Mina had set her alarm to the time Izuku would have set his: 6:30. She had always wanted to be a hero and now she was filling the role of symbol of peace. She was more of a team player than a solo act, so she decided to implement that to make it her own. She remembered a conversation she had with Izuku a few years back, about being there when he needed it. They were partners and he would never have to shoulder the burden of "symbol of peace" alone. She had argued that one pillar doesn't exactly make a steady foundation unless it's a big pillar. Izuku had been taken by surprise before falling into contemplative silence. He then smiled at his girlfriend. "That's a good point, Mina. I should have considered that before. Thank you."

"No problem. You may be smart and strong, but you're not a god, dude. Nobody can know everything. Besides, it's easy to forget things sometimes." She reassured cheerily as she kissed his cheek and the memory faded to white.

Mina thought back on this, not just to remember the good times, or to reflect upon how collaboration would be key in her new position, but because, even though she was going to do this her way, she still had to shake herself out of previous comfort zones to do a better job. Hence why she was now more of an early bird than she had been for most of her life. She freshened up and put on her spare costume, her other one being dirty from last night's training. It was for the best anyway, as this was an upgraded version she had asked for, with some modifications to the color scheme and some new tech she was hyped to test out (acid-proof surfboard for the win!).

She stepped out of the door and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She then bent her knees and shot into the sky, somersaulting through the air and landing gracefully on the pavement several feet away from her apartment building's railing, a steady coating of weak acid forming beneath her feet as she began her morning commute. She had a communicator built into her wrist of her costume (one of the new features Mei had built in. Momo helped make some awesome modifications as well. Collaboration really was important in this line of work)

While skating through the streets of Tokyo, scanning for anything amiss, Mina thought she saw something through the corner of her eye. She had probably just imagined it, as it faded away before she could fully register it. However, it seemed to resemble a Nomu in build, but less bulky and without the exposed brain. Its face was vague and almost wood like, like a mask. She shrugged it off and looked at her wrist, hearing an alarm emanating from it. There seemed to be a robbery in progress.

"Guess I'm not the only one up earlier than they should be." Mina yawned, still in the process of waking up.

As she took on more of a speed-skating form and leapt towards her destination, the wood masked creature observed her from afar, making calculations in a silent, almost computer-like manner. The creature lumbered forth, corpse-like, assumed a stance, and leapt skyward as well.

In the same warehouse where the creature was born, scientists were observing its movement through a subcutaneous tracking device in the middle of the 9 tattooed on its neck. "You know what to do." A voice spoke smoothly, giving orders to its puppet. "Get to work, minus."

It was a slow day otherwise. A bank robbery here, some joker in a mech suit there. Mina didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. She stopped by a nearby market to buy some groceries for the week. She was close enough to her apartment again that she could run them in and head back out on patrol.

"Mina! Hey, over here!" a voice called out. Mina looked behind her to see Ochako Uraraka in her hero garb, also out on patrol.

"Ochako? I didn't expect to see you here. I thought your turf was in another prefecture these days." Mina exclaimed, giving her friend a hug.

"Yeah, but I had some errands to run here. How have you been? Haven't seen or heard from you since…" Ochako hesitated before Mina placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Mina had been a bit busy and hadn't made as much time for social calls as she would have liked. She was wrapped up in her new role and was committed to it, even if she feared she was in over her head.

"You have nothing to apologize for. You've been busy. I understand." The gravity-quirk user beamed before looking to the side and brushing her arm.

Things got rather awkward for a moment. They both missed Izuku and both had feelings for him at one point or another. Ochako had accepted Izuku and Mina as a couple and oved on, but losing him still left a massive hole in the hearts of both women. Still, there was more to catch up on than dead men.

"Anyway, I don't want to keep you. We should catch up sometime though. It's been way too long." Ochako waved before turning.

"It really has. Here. I have a new number." Mina said, taking out a notepad and writing her number down for Ochaco. "Here you go. When we're both free, we should get coffee or something. Maybe we can make a thing of it. It can be like the old days."

Ochako seemed solemn for a moment, as if a wave of memories had hit her. She perked up and gave her old friend a warm smile. "That would be great, actually. Thanks. I'll call you tonight so you have my number too."

"Great! See ya, Ochako!" Mina waved a goodbye as they parted company and went onto with their days.

Mina headed back to her apartment to drop off her groceries. As she was halfway done putting them away, her communicator watch started going haywire. She sighed, stowed the last bag in a cabinet to deal with later, then exited through the door and locked up. As she leapt into the air again, she was speared into a nearby building by the wood-faced monster, a bask covering its face, resembling that of smiling puppet. Its lidless eyes darted around beneath the mask, watching Mina's every move. She closed her eyes and tried activating full cowl, but she was smacked out of the air by her opponent like a volleyball. Mina rubbed her head, recovering from the harsh blow that sent her to the ground. She dodged a quick follow-up from the creature and put some distance between the two so she could get in touch with the police. He

"Sorry officers. On my way. Just got held up by this creepy monster dude."

