A Desire for Heroism

by Road2Radahn

U.A is the place for gifted and ambitious students who strive to become the best heroes they can be. But what if there was another who did not have that desire despite his unique and overwhelming talent. Can the students of U.A help stroke the fires of heroism in the boy to make him into a great hero, or will his past outweigh their efforts.

7. Multi-Level Event

Chapter 7

---

God, he hated it here.

And he wasn't exaggerating. He genuinely hated being here and being in this country. He hated the constant noise the tall structured cities continued to make without ever taking a breath. He hated this society he was stuck in and their love for those costumed idiots. And he even hated the constant rules which accompanied this place that seemed to suffocate the freedom he craved and once had. It felt like hell.

Even small things greatly irritated him to no end. One example was the air quality. While it wasn't terrible and was a hell of a lot better than his homeland, it felt offputting, almost like it was too clean, which annoyed him greatly. But, on the other hand, it could be something only foreigners could notice and understand, and folks who grew up here just acclimated to it. But, despite all that, there was still one thing that he hated about Japan more than anything else.

"Hey, you, Gaijin!"

The man sighed, though it was much closer to a groan.

The People.

His beady eyes swayed over and downwards to a petite man a few paces from him. The guy was oddly dressed, wearing a red skintight bodysuit and a black, crudely-made gas mask. His greenish hair was cut like small, numerous springs, shooting outwards with no regard for order. Overall, it didn't look good, which, coming from a guy like him who had zero fashion sense, meant it was terrible. But, apparently, this attire and others like it were common in first-world countries. Typically worn by what people identify as 'Heroes' and 'Villains', and supposedly this guy was the latter.

'How childish', the tall man couldn't help but think to himself. It was like those games that children fantasised about, but instead, it was grown men and women who were playing dress-up. It was absurd and something he doubted he would ever understand. But nevertheless, he watched as the native Japanese man strode towards him with a lot of bravadoes. And looking at the smirking idiots standing behind him, it was easy to tell where he got it from.

"Hey, Gaijin! Do you understand what I'm saying? Guess those horns on your head don't act like ears for you, huh?" The gas-masked villain asked, though it was clear to identify the discourteous undertone in the question. "Are you seriously as dumb as you look?!" He questioned loudly, his voice carrying across the rocky cliff faces and attracting more attention from the numerously villainous-looking individuals, who curiosity watched what was happening.

Truthfully, The dark man could only pick up a few words in Japanese. After all, he had only been in the country for just under a month, so there were still a few words he was struggling to understand. However, the man knew when he was being made fun of, but instead of rising to the bait, he simply ignored the more petite man's presence. He clearly wasn't worth much of his time.

The Japanese villain, of course, felt insulted at having a foreigner turn his back on him, especially in front of his friends and several other associates. "Hey, asshole! Don't turn your back on me!" He ordered, but the taller and darker man began walking away, heading towards a quieter area away from the screeching of the mask-wearing villain.

"You damn foreign, Bastard!" The small man raised a hand, his thumb pointed upwards and aiming two fingers at the back of the horned man, shaping his hand like a finger gun. "This will teach you to respect those better than you!" The tips of the two fingers glowed an orangery tint, and within a second, a marble-sized ball of fire shot out of his fingers and rocketed at the larger man. It took less than a second before the fireball pelted its target and evaporated as quickly as it came. In truth, the attack didn't look like it did much, acting similarly to a tiny stone hitting the side of a tree. However, the green-haired villain seemed proud of his work, especially since it got the giant foreigner to stop moving.

"Heh! Ya now feel like listening? Good! 'cause you gotta learn resp-Gahh?!" The villain was interrupted as a large hand suddenly gripped his throat, lifting him into the air. The hand covered his neck completely, wrapping around so much that he could feel the thumb and fingers touching one another at the back of his neck. Everyone watching in the mountain-like area expressed shock at the speed at which the giant man moved, and none were more surprised than the mask-wearing man whose legs were dangling beneath him. "L-l-Let me go-."

"Shut Up." The dark-skinned man murmured, his voice rough and adenoidal as if he was struggling to breathe. His voice was deeper than any of the villains had heard, rivalling that of the likes of All Might. His black beady eyes stared harshly into those of the masked man he was holding up. "You talk too much," There was a heavy accent mixed in with the broken Japanese, which made sense given the man's African heritage.

"G-Geh!"The masked villain franticly attempted to free himself from the large man's grip, but he was forcibly stopped when the hand tightened. He croaked as he gasped for any sliver of breath. His face slowly turned blue as his eyes began to bludge. "P-Please, I-I'm sorr-,"

"No, No. You are sorry you got caught." The man interrupted, bringing his face closer. His breath was hot and dry, as if replicating a humid day. His skin was rough, and now that the villain had a clearer view, he could see numerous X-shaped scars dancing all over the man's face as he glared at him. "You thought I was a Kufooka, a weakling like you, but I am not. I am strong! Because I have survived things your puny Ubongo can't possibly imagine." His beady eyes drilled into the frightened villain's, which would have continued if it wasn't for the Japanese man's friends coming to his rescue.

"Hey! Chill, dude," One of the friends called out, having run up to the two, though he kept a cautious distance. He was surrounded by three others. "You don't have to kill him!"

Another one followed afterwards. "Yeah! Save it for the U.A. brats!'

"He was just trying to have some fun-" They all suddenly froze as if someone had pressed the pause button. Their eyes were wide, and the group began shaking in fear for unknown reasons. The many villains that were watching, raised eyebrows or whispered in question about what was happening, as they only saw the masked man's comrades stop dead in their tracks.

The dark man scoffed. "Weak. At least put up some resistance," He grumbled, showing signs of disappointment. "I heard Japanese were strong. That is why I come. To test my might against strong." His beady eyes slowly scanned the crowd, taking in the faces of everyone watching. "But I guess I'm being unfair, comparing you to those in the M'chipululu. So instead, I teach you a small phunziro, a lesson."

The tall man, still holding up the masked villain with one hand, reached behind his back with the other and pulled out something that was strapped to it. It was easy to distinguish that it was a weapon and an axe, no less by the sharpness surrounding the blade. *It had the shape of a one-handed battle axe with a blade shaped like a crescent moon. The belly of the axe was made of old dark and worn-out wood, while the curved handle was dark blue and seemed to have a well-made grip.* The final touches were artistic runes on the cheek and the neck of the blade. None of the Japanese origins could tell if they had any meaning, but most could agree that the design looked beautiful.

The man brandished the axe in front of his hostage's face, the blade close to licking the masked villain's nose. "You see, while I am strong, this weapon, this Chida, is unique. There are only a few in all of Africa, and I was lucky to find one. So... Unless you want me to show you why it is so desired..." The runes at the head of the blade seemed to glow menacingly at the threat, shining a blue light upon the dark man's face. "I advise you to back off!"

The masked villain didn't get a chance to respond as he was released, and he collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath as he tried to settle his red face. Everyone in the vicinity that wasn't involved watched as the friends of the Japanese man seemed to break out of whatever paralysed state they were in. Two of the braver ones rushed over to their downed friend, taking an arm each and backing away, keeping a cautious eye on the weapon-welding man.

Many villains in the vicinity shook their heads at the pitiful sight. Others rolled their eyes, and a few outright laughed, jeering at the masked villain's failed attempt at intimidation.

The People...

The dark-skinned man scoffed at the audience, refitting his axe back into its holster and continued his way to a more private spot, so he could wait for the action to start. He leaned against the rock, closing his eyes, as thoughts about the mission took his mind.

The task was simple. The dark-skinned man and all the others around him were tasked with hurting or even killing a bunch of pretentious kids from some top-notch school while their employer goes off and kills some big-shot 'hero'. How stupid. How easy. It was literary child's play. He had no issue killing brats. After all, he had done it before, and this time would be no different. And the reason why this mission was important and had gathered so many 'Villains', was because something something about society, something something a Peace symbol guy, and something something being free with no restrictions.

The dark beady-eyed man honestly didn't care. He was only here for the money, and as long as he had that, he could live his life to the fullest. And apparently, the only thing stopping him was some guy called 'All Might'. Everyone always talked about the supposed Peace Symbol of Japan everywhere he went in this country. Even the people that hated him constantly ranted about how the hero was so strong that he was invincible and whinged about their woes because of All Might's sole existence. It was honestly pathetic. So what if some tights-wearing idiot's mere name caused the weaklings around him to tremble with fear. He was not a weakling, and he didn't fear anything.

However, just as he thought that, an image popped into his mind, one that seemed to directly challenge his claim. Four dark silhouettes stood before him, unmoving and unchanging. Their faces and bodies were entirely hidden by pitch blackness as if they were shadows mirroring the bodies of those they were copying. Yet, despite their identities being obscured, the man knew exactly who they were.

The first figure was clearly male, standing with a confident yet extremely imposing swagger. Moreover, it held a variety of weaponry that was also covered in darkness. In one hand was a great-sword; the other had a large axe, and finishing off the ensemble was a shield that appeared to cover its whole back. However, regardless of that, the most eye-catching thing about the silhouette was the candescent crimson light that seemed to come from tribal tattoos etched over the figure's arms. It was hard to describe the design of the tattoos, as they seemed otherworldly, but they clearly had some significant meaning as the man's mind seemed to focus on and remember them with precise detail.

The second figure also had glowing tattoos of otherworldly nature. However, unlike the first, these burned an intense, vibrant yellow, as if you were staring at the sun. In addition, the intricately designed tribal marks were positioned around its forehead, acting like a crown of sort sorts, making it seem like this silhouette was a ruler of some kind. The only other difference was that this male didn't possess any weaponry on them. Still, it did nothing to reduce the sense of danger the profile gave off.

The third was noticeably different from the other silhouettes, as this one had a feminine statue. It had long hair and a voluptuous body that could only belong to a young woman. Like the first, it also had a weapon, carrying a single sword. However, it was conspicuously thin, as if it was a rapier and was held with an elegance fit for a queen. Last but not least, this silhouette shared a shimmering tattoo with the others. This one was coloured a vibrant neon green and was clearly the biggest of the four. It started underneath the neck and stretched to the middle of the chest, spiralling out like a rose or an exotic flower.

The last figure was the most contrasting of the four silhouettes. It was smaller than the others, standing about half the height as if it were a child. What was curious to note, however, was that while its upper torso was normal, the lower half was abhorrently disfigured, as multiple hands, arms and legs seemed to be coming out from its feet, or maybe it was from underneath them. The components appeared to bend at odd angles. They ranged in different sizes as if it was a deformed and demonised Buhhda statue. This silhouette gave off a sense of nausea and uncertainty, like you were standing lost in pitch darkness surrounded by the unknown. And the thing that made it worse was... those blue things.

"No!", The man grunted, shaking his head, trying to shake off the image of the four figures. "They're not here. Thos-Those Demons are rotting in Hell where they belong! And even if they were alive... I am strong now. I could kill them!" Despite his claim, he couldn't help the quiver in his voice. His eyes shifted toward his hands, which shook uncontrollably at his sides, acting like windows to his true feelings. Finally, the dark-skinned man released a shuddering sigh, calming himself and attempting to get his body under control. "It's okay...They are gone. And if they are still breathing, they are stuck in the Wasteland. I'm here, and they are there. I'm free." He reasoned, trying to convince himself.

There was a reason he had left the most tropical continent in the world. It was to get as far away as possible from anyone who knew him. His first choice was to head to America, the land of opportunity. However, whispers from the underground had convinced him otherwise. Apparently, the American government was very harsh with screening foreigners' quirks and the user's prior history. So the man thought it best to avoid background checks, as it was harder to lay low if people learned about his birth from Zambia and his involvement in the Wasteland. That was why he decided to come to Japan. The country was first-world, allowing him the thrills he never had when growing up, and he would also be away from anyone who could recognise him. And ever since he had arrived a month ago, that had yet to happen.

The Zambian descendant raised his head, gazing at the various distinct appearances of the Japanese villains around him, all restlessly waiting for their targets to arrive. Supposedly, the mist-like villain had a warp quirk that would teleport the children onto the laps of all the villains. The horned-Zambian man had heard about this mission from some other low-morale punks a few days after he arrived. The man opted to join since he didn't have much money, and the task seemed easy enough. He and everyone here didn't have to do much, just beat up or kill some kids while their employer dealt with the number one hero. It was an easy gig, so he wouldn't complain.

He would play his part for now, but he was out of here as soon as the job was done. He would not have his freedom suppressed as it once was. He would not be locked in chains as he once was. Even if he had to kill some kids or some big-time hero, he would not falter. And no one would stop him, not some Japanese 'Villains', not some stupid tights-wearing 'Heroes', not some damn spoon-fed kids, and not even those freaks in his vision. He would survive.

He will survive.

---

"What? Villains?" Kirishima exclaimed, "There's no way they could get into a hero school!"

Yaoyorozu stepped up from behind, "Teacher, what about the trespasser sensors?"

"Well, we do have them set up, but…." Thirteen trailed off, although the implication was clear.

"Did they only appear here or around the whole school?" A chill spread across Todoroki's palm as he walked forwards and questioned no one in particular. "In either case, the fact that the sensors are not responding suggests that they might have someone with a quirk who can achieve that." He glanced at their surroundings, observing them with a flat tone of voice without any trace of fear. "An isolated area separated from the main campus when a class is supposed to be here… They might be fools, but they're not dumb. This surprise attack was carefully planned with some goal in mind."

Eli had the same momentary impression that he was to blame for the assault on his classmates, that his identity had been discovered, and that these people were working together to eliminate him. But as he pondered that for a while, it gradually left his mind. The Lokadis had kept their identities a secret far too well, and they had made great efforts to do so. Therefore, it seemed unlikely that these haphazard guys, unmistakably Japanese, had come solely for him. But he best not dismiss it outright. Todoroki did, however, bring up a legitimate point.

What exactly was the purpose of this ambush?

"Thirteen, start the evacuation and try calling the school. Kaminari, you try doing the same with your Quirk," Aizawa ordered, loosening the wrappings around his neck. "There's a chance someone in their ranks has an electromagnetic-type Quirk that's interfering with our sensors."

