo.

Megan grunted out, the heat stabbing at her hand. Blake took a step behind her and braced himself, the roar of the flames making him huddle behind her for cover.

Drake closed his mouth, the fire instantly halting in its tracks. The wisps of smoke evaporated into nothingness in the humid Pacific air. As he reached for the picture, his hand seemed to transform. What was a normal hand had turned into a scarlet claw with four talons that sprung out like thorns on a rose. Megan let go of the photo; it fluttered into Drake's talon as he gazed down at the photo.

The green letters were now clear, and there was a reason why the two Pro-Heroes looked so odd.

"These are wax figures," Drake said. "From Madame Tussauds in Hollywood."

"Who cares about the wax figures," Blake shouted. "Dude, you shot fire from your mouth. And your hand is a claw."

"Oh, let me fix that," Drake waved away the claw. Like a magic trick, it reverted back to it's natural human hand state.

Neither Blake nor Megan expected the insane display. They had wondered what the quiet boy had for a quirk, and they certainly got their answer. Well, part of it anyway.

"We must go over there," Drake said. He stepped forward onto the sidewalk separating the staircase with the parking lot asphalt. "Hollywood is about a ten minute flight, so I think I could carry you both over there. Neither of you look that heavy."

"Carry?" Megan asked, her face pale as sand-battered rocks on the edge of a beach.

"Flight?" Blake stammered.

With a grunt, Drake doubled over and hunched his shoulders together. Two jets of flames hissed out from his back by the planes of his back. When they spat out towards either side of him, the flames formed the shapes of wings that draped over his sides. Once they formed the shape, the flames subsided and solid skin formed where they were previous. They were as red as blood and the veiny skin was tough like leather.

He flicked out his hands, and the claws from earlier replaced both his hands.

Drake turned around and lifted up his claws. "Don't worry. They won't hurt."

Drake Kaiset. His quirk: Drago-Form! He is able to transform parts of his body at a time into that of a dragon!

Her foot jammed onto the floor, Moxie weaved in and out of traffic like a figure skating twirling a triple toe loop. The occupants of the car cried out and heaved as the car took dangerous turns. She knew she was in control, so she was hardly worried.

What was not in her control was the sight in the sky. She blinked to make sure she was not hallucinating.

There was a boy, a boy that was in her class. Except now he had wings and he was flying through the sky. Two students were clutched in his talons, and she could register the screams that were undoubtedly shredding their throats.

Well behind Moxie was the bus. Robyn swung her legs. Lloyd and James were already arguing with each other over their future reigns as Class Rep. Austin looked out the window, a quiet and wistful expression on his face. With traffic, they would not be at Santa Monica Pier for another thirty minutes.

Austin's head tilted upward as they passed a hiking trail on the side of the highway. It appeared to be his support class partner Martel based on the purposeful walk that had already defined him to Austin. He held out a strange device as they climbed up the hillside of the 101 into a tuft of shrubbery that clothed the top of the hill.

The other group had just entered the arena. They piled into a cramped taxi cab to drive them over to Steve Buscemi's house.

Meanwhile, in the teacher's lounge, Izuku and Bakugo watched the entire scramble, their faces betraying no emotion.

The first game had finally begun.

Thank you all so much. Glad I'm back!

So it's the start of our new arc. Basically, find the bomb! Thought a sort of treasure hunt kind of thing would be cool.

I've been busy the past week. I'm still considered an "essential" employee at work, plus things like Easter got in the way. On top of that, I'm actually writing something that could (and by could I mean .00000001% chance) be seen and viewed in public! Fortunately, I should have more time on my hands over the next week or so.

So what's gonna happen? Did you catch any hints or clues? Only one path is going to lead directly to the bomb, so what is it? Anything you'd like to see? Not like to see? Any suggestions, comments, fan art, and ideas are open.

And keep submitting! Izuku was serious when he said there may be a seat (or two) left! Especially females, villains and teachers.

And I apologize for not being so quick on replying to PMs. If you feel I've ignored you, let me know that I have not responded and I will do so.

Keep reviewing. It motivates me to keep going! The more reviews, the more work I put in!

Thank you. See you soon!