Izuku Midoriya woke up to the sound of a blaring alarm in his ear. Snaking an arm out of the sheets of his bed, he fumbled it in the direction of the sound without even bothering to open his eyes. Feeling around, he finally found his hand around what he presumed to be the cause of the alarm and tried finding the snooze button. After a few seconds of failing to cease the aggravating alert however, he just raised his fist up and slammed it down on top of the device.

*Smash*

'Whoops…' Finally cracking his eyes open, Izuku could see his gauntleted fist indented into what remained of his alarm clock. Sitting up and stretching, he looked around at the unfamiliar room around him. There was a few of his favorite All Might posters and figurines haphazardly placed around the dorm room, but other than that it was rather barren. Not to surprising, since there were more important things to focus on lately than interior decorating.

Nezu had moved the three of the wayward children into one of the dorm buildings that U.A. was planning to implement in the upcoming year. Most of the buildings were nothing more than concrete jungles, but the one they were currently inhabiting was apparently finished first as a 'proof of concept'. Originally Izuku, Melissa, and Eri had all been placed in rooms next to each other, with Nezu staying in the nearby office. Eri was hesitant about the arrangement however, so she had moved into Melissa's room.

Seeing as the alarm clock was out of commission, Izuku grabbed his phone from the nearby nightstand and checked the time. 8:00 AM. School was in half an hour and he had better get ready. Getting out of bed, he noticed a neatly folded set of clothes on a nearby table. Walking over, he saw it was the U.A. uniform, and next to it was a note. Izuku had to stare at it for a good minute to be able to understand the overly fine handwriting.

'Dear Midoriya,

Sorry for getting it to you so late, but here's your high school uniform. It would be improper of a student to not wear one on their first day of school. I believe I calculated your size properly, but feel free to inform me of any issues.

From Principal Nezu.

P.S. Breakfast will be served with homeroom, so don't be late!'

"He was serious about the school stuff?" he muttered in disbelief. 'And calculating my sizes? Could he really do that at a glance? How did he even get into the room without waking me?' Izuku wasn't sure whether to be creeped out or impressed. Instead, he just shrugged and began changing for school. Like Nezu said, it wouldn't look good to be late on the first day of class.

Checking himself in the mirror he couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow. It really did fit him perfectly. The uniform looked fine on him, though he wasn't to sure he got the necktie correct. Plus, he still had that gauntlet Melissa gave him on. He was pretty sure that wasn't part of the dress code. He had tried to remove it before bed yesterday but found that the task harder than it looked. He couldn't just slip the thing off with how it clung to his wrist, and there wasn't an obvious 'remove' button.

He would have just gone a room over and asked Melissa about it but he knew that Eri had been put to bed early, and he had stayed up later than he should have looking for clues about the Rapture online. He didn't want to disturb the two of them and settled for asking the next morning. Throwing his schoolbag on his back, Izuku opened his dorm's door determined and prepared to face whatever Nezu considered appropriate schoolwork during the end of the world.

"Good morning Izuku! I was just about to check if you were up yet. Great timing, huh?"

Izuku nearly fell back in surprise at the voice to the right of him. Glancing to his side he saw that Melissa was already awake and ready, wearing the same uniform as him, except with a skirt that allowed Izuku a great look at- 'Focus Izuku!'

"Oh sorry, did I surprise you?" she asked, stepping toward him in concern.

"I-It's fine, just not used to the uniform is all." He assured. While not technically a lie, who's uniform he was referring to wasn't specified.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She agreed innocently. "At I-Island I can usually wear whatever I want as long as it's protective enough for the labs. I'm not used to such rigid clothing, makes doing engineering a pain. I mean look at this skirt!" She complained, throwing her hands to the side in a huff.

At those word's, Izuku found his eyes wandering again from Melissa's, down to her uniform. He certainly agreed with her assessment. The uniform certainly looked… tight in certain sections, and a skirt left her legs bare… against the dangers of engineering tools, he meant. He finally dragged his eyes up to see that Melissa was looking at him with scrutiny. He immediately felt embarrassed and threw his hands up. "Oh sorry, I didn't-"

"Know how to tie a necktie? There's nothing to be embarrassed about, come here." Melissa took another step forward, and Izuku found themselves them almost face-to-face. She brought her hands up and undid his necktie, before beginning to tie it up again properly. "I have to help Dad with these things all the time. He's always in such a rush he never bothers to do stuff like this properly. How are you supposed to sell a product to someone if you can't even dress properly? There!" She finished the knot and looked at Izuku again. "Now, ready for our first day at U.A.?"