"G-Got it," Kaminari replied, while Thirteen nodded in affirmation.

Midoriya stepped forward, "Wait, what are you going to do?" Knowing Aizawa, his Quirk, and his fighting style allowed him to predict how things would turn out if he attempted to take on so many villains simultaneously. "Even if you can negate some of their quirks, you can't manage that many villains at once. Your quirk is built for stealth missions and one-on-one confrontations, not massive gang fights like these".

Even though the green-haired boy's assessment was accurate, this did nothing to hinder the messy-haired hero. "You can't be a hero if you only have one trick."

The professional hero leapt into the fight like a knight charging against a horde of monsters, his mindset and fighting instincts primed. The first three villains in Aizawa's vicinity were assured in their numbers and quirks, but as soon as Eraserhead activated his Quirk, their assurance was instantly dashed. Shota's scarf wrapped itself around the three villains as they stood there bewildered, wondering what was going on. Finally, he waved them in the air and slammed all three of their skulls together, rendering them comatose.

Although slightly put off by how quickly the hero took care of three of them, the villains continued their assault and charged the hero, knowing who the hero was and his lack of a quirk with serious offensive potential. Sadly for them, Aizawa's skill and Quirk were far more than they had anticipated. Not only was his capture weapon efficient, but his goggles made it impossible for the villains to determine which Quirk the hero was erasing, allowing him to defeat a lot more villains than it should have been possible.

"There he goes, taking out our forces like they're nothing but gutter trash." The deranged leader with a glove to his face remarked. "Those goggles of his prevent them from knowing who is being nullified, and that's also making it difficult for them to function as a team. Tsk, The worst thing about professionals is when they live up to their reputation."

While Aizawa was dealing with the villains, Thirteen led the students to the exit. However, staying behind to watch were both Midoriya and, surprisingly, Eli, who stood somewhat off to the side. Midoriya appeared to be immensely impressed by how his homeroom instructor was holding his own against so many adversaries as he watched the conflict in awe. "Incredible! I overlooked the fact that sensei excels at one-on-group combat!"

'Hm, not bad,' Eli thought, observing the messy-haired hero's movements. As Midoriya had said, it was clear why this was Aizawa's specialty. Of course, since his goggles covered his eyes, it was challenging to know who the hero was looking at. Also, he was acrobatic and fast enough to duck and weave through the group of enemies, incapacitating several at once, making it more difficult for the villains to do anything. However, Eli noticed a tell, which, hopefully, the villains wouldn't be able to spot. Otherwise, the student's homeroom teacher would be in a difficult position.

Lokadi redirected his attention away from the beatdown and towards the enormous black beast that was idly watching the proceedings from a distance. The black-sclera teenager frowned, wondering why the hulking monstrosity hadn't moved yet. Out of all the individuals with vile intentions, that one gave some pretty nasty signals, albeit he couldn't explain why. Nevertheless, it seriously reminded the youngster of his native country.

"You two, come on!" Thirteen alerted the two students to their predicament when he saw them watching the fight. "We need to flee!"

Midoriya understood what his teacher was saying and sped off to the rest of his class. Eli did the same, taking off a few moments later, but not before casting one last glimpse at the dark creature that stayed in its position, watching the events take place.

Thirteen was hoping that Aizawa would give them enough time to distract the criminals long enough for the students to escape. However, the villains' attention seemed to be fixed on the children. When Class 1-A attempted to evacuate, Kurogiri, the transportation of the criminals, quickly interrupted their attempt. A black portal rose from the floor in the centre of the red walkway, and more swirling black matter poured out of it.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave," the wispy figure spoke, his deep voice and gleaming yellow eyes giving him a most imposing visage. "Greetings. We are the League of Villains. I apologise for the presumption, but we have invited ourselves to U.A., the home of the heroes, to have All Might, the Symbol of Peace, take his last breath."

He made the gesture of looking around as if searching for something. "And yet, I see no sign of All Might. So it appears there may have been some change in the plan because he was meant to be directing this class. In the end, however, it doesn't really matter. I still have a role to play." Kurogiri's mist body began expanding until it served as a wall barricading the students inside. Thirteen unsealed one of the holes in her fingers, preparing to activate her Quirk to protect the students. However, Kirishima and Bakugo beat her to the punch and pounced at the criminal before she could do anything. The two teenagers struck Kurogiri after activating their quirks, causing a massive explosion and thick clouds of smoke to fly into the air.

In the thick cloud of smoke, the two students were confident in their attacks, smirking as they stood victorious.

"Did you honestly think we'd just stand there like a bunch of sitting ducks?" exclaimed Kirishima. Then, the grey smoke began to disappear as the black smoke quickly emerged, wiping the smirks off the teenagers' faces.

"Impressive. You do definitely uphold the prestige of your school. But children, you need to use greater caution." Kurogiri's body was seen when the grey smoke dissipated, along with an oddly cloaked piece of armour. "If not, you could hurt yourself."

"Get back, you two!" The space heroine told her students to move out of the way as she prepared her strike after realising how ineffectual simple attacks were against this adversary. But Kurogiri would not just remain stationary and expose himself to attack.

"I'll scatter you across this facility so you can get acquainted with my comrades!" From the villain's body, several streams of black smoke shot out and swept through the throng of students. The to-be heroes were soon surrounded by Kurogiri's entire body as a dome-shaped mass of black smoke quickly engulfed them all. Overtaken by surprise and lacking an understanding of his opponent's capabilities, Eli did the only thing he could think of. The African launched the black smoke-like dagger he had previously conjured at the villain's sole possession other than mist, the metal-like sheet, from where the smoke originated. Unfortunately, he could not determine if his last-ditch attack had caused any long-lasting harm, as the boy and his classmates were quickly and entirely consumed by the pitch-black fog.

---

Alright, It's official; Lokadi Elijah did not like portals. Contrary to popular belief, portals were some of the worst forms of transportation. You never know where or how you'll end up when you go into one! Seriously! Going from one area and appearing in another sounded terrific. The idea of teleportation was appealing, but only if you had control over it. If you were forcefully teleported, then that was a different story altogether. This wasn't Eli's first time being teleported, but he had to admit that this was the cosiest one he had experienced. He didn't feel as if his body was getting ripped apart and then getting stitched back together. Although it was chilly, it was more relaxing than that and made him feel as though he were walking on clouds. He had the fleeting impression that he was in the skies during that brief passage through the mist, far from the terrifying claws that clawed into his skin, begging to tear his body apart. That wasn't the case.

Because of his past experiences in dealing with portals, Lokadi easily landed on his feet, knees slightly bent, and his left hand clutched another small black smoke-emitting blade positioned at the ready. Before he even had a chance to look around, he felt a sudden wetness on his cheek. He brought his hand slowly up to his eyes. Was he crying? No, that was impossible. He could confirm that he felt no tears welling up in his eyes. He felt another drop hit his forehead before he could question where the water had come from.

That's when Eli noticed the wind.

It thrashed back and forth through the deserted city streets while howling and wailing. Due to the strength of the wind, sheets of rain cascaded down and fell at an angle most would be frightened by. Eli rose to his feet and leant slightly forward to not be blown away as he braced himself against it. It was another thing that reminded him of the weather from his homeland. He took note of his surroundings as the storm raged around him, furious that it couldn't bring him down.

"Where the Hell am I?" The dark-skinned student mumbled to himself, turning in a circle. He noticed he was in an urban area with numerous three - to four-story buildings and streets with sidewalks and stop signs typical of a metropolis. The buildings were gloomy and lifeless, and the roads were completely deserted. The only thing stirring was the wind-churned water in the streets.

Eli looked up and saw the domed ceiling above him.

"I'm still in the USJ, must be in the rain zone." The African commented. "I wonder where everyone else is…."

He pondered what had just occurred while recalling what the smoke figure had stated. According to what he said, he meant to disperse the class throughout the facility and pick them off individually. The African clicked his tongue in annoyance, vexed for allowing himself to get caught by the smoke entity's attack. Since entering this nation, it seemed that his instincts had significantly waned. He assumed this was because he was adjusting to the free, peaceful lifestyle offered here. However, now he was stuck with no idea of the whereabouts of his classmates and the risks they were all about to face.

"Lokadi!" The black-sclera teenager looked to his left and saw a familiar student rushing towards him. The boy was relatively short, about a full head smaller than Lokadi. But that was pretty ordinary; Eli was taller than most, especially in Japan. However, what wasn't normal, was the black bird-like head on the teenage boy, presumably meant to mimic a crow or a raven. On each side of his head, he had a pair of thin, red eyes with small black pupils and a tan, yellowish beak that was somewhat hooked downwards at the tip. He was wearing knee-high black boots and a black robe with a dark purple hue and had it wrapped around his entire body up to his shins. Honestly, Eli dug the outfit, it was simple, but the all-black looked sick.

Eli instantly recognised him as Tokoyami (or was it Takayabii?). He was easy to remember, given he was the only person in their class with an avian-like head. Also, the guy's Quirk was unique and very similar to his own.

The African merely watched as the boy eventually stopped next to him, with no injuries in sight.

"Are you alright?" Tokoyami asked, looking Eli up and down for any wounds.

Eli only nodded his head once. "Yea... I'm good. You?"

"I'm doing fine. I'm pleased to see that you are not injured." Tokoyami nodded in thanks. "I'm glad we met before we caught sight of any villains-." It appeared as if the boy was going to say more, but the emergence of a croaky voice interrupted him.

"Well, well, took long enough." The two students turned their heads to a dimly lit alleyway where a man who had the appearance of a teal lizard emerged. He possessed a lengthy tail with sharp claws that fit his reptilian appearance. His vicious grin demonstrated that he was ready to rip his adversaries to pieces. "I was starting to wonder if we had to seek children on our own given how long Kurogiri was taking, but thank goodness some fresh pickings fell right on our laps."

"Finally, we can have some fun." Ten villains in total, each with a different arsenal of weapons and appearance, emerged from the shadows to deal with the students. "Nothing personal, but you kids will have to meet your maker."

These villains, who Shigaraki had hired to keep an eye on this area, had been waiting for Kurogiri to bring them some students to cut down. The goal was simple, they would kill the students, which would damage the prestigious name of U.A. High and All Might by doing this, and then they would kill the Number One Hero. This was all so they could live freely as criminals.

"Keep your guard up, Lokadi. We have no idea what we are up against." The avian student broadened his stance while tightening his focus on the several bad guys in their immediate vicinity. They had to be prepared for any attacks these perps had planned for them and to deal with whatever strange or deadly quirks they may employ to dismember them. After all, this was a fight.

Elijah couldn't help but groan. He really didn't want to do any fighting today. He should have called in sick and taken the day off; then, he could have avoided all this hassle. But, truth be told, he was kind of interested to see what a rescue class at a hero school would look like. It was outside the usual combat-focused lectures that U.A. constantly spoke over. The dark-skinned teenager had been hoping for something different, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. After all, apparently, rescuing people wasn't what heroes trained for. Haahhh... If only there was some way to escape this situation without fighting.

The African suddenly perked up as an idea popped into his mind. While he doubted it would work, if he could avoid fighting altogether, it was worth a try.

"Umm..." Eli cleared his throat as he slowly raised a hand. "Can you guys...Ah, please let us go? You don't have to do this."

An awkward silence followed his question as if the world had stopped to ensure his request had been heard. "Huh?" The villains looked at the student with the black sclera as if he were brain-dead. What kind of stupid question was that? Likewise, Tokoyami was taken aback by his classmate's plea, which caused his mouth to gape open and his fists to drop slightly. Instead of trying to convince their opponents to heed a request that had no possibility of success, Lokadi should have been keeping his guard up and being ready for attacks. Was he really so terrified of these men?

After a few moments, a snicker was heard, which was soon joined by another. "Heh, hehe," And then eventually full-blown laughter.

"Haha!" All the villains began cackling as if they had just been told the funniest joke they had ever heard. They held their stomachs, their heads leaned back, and one even laughed so hard that they fell to the ground. Tokoyami watched with a scowl at the display, although he could understand why they acted like this. It was silly to try to appeal to these criminals' good conscious, especially since the villains seemed eager to harm or, even worse, kill them at a moment's notice. Lokadi never struck Tokoyami as the naive type that would try to see the best in people. In fact, it felt like the opposite, especially with what the dark-skinned teenager had demonstrated during the Battle Trail. So this change of behaviour was quite unexpected.

"Get a load of this guy!" One of the villains laughed, pointing at the African student. "This kid is already scared shitless!"

"Apparently, this Gaijin is an idiot!" The villain with the reptile visage yelled out while still sporting a wide toothy grin. "Trying to make us feel sorry for you because you're too terrified to die and trying to bargain your way out of this—in the hope we'll spare your lives! Well, that's not happening!"

"Yea, you've got a good point!" another villain continued, "I mean, look at him! He's a Gaijin, and like that other one, I bet they're super weak. So let's teach him a real lesson he'll never forget!"

"Once we get rid of you guys, and Shigaraki kills All Might, we'll be one step closer to being truly free and doing whatever the hell we want! Where only the strong survive!" One of the villains with a bulky build opted to take the first initiative and rushed towards the dark-skinned teenager. His Quirk was a very simple and unremarkable strength-enhancing power, but it was nevertheless sufficient to gravely harm or even kill a regular person; one punch could pierce through the skin and muddle his opponent's internal organs if he landed a clean hit.

Sadly for the villain, he didn't get a chance to land the blow. Instead, he felt something firm strike him in the middle of the throat, instantly severing his oxygen supply before he knew what had happened. The villain croaked, gasping for air as his windpipe was temporarily crushed. His hands immediately went to his neck in an effort to somehow lessen the anguish. Still, he was only able to manage a few gasps. Finally, the large man slowly fell to his knees as panic began to settle in, and he continued to battle for breath. The bulky villain then noticed the African teenager standing before him, looking down at him indifferently whilst holding a smoking black knife. He quickly put two-and-two together, and fear began to fill his heart.