"Thank goodness, Alien Queen. We need your help as soon as possible. We can try and contact another hero if you're busy. This seems like a coordinated attack."

"I wouldn't doubt it. OOF!" she went flying through the air again. It felt like she was hit by a truck that had another truck welded on top.

"Is everything ok?" the officer's voice inquired over the wrist-phone.

"Yeah. Just give me a little. You might have to call someone else. I'm under attack and can't get an opening. I'll get there as soon as I can. Sorry."

"Understood. We'll get Ingenium on the case. Just be safe." The call faded out as Mina steeled herself for battle.

"OUT OF MY DAMN WAY, PINKY!" a familiar voice exploded as it rocketed into the abomination. To Bakugou's annoyance and horror, not only was the creature unfazed, but it paused for a second before mimicking his movements before sending Bakugou backwards, into a parked car. It then prepared a powerful kick, flying towards the blonde hero. Mina stepped in and pooled up her acid in her hand and lit her body up with One-For-All.

"Back off, dude! ANDROMEDA SMASH!" Mina cried as she shot at the creature and started spinning midair, connecting with a powerful uppercut.

"Get out of here, Raccoon eyes. You have a job to do."

"Yeah, right here."

"I'll handle this fucker. GET GOING, GODDAMMIT!" the explosive man growled. He was ready to get to business and it looked like he had an impatient client waiting in front of him.

"Ok, Jeez. See ya." Mina said, checking her hearing playfully. "Thanks, Bakugou." She got going as fast as she could as Bakugou nodded sternly before turning his attention back to his opponent.

"Kirishima, It's Mina."

"What's up, Horn buddy?" the hero known as Red Riot chimed happily. Mina perked up a little at his use of "horn buddy" but now wasn't the time for small talk.

"You know how to get to my place, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's not far, right? Why?" Kirishima knew from her tone that this wasn't a social call. He seemed concerned.

"Bakugou needs help. The police need me elsewhere. Could you help me out? I wish I could stay, but it might be urgent.

"Say no more. On my way. I might bring Tetsutetsu if I see him on the way."

"Thanks, Eijiro! I owe you!" Mina nodded and smiled, though it was tinged with guilt for leaving her friend to fight this monstrosity. She wanted to call it a nomu, but it was different somehow, like a next step in evolution.

"No problem. Get going, Mina. Bakugou and I got this!" his voice seemed peppy, but kind of awkward, as he wasn't used to Mina using his first name like that. "Man, had they grown up already? Ten years fly by fast." he thought. She hoped he wasn't in over his head, but two pros should be able to take this thing down. Or at least, that's what she hoped. There was a creeping fear in the back of her head, combined with that dreaded familiarity that she just couldn't place.

Mina skated towards the site of the turmoil, looking back with guilt as Bakugou fought the strange beast. She noticed that its head tilted towards her, as if it was targeting her, but couldn't get past the hero known as Napalm King. She turned back towards her goal, being unable to shake a strange sense of déjà vu from the monster's movements. Had she seen them before?

"Focus, Mina." She hissed to herself before calling the police at her destination. "Napalm King and Red Riot are taking care of the masked creature. I'm on my way, officers. What's the situation?"

"It's calmed down now. We managed to secure the scene. Ingenium rounded up the villains at the scene. He brought Uravity and Fahrenheit for backup."

"Yeah. Sorry I couldn't be there. I'll be there nest time."

"It's not your fault. In fact, the villain that attacked you might have ties to this incident." The officer on the line stated calmly. Mina thought they would be more upset, but those last words put it all together, as did the tone of voice the officer used. Something was going on, something more sinister than an average act of aggression by a villain or a bank robbery by some street gang like NEXT.

"What was the incident? Is anyone hurt?" Mina was taking this much more seriously than she was used to. She knew the reality of heroics and the duty she held, especially as of this year. Still, she tried to keep an upbeat attitude. There was a time and a place, though, and it seemed like she was in the wrong town on the wrong day.

"There were actually two. The first was a hostage situation at a nearby bank, two blocks from the hero cemetery. There were a few injuries, but no casualties. Your friends managed to make sure of that. It's the second incident that has me more worried though. It's…not so much a disaster as a mystery. The monuments to All-Might and Deku were demolished. Deku's grave was dug up and desecrated." The policeman seemed weary. On its surface, it was property damage and vandalism. However, given the target, there was something more at play here. "We believe this was meant as a message. Possibly for you. At first, we thought it might have been an isolated incident, but the creature you mentioned…. Cast doubt on that."

"…. Any leads?" Mina asked lowly, having been struck silent for what seemed like an eternity.

"Nothing conclusive, but we have an eyewitness you might want to talk to. Said they saw a masked creature at the scene." As he said this, it clicked in Mina's head and her speed increased.

"I'm on my way." Mina hung up and slid as fast as she could, eventually just leaping skyward.