"Y-Yeah, Plus Ultra!" he said shakily, trying to keep a straight face despite his unexpected proximity to someone of the opposite sex. Izuku desperately averted his eyes knowing that if he looked straight ahead, he would freeze up again. In his panic, he noticed a small head poking out the door of Melissa's dorm, the unmistakable sight of silver hair, red eyes, and a small stubby horn. "Good morning Eri."

Melissa turned her head back just in time to see Eri poke hers back inside. "Is something wrong Eri? Do you need help changing?" she asked.

"No, it's just… These clothes are weird." they could barely here her say from behind the doorframe.

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle. He remembered his mom telling him stories about how much he hated wearing uniforms when he was little too. "You'll get used to it. Now come on out, you don't want to be late for breakfast, right?"

The talk of food got the girls attention and she finally peeked out again, before stepping out into the hall and revealing Eri wearing a set of the standard U.A. uniform, just like the two of them. Izuku could feel his heart stop beating for a second at how cute she looked now, and he was pretty sure he could hear a faint squealing sound coming from Melissa. "Did I put it on wrong?" she asked, noticing the stares the two were giving her.

"No, no. It's perfect." Melissa insisted, walking over to Eri, and offering a hand for her to take. "Come on, Dad always says it's best to arrive at least ten minutes early to any arrangement."

As they walked toward him to reach the exit, Eri reached out her own free hand toward Izuku. She looked up at him, and he could see the same scared look she had in her eyes when he found her. Izuku wrapped a hand around hers in comfort. "Don't worry. School may seem like a lot, but it can be really fun sometimes." He tried to assure.

That seemed to help, but there was still hesitation in her eyes. As they walked toward the schools main building in silence, he couldn't help but watch Eri's expression. She was always glancing around them at every sound and shadow. While she seemed curious about her surroundings, there was nothing enjoyable about it to her. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Eri express a single positive emotion since they've met outside of that one moment with Nezu. For not the first time since they've met, Izuku wondered what the deal with Eri was.

"By the way, I was wondering what you wanted me to call you?" Melissa suddenly asked.

Izuku couldn't understand where this question suddenly came from. "What? Didn't I tell you my name?"

"Oh, I remember that." Melissa assured. "It's just that where I'm from, we call people by their first names usually, but I forgot that it's different around here. Should I call you by Izuku or Midoriya. Do you have a nickname maybe?"

"Izuku is just fine. I don't have any good nicknames, though some people had taken to calling me Deku…" Izuku responded sadly, thinking of Bakugo.

"Really? I think it's pretty cool." Melissa thought out loud.

"You… do?" Izuku froze, resulting in the two girls he was walking with to stop as well.

"Yeah. It's been a while, but it sounds a lot like the Japanese for 'you can do it', right? Uncle Might would say it all the time." Melissa explained cheerfully.

"O-oh, well," Izuku stammered. "Deku's fine as well then!"

"Time for attendance, please call when your name is spoken. Izuku Midoriya!"

"H-Here!"

"Melissa Shield!"

"Do we really have to do this?... fine, Here."

"And finally, Eri!"

"Um, here?"

The three students sat in the front row classroom of 1-A, seats entirely empty except for them and their furry teacher. They each had a plate of freshly baked breakfast in front of them and were picking away at it while watching Nezu's antics atop the teachers desk. "Good, the class is accounted for. Please feel free to dig in while I prepare the lecture." Two hands immediately shot up, followed by a hesitant third. Nezu pointed at one of the people holding up their hand.

"It's not related to class or anything, but I was wondering how you made all of this." Melissa asked, pointing down to her still steaming plate.

"Do you not trust my culinary talents?" Nezu asked cheekily. "Actually, most of the work was done by robotic workers. You'd be surprised how many tasks one can automate. Usually Lunch Rush manages these things, but I can at least give them simple orders for things like this. How else do you think we manage to feed so many students daily? Now, I believe you also had a question Midoriya?"

"Y-Yes sir!" Izuku confirmed, hovering over a fresh notebook. "I was wondering what your first lecture is going to be on."

"Great question!" Nezu said. "Today we will keep things simple, and start with a review of what is currently known by experts about the Rapture."

Izuku looked at the teacher confused. "Experts? And its barely been more than 36 hours since the Rapture, how much more info do we have?"

Nezu's mouth perked up into a grin, which looked only slightly terrifying on his inhuman face. "You'll see. And last but certainly not least, Eri, do you have a question?"