"Freedom, huh?" The villain felt his body run cold when he saw the Azura-blue pupils flash dangerously on the African's face of indifference. "How...Boring."

This wasn't the first time Elijah had heard someone crave for freedom, believing that once they had it, they would be free to act however they pleased without facing any repercussions. This thought was prevalent worldwide, and you didn't need to be a 'villain' to desire it. People had been fighting for freedom centuries before quirks were even a thing. Hoping to be unshackled from the laws that society pushed down upon them. It is just that Quirks made it easier for people to fight.

Four other villains attempted to save their teammate and strike the dark-skinned student while he was distracted. But before they could showcase their quirks, Tokoyami's stomach produced a large shadow that rapidly despatched three of the group. With his unique ability, Dark Shadow, Tokoyami was able to conjure a huge dark matter creature that resembled a bird, which he utilised to render his adversaries helpless. As a result, all three of the avian student's opponents went sent soaring through the air for several metres and into the walls of buildings by Dark Shadow.

As for the fourth opponent, Lokadi hurled his smoke-like dagger at the criminal. The villain's eyes widened as they saw the incoming weapon, and could barely duck under it as it darted overhead. Unfortunately, the villain didn't have time to realise this was a mere diversion, as Eli was already upon them. The teenager smoothly performed a roundhouse kick directly into his opponent's jaw with a force that instantly knocked them out for the count.

The remaining villains experienced a sudden rush of terror. They had been too arrogant. They had overestimated their quirks' power and believed their sheer numbers would be sufficient to defeat a pair of students. However, as soon as five of their comrades had been eliminated within a few moments, the villains realised their odds of winning were significantly reduced.

"Attack, Dark Shadow!" The remaining villains were too terrified to evade or fight against the Quirk's extraordinary strength as Tokoyami ordered his shadowy beast to strike. Its monstrously sized claws swept up all the remaining bad guys, producing a minimal boom from the collision. The villains' bodies were raised into the air by Dark Shadow, who then crashed them into the earth, leaving a tiny crater behind and the criminals' unconscious bodies.

Tokoyami tenderly patted the winged creature on the head as it roared in victory. "The battle has ended," Tokoyami whispered, "Calm down, Dark Shadow."

Eli gazed at the shadowy being in interest as his fellow student calmed his alter-ego like it were his pet.

'How interesting.'

He had only briefly observed Tokoyami using his Quirk during the battle trial and the Quirk Apprehension Test. He could only get a few looks at it here and there, but he observed the form and shape of the quirk were unique in these parts. The dark teenager also noted how much larger this shadowy creature was than it had been during the Quirk Apprehension Test.

Eli wondered why that was.

"My quirk's power is affected by light," Tokoyami explained, noticing the pitch-black scleras gaze and answering the unasked question. "The darker the area, the stronger Dark Shadow becomes, although this makes him more difficult to control. But if it's bright, then Dark Shadow becomes weaker. However, thanks to the heavy rain and clouds, the lack of light gave Dark Shadow enough power to take care of these villains without trouble."

Very interesting.

"Impressive," Eli complimented.

Tokoyami nodded in appreciation. "I would say the same regarding your Quirk. It is most versatile. Although..." His avian head turned towards the first villain, who had passed out from lack of air. "Are you sure you didn't take it too far by cutting that villain's throat with your blade?"

"Don't worry, I just punched it and closed his airway for a sec," The dark-skinned teenager stated, easing his classmate's concerns. "He just passed out from panicking."

Tokoyami let out a small sigh of relief. "That is good to hear. It would be terrible if you got in trouble for merely protecting yourself in self-defence." The avian-headed boy replied before deciding to turn his attention to the current situation, which was more urgent. "Do you believe our classmates will be alright if they were put in the same situation as us?"

Eli hummed. "If the enemies are similar to these, they should be fine. These guys are pretty weak." Eli stated neutrally. He wasn't exactly lying when he said that. These 'Villains' were far from being considered warriors or fighters. If anything, Eli barely considered them above civilians, who relied only on their more significant numbers to be considered powerful. Hell, he had seen farmers from the villages in his homeland put up better fights than these 'Villains', protecting their farms, livestock or family. It was genuinely pathetic.

"Yes, you are right. Our classmates can handle whelps like these." Tokoyami nodded before raising his arm to wipe the rain pelting his face. "I believe we should head back to the entrance of the venue. That way, we can reconvene with the teachers and the others."

"Fine with me," Eli shrugged and followed the bird-headed student who led them towards the exit.

The constant rain that had continued to hit them vanished as soon as they stepped out of the ruined city, making it seem like it was never there to begin with. The two U.A. students looked around and noticed they were still in the USJ, as previously summarised. They stood just outside the Downpour Storm Zone, located near the opposite side of the entrance, between the Flood and Conflagration zones. While they could see the venue's access from where they were transported, it was on the other side of a large central hub.

"It appears the entrance is on the opposite side," Tokyami commented, squinting his eyes as he looked past the central plaza. "It might take us a great deal of time to get back, given that we have to go through the plaza, where most of the villains are located."

The African narrowed his eyes as he saw glimpses of Aizawa jumping around and still fighting a large herd of villains. He also noticed that the sizeable ominous creature with its brain visible was still positioned where it once was, having not left its place.

In truth, something told him to avoid that creature, not because he was scared of it, but because something was warning him to stay away. Maybe it was his instincts. Perhaps it was his intuition. But in the end, Eli knew that he had to listen to it.

Tokoyami began walking forward, heading towards the centre of the USJ. "Come, we best head to the entrance."

He didn't get far before Eli stopped him.

"Wait..." The dark teen called out, his voice getting his classmate's attention, who stopped. Eli slowly let his gaze scan the majority of the USJ, taking in the different zones and the central plaza. "Let's avoid going straight to the entrance."

Tokoyami blinked. His face was somewhat stunned by what his classmate had suggested. Didn't they agree that their best course of action was getting to the USJ entrance? "Why would we do that? We must get to the entrance where everyone else is, correct?"

Eli hummed, focusing on the central plaza where most of the fighting occurred. "If we go through the centre, we'll only be in Aizawa's way." He clarified bluntly. "To stay clear of that, we should go around."

"I see your point," The avian-headed teenager muttered, frowning slightly at the comment. "But that would take us time. Given that, we would need to go around the Flood zone." He pointed to his left, where an area simulated a maritime environment with a lake, a ship stationed in the middle, and even a waterslide near the back.

Eli hummed deeply again, looking at the zone closest to the entrance. He frowned slightly; he really didn't want to go near the water. Sure, it was childish; the teenager knew this, but not knowing how to swim did that to you. Plus, he didn't wanna take the chance of having to fight someone in the pool. Otherwise, he knew he'd be in big trouble.

His azure-blue pupils then drifted towards his right, where he saw several other zones. The nearest being an area with a large circular wall encompassing it, blocking it from view, and behind it, a mountainous zone with rocky cliffs. An idea slowly formed in his head.

"How about we go to each zone and help everyone as we head to the entrance?"

Tokoyami blinked, surprised once more at his classmate's idea. "Uh, why would we do that?" The boy shook his head as if he had said something rude. "I mean, I'm not against the idea. But didn't you say earlier that our classmates are competent and can deal with most of these lowly villains? So shouldn't we go by the flood zone and then straight to the entrance?"

"We could... While I don't doubt that everyone can handle themselves against these...Villains," Damn, even saying that word to describe those people felt stupid. "Since we are on the other side, we might as well pass by the other zones to double-check they're okay."

While they could take the shorter route of passing by the Flood zone to the entrance, the problem was that they would have a higher chance of getting mixed up with the black creature in the plaza. Sure, they would likely tangle with other villains, numbering in the dozens, if they were to help their classmates. But, if they were anything like the ones they had already fought, it was better to take their chances with the weaker villains whilst also gathering their classmates.

Tokoyami took a moment to think about his classmate's words, looking around to take in the situation. His eyes roamed over all the zones, the central plaza and the far entrance where they first entered. Elijah couldn't tell whether the teenager was attempting to find a flaw in the idea or was trying to create one of his own. Finally, however, he got an answer when the avian-headed boy turned back around and nodded.

"This is acceptable. I would feel responsible if our classmates got hurt when we had the power to lend aid. Let us head to the other zones."

Hmm, this guy is a good dude.

The African returned the nod. "Since there is only the Flood to the left. Let's head right. We will go around that way." He gestured to their right towards a large dome, a small-scale replica of the whole USJ. But, unlike its counterpart, this building was painted a fiery red, with marks that looked like flames. "I think that's the Conflagration zone, meaning your shadow..."

Tokoyami immediately understood the implication. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the next dome was likely related to fire and intense heat. The boy had already mentioned that Dark Shadow had a weakness to light, so being in an area where fire would likely surround them, would greatly hinder the student. "That's fine. It just means I might require more of your aid if that's alright?" The avian-headed boy asked, tightening his robe around him. "I will try my best to avoid being a nuisance."

"It's okay," Eli reassured the boy. "I'll take the DPS role, and you the support for the next zone." The smoke-like blade he created reappeared in his hand, still in a constant gas-like state. "Then once we're out, we'll swap back. Your Quirk is suitable for Tanking and DPS."

Tokoyami raised an eyebrow at the word choice, recognising the gaming terms the dark-skinned teen casually threw out. He had only known about them cause those were common words used when he was on multiplayer servers when he was gaming. He guessed it made sense that Lokadi was knowledgeable in video games. He sometimes caught sight of his African classmate playing something on his phone whenever it was a boring lesson, like English or Maths. While Tokoyami thought it was a bit disrespectful, he never said anything in class since he would also feel utter boredom at times when sitting in the classroom. A small part of him wondered what games Lokadi was into, whether he focused on multiplayer or preferred single-player video games. But Tokoyami quickly put that thought aside for another time, as they had a critical mission to do.

"That is acceptable. Let us hurry!"

Lokadi gave a short, curt nod, and the duo began to run towards the next building, which likely held more classmates inside, who hopefully hadn't gotten thoroughly hurt in this disaster.

---

Yaoyorozu Momo liked to believe that she was a capable individual, if not a genius. Her mother had called her as such.

She had mastered her first creation, a Matryoshka doll, by creating all the component pieces, material makeup, assembling procedure, and finishing coat at an early age.

This feat wasn't extraordinary or noteworthy. But, although Yayorozu's father could have done it, she received credit for it because she constructed it when she was only six years old.

Even though it was diverse and robust, the young girl and her father's Quirk was naturally more difficult to wield than other quirks. Take her classmate Bakugo as an example; all it took was for his Quirk to be activated in order to cause an explosion.

She was by no means dismissing the implications of his Quirk, but if she wanted to make something that could also explode, she would need to think about a grenade's chemical makeup, its components, and its basic shape in order to make it, and then she would need to throw it. There were a lot more steps involved to achieve the same results. Although her Quirk was challenging to employ, it was versatile. This answered why her mother referred to her as a genius.

Thanks to her parents, she could apply to a prodigious middle school known for its high academic level. There, she was able to quickly learn and use the various subjects to better herself, which allowed her to achieve incredibly high marks, often ranking first in every field of study. This also had the added benefit of applying knowledge, such as chemistry, into ways to use her Quirk.

Her power, an enhanced version of her father's, allowed her to change the molecular makeup of her fat cells to manufacture any non-living material or object from her skin. Of course, she needed to know the molecular structure of the material in order to make it. Because of this, Yayorozu often spent many nights reading encyclopedias of different subjects to expand her internal library of things she could create. Therefore, she would be able to adapt to any situation and always be able to lend aid.

That wasn't the only area she focused on, as when she told her parents of her dream of becoming a hero, they signed her up for private self-defence lessons. Hiring over a dozen instructors who each specialised in different aspects of martial arts. Yaoyorozu's personal favourite was Bōjutsu. While it was reasonably easy to use, it was one of the most versatile weapons in martial arts. Moreover, it remained one of the most effective at close quarters.

However, the most crucial lesson she learned, which every teacher emphasised, was that staying composed under pressure was essential. Keeping your cool would help in making rational decisions and thinking logically. And being able to think clearly was crucial when trapped in a conflict. Clarity makes it much easier to think through answers if one's mind is clear and at ease.

While Yaoyorozu would admit, a small part of her worried when she was suddenly teleported to a mountainous area surrounded by villains. She was able to squash that feeling down when she realised she wasn't the only U.A. student there.

Crouched next to her, both underneath a large blanket, was Jirō Kyōka, who had a pair of headphone jacks hanging from her earlobes. Apparently, she could channel the sound of her heartbeat through them in the form of a violent vibration attack. When they were surrounded, She was accommodating with her sound-based attacks, which dealt with multiple villains simultaneously.

The other classmate who had teleported here was the blonde student Kaminari Denki, whose Quirk allowed him to generate electricity and cover his body in it. He could also emit this energy over long distances, which helped take out most of the villains in the Mountain Zone. But, unfortunately, Kaminari had little to no control over it, meaning it would go everywhere indiscriminately. Thankfully though, Yayorozu was able to construct an insulated blanket that protected both her and Jiro from his electricity and permitted Kaminari to go all out and deal with the remaining villains.

Well... It should have dealt with all the villains.

While they had managed to defeat the team of villains surrounding them, many of whom lay scattered across the ground. A dastardly individual seemed to avoid this fate, who had snuck up behind Kaminari and was now holding him hostage.

Oddly enough, the blonde U.A. student didn't seem to register his situation, as the boy was seen giving a thumbs up with a weird look on his face. "Whee! Whee! Whee!" Kaminari brayed, his glazed eyes staring into space with a frighteningly bizarre grin. It was like he had short-circuited his brain and become dumb.

"Damn it! Why did that dumbass have to go and get caught?" Jiro grumbled as she got to her feet in front of Yayoruzu, noticing the vice president's lack of attire. "Now we have to save his stupid butt!"

"We were too careless…." Momo said, gritting her teeth in frustration at her mistake.

A boisterous laugh suddenly resonated behind the villain and the hostage, grabbing the attention of everyone present. "Wow! That is a killer weakness if I've ever seen one."