"… this place, you said it's a school, right?" Eri asked after a moment.

"Yes. Do you know what people do at school?" Nezu asked back.

Eri looked deep in thought, before nodding. "I remember asking about it once. They told me it was a place smart people went, and that I couldn't go because I… wasn't very smart." She said sadly, looking away.

"I see. So, you think that you shouldn't be here because of that?" Nezu questioned. When he saw Eri nod, with quivering eyes, he couldn't help but stomp his foot on the desk he was currently standing on. "Nonsense! Total nonsense, I say!"

All three of his pupils looked up at his display in surprise, and he quickly calmed himself. "What I mean to say, is that school isn't 'for smart people'. The goal of a school is to teach people and help them learn new things. Eri, is there anything you want to know?" he asked.

The girl's eyes focused, trying to think of something. "Y-yeah there is. Like what this food I'm eating is called, or what kind of creature you are if you're not a dog…"

"Then it sounds like school is perfect for you." Nezu declared. He could see some of the tension in Eri's body dissipate, and so felt it appropriate to finally start his lecture. "Now then, if everyone is ready, lets go over what we know."

Nezu stepped on a button on the table and the lights dimmed as the projector began to display on the board behind him, revealing a video of security footage of U.A.'s front entrance. Students in a variety of uniforms could be seen heading to the Entrance Exams from the cameras angle. There was a time stamp of 11:59 JST in the bottom corner.

"At roughly 12:00 Japanese Standard Time, some force affected Japan, and the rest of the wider world, resulting in any human with an active Quirk Factor disappearing of the face of the earth, as shown above."

Nezu pointed up at the video footage, the clock ticked over to 12:00, and a moment later there was a flash of light, and nearly everyone was gone. The only one to remain was a familiar green haired boy laying face down on the ground, unmoving.

"Did you have to use this footage?" Izuku sunk into his seat, cheeks flushed.

"Apologies, but this was the best footage I could find to demonstrate my points." Nezu said as the footage continued to play in the background, Izuku's past form still unmoving. "There's a couple things you can notice from this video. Did anyone notice anything interesting?"

The three of them thought for a moment, before Izuku shot up a hand. "Oh, their clothes!" he exclaimed.

Melissa looked over confused. "What's so important about their clothes?"

"It's just, I was looking up stuff to do with the rapture earlier, and in most pop culture their clothes and stuff get left behind. It didn't click until now that whatever happened affected more than just their bodies." Izuku explained.

"Excellent observation! Yes, it didn't just affect their organic body, but their clothes and even some things they were holding, such as cellphones." Nezu said. Rewinding the footage, he pointed out multiple devices being held by students, then fast forwarded and showed the empty entranceway.

"Does that mean we can track them?!" Melissa asked excitedly.

Nezu shook his head. "There have been attempts, but sadly current results are coming up negative. Now, let's watch another video, and see if you notice anything different."

Nezu stepped on the button again, and the video changed to another set of security footage, this time of the easily recognizable Times Square. The time in the corner showed 11:59 JST as well. After a few seconds, the timer ticked over to 12:00, and people began to glow and disappear. The difference between the two videos then made themselves readily apparent.

"There's still a bunch of people around!" Melissa pointed out, not that it needed to be. On screen there were a couple dozen people still standing around the intersections, looking around in confusion and panic.

"It's not that surprising when you think about it. There are hundreds of people in Times Square at any time, so with the 1-in-5 Quirkless statistic, the amount remaining is actually lower than expected." Nezu pointed out. "But that's not what I wanted to bring attention to. What else can you all notice."

Izuku raised a hand after a moment and spoke when Nezu pointed in his direction. "There's a lot of children there. I can't imagine they're all Quirkless, right?"

Looking at the footage, one could see a few instances of children crying around the plaza, likely ones who had been out with their parents touring at the time. Nezu nodded in affirmation. "Yes, that is another good point. Why do you think that is?"

Izuku brought a hand up to his chin and began looking over his notes. "Could it be because… yes, that has to be it." He looked back up at Nezu to answer. "It's because they have yet to develop their Quirks, right?"

"Correct!" Nezu affirmed. "While it's incredibly likely the children seen here will develop a Quirk, they seem to have not fully developed it yet."

With a click of a button, the projection changed to multiple diagrams of the human body. X-ray's and heat scans with arrows pointing to random points of the body, leading to medical jargon that went entirely over Izuku's head. He could hear Nezu chuckling lightly.

"I see this is a bit advanced at your current stage. I'll summarize the parts that are relevant to our current situation. While the exact nature of Quirks is still a mystery, scientists and doctors have discovered a couple important things about how they work. 'Quirk Factors' are the physical or genetic traits that a Quirk is made from. However, like most parts of the human body, they take time to properly grow. While certain Quirks may manifest early, specifically with Heteromorphic Quirks, it usually takes till the age of four for a Quirk Factor to activate. Whether this is due to most Quirks finishing growth in the body by then, or the human brain waiting to reach a certain developmental ability to allow the use the Quirk is a highly debated topic, it takes time for a persons Quirk to activate. Any questions?"

Nezu looked to his students for questions, and contained the laughter growing inside him. Izuku could be seen desperately trying to write down everything said, fumbling his ever-shortening pencil into the sharpener. Melissa was staring blankly at the wall behind him, hand on chin, clearly having lost focus in the middle of Nezu's 'simplified' explanation. Eri looked focused and raised her hand.

"Perfect, what is it Eri." Nezu said excitedly, happy the girl was actually participating in class.

"I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"Could you…"

"Hmm?"

"Explain all that again, please?"

"Of course!"

Melissa's chin slipped from her hand. The sound of her face hitting the desk could be heard echoing all throughout the empty school.

"In short, Quirks take time to grow and function fully like the rest of the body, understand?"

"I think-"

"YES! Dear god we get it, let's move on already!" Melissa nearly shouted, pulling on her hair.

"Yes, I think we have spent a sufficient time explaining this topic." Nezu agreed as cheerful as always. He glanced over to Izuku, who pulled out a new notebook from his backpack. at some point, Izuku acquired a few dozen extra pencils to help with detailing of all of the thorough medical and scientific materials mentioned. The journals original title of 'School Notes No.1' had been crossed out and underneath it was written 'Biology & Nature of Quirks No.1'.

"What were we talking about again?" Izuku asked.

"Hmm, let's see…" Nezu tapped a few buttons on the table, and the projection switched between images until flipping to a combination of the UA Entrance and Times Square. "Ah yes, we were discussing why children were still around. As I explained, they are still around because their Quirks haven't fully manifested. This has happened worldwide, as the local hero network showed an influx of lost child's calling emergency lines."

Melissa gasped. "How terrible."

"Don't worry, all remaining public service workers are being coordinated to find and look after them." Nezu assured. "Now, is there anything else that can be inferred from the footage provided?"

All three students went back to looking between the footage, wracking their brains for clues on what to notice. A moment later, Eri's hand shot up. "I know, I know!"

Nezu pointed at the young girl, and she began speaking excitedly. "One happened during the day, and the other at night!"

"An excellent observation." Nezu said.

"But isn't that just due to time zones?" Melissa said.

"Time zones?" Eri asked confused.

"You don't know about that? How should I explain it…" Melissa thought out loud. She got up and walked over to the empty whiteboard, uncapping a black marker, and drawing the sun, moon, and earth. "So, we live here on the earth. The earth spins in a circle every 24 hours, which is a day. But the sun doesn't move, so eventually people become unable to see the sun. That's why it's dark at night." She then grabbed a red marker and put two dots on the earth, one on the suns side, and another in the moons. "Times Square is on almost the entire other side of the world to us, so while we're in the sun, they're in the dark."

Nezu nodded approvingly. "An excellent explanation Ms. Shield. It's a bit elementary though, and I'd be happy to go into more details-"

"At another time!" Melissa hissed through gritted teeth, before turning cheerfully to Eri. "Do you understand so far?"

"I think so," Eri said amazed. "I had no idea the world was so big!"

Melissa nodded in agreement. "It is pretty impressive. And the reason we have time zones is because despite the time technically being the same, it would be confusing for people talking from far away. So, we give different place different times, so they match up with the rotation of the earth."

Eri looked at the videos again with renewed understanding. "So, despite it looking different, they both happened at the same time! Thanks Melissa."

"Yep, the clock is the same for both. The second the clock hits 12:00 they all… disappeared?" Izuku trailed off. A moment later he reached into his bag, pulling out his 'Apocalypse Analysis for the Present, No. 1' Notebook and beginning to mumble. "But that can't be right… How would that even be possible… Could they have…"

'He really is a sharp one, even if it took a bit of help.' Nedzu noted silently, another grin spreading across his face. "Do you want to share your findings with the class, Midoriya?"

"They all disappeared at the exact same time."

The room was silent a moment after that, an eeriness that most there couldn't quite understand. Melissa looked at Izuku in confusion. "D-Didn't we already know that?"