Yayorozu and Jiro's eyes widened as they took sight of another villain who casually made his way to the confrontation. He stood taller than almost every other villain they had faced, towering over 200 centimetres. The individual was not only big but very muscular, with a broad chest and a dark, heavily armoured vest covering it. He had a long face with black stripe-like patterns for a beard and hairstyle, and black beady eyes that seemed to dart everywhere like a pigeon. Yet surprisingly, His legs were relatively thin compared to his muscular arms. However, the feature that caught their attention the most was the sizeable singular horn that looked to penetrate out between his eyes and nose, reaching above his head.

They also noted that the villain had a darker complexion than most Japanese-originated people. It was clear that he was a foreigner as his skin tone didn't appear to be a side effect of a quirk either, like Tokoyami's crow head or Shoji's mutant Quirk. But, for some reason, as the U.A. students watched him cautiously, they couldn't help but feel he had a similar origin to their African classmate.

"Heh! So you made it out alive, huh, Gaijin?!" The villain who held Kaminari called out, smirking at the other man. "I guess you can back up your words after all!"

The dark man only shot him a slight glance. "Hmph. I wouldn't fall to such an obvious attack."

Yayorozu bit her lip. Their situation had just been made worse with the appearance of the horned man. If it was only the villain holding Kaminari hostage, they might have figured out a way to possibly subdue the villain before he could hurt the blonde. However, now that there were two of them, that made things considerably harder.

The first villain turned back to the two U.A. girls, tightening his grip on their blonde classmate. "Well, that's too bad for you brats, huh? So now you got two of us to deal with." He laughed maliciously. "So why don't you be good little brats, and we might not kill ya?"

As the man cackled loudly, Jiro tried to discreetly extend one of her headphones jacks behind her back and let it trail downwards. Next, she planned to attach it to her boots, specially designed to amplify the sound of her heartbeat. Then, she hoped she could let off a surprise attack that would distract and disorient the two villains and allow them to get Kaminari back.

However, just before her jack could connect to the slot, something fast rocketed towards it. Jiro let her instincts take over, and she leapt to the side, causing her to bump shoulders with the vice president of Class 1-A, almost making them fall down. Then, as if feeling in danger, her jack quickly retracted back to its regular length, like a cable on a vacuum cleaner.

Whatever sped towards her made an audible crash as it went past her and collided with the large rock placed a few metres behind her, kicking up a fair amount of dust. Jiro and Yayoruzu, who was still covered by the insulated blanket, both slowly looked back at the object that nearly hit the Earphone Jack Quirk user. What they saw was a one-handed axe that glowed a cool blue light against the orangery brown rocks. It was embedded deeply into the side of the rock and created spiderweb cracks that ran around the stone. The two girls were sure that if the weapon had hit Jiro, she likely would have been seriously injured or could have possibly lost her foot entirely.

"Easy there, Umukashana," The dark man spoke broken Japanese in a deep and hoarse voice. From the look of his outstretched hand, it was clear that he was the one who had thrown the axe. "You best think calmly."

"Too bad, brats!" The other villain, still holding Kaminari tightly, cackled loudly, seemingly making his work associate twitch in irritation. "I'm much too smart to get beaten by a couple of spoonfed br-"

The villain was cut off as a foot collided with the side of his head, forcing him to release his hold on the blonde teenager and launching him a few meters away from where he was. The man was knocked out before he even touched the ground as he landed heavily on his side, right in front of the darker-skinned villain.

"Sorry, but you don't seem that smart to me," the newcomer who had kicked the villain chuckled as he landed cleanly on his feet, using his tail to catch himself. "But you sure do fall like a dumber one."

Yayorozu and Jiro blinked a couple of times as they took in who had arrived, but as soon as they saw the boy's tail and plain karate gi tied with a black belt, they realised who it was.

"Ojiro!"

The young Ojiro Mashirao had a muscular physique and short, blond hair that swept to the front of his head. His eyes were small and lacked any lower eyelashes. Overall he had a pretty bland appearance. The only thing that could set him apart from an ordinary person was due to his Quirk, which gave him an utterly hairless tail, save for the tip.

Ojiro landed before the still burnt-out Kaminari, ensuring his body was between the brain-fried student and the two villains. He turned his head slightly towards his female classmates.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late, but I'm glad I could make it before something bad happened."

Yayorozu gave a relieved smile. "No. You made it right on time."

"About time we got back up!" Jiro huffed, seemingly stressed out by the previous hostage situation. "What took you so long?"

"Yea, sorry, I was stuck in a pickle of my own not long ago," The tailed boy clarified, scratching the back of his neck. "But thankfully, Tokoyami and Lokadi came and helped me out."

"Tokoyami and Lokadi?"

"Yeah! If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to make it here,"

Like many other students, Ojiro had been teleported into one of the many disaster zones and surrounded by multiple villains. Unlike others, however, he had been transported alone, with none of his classmates in sight.

At first, he was perturbed, not just for himself but also for his classmates, as he wasn't sure where anyone else was. He also couldn't help but be worried that he was surrounded by so many villains, each looking incredibly intimidating, all in their own right. But that slowly vanished as more confidence began to appear after they started to attack him. The villains weren't exactly skilled in the art of combat. They seemed to rely solely upon the brute force of their Quirks and lacked any technique or noticeable training. This allowed Ojiro a much easier time to avoid getting hit by the villains' attacks. However, while his ambushers were simplistic in using their Quirks, they, unfortunately, had a significant advantage in numbers. Compared to his lonesome self, he was encircled by 12 individuals who all seemed eager to take his life from him. Whenever the U.A. student tried to counterattack or go on the offensive, another villain would pop up and prevent him from doing so.

Another problem came from the fact that Ojiro needed more firepower to put his opponents down quickly and effectively. Whenever he would land a good hit and knock a villain down, it wasn't strong enough to keep them down, as some would slowly get back to their feet. In addition, his Quirk, Tail, didn't pack much of a punch compared to the likes of his classmates. For example, Bakugo, Todoroki, or even Midoriya realistically only needed a single move to render one or multiple people down for the count.

Truthfully, he sometimes felt a hint of jealousy at the fact that he would likely never be able to replicate such levels of power. But, he was able to squash those feelings down, as there were plenty of ways to be a respected hero, not just by having a strong Quirk.

However, despite the dire circumstances, Ojiro was able to knock unconscious half of the bad guys by the time reinforcements arrived, in the form of Tokoyami and surprising Lokadi. Then, with only a little chat, the three students were able to clear out the rest of the villains with no added effort. Afterwards, Tokoyami quickly explained what was happening and what the two dark-wearing students were doing, resulting in Ojiro agreeing with the plan and following along.

The next destination was the halfway mark around the USJ, the Mountainous Zone. While the boys didn't know who of their classmates were teleported there, they quickly dashed out of the Conflagration Zone and headed to the next area. Although as they ran, they noticed a handful of villains scattered about and decided to subdue them so they wouldn't cause much trouble. However, as they prepared to do this, the 1-A students noticed large bolts of electricity shooting sporadically into the air some distance in the mountainous area. Ojiro decided to leave the villains for his two classmates and headed to where he saw the energy shoot out. He saw his fellow blonde classmate, Kaminari, being held hostage and Yayorozu and Jiro at a standstill with two villains. Without much thought, Ojiro quickly leapt into action, leading to the situation that they were currently in.

"Then where are they?!" Jiro asked, her voice taking on a frustrated tone. "They didn't ditch us, right?"

Ojiro shook his head in denial. "They should be here soon. They told me to run ahead whilst they dealt with a few runaway villains."

"Regardless,I'm relieved that you arrived to lend us aid," Yayoruzu smiled, showing a grateful expression. She tightened her hold on the insulated blanket still wrapped around her. Unfortunately, she used most of her lipids to create the large material, so it could block out most of Kaminari's electricity. Therefore, it would take time before she could make wearable clothes once more. She turned back to the front and narrowed her eyes at the sole remaining villain. "And thanks to your help, we only have one last villain left."

The trio of U.A. students got into readied stances, preparing for the upcoming fight. However, as they did, their enemy simply chose to ignore them, with the man staring down at the downed villain that Ojiro had knocked out.

The dark man with the heavy vest watched the unconscious face of one of his associates, his body lying at his feet. Then, the man vociferously clicked his tongue.

"...Pathetic," As if to emphasise this point, the man kicked the already comatose villain in the side of the head. It was so brutal that it snapped the downed man's head to the other side and would have knocked out the villain if he weren't already. Jiro, Ojiro, and Yayorozu couldn't help but wince or flinch at the terrible sight.

"Couldn't even kill a bunch of kids." The horned man muttered, shaking his head in apparent disappointment. "And my name isn't Gaijin, Mutt. It is Djoku." The dark-skinned man's head slowly rose, where his eyes met the unnerved teenagers of U.A. "You abana...children, have done well getting this far. But it ends here."

The newly named Djoku raised one of his muscular arms and pointed it at them. "While I don't enjoy killing kids, I have a job to do, so one of you will have to die," The dark villain admitted, mildly shrugging as if he was an employee tasked with a tedious job. "But in order of fairness, I will allow you to run, and the last person shall ukuleka...forfeit, their life."

A silence seemed to overwhelm the students as they gulped in slight nervousness, realising that the villain was being serious. But, truthfully, it took a moment to truly understand what the villain was saying, as the man's deep, coarse voice did not help the broken Japanese.

But without so much as a glance, the trio of hero hopefuls quickly responded.

"No!/Never!"

Their words were loudly carried out throughout the mountain range, showcasing their will and courageous hearts in not leaving any of their fellow classmates behind.

"Did you really think we would just agree to that?!" Jiro called out.

"We would never do that!" Ojirio growled.

"We are striving to be heroes, and leaving a fellow comrade in danger is not what pro-heroes would do," Yayorozu declared, steeling her resolve. "And as future heroes to be, we will follow their example!"

Another silence filled the air. However, this time instead of being full of awkwardness trying to understand what was said, it was filled with the students' determination. The villain stared hard at the brave faces of the U.A. students before shaking his head in exasperation.

"Fools," Djoku snarled, feeling some irritation at the mentioning of the word 'Heroes' again. Seriously were Japan and other first-world countries so successful that they could get children to run around doing make-believe? Were they so far up their own asses that they allowed their citizens to pretend to be tight-wearing idiots that can fantasise about being saviours? Was this normal everywhere? If so, was his homeland of Zambia and other struggling nations so far behind societally that while everyone's primary thoughts were to survive by any means necessary, this place lived so freely that they could sate their own fantasies. Life truly wasn't fair.

"It seems you don't understand how the world actually works," The dark-skinned man muttered, narrowing his beady eyes at them. "Let me teach you!" As he finished, Djoku snapped his arm out towards the teenagers.

The U.A. students tightened their stances in response, hoping to anticipate the villains' attack. But confusion soon fell on their faces as they saw nothing happen in the direction of the villain, as he merely stood there with his arm out.

"Wha-"

"Jiro, get down!" Yayorozu's voice suddenly called out, jumping on top of Jiro in desperation as something zoomed right past where Jiro's head used to be. A small scream also left the vice-president of 1-A's lips as the thing that passed them cut into her left shoulder, leaving a more than superficial but not severe wound.

The object darted through the air before being caught in Djoku's outstretched hand. The students realised that what attacked them was, in fact, the one-handed battle axe that had previously been thrown at Jiro earlier. The weapon glowed brighter in the palm of the villain as if satisfied that it had returned to its owner.

"Oh, crap! Vice-Prez, are you alright?!" The earphone jack user panicked as she saw blood slowly drip down the girl's arm. The spiky-haired teenager winced as she slowly got off her classmate.

"I-I'm fine," She murmured, taking care not to stretch her arm to further damage the shoulder. "It's fairly shallow, and I don't believe it cut any vital areas. But, I need to wrap it."

Ojiro glanced back at them but kept facing forward at the villain, on guard for any more surprise attacks. "Are you both okay?"

"We're fine!" Jiro answered, positioning herself in front of her wounded classmate. "Yayorozu got nicked, but it wasn't deep."

"Good," The tail boy sighed in relief before obtaining a determined expression. "It looks like his Quirk allows him to throw and return that axe of his back to his hand!" Ojiro estimated, watching as the villain twirled the weapon in his hand. "If we watch out for that and find a way to get rid of it, then we should be able to deal with him." He declared in hopes of raising his comrades' spirits.

Djoku scoffed. "Have you really figured it out?"

Ojiro readied himself as he saw the dark-skinned man turn his eyes onto him. The villain's beady black eyes looked past his singular horn, drilling deep into those of the tailed boy. As Ojiro locked gazes with Djoku, the boy instantly sensed a shift, like a flipped switch in his mind. His instincts suddenly screamed at him, practically yelling at him to run, but for some reason, he couldn't.

Ojiro tried to turn away, but he found that he couldn't. He tried to yell out but found once again that he couldn't. He tried to avert his eyes, but no matter what he did, he couldn't. His gaze was permanently locked on the unblinking and stony eyes of the villain.

At the edge of his peripheral, Ojiro noticed that his surroundings seemed to blur, making it hard to distinguish what was around him. The focus of his eyes continued to diminish as the blurriness appeared to travel inwards, gradually swallowing more of his vision until only the villains' beady eyes were crisp and clear.

Fear began to grip the tailed boy's heart, questioning what was happening. His whole body was frozen like a statue, as if he had sleep paralysis, where the only thing he could feel or move was his eyes. His breath caught on itself, struggling to go in or out of his body, making it feel like an elephant was trying to balance purely on his chest. Ojiro wasn't sure if it was because of what was happening to him or if it was from his mixture of fear and panic. However, the thing that made that slight fear turn into terror was the growing size of the villain he locked eyes with.

First, it was the eyes, the black beady orbs slowly doubling in dimensions. Next, the horn grew higher than before, expanding in proportions, followed by the head. Then it was the rest of the body. What once stood a man about 6ft 2 in height was now a hulking figure well over 8ft, with eyes still drilling deep into Ojiro's tiny ones.