"I mean the exact same time. The second the clock hit noon, everyone around the world vanished. Not even a split-second buffer between here in Japan and the East Coast of America. Isn't that weird? I don't know the exact calculations, but even the speed of light can't be that precise. Not to mention it reached everyone, everywhere. What sort of force could reach the entire globe simultaneously?!" Izuku explained in worrying detail.

"Yes, that is the true mystery, isn't it? Unfortunately, we have yet to find the cause of the Rapture, since we haven't been able to observe anyone affected by it. Until now, that is." Nezu announced.

"Wait, are you referring to Eri?" Izuku asked.

"That's right. Unlike you, who got a Quirk after the Rapture, she had it beforehand, but was able to use said Quirk to prevent her disappearance. While it might be early to say so, I believe understanding Eri's Quirk and how the Rapture affected her is important to solving these mysteries. Which leads to our next activity…" Nezu said suspensefully. "A field trip!"

"You can't be serious? Where are we even going?" Melissa asked.

"To the one place that may already have answers related to Eri's Quirk." Nezu answered. "I hacked into various CCTV systems and traced Eri's trip to Midoriya's apartment back to it's source. I followed it to a location about an hour's drive from here."

Eri could be seen shaking in her chair, before suddenly shouting. "NO! I don't want to go back there! What if they take me away again?!"

"Eri…" Izuku and Melissa looked at the girl, who had a look of fear growing slowly in her eyes.

"Don't worry, those people are gone now, aren't they?" Nezu pointed out. "Besides, I may be a principal, but I'm also a hero. I won't let anyone hurt you."

"You can't… I don't want you all to get hurt because of me." Eri said sadly.

Nezu looked somberly at the frail child. Even after everything that had happened to her, she was still worried about the safety of others. Her emotions brought back memories he hadn't thought of in years.

"Even after everything you've been through, you still have the heart to worry about someone other than yourself. You'd make a great hero one day…"

Nezu shook his head, clearing his mind. He jumped from the teacher's desk to Eri's, getting her attention. "Eri, do you see this scar right here."

Eri looked to where Nezu was pointing with a paw and nodded slowly.

"I got this when I was experimented on." He could hear the others gasp in surprise, but he continued speaking. "They said I was special, that I was important to helping other people. But all they really did was hurt me. Plenty of people tried to help me, but none of them ever could."

"Then how did you get out?" Eri asked in surprise.

"I got lucky just like you did. One day, they weren't there anymore. And the day after that, and the next, until I realized that I was somehow free. But even still, I was afraid to leave. I was worried if I left that they would track me down, or that everyone else I talked to might be just like them."

Eri's eye's widened in understanding. "… What changed?"

"I met someone special. He saved me, and told me I could be a hero, without even a second thought. He didn't care that I wasn't human. He just saw that I had a heart that wanted to help others." Nezu said wistfully, before focusing back on Eri. "I understand not wanting us to get hurt, but protecting you is part of my job. Let me show you what that person showed me. I won't let anyone take you away again, got it."

Eri teared up a bit, but she quickly wiped them away and put on a brave face. "Alright. If you really think it will help… then I'll go."

After an hours' drive in the Nezumobile (The principal insisted on the name…) the group all found themselves standing in from of a heavy-duty gate. The multi-story complex behind it could be seen sticking out from the high wall that surrounded the entire perimeter.

"What is this place, and why is it so secure?" Melissa asked in wonder, looking up and down the street. She could spy nearly a dozen security cameras watching various parts of the property's exterior.

"Officially, it is the office and research center of a rather un-noteworthy pharmaceutical company." Nezu informed her.

"… and unofficially?" She asked with worry.

"It is known as a potential hideout for the Yakuza organization known by authorities as the Shie Hassaikai." Nezu finished.

"Yakuza? Like organized gangsters? I thought they all went extinct years ago. The rise of Quirks resulted in most major groups being recognized as Villain groups and shut down." Izuku said confused.

"While the more public groups were arrested, many dismantled themselves after it became clear that their grip on society had faded. Of course, there are those unwilling to accept that and instead lurked in the shadows and waited for an opportunity to present itself." Nezu explained. "Most of these groups are well known to the police, but unless a group commits an actual crime, authorities can do nothing but have them under surveillance."

"Do we know anything else about them?" Izuku asked.

Nezu let out a sinister snicker. "Quite a bit, but the important part is that all their higher-ups had Quirks, so we likely won't run into any organized trouble. That said, this gate looks a bit hard to hack. Midoriya, how about a field assignment. Open this gate."

Izuku looked between the gate and Nezu in shock. "Wait, you mean with my Quirk?!"

"This seems as good a time as any to get some practice in." Nezu replied simply.

"But I don't have full control of it. The only time I've used it was by accident!" Izuku continued to protest.

"It's okay Izuku. Remember, you have my Gauntlet now. It should be able to take the recoil even if you go too far." Melissa reassured.

Izuku looked down at the Gauntlet uneasily. "But it could only take a swing or two at full power. I don't want to break the thing right after you gave it to me."

"Why would you use your full power if it hurt you?" Eri asked.

"I… Well I don't know how not to." Izuku admitted sheepishly. "When I activated One for All yesterday, it was like my arm was going to explode. I don't know if my arm could handle 100% by itself."

The rest of the group stood there looking at Izuku has he started to mumble to himself, trying to find a way to use his new Quirk without causing major self-damage. The others either let him think or began brainstorming silently themselves. It was Melissa who eventually broke the silence.

"Why don't you use One for All in more than just your arm."

Izuku stopped muttering and at her. "… What do you mean?"

"I was just thinking about what you said. You said that your arm couldn't handle 100%, but maybe it isn't meant to." Melissa explained. Izuku continued to look blankly at her, so she continued. "It's like when you're designing a multistory building. You can't just build however you want. you must consider the weight of the structure above. If it's imbalanced, then it will collapse, but if balanced correctly…"

"Then the force will be distributed correctly, keeping everything together!" Izuku realized. "Now that I think about it, All Might wouldn't be able to fight as effectively as he did if he had to keep turning the power on and off throughout his body. I think this might work!"

"Yes, and Dad thought that General Architecture was a wasted elective!" Melissa cheered.

"Alright, so instead of focusing on a single body part to use, I'll try to spread it evenly across my body." Izuku said to himself, getting in a position to attempt his new technique. Before he did however, he looked over his shoulder at the others. "You all might want to take a few steps back, in case I, you know, explode or something."

The two girls and mammal quickly took a couple broad steps in reverse. Once they had reached a sufficient distance, Izuku closed his eyes and focused inward. He tried recalling the feeling when he had used One for All before. He felt something within him and tried to mentally draw it out. He suddenly felt what could only be described as raw power begin to radiate across his body. He felt the pressure in his right arm begin to grow as it had when he had punched that thug.

'Too much power! Gotta spread it quickly…'

With the feeling of 100% of One for All in his arm, Izuku tried to visualize it as a system of circuits, closed off from the system that was the rest of his body. He tried to connect his arm to the rest of his body, and felt a warmth slowly spread up his arm and his shoulder. Slowly but surely, the current of One for All reached through the rest of his body. Across his chest and into his left arm. Down his torso, until it reached his toes. He even felt the power spread across his head, senses sharpening as it did.

Then, it clicked. The crushing pressure in his left arm was gone, replaced with the feeling of an equal force across his entire body. Something about it felt right. It wasn't perfect, and he could feel sparks of raw energy flickering outward from his body. But to keep the analogies going, a couple leaks in a pipe were easier to fix than if it burst. Opening his eye's finally, he spied the gate in front of him. Carefully, he winded a fist back, and swung it forward.

*CLANG*

Izuku stood there for a moment, armored fist extended onto the metal gate. His form was perfect, and his punch landed right in the center point. However….

"Damn, that hurt! Fu-" Izuku hissed out, cutting himself off suddenly, remembering the young ears nearby. He felt the feeling of One for All dissipate across his body as he clutched his hand.

"Izuku!" Melissa yelled, running to him, and looking his hand over. "Are you alright? What happened? It looked like you figured it out, but when you punched the gate-"

"I'm fine, just wasn't expecting the pain." Izuku cut her off to try and calm her panicked questions. "I managed to spread One for All across my entire body like planned, but I guess that the output was far lower to compensate. I doubt that was even 5% of my power. That's why the gate barely budged. Seriously, if I didn't have this Gauntlet, I might have broken my hand…"

"A lesson learned, young Midoriya. However, you still haven't completed your assignment." Nezu pointed out.

"Didn't you hear him, if he tries to punch open the gate again, he'll just injure himself more!" Melissa said.

"Well it's a good thing that isn't what his assignment is." Nezu said back without a second thought.

"… Isn't it?" Melissa insisted.

"The assignment was to open the gate, but how else can I- oh!" Izuku realized something suddenly and walked backwards until he was on the other side of the street. He called up One for All across his body again, this time in only a couple seconds, and began to sprint at the wall next to the gate.