The poor U.A. student felt like he was standing in front of a giant, which to his eyes, he was. The colossal being only needed to stomp on him like an ant to prove that point. And no matter what the teenager did, he was frozen solid like a deer in headlights, stuck at the mercy of the gigantic villain.

However, unknown to the tailed boy, the villain had actually not grown in size. In fact, the villain was still where he was, twirling his axe in his hand, with a satisfied smirk on his face, while the other U.A. students looked somewhat confused about what was happening.

"O-Ojiro-san?"

"Oi, Ojiro, aren't you listening?!" Jiro called out for what felt like the 3rd time. "Hey, stop ignoring us. We are trying to come up with a plan!"

Djoku let out a small chuckle. "He can't hear you. He's stuck in my...what's the word...Quirk."

"Quirk?" Yayorozu raised her eyebrows in surprise, her voice low and murmured, barely audible to all except Jiro. She then focused on the weapon that was held by the dark-skinned villain, with its sky-blue glow drawing her eye. "But isn't his Quirk a telekinesis-type that revolves around his axe?"

"If it isn't, then how is Ojiro paralysed?" Jiro asked, her expression sharing the confusion with her female classmate. "If he got hit by the axe, then it would make some sense, but the fact that he was nowhere near it doesn't seem like the case."

The spiky-haired girl stayed silent for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "That can only mean that this villain somehow possesses more than one Quirk."

Jiro snapped her head at her fellow student in shock. "What?! Are you saying he has two Quirks? Isn't that, like, impossible? I thought no one could have more than one Quirk." The girl voiced, utterly stupefied by the situation. She wasn't precisely wrong with her statement. It was well-known that having more than one Quirk wasn't possible. The human body was simply not designed to be able to handle it. Jiro had read from various sites in middle school that this was because things called 'Quirk factors', which every person was born with, were biological mechanisms that allowed a person's power to function correctly. They acted similarly to DNA; if someone tried to add or modify their Quirk Factor, it would kill them. That's why no one was stupid enough to try to get more than one.

However, some exceptions existed, like quirks considered 'Hybrids'. A perfect example was Todoroki Shouto, whose Quirk 'Half Hot Half Cold' had two different abilities. He could freeze things on one side, and on the other, he could heat things up, essentially giving him two quirks. And yet, despite the multiple applications, it was technically listed as a single quirk. The first time Jiro had heard that, she couldn't help but feel a little envious. So not only was the two-haired coloured boy the son of the number two hero, but also he got to have a super overpowered Quirk.

"It appears that it might be the case," Yayorozu clarified, panting as her hands closed around her wound, which was still bleeding.

"Oh, Ifyakusalapo," Djoku smiled crookedly, seemingly impressed at the girls' deduction. He applauded, lightly hitting his axe against his palm. "You kids are the first since I came here to figure out that much of what goes on. Cisuma sana." The dark-skinned man slowly lowered his weapon.

"I normally don't do this, but because I'm in good mood and you Asians likely have never heard of something like this. How about I give little reward and explanation," The axe shinned slightly brighter in the villain's hand as if taking pleasure at being clearly seen. "This type of weapon is Ifyakupepelako...very rare, in Africa. So much so that people are willing to kill each other for just a chance to wield one. That's because each one essentially has a Quirk of their own, meaning the owner gets to use two powers." Djoku brandished the weapon to the side, allowing it to be displayed in all its glory.

"In my tongue, these weapons are named Ifyashimikwa, or as other countries like to call them, Mythics."

At the explanation, the U.A. student's eyes all widened in shock. Items, such as weapons having Quirks, shouldn't be possible. It has always been known that Quirks manifest only in humans, never objects. Quirks were summarised as extensions of a person's bodily functions. As such, they could be trained and worn out. When a person works out their muscles, the muscle fibres are destroyed, and new, stronger ones grow back; this same rule applies to Quirks. However, things that didn't have the concept of muscles, like axes, couldn't possibly possess a Quirk. It was like saying that the ocean could be made of cardboard. It was impossible. And it was Jiro who was the one who made this fact known.

"Are you an idiot?!" She called out, her expression a mixture of disbelief and anger boiled over from the USJ attack. "Everyone knows that only people can get Quirks!"

"Believe what you will. It does not concern me," The horned man merely shrugged, not phased by the little girl's outburst. "But a word of advice, don't let your ukucingililwa...sheltered...mind stop you from learning new things," Djoku advised before slowly turning his eyes to the still-frozen boy. "Plus, I. think it's good to return to business, yes?" He lifted his axe up high once more, aiming directly at Ojiro. "Sorry, kid! Guess it's you that is the one whose life ends!" The dark-skinned man called out before hurling the axe at the frozen teenager.

Yayorozu's eyes widened at the action. She desperately tried to stand up and create something, anything, to hinder the villain's attack. However, the wound on her shoulder made itself known again, the pain intensifying and halting her effort. In the corner of her eye, the heir of the Yayorozu corporation saw Jiro also attempting to stop the attack as she slithered her earplugs down to her boots to release a blast of sound to try to repel the weapon. But by the time the earplugs were even close to attaching to her hero equipment, the Mythic, as the villain had called it, was already mere moments from impaling itself into Ojiro's chest.

Yayoruzu couldn't help squeezing her eyes shut as the axe etched closer and closer. Her heart tightened like someone had grasped it harshly, pouring in an overwhelming sense of failure. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't how her time at U.A. was meant to go. And now she was forced to watch as her classmate lost his life, with nothing she could do to help. Yayorozu heard Jiro gasp next to her, likely realising what she had. They were too late.

"O-Ojiro!"

"Dark Shadow!" A yell suddenly sprang out across the Mountain Zone before being followed by the large black entity of Tokoyami's Quirk. The creature quickly flew forward and pushed both Ojiro and the still-dazed Kaminari to the ground, allowing the glowing axe to pass over them. The weapon flew forward for a couple more metres before eventually falling to the ground due to gravity at the other end of the cavern.

The girls of Class 1-A held shocked expressions before their faces turned into ones of joy and relief.

"Tokoyami/-san!"

The avian-headed teenager leapt down from a small cliff, landing a few steps away from Ojiro and Kaminari. Then, he quickly rushed in front of both of them, placing himself between his classmates and the villain. His shadowy entity followed this action as it let out a low menacing growl.

"My apologies for my late arrival. But I am here to lend aid," Tokoyami muttered, standing tall as Dark Shadow hovered before him. "Ojiro, Kaminari, are you alright?" He questioned his classmates but kept his gaze locked on the enemy.

He didn't get a response, though, as the two boys from 1-A still seemed incapacitated. Kaminari continued to have a derpy expression, giving a thumbs up towards the sky as he lay on his back. While he was clearly still suffering the effects of short-circuiting, there were signs that he was getting his intelligence back, such as his eyes slowly becoming more active.

Ojiro also suffered a similar fate, as even though he was down on the ground, his face was still frozen in fear as he stared upwards at the roof of the USJ. His brown eyes were wide and shaking as if he could still see the large and intimidating villain, despite having his view blocked by Tokoyami and Dark Shadow.

At the lack of feedback, the avian-headed teenager looked back, confused. Then, finally, he got his answer when Yayorozu and Jiro called out from off to the side.

"That doofus, Kaminari, overused his Quirk! And Ojiro got hit by one of the Quirks of the villain!"

"It appears to be some form of paralysation Quirk," Yayoruzu gasped, feeling her shoulder ache. "But we don't know its condition of activation."

Tokoyami nodded in understanding. Paralysing Quirks were pretty nasty, indeed. From what he read online of heroes versing villains with such powers, they were a massive headache to deal with, as the villains only needed a moment's chance to stun their victims. Discovering the Quirk's activation condition was the only way to avoid sharing the same fate as his classmates.

With that goal in mind, Tokoyami prepared for the upcoming fight. However, a thought suddenly came to mind as he did, mainly revolving around what Jiro had called out.

'One of the Quirks?'

"Behind you!"

The sudden scream of Yayorozu rang, reaching the bird-headed boy's ears. Listening to the call, he glanced behind him, and his eyes widened. The axe that Dark Shadow had forced Ojiro and Kaminari to dodge was darting towards him with a light blue aura surrounding it, intending to impale itself into his back. With the speed at which it was going, Tokoyami knew that not only would he not be able to dodge it, but he also wouldn't be able to warn Dark Shadow to stop it for him. But despite that, Tokoyami tried his best to lean to the side in hopes that if he got hit, he could reduce the severity of the attack. But as it neared, his hopes faded, and he couldn't help but close his eyes as he prepared for the inevitable painful sensation that would occur.

However, mere inches before the blade skewed into his back, a hand suddenly shot out and caught the axe's handle, stopping it dead in its tracks, a fingernail length away from its target. Yayorozu, who didn't tear her gaze away this time, was the first to identify Tokoyami's saviour.

"Lokadi-san!" Her voice was filled with relief, not just at saving their classmate but also at having another member of Class 1-A appear to aid them.

Tokoyami slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see the axe impended in his shoulder or back, but when he saw Lokadi, he let out a small smile.

"Haahh...Thank you for the save." He sighed gratefully, as Dark Shadow gave the dark teenager a thumbs up and a 'thank you' of his own, not before worrying over Tokoyami and apologising for not seeing the attack.

"It's fine," Eli shrugged awkwardly, his grip on the weapon tight and firm. "You just got caught off guard."

"Yes, that was my fault. Jiro said our opponent has more than one Quirk, but I didn't think much about her words." Tokoyami spoke honestly, although his voice had a hint of disbelief. "I didn't know that was even possible."

"Oh...there are ways," Eli muttered, almost more to himself than to his classmate.

As they communicated, the villain, whose arm was stretched before him, had a hint of annoyance etched on his face.

"Tch," Djoku's tongue clicked. "More bugs keep appearing."He growled lowly as his eyes gazed at the dark-skinned boy.

'But to think there was an African here. Well, is he an African, or is he Japanese-born?' He inwardly questioned, quickly scanning the young male up and down.

From first impressions, the student didn't appear to be of Asian descent. Sure, he was darker than those living in Japan, but at the same time, he had a slightly lighter skin tone than those from the darker parts of Africa. Also, the boy was facing away from him, which didn't do any favours. But Djoku shrugged it off. Again, it was too difficult to tell. Africa was a prominent place, after all, with a vast number of countries and a magnitude of places of origin within each of them. It would be like identifying a specific strand of straw in a giant haystack.

But in the end, none of that mattered to Djoku; it was more of a mild curiosity, and it wouldn't stop him from doing his job and killing the brat if need be.

And to prove that fact, whilst staring at the boy, Djoku activated his Quirk.

Djoku's Quirk was a pretty straightforward power in his mind. Ukutiinya or Intimidation, when translated into English, had the ability to essentially intimidate Djoku's opponent, leaving them defenceless or even paralysed for a specific amount of time. This period typically ranged from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on how affected the victim was. While this might sound short, in the middle of a fight, this power could quickly sway the battle in his favour. As it had done so plenty of times before.

Like many from his background, he liked to keep information about his power private. But, while it didn't necessarily have a weakness, its paralysis wasn't absolute. For example, his Quirk was practically useless against opponents with a greater malicious aura than his own, and whoever had the lesser intent to kill would be paralysed.

To put it simply, it was a clash of wills. Whoever was weaker would be the one frozen. It was simple.

So, as usual, when Djoku activated his Quirk, the world around him seemed to dim, leaving only him and the African boy untouched. Fortunately, he could still see the boy, which was crucial in capturing someone in his Quirk. While Djoku didn't require eye contact, he still needed to see his target; otherwise, it wouldn't activate.

A second after the world faded, a Vistage of some sort that resembled him appeared before him, glowing a soft orange. It mirrored him to the tee, with the only difference being that his Vistage was close to twice his height. Honestly, he was never sure why his Quirk created an image like this. It could be to clearly distinguish how big one's intimidation was. Since his enemies also got Vistages when affected by his Quirk as well. Although theirs would usually be smaller than his to indicate their inferior maliciousness. And like always, this time would be no different.

But that was when he noticed something odd. When Djoku saw his Vistage come out, he heard something that quickly got his attention.

Gaaaahrhhrraaahhh!

A horrific, savage scream suddenly echoed throughout the darkened world, mixed with others who reached a similar volume. It sounded like a large group, like a church choir whose voices joined in a cacophony of painful wails. Djoku would have blocked his ears to stop the noise if not for the utter shock on his face as he gazed upon what stood before him.

A colossal pitch-black figure towered above Djoku and his Vistage, its giant statue reminding him of a mountain. It was utterly dark, looking like a shadow that had come to life. Despite having a human appearance, the enormous Vistage seemed to be the furthest thing from it. Its numerous deformed hands protruded randomly from different regions of its body, resembling Hecatoncheires from Greek mythology. The creature seemed to continue to grow, dwarfing Djoku's own Vistage 10 to 1.

Despite the fact that its obscured face was hidden in the darkness, Djoku could still make out the giant's face twisting into a menacing expression, as its lips curled into a snarl as the cacophony of wails continued to bellow.

Djoku's body began to slowly freeze under the influence of his own Quirk, giving him the impression that he was at the giant's mercy. His breath hitched as he fought to find a way to escape the giant's presence. But the final thing that made his heart freeze, like a bucket of liquid nitrogen being poured over it...

Was those blue things.

"No...No... It's not fair," The African villain started to whimper in his own language, his once proud demeanour now that of a scared child. "Dead...You're supposed to be dead."Djoku mumbled under his rasped breath, eyes still locked on the terrifying figure before him. His body had now become completely paralysed, and despite his attempts to run away, his body did not listen.

"It-It's not possible... Why...Why are you here? Everyone said you all died that night... In the Wasteland. W-Why," The Zambian's heart pounded in his chest as he stood frozen, staring at the danger ahead. Djoku knew he needed to move. He knew there would be no mercy, and he knew that if he didn't, he would end up dead. His mind raced with thoughts of what could happen if he didn't run, but his body continued to betray him.