A couple feet away from the barrier, He jumped up as hard as he could without losing control of his Quirk. Even with the smallest fraction of One for All available to him, he still was able to launch himself over 8 feet and reach the top of the wall with his hands. He didn't have the clearance to go over the wall in one jump, but using the grip he had on the wall, he kicked his feet off the wall, flipping up and over into the compound.

Straight into the path of the front garden.

"oh shi-!"

The sound of snapping branches and rustling leaves could be heard from over the high walls. There was silence for a few moments afterward, until the front gate of the compound opened with a click. It swung aside, revealing Izuku with leaves and branches stuck in the curls of his hair.

"One open gate. So, how's my mark?" Izuku said, as if everything had gone as planned.

Nezu brought a paw to his chin. "Hmm, about a B+. Need a bit of practice with control, but otherwise a nice job."

As Nezu and Eri walked past him and into the complex, Izuku reached up into his hair and tried to shake out the shrubbery. He heard a giggle and turned to see Melissa with a silly grin on her face. She reached up, and with a tug pulled a twig out from his hair.

"Heh heh, Deku Tree."

"… Really?"

Eri hesitantly led the group into the main building, walking down the empty halls. They eventually walked through an open door into a traditional Japanese office. There was a suspicious opening that was awkwardly attached to the rooms back wall and appeared to contain a set of stairs that led into a basement of some kind. It was clearly a hidden passageway that no one had bothered to close back up.

"They keep all the important stuff down there. That's where I usually was as well…" Eri mumbled from behind Melissa. She was clearly scared, as if something were about to spring out from the dark corridor and drag her down.

"Don't worry Eri. It looks like no one has been here since the Rapture, judging by the still open passageway. I doubt any self-respecting would just leave their secret entrance open for all to see." Nezu assured, walking forward and down into the depths. The rest followed quickly, not wishing to be left behind.

They began walking down the long and winding tunnels of the hideout. They passed and searched any rooms they came across, but most of the ones near the entrance were simple living quarters. As Nezu had predicted, they had yet to find anyone, and everything appeared to be untouched.

Eventually, they found a room that clearly stood out from the others. It was small, and a quick glance revealed it to be a children's bedroom. There were boxes of unopened toys scattered across the room, and the wallpaper was a colorful display that contrasted terribly with the bleak halls outside.

Melissa looked down at the little girl, gripping her hand reassuringly. "Eri, was this your room?"

"Yeah…" Eri said, staring into the dark chamber.

"Do you want to take anything from it?" Izuku asked.

"No. I never wanted any of it anyways…" She said coldly, tuning away and walking down the hall. "I know the way from here. I think the important stuff is this way."

The others followed in disturbed silence, taking a few more turns until they reach a closed door. Eri stood in front of it, looking up forebodingly. Izuku reached out to open the door, but Eri suddenly reached up and grabbed his hand with hers. They were shaking greatly.

"Do we have to go in?" Eri asked, more fearful than they've ever been.

"Don't worry, no one is here." Izuku reassured her. "And if anyone does show up, I'll punch them just like the gate!"

"Remember Eri, we won't let anything happen to you. Heroes promise." Nezu reminded her.

Eri eventually released her grip on Izuku's arm, and he slowly reached back up towards the door handle. He pulled, opening the way revealing… an empty lab room.

Everyone let out a breath that they didn't know they had held and walked slowly into the room. "See, nothing to worry about." Izuku chuckled, not quite hiding the edge still in his voice.

Nezu hopped up onto a nearby chair, reaching up and tapping away at the nearest computer. He reached into his extra small suit and plugged a USB stick into it. "Hmm, there appears there appears to be very little security on this terminal. Even if it would be near impossible for someone unauthorized to reach this place, that's a poor practice. Aaaand, there!"

With a final grand flourish, Nezu pressed the enter key. On screen, files could be seen being copied from the hard drive over to the USB stick. Nezu started spinning around in the chair, laughing like a lunatic. "What idiots! I always love getting one over on stupid humans, hahahahaha!"

"Umm, principal Nezu? Do you want us to do something?" Izuku asked, staring at their teacher's sudden shift in personality.

"Ah, yes. Grab anything that looks important and put it in your backpacks. We can look over it all when we get back." He said dismissively.

Izuku and Melissa looked at each other quizzically, before shrugging and heading to opposite ends of the room. Melissa shoved random notes on tables into her pack, not even bothering to decipher their contents. Izuku found an open briefcase filled with… Darts? He simply closed the case and carried it in one hand. He could leave figuring out the mad scientist stuff to Nezu. Looking around the room, he spied Eri standing in the center of it. She had a hand on the patient's chair sitting there under a spotlight.