"It-it's not fair... I just wanted to be free," Djoku whispers once again, eyes close to spilling tears. "Free from all your torment...Why...Why won't you all allow me that?" That was the last thing he could say before a shadow spewed out of the leg of the giant and crashed into Djoku. The thing that hit him used so much force that it threw Djoku's still body off the ground and metres back, crashing into a cliff face behind him.

Rock dust kicked up from the cliff surface, covering the nearby area with an orangy smoke. Dark Shadow let out a roar of triumph at the successful attack.

"Don't lose focus, Dark Shadow," Tokoyami warned his Quirk, still positioned before his two downed classmates. "This will be a difficult fight!" The still-conscious students watched with bated breath for the dark-skinned villain to get up and continue his assault. But as the dust settled, they saw the foreign man sitting slumped over on the ground and above him on the wall was a spiderweb-like crack formation from where he crashed into. Again, the students waited for the villain to get up or move, but after a few seconds of silence, they came to the realisation that the man had passed out.

"Hmm, that was a bit anti-climatic," Tokoyami muttered in slight disbelief at the villain being knocked in one hit. He had thought that this would be a dangerous and tiresome battle. Still, maybe Yayorozu, Jiro, Kaminari and Ojiro had already done most of the work, tiring out the man and making it easy to defeat him. Well, Tokoyami wasn't going to complain about the easy victory.

A small groan was heard from behind, where he looked and saw Ojiro slowly sitting up.

"Ughh, what happened?" The tailed boy murmured, putting a hand to his head as it pounded against his skull. "Where am I?"

"You're safe. The villain apparently hit you with a paralysis Quirk, but it seems its effect has ceased," Tokoyami answered, moving to help the blonde teenager up. "Sorry, we arrived late. We could have dealt with him together."

"It's fine. I was just caught off guard by his Quirk." Ojiro shook his head, dismissing the apology whilst attempting to soothe his headache. "But, don't worry me. The others are more important!"

Tokoyami nodded. He quickly looked over Kaminari and found that the blonde student had no injuries and only suffered from overusing his Quirk. So he decided to leave Kaminari there for a moment and ran to check on Yayorozu and Jiro, who were visibly more injured. Ojiro followed suit after getting to his feet.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Tokoyami, his deep voice filled with concern.

Yayorozu and Jiro nodded weakly, but they were clearly in pain. Their clothes were torn, and a few bruises were seen around the bodies.

"We need to get you all to safety," said Tokoyami, helping Yayorozu to her feet. "Can you walk?"

Yayorozu winced but nodded, and with Tokoyami's help, she slowly managed to stand up. Jiro was still on the ground, and Ojiro went to help her. Despite having fewer injuries than her classmate, she apparently used more energy than she thought, as her body felt completely drained.

"Here, let me help you up," he said, extending his hand.

Jiro took his hand and pulled herself to her feet. She let out a small groan but managed to stand up.

"Is Yayorozu alright?"

"I'm fine," The vice-president of 1-A reassured, giving a gentle smile as she was seen getting supported by Tokoyami. "As I said, the wound isn't that deep. So when we get to a safer area, I can bandage it up."

"That's good to hear," Ojiro stated before turning to Jiro. "Can you walk by yourself?" At her nod, he turned and began running to Kaminari. "I'm gonna go get Kaminari. I think he is still short-circuited from his Quirk."

The boy with the tail rushed back to aid his fellow blonde and started the process of lifting him to his feet and guiding him towards the rest of the students. It took some effort and patience to get Kaminari to head in the direction Ojiro wanted him to, as the boy still seemed very out of it. However, it didn't take too long before they were all together.

"Good, now let us proceed to safety," Yayorozu stated. "The villains could still be around."

"Right, let's move out." Tokoyami nodded and began to guide Yayorozu and the others to safety by heading to the next zone. With him, Ojiro, Jiro and Yayorozu, they should be able to make it to the entrance and deal with any villains that appear along the way. But before he got too far, Tokoyami noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Lokadi?"

The students of 1-A all turned around and noticed that their dark-skinned classmate was absent from their group.

"What?! He was just here!"

"Did he seriously run off? I can't believe he was a coward!" Jiro exclaimed with a frown. But it was Yayorozu who spotted him.

"H-He's there," she pointed towards the rocky cliff face where Dark Shadow had thrown the axe-wielding villain. As she stated, Lokadi stood before the unconscious man, looking down at him with an unreadable expression.

"Lokadi!" Tokoyami called out, getting the teenager's attention. "Let us depart to safety!"

Eli turned his black sclerae eyes towards them and stared briefly. Then, after a few moments, he opened his mouth.

"Go ahead...I'll come in a bit."

The students expressed surprise in various ways, either by gasping or raising an eyebrow. But when they saw him standing in front of the unconscious body of the African villain, some form of an answer appeared in their minds.

"Hmm, fine." Tokoyami reluctantly agreed. "But don't take too long to follow us. Some villains might awake and ambush you."

"Please Lokadi-san, be careful." Yayorozu said, although her face was marred with worry.

Eli felt a bit strange at the words of worry from each of them, as there weren't many times in his life outside of his family that people told him to be careful. So he only nodded in response.

The small group of students slowly took their leave, with Tokoyami and Yayorozu leading. Ojiro gave Eli a tight smile of uncertainty, but there were also hints of caution in his eyes as the tailed boy seemed to glance between Eli and the downed villain, appearing to wonder why the boy needed to stay.

Jiro, the other girl of 1-A, was practically glaring at Lokadi suspiciously, and she wasn't doing much to hide it. Instead, her gaze quickly shot between the two Africans as if she was trying to piece together a complex puzzle and only needed a bit more information before a solution was in sight. Eli wasn't exactly sure why the girl didn't like him in particular. After all, he hadn't interacted with her since the beginning of school. This could possibly be the reason, but the girl also hadn't made an effort to approach him either, so Eli didn't know what to make of it.

The African dismissed any more thoughts about the subject as he watched the girl turn and follow the other students who walked out of the area. Eli kept watching them until they went past a rocky cliff face and disappeared from his sight. His gaze stayed for a few seconds longer before returning to the unconscious man slumping at his feet.

The downed man didn't appear to be getting up anytime soon, as there was evidence of a massive bruise forming around his chest and some evidence of bleeding coming from the back of his head. If the man did get up, he would be in quite a bit of pain, that's for sure.

Eli reached forward and grabbed the dark-skinned man's head, lifting it up and back so he could clearly see his face. Eli's azure blue pupils narrowed as he took in all the facial features, searching for anything that looked familiar. His gaze then looked down at his arms and chest, looking for any unique features that would look alien among the skin. After a few moments, though, he let out a sigh.

'Good...He's not from the Wastleland.' Eli breathed in relief. That would have made things difficult. Thankfully his fellow African didn't hold any of the signs of Eli's homeland. If he had, Eli would have had to report it to Adrian immediately. Instead, this man appeared to be just another refuge of sorts from the Mother Continent.

'Although, this does beg the question of how he got his hands on this.'

His gaze drifted downwards to the weapon in his hand, which glowed a soft blue, a few shades lighter than his blue pupils. The axe seemed to recognise its new holder as the glow was quiet and submissive. Eli rolled the weapon in his hand, taking the time to admire its beauty and its craftsmanship. Mythics were extremely rare, as they practically only existed in the Wastleland. Finding one there was already challenging, but getting one outside the country was almost impossible. The best chances to find one would be in the neighbouring countries of Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Eli's mullings were eventually interrupted as a loud boom was heard from the facility's entrance. He could only perceive a glint of something yellow dart out of a column of smoke, heading towards what Eli presumed was the Central Plaza. He couldn't reasonably guess what it was because of the distance and the rocky terrain obscuring his view. But, the dark-skinned teenager could tell it had a pretty significant figure, whatever it was. Eli felt a sense of curiosity take hold of him as he realised that the plaza was also where that creature with the exposed brain was.

'Wouldn't hurt to have a look,' Eli thought as the curiosity took a firmer hold. His eyes slowly drifted back to the unconscious man before him. 'But the question is...What should I do about this guy?'

The man didn't seem to recognise him, at least it didn't look like he did. So maybe he should leave him be? Eli already summarised that the people attacking the USJ were not after him. Thankfully. And were instead after All Might. Given their numbers and overall attitude, the villains must have been reasonably confident in killing the number one hero.

And given that one of their members had a Mythic, that confidence wasn't misplaced. But the odd thing, though, was why was this guy with a Mythic here instead of being tasked with dealing with All Might. Sure, from what Eli could see, it was a low-tier one, but it was still quite powerful. The only possible reason Eli could come up with was that the African man likely kept it a secret from his employers and colleagues, which made sense. When welding such a weapon, you didn't want to publicise the fact that you could essentially have more than one Quirk. Despite that, Eli couldn't help the urge to head towards the Central Plaza to peek at the action there. But that left him with a conundrum.

'Should I just kill this guy?'

The dark thought crossed his mind as he stared at the downed horned man. He was by himself, and no one else would be able to witness it. The other villains were all still knocked out, and Eli's classmates had made their way to the entrance. So there was no one to stop or see him do the deed. And it was better not to take even the slight chance of the man actually knowing who he was. It was better safe than sorry, as the saying went. Plus, he was a threat to his survival. And survival was all that mattered.

Eli tightened his grip on the softly glowing axe as his Azure pupils narrowed. He slowly lifted the weapon, raising it slightly above his head. Eli focused on his target, the man's neck, where the jugular and the Carotid Artery were located. It would be a quick kill, with the horned man not feeling much, as he was unconscious and would bleed to death very rapidly.

The African boy to a slow deep breath.

Don't hesitate.

Eli spoke in his head almost like a mantra, resolving himself. Once his arm reached an optimal height, the boy took one last breath before allowing the axe to descend to the man's neck.

However, just as his arm began to lower, something stopped him.

Boooooooommmmmmm!

A loud explosion echoed through the air, causing Eli's head to snap in the direction of the noise. His grip on the axe loosened as he turned towards the direction of the sound. What could have caused such a loud noise? Was it another villain attacking? Or was it another Mythic being used? Nevertheless, this distraction was the thing he needed to break free from his dark thoughts and come back to reality.

The boy let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Jeez, E. Were you really about to break your promise that easily?"

The African boy scolded himself for even considering resulting in a heinous act like killing, especially with how quick he resorted to it. Eli shook his head. He was no longer in his homeland, where the culture was about survival of the fittest and killing being second nature. He was in Japan, a somewhat peaceful country where the majority lived happily and didn't have to worry about poverty, lack of food, or fighting off scavengers. He had made a promise to change, to no longer be the violent apathetic boy he once was. He couldn't let that promise go, especially when Adrian was trying so hard to fit in. He couldn't let this one moment of weakness define him.

With a heavy and shame-filled heart, Eli lowered the glowing axe and decided to leave the unconscious villain alone. He hoped that this decision wouldn't come back to haunt him later down the line, and he hoped that he was making the right choice.

After taking a few steps away, Eli looked down at the glowing Mythic in his hand.

"Hmm...I should take this to Adrian. He needs to see this." The boy muttered as he placed the axe on the ground, on top of his shadow. He barely pays attention when his shadow turns ten pitches darker and emits endless black smoke into the air. It almost seems as if the shadow and the smoke are alive, like they have a mind of their own, as they move and dance in a rhythmic pattern around Eli's feet.

The black-sclera-eyed boy had already turned around when the axe began to sink into his shadow as if the ground had become quicksand. It looked similar to the mist villain's teleportation quirk, with the mixture of shadow, smoke and dark wisps seemingly swallowing the axe whole and taking it into the abyss, like in a horror film.

It didn't take long before the Mythic was entirely consumed, the weapon and its pale blue glow disappearing from view as if it had never existed. The shadow, the dark wisps, and the black smoke slowly returned to normal, with the smoke fading into the ground and the shadow returning to its regular place at Eli's side.

Eli was pretty indifferent to his ability. It's something that he's had since he was young, and he's never given it much thought. But seeing it in action now was still impressive, even to him, despite his lack of caring about one's Quirk. The way his shadow could consume and store objects, seemingly without limit, still somewhat amazed him every time he used it. It was one of the aspects of his Quirk that he found very useful in everyday life.

With the axe safely stored away, Eli turned his attention to the nearby commotion before beginning to trek towards it.

'Now shall we take a peek,'

As he made his way towards the central plaza of the USJ, the young Lokadi's mind couldn't help but become filled with conflicting thoughts regarding before. Eli was relieved that he hadn't killed the villain, but at the same time, the boy felt like he had almost broken the promise he had made to the two people most important to him. Well, formally, most important. Eli wondered if he was really capable of changing or if his past would always be a part of him. Maybe, he would never be able to change, and honestly, a small piece of him had already resigned itself to that fate.

When he arrived at the central plaza, Eli squashed these thoughts deep down, where he surprisingly saw All Might fighting against the hulking monstrosity with an exposed brain. The duo seemed to be in a middle of an ongoing brawl, with the two trading vicious blows against one another. The exposed-brained villain was clearly strong, judging by the missed blows, which easily cracked the ground, but All Might was seen holding his own. And after quickly surveying the area, Eli saw a few of his classmates watching some distance behind All Might. He identified them as the green-haired boy with the unruly strength Quirk, the angry blonde, Kirishima, and Fuyumi's little brother, all observing the battle, seemingly with awe on their faces. Although oddly enough, Eli did notice that the blonde was crouched on top of someone, with his palm letting off small explosives.

Upon seeing the figure, Eli realised it was the mist-like villain he encountered earlier. The man's body was composed of dark purple mist, except for his glowing yellow eyes. Although it was hard to discern from a distance, Eli was positive it was the same man. The Loud Blonde had his other hand on a metal brace encircling the villain's collarbone - the same one Eli had targeted with his dagger earlier. The fact that the metal brace was unscathed implied that Eli's previous attempt to thwart the villain was ineffective. Eli struggled to recall the villain's name - was it Kurogiri?