"Hey Eri, are you okay?" Izuku asked.

Eri didn't respond, and Izuku walked over to her, giving the chair another look. Upon closer examination, he could see there were straps where the arms and legs would go, as well as across the waist. There were patches of dried blood all over the chair, some more recent than others. One thing even he could tell though, was that it had been used for a long time, and often.

He put his free hand on her shoulder. "They won't be able to hurt you anymore. I promise."

Eri stayed still for a moment, before turning and hugging him. "Can we leave soon?" She said in a small voice.

"Yeah, you'll never have to see this place again." Izuku assured. He gripped his hand around the briefcase handle enough for it to creak.

Once they brought everyone back from the Rapture, he was going to make sure All Might paid these people a visit.

Elsewhere, in the depths beneath Jaku General Hospital, Kagome stared intently at the monitor in front of her.

[SUBJECT NUMBER NINE: QUIRK IMPLEMENTATION HAS REACHED 100%]

[COMMENCE AWAKENING PROCEDURES? y/n]

She reread the lines for the dozenth time, before sighing and looking up at the being contained inside.

After searching through this mystery facility and browsing the available terminals, she figured that this was some sort of secret Quirk research facility. The containers that lined multiple walls all appeared to be thoroughly labeled and matched up to a local database of Quirks on the terminals she could find. As far as she could tell, they contained some sort of genetic material related to specific Quirk Factor's. Through a process that was currently unknown to her, it appears that Dr. Ujiko found a way to add these Quirk Factors to other people, resulting in them having multiple Quirks.

However, the process didn't seem all that safe, as all the subjects held within the vats, referred to as Nomu on the terminals, looked like monsters. Their skins were bleached, brains exposed, with body parts in all the wrong places. They also seemed to lack any higher brain function, but whether that was a cause of the excess Quirks or something else was yet to be determined.

There was only one that appeared to still look human. The one in the tank at the center of the base. He was obviously important, with his designation being 'Subject Number Nine' instead of the regular Nomu number. Fiddling with the terminal, she was finally able to reach the lines shown above. Whoever this was, they were apparently ready to be woken up.

But should she?

It was clear by now that Dr. Ujiko was a less than honest man. Hell, he was probably one of the biggest Villains in Japan, from what she could tell from the scope of his experiments. But honestly the main feeling she had was annoyance at not being included in his schemes.

She had spent years being dismissed for her theories on transferable Quirks, and the one person who actually cared about her ideas went and developed an entire system for doing just that without her. For all she knew the bastard made this thing using her own research notes!

But back on topic, for all she knew this person was another villain or accomplice and kill her due to being a witness. Or his appearance wont matter and he'll be as brainless as the Nomu and eat her like some zombie.

But on the other hand…

Her curiosity was too much. There was no one who could stop her from doing what she wanted. So what if this guys kills her. For all she knew, the world outside had already devolved into chaos, and she could be killed for looking at someone funny. If she had to, she might as well die on her own terms.

[y]

[INITIATING AWAKENING – PLEASE MOVE AWAY FROM THE TANK]

The sound of electronics could be heard starting up, and the front of the tank began moving forward until it was laying on the ground at a ninety-degree angle from before. The man inside now looked to be laying down, as if in a coffin. The mysterious liquid then began to drain out and was replaced with air.

[RELEASING AWAKENING SIGNAL]

There was a sudden whir, as the wires connected to the body began to glow. Suddenly the body jolted, as if shocked by a defibrillator. It repeated the process twice more, each time the body moving due to the electric signals but showing no signs of awakening.

There was one final shock, but this time was different. The man's eyes opened. When the body jumped up, there was a sound like a cannon had gone off above Kagome, and the lights in the cavern flickered dangerously. She looked up at the rocky ceiling with worry.

'Was that a lightning strike? How strong was it to be heard through the mountain?'

A hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist, and she let out a sound that no grown woman should make. Looking back down, she could see the man staring strongly at her. He tried to speak, but the mask for his breathing tube was still on. Kagome quickly took the mask off.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her nursing instincts kicking in despite the situation.

"Who… are you?" The man asked in a weak and gravelly voice.

"My name is Kagome Mirai. I'm a nurse at Jaku General Hospital. What about you?" She answered, before firing back.

"My name…?" The man contemplated before answering. "As of today, I am Nine."

Next Chapter: Quirk Apprehension Test