Eli wondered if he should make his way down there, but he quickly reconsidered it when he spotted another spectator a few meters behind the hulking monster opposite the students. This man was someone Eli hadn't seen before. He had a more youthful appearance, with messy light blue hair and a pale complexion. But what was most eye-catching about him was the numerous lobbed-off hands, each grabbing his body, and the last were holding onto his face and acting like a mask.

The young man observed the battle calmly, with a clear sense of detachment, as if he already knew the outcome and was merely waiting for the result. Although, the hand-masked man couldn't seem to hold in his poker face, as seen by the eerie smile, giving off a twisted, sadistic vibe. This was Shigariki, the mastermind behind the attack.

"I didn't say Shock Absorption was his only Quirk." Shigaraki suddenly called, disturbing Lokadi from his thoughts, as he finally turned his head to notice the state of the hulking monstrosity. The large figure was kneeling over the floor, with a part of its leg and arm being nothing more than stumps, with chucks of ice scattered on the floor. However, this didn't last long, as the monster's skin started to return to a newly formed arm and leg. "He also has Super-Regeneration. Nomu has been modified to take you on even at 100% of your power. He's basically a highly efficient punching bag that hits back." Eli looked on with curiosity as the regeneration became complete.

'Huh...Multiple quirks? To think there were people like that in Japan too.'

"Free, we need to free our method of escape. Get him, Nomu." Shigaraki ordered. Everyone's eyes widened as Nomu suddenly jumped from his spot. A massive explosion occurred where Bakugo had been. The sudden force knocked everyone back several feet as the dust began covering the area. After the dust cleared, Nomu had Kurogiri in his grasp where Bakugo was. Midoriya grew fearful about what happened but noticed Bakugo right next to him.

"Whoah! You were able to dodge that? That's amazing, Kacchan," He complimented.

"What are you talking about, you nerd?" Bakugo insulted back, but he couldn't see what had happened or how he had avoided the attack in his head. Eli was the only person to witness what occurred from his location. His gaze shifted to a wall demolished behind his classmates, and he saw some skid marks approaching it.

'Hmm...Guess that thing is pretty fast,' Eli mused, taking in the battle. He stood on top of a large cliff face just at the edge of the Zone, which allowed him to overlook all of the Central Plaza while technically still being in the Mountain Zone. 'But I might need to get a bit closer.' Seeing that no one had noticed his presence yet, Eli decided to move into a more discreet location where he wouldn't be so out in the open. It was a miracle no one had seen him yet, given his black and purple outfit was making him stick out like a sore thumb against the reddish-orange rocky terrain.

Eli jumped off the ledge and landed near a pair of rocks half his height. They were the last two objects that showed the perimeter of the Mountain Zone, as a step past them would be the plaza. Eli crouched behind the rocks and peeked around the corner, allowing him to still see the whole plaza, this time from a more level view. He was positioned on the circumference of the plaza, looking more to the middle where the ongoing conflict was, close to the water fountain. The students of 1-A were near the south end of the circle, while the villains were stationed near the north. Eli and the Mountain Zone were west of the plaza, directly opposite the Flood Zone. However, from his position, Eli felt he was closer to the hand-wearing villain than anyone else.

"It's five against three. We can do this," Todoroki said, ice beginning from around his hand.

"These guys are tough, but if we back up All Might, we can win," Kirishima exclaimed, hardening his arms.

"No! Run away. This is far too dangerous," All Might ordered back, walking in front of them.

"All Might, you're still injured. Besides times almost u-" Izuku stopped himself just before he could finish. Without looking back, All Might gave him a confident thumbs up as he turned to face the villains with a determined look.

From his place, Eli hummed to himself in agreement as he took in the appearance of Japan's supposed number 1 hero. To put it simply, the man looked roughed up for the guy who was considered by the public to be 'Invincible'.

The African almost snorted. 'What a naive thought process.'

Stating that you were invincible was a big claim that many took advantage of. The truth of the matter is that despite how powerful one's Quirk made them be, no one was ever genuinely invincible. There was always a catch when it came to someone's power; all you needed to do was find what it was. For this reason, many countries worldwide, specifically third-world, would keep that information about a Quirk secret. After all, everyone was only human.

But it would be a problem if the U.A. teacher kicked the bucket, and Eli would probably feel a bit bad if someone died when he could have helped. Plus, he could already hear the non-stop nagging that would come his way when Adrian found out about it.

Eli let out a long, drawn sigh of exasperation.

Fine. He might as well help the guy out. It might be a big deal if Number 1 Hero All Might, died or something.

While crouched down, Eli reached his hand back to his shadow, activating it to conjure a weapon. The darkness around him intensified. The black smoke emitted by his shadow began to twist and contort, almost as if it was in pain. It seemed to be stretching out a hand towards Eli, almost like it was trying to caress him. But Eli didn't pay much attention to it, as he was used to it by now. Instead, he focuses on the task, and within seconds a weapon materialises from his shadow and places itself into his hand. However, unlike every other weapon Eli has conjured, this one did not emit any black smoke or was pitch black.

The weapon Eli had created was a green longbow that, unlike the others, appeared to have a solid metallic form instead of the usual gas-like state that others usually took on. The metallic material that the bow was made of was dark green, and the intricate designs and runes on the grip and tips of the bow were highlighted in a bright emerald green shade. In addition, the bowstring was a vivid green, adding to the overall theme of the weapon. Finally, the green glow surrounding the weapon gave off an eerie and almost sickly colour, making the longbow seem practically otherworldly.

Peeking out from behind the rock, he took aim at the Nomu, focusing all his concentration on his shot. Eli took a deep breath, focused on his target, and pulled the bowstring back. As he does, the bowstring seems to glow, and a slivery arrow materialises from nothing, already nocked for release. His fingers feel the familiar coolness of the weapon, and despite archery probably being his worst skill in combat, Eli feels confident in his aim. He releases the arrow, and it flies through the air in a high arch with a faint green and silvery glow.

It doesn't take long before the arrow descends. It strikes its target, hitting the Nomu on the back of its right shoulder and sinking a few centimetres into its flesh. Unfortunately, the attack didn't do much, given that the hulking figure barely flinched or even registered the attack. Instead, it was the spectators that were the ones who reacted.

"Woah! What was that?" Kirishima was the first to speak, his eyes wide from the sudden attack.

"A-An arrow?" Midoriya questioned.

"But from where?" All Might mused, more to himself than to the others, as they all began to look around the area to identify who had shot the arrow. But, unfortunately for them, Eli had already hidden himself back behind the rocks, disappearing from view.

"Should I investigate and eliminate the assailant," Kurogiri asked his ward, beginning to spread his darkness around.

"Hmm...A rouge build, huh?" Shigaraki muttered before shaking his head. "There's no need. Whoever that was didn't even know how to allocate the rights stats for a DPS character. And against Nomu, it is nothing more than a nuisance."

As if demonstrating his statement, the creature merely reached behind his shoulder and ripped out the arrow before throwing it to the side. It let out a feral roar, which caused the students standing behind All Might to somewhat cower.

"My Nomu is a Boss designed to kill the number one hero! So there's no way a low-level attack would do him in." Shigaraki spoke with a tone full of smugness as his face twisted into a malicious grin. He lifted his head and called out loudly, ensuring his voice was heard wherever the hidden assailant was. "Nice try, you brat! But next time, go level up some more, you Noob!"

...

...

...

Did he... Call me a...

...

Noob?

Eli's eyes bulge, his eyebrows twitch with disbelief, and his mouth hangs open in sheer astonishment. Did this villain just have the audacity to call him a Noob?

The world around him seems to slow down as his mind races, processing the magnitude of this verbal attack. To anyone else, this childish insult would pass over their heads or maybe would barely even be considered a good taunt. But to the sole African of 1-A, it was the deepest cut you could give.

Sure, was Eli a master of procrastination? Yes. Was Eli the pinnacle of laziness with no motivation to be a hero? Oh absolutely! But was he, Lokadi Elijah, a Noob?

Hell no!

His usually unmotivated heart suddenly ignites with an intense fury that was typically only saved for gaming. How dare some loser that has to result in getting carried by a cheat build question his skills! That's like challenging a Koala to a tree-climbing contest. The very core of Eli's being trembles with the weight of the insult. Being a Noob is not a title one should throw around lightly, and Lokadi Elijah sure as Hell wasn't considered one.

An inner monologue begins within the African's mind, accompanied by a burst of dramatic music that only he can hear. "Oh, he's crossed the line. In fact, he's the Noob for clearly not knowing what debuffs are. Whatever, I'm gonna crush him so bad it will look like he's feeding!"

Eli's face uncharacteristically contorts with determination as he clenches his fists, ready to prove himself. His lazy demeanour takes a backseat as an unusually fierce resolve takes over. This is no longer a silly battle between heroes and villains; it's a challenge of enormous proportions between the gaming elite and the audacious Shigaraki.

With his face taking one of seriousness typically reserved for gaming, Eli peers out from behind the rock, his eyes glinting with determination. As he draws back the bowstring, the world around him seems to fade into the background. His focus narrows on the target, the Nomu; although he is very tempted to aim at Shigaraki as the hand villain's taunt echoes in his mind, he miraculously decides not to. Instead, he takes a deep breath, his fingers gripping the bow, and with a swift release, the arrow soars through the air.

It only takes a short time before the arrow finds its mark with pinpoint accuracy. However, this time, instead of hitting the Nomu's shoulder, it strikes the side of its right knee. Like before, it barely fazes the Nomu, who only tilts its head in confusion. Shigaraki shares its thoughts and annoyance.

"Tch, pathetic," He scoffs, no longer amused by the useless attack. Shigaraki's face had changed from a malicious smile to an annoyed scowl as he called out to the hulking beast. "Nomu, go crush whoever that fly is!"

The Nomu roared to acknowledge its owner's command and was about to take off searching for Eli. But, before it could take a step, All Might was there, impending it from its mission.

"Not on my watch!" The Number One Hero declared, throwing a punch at the creature designed to kill him. The Nomu responded in kind, and the two came into contact not even a second later. Their fists met each other in a violent clash. The resulting shockwave blew the others away from the sheer force of it. It was so great that even Nomu's arm warped and ruptured from the contact before returning to normal.

"Weren't you listening? One of his powers is Shock absorption!" Shigaraki yelled out mockingly, landing after being blown back.

"Yeah? And so what if it is?" All Might yelled before unleashing a flurry of fists on Nomu, who retaliated to each blow with equal ferocity. The clash would become so intense that the wind pressure continued to increase, preventing anyone from moving towards the battle.

Eli peeked around the corner of the rock, his pitch-black sclera eyes observing the battle. "Hmm...Two should be enough." The green bow he was carrying was lowered back into his shadow and was slowly enveloped by the darkness and the smoke before disappearing entirely, similar to what happened to the glowing axe previously.

"There, I've given you a hand. Now let's see if you live up to all the hype, Hero," He muttered under his breath as some wind started reaching him.

"So your Quirk is shock absorption. Well, that's too bad since it's not nullification. That means that you have a limit, right?!" All Might remarked, increasing the speed and power of his punches even further to the point where he could land several punches on the villain. The impacts were so strong the back of the creature's body could be seen rupturing, giving imprints of All Might's fists. At the same time, though, Nomu was able to land a few devastating blows to All Might's body, including one shot hitting his weak spot, causing him to grunt in pain. However, the Number One Hero pushed through, recomposing immediately and returning to the offensive. It was a battle and a sight that many U.A. students would continue to think and marvel about for years.

The fight between All Might and Nomu rages on in the Central Plaza of the USJ, and the air crackles with tension. All Might, the Symbol of Peace, unleashes a relentless onslaught of powerful blows, while Nomu, the hulking monster, fights back with brute strength and tenacity. It's a clash of titans, a clash that would determine the fate of those present in the USJ.

However, as the fight progresses, a subtle change occurs. And Shigaraki is the first to notice it.

Is Nomu...Slowing down?

Shigaraki's eyes widen in curiosity, his manic grin giving way to a perplexed expression. He leans forward, studying the scene with an intensity rarely seen in him, his eyes glancing back and forth from All Might to the Nomu. Questions buzz in his mind like restless bees.

Why is Nomu slowing down? What is happening to him?

The hand-wearing villain isn't wrong in his assessment. It's almost imperceptible at first, but the hulking creature begins to slow down, its once lightning-fast reflexes losing its edge as if time itself is beginning to lose its hold on the beast. Likewise, with his keen instincts honed through years of heroism, All Might notices and capitalises on the gradual decline in Nomu's speed and power. The beast that once matched his every move now struggles to keep up.

Shigaraki's mind races to understand this unexpected turn of events. His master had told him that Nomu would be more than enough to kill the hero, and the creature was designed to never tire until its mission was complete. So why was Nomu struggling and getting overwhelmed by the one it was created to kill!

"Why is Nomu slowing down?" Shigaraki mutters, his voice laced with both utter confusion and horror. His gaze darts across the battlefield, searching for answers. Was it one of those brats behind All Might doing this? Was there a malfunction with the Nomu? Or was it?

Shigaraki's eyes then focus on the areas where those arrows had struck Nomu. He squints hard, and a moment later, his heart skips a beat as he notices a strange phenomenon.

Fossilisation.

Small fragments of stone-like substance encroach upon the Nomu's body, tracing the path of the arrows that pierced its flesh. It was as if time was catching up to the creature and turning its living tissue into an inert stone. Petrifying it similarly to the Greek stories of Gorgons and Medusa. It was like the arrows carried some mysterious power, slowly sapping the Nomu's strength and transforming it into rock. Even the monster's insane regeneration didn't seem to have an answer to the fossilisation taking hold, as it did nothing to aid the Nomu's body. The stone spread like a virus; what once were small patches on the back of the right shoulder and knee had now encroached on the whole shoulder and back of Nomu's calf and thigh, preventing it from fighting even further.

A shiver of realisation runs down Shigaraki's spine. The implications of this newfound discovery ripple through his twisted mind. Nomu's slowing down, the fossilisation—it all connects. Could it be that those arrows are the cause of this dramatic turn of events? The notion both intrigues and greatly unsettles him as the very nature of Nomu's quirk-defying abilities begins to crumble before his eyes.

'No, no, no, not when we were so close!' Shigaraki inwardly screams panic at the situation, fully settling in.

In a desperate bid to regain control of the situation, Shigaraki shouts, his voice filled with urgency, "Nomu, why aren't you regenerating? Get rid of that stone and kill him! Do it now!" But his orders remain unanswered, drowned out by the escalating chaos of the battle.

The fight between All Might and Nomu reaches its crescendo, the clash of titans shaking the USJ. All Might, sensing the shift in momentum, redoubles his efforts. His punches land with thunderous force, sending shockwaves through the air. Nomu, once a relentless foe, now struggles to keep up, its movements growing sluggish and heavy.

With each blow, spiderweb cracks appear across Nomu's petrified flesh, the sound of shattering stone echoing through the battlefield. But still, the Nomu's regeneration doesn't trigger, as if it couldn't recognise its predicament. All Might, his determination unwavering, presses on. His unwavering spirit fuels his final attack, a punch so mighty it launches Nomu high into the sky and crashing through and out of the building, its trajectory a testament to All Might's indomitable strength.

As Nomu hurtles through the air, the world holds its breath. Shigaraki watches, his eyes wide with a mix of astonishment and dread. The realisation dawns upon him that this was not the anticipated outcome. Nomu, once a fearsome foe, is now a defeated entity, launched far beyond the USJ's confines.

Back at the school entrance, the students stood in awe and momentarily confused at what they'd just seen.

"Did you see that thing that just went flying?" asked Sero.

"I think it was that brain guy," replied Sato, "All Might sent him flying away."

"Unbelievable," remarked Shoji, "To think someone possesses that level of strength."

With equal awe and his eyes watering with admiration, Mineta expressed his total respect for the number one hero."That's All Might for you. He's on a totally different level!"

The students that were positioned by the Number One Hero, who'd just witnessed the power displayed by All Might, felt as if it was the strength of a god.

"That kind of brute strength, who would have thought it existed?" Kirishima said, acquiring a fresh appreciation for the world's greatest hero.

Even Bakugo, fiercely determined to surpass the number one hero and claim that title, was in awe of what he'd just witnessed. "Imagine having the power to unleash punches that can destroy buildings with their shockwaves."

Amongst the spectators, however, Eli, who remains concealed behind the rock, reacts unexpectedly. While everyone else is captivated by the spectacle, Eli appears indifferent, as if the display of power has failed to leave a lasting impression. Though acknowledging All Might's power, his eyes do not reflect the same astonishment as his fellow classmates did.

Ever since he stepped foot here in the country, the African had heard about how invincible and incredible the Number One Hero was. Eli heard how his strength was so vast that the man could end fights and change the weather with a single punch. And the man's speed being so fast that if you blinked, you would miss the hero's whole fight.

Eli had seen on the internet numerous polls that questioned who was the strongest or the most popular hero in Japan or sometimes even the world. And whenever those polls came up, All Might was usually listed in the top spot, if not in the top three. Even in the speed category, All Might always topped the list, with someone named after a bird coming in second and third, going to a hero named Inwegium or something. So it was clear that there was quite a reputation surrounding the Number One Hero.

But after watching the man's fight with the Nomu, Eli couldn't understand all the hype. Like, sure, the guy was fast. But he wasn't fast. If you got his meaning.

In his mind, Eli compared All Might's speed to his past experiences, acknowledging the hero's swiftness and power but finding it lacking compared to the fastest individuals he has encountered. So while All Might's speed was impressive, he notes that it falls short of the accolades often attributed to the Symbol of Peace. This could be because the man is older and is possibly past his prime. The young Lokadi isn't quite sure how old the hero is or how long he has been a hero for, not like Eli has ever searched for it. But that could be a possible reason.

He leans against the rock, his arms crossed, and muses to himself, "Hm, not bad, but he's not as fast as they make him out to be." Eli's casual observation starkly contrasts the awe and admiration surrounding him. Moreover, his nonchalant demeanour sets him apart from the fervour and excitement that grips the other students.

With that said, Elijah watches everything end.

Having realised their defeat and the arrival of hero reinforcements led by Tenya Iida, the villains swiftly retreat from the scene, disappearing into the shadows like wisps of smoke. The remaining ones are quickly and easily captured. Once ominous and threatening, their presence dissipates in the face of impending justice.

Realising that this whole event is over. Eli takes his time walking back to the entrance of the USJ, where most of the students are located, making sure to take the long way so it isn't suspected that he was involved in the battle of the Central Plaza.

Amidst the commotion and the heroes regaining control, Midnight, her violet eyes filled with concern, catches sight of Eli heading up the stairs. Her heart skips a beat, worry etched across her features as she rushes towards him. Then, with swift strides, she closes the distance between them, her lengthy hair flowing behind her.

"Eli!" Midnight's voice carries a mixture of relief and anxiety as she reaches him. Without a second thought, she wraps her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace. Her embrace is warm, filled with the genuine care she holds for him as the younger sibling of her beloved.

Eli was initially about to attempt his usual escape from her hugs, but feeling how tight her hold was, he gradually relaxed into the embrace. The worry and tension concealed within him slowly melted away in the comfort of her arms. Or maybe it was her own. The scent of her perfume fills his senses, soothing him as her genuine concern washes over him.

"Are you alright?" Midnight's voice is filled with a mix of motherly care and genuine fondness as she pulls away slightly, her hands resting gently on Eli's shoulders. Her eyes search his face for any signs of harm or distress. "I was so worried. Are you hurt? What happened?"

For a moment, Eli stares back into her violet eyes before giving her a small smile of comfort.

"I'm fine, Kayama," Eli responds softly, his voice carrying a hint of gratitude before his smile changes into a slight smirk. "But I can't wait to go home and sleep."

---

In an alleyway a few blocks away from the prodigious U.A. high school, a particular villain of Zambian descent was seen shuffling his way in between two buildings to hide from the public eye.

Djoku stumbled through the dimly lit alleyway, his body throbbing with pain. Small amounts of blood seeped from the wounds on his head when he had been thrown back into the wall. He leaned against a graffiti-covered wall, struggling to catch his breath. The chaos of the USJ attack still echoed in his mind, the screams of villains and the shouts of heroism from the students.

"Gah! I can't believe I got knocked out in a place like Japan." Djoku groaned, almost tripping over his feet as he walked.

His eyes darted around nervously, scanning for any sign of pursuit. The police and heroes would likely be swarming the area soon outside the hero school, searching for villains attempting to escape. But Djoku believed he had managed to slip away, exploiting the confusion and the smoke before the police and other heroes arrived.

Leaning his back against the wall, he sank to the ground, a mixture of fear and frustration boiling within him as the image of the giant deformed shadowy creature plagued his mind. How was it possible that a Horseman had survived? And why the Hell was it in Japan, of all places? The same place Djoku had decided to travel to. Either he had the worst luck imaginable, or God was playing a sick, twisted joke on him.

Inwardly, Djoku referred to the Horseman as more of a thing than a person. To him, it was a demon spawned straight from Hell and created from the sick mind of the Devil, a monster that should be feared and avoided at all costs. Its relentless pursuit haunted him, driving him to the edge of sanity. He had seen what a Horseman was capable of, the destruction it left in its wake and how it left permanent scars on the land wherever it went. It was no ordinary adversary, and Djoku knew he had no way of versing it.

Well, there was one way.

The African's beady eyes drifted downwards to his right hand, which uncontrollably shook at the memory of the entity that overcame his Intimidation. But what he really focused on was the blood that ran down from his head to his arm and then gathered at his hand.

Djoku stared at the drops of blood that fell from his palm onto the grimy ground. It was darker in colour, almost bordering on a dark purple, a stark contrast to the vivid red most were accustomed to. His heart skipped a beat as he stared at the ominous hue, recognising the significance of it.

For a fleeting moment, a dangerous thought crossed his mind. Should he ingest it?

Djoku knew what would happen if he did. Immeasurable power that came from being born in the Wasteland. While he believed himself to be Zambian through and through, he knew it wasn't his birthplace. But, If he could harness the power within his own veins, he could, no would, become strong enough to take down the Horseman, or any Horseman for that matter. The allure of such immense power was highly tempting, intoxicating even.

His eyes widened as he contemplated the possibilities. Djoku imagined himself wielding unimaginable strength, wielding vast power that could lay waste to anything in his path. Passing images of people he wanted to kill flashed before his eyes, and the last was the idea of the Horseman falling to its knees, dead and broken like it deserved to be.

"This blood..." Djoku whispered, staring at it. "Could it be my salvation?"

But just as quickly as the idea emerged, Djoku forcefully pushed it aside. He knew the consequences, the price he would have to pay. Taping into that forbidden power would mean losing himself, surrendering his humanity. He would essentially become a wild creature without the ability to reason. The price was too dear. It was a path he couldn't afford to tread unless it became his last resort.

"No... I won't become a monster like them." He muttered, with ferocity laced in his voice. "I won't sacrifice everything I am. I will find another way!"

With a solemn sigh, Djoku clenched his hand, causing the blood to cease its flow. He wiped the remnants of the dark liquid onto his torn jacket, his expression hardened with determination. There had to be another way, a way to survive without succumbing to the darkness within or facing that thing.

Clenching his injured hand, Djoku forced himself to focus on the present, on his escape from Japan. It was better to just get out of here than try to deal with a Horseman and the so-called Strongest Hero in the world. Who would have thought he would run into both of them here in Japan. What crap luck. But, ignoring all that, for now, though, his only option was to find a place, with little attention, to recover from his wounds and regain his strength. While he might not be able to kill a Horseman, if he recovered enough, he should be able to deal with any other problems that might arise.

"I will survive this," The African villain whispered as he slowly lifted himself up to his feet before continuing down the dark alleyway. "...And I will kill anyone who stands in the way of my freedom."

---

As the sun begins to set, casting a warm orange glow over the city, Adrian Lokadi wraps up another busy day at Charity's Delight, his popular café and sweet shop. The last few customers bid their farewells, and the sound of laughter and conversations slowly faded away, signalling another day's end. The remaining employees, Toya Setsuno and Yu Hojo, gather their belongings and bid Adrian goodnight before heading home.

"Alright, Boss, we are heading out." The bald-headed Hojo calls out, giving a slight wave to Adrian, who was at the counter.

"You sure you don't want our help?" Setsuno questioned, double-checking if his boss was really okay with them leaving while he put some stuff away.

"Like every other time you ask, the answer is yes! I can handle closing the store with the Twins," The dark-skinned man responded, rolling his eyes for what he felt was the umpteenth time. "Plus, Eli is coming here, so I might as well wait."

"Oh yeah, I heard from some customers that apparently, U.A. got attacked. Is he alright?"

"Ahh, he's fine!" Adrian waved, dismissing their concern. "Nemuri called and said he was okay, barely has a scratch on him. Plus, he can take care of himself." From how he acted, it looked like he was barely worried about the younger African and his predicament. It was odd behaviour, given that most family members would be concerned if one of their own was in danger, but yet the man didn't seem that worried.

Adrian then began to almost playfully shoo his employees out the door. "No, go on, get out of here! We got another big day tomorrow!"

The two employees of Charity's Delight quickly glanced at each other but chose not to say anything. "Alright then, guess we'll see you tomorrow."

"Take care, boss!"

Adrian gave a casual wave as the duo exited the shop. With the store now empty except for Adrian, he took a moment to admire the calm ambience of his establishment. The tantalising scent of freshly baked pastries and other delicacies still lingers in the air, a testament to the culinary delights that Charity's Delight offers. Then, with a soft sigh, he leans against the counter, allowing his thoughts to wander back to the origins of this cherished establishment.

Years ago, back in his homeland, Adrian could never have envisioned himself as the owner of a bustling café and sweet shop. It was an impossibility, like how a lion couldn't breathe underwater. Instead, life had taken unexpected turns, leading him to Japan with his ward/younger brother, Elijah, in search of a fresh start. During those early days, Adrian's dream of owning a store began to take shape, fueled by his love for candy and the desire to create a place that he could call his own, a place that could bring joy to others.

His gaze sweeps across the cozy interior, taking in the warm colours, the delicate pastries on display, and the handwritten menu boards. Each detail reflected his passion for this venture. Adrian recalls the moment he stumbled upon Charity's Delight, a charming little shop tucked away in the corner of the city. Fortunately, though, it was near a local train station, so a lot of foot traffic passed by.

It was serendipitous, really. The previous owner, a kind old lady with a warm smile, was preparing to move to the countryside to be closer to her son and grandchildren. Sensing Adrian's enthusiasm and determination, she agreed to let him purchase the place on the condition that he would repay her in manageable instalments. It was a chance for Adrian to turn his dream into reality.

A soft smile graces Adrian's lips as he remembers the sense of fulfilment he felt when he finally unlocked the doors of Charity's Delight for the first time. It was more than just a means to make a living; it was a way to immerse himself in the city's and Japan's vibrant energy, be part of the community and have a reason to step out into the world each day.

This was one thing that made him different from his brother's personality. While Eli found solace and contentment in the quietude of their home, Adrian craved the bustling activity of the outside world. Opening Charity's Delight allowed him to strike a balance between his responsibilities as a guardian and his own need for personal fulfilment.

Now if only his ward could do the same.

The chime above the entrance door breaks Adrian's reverie, signalling the arrival of someone familiar. Adrian turns to see the youngest Lokadi stepping inside the store. Eli's composed expression gives nothing away, but a subtle glimmer of contentment or appreciation is in his eyes as he glances around the building.

"Yo," Eli greets nonchalantly, sitting on one of the stools at the counter. "Busy day?"

Adrian chuckles lightly, leaning against the counter as he faces his brother. "Eh, you know how it is. But it's been good. Charity's Delight is gaining quite a fanbase. People can't seem to resist our delectable treats."

Eli nods, his attention momentarily drawn to the array of pastries in the glass display. Each of them was immaculate in their appearance and looked appetising enough to make almost anyone's mouth water. Adrian seemed to notice the look and, without a word, reached down behind one of the displays and pulled out a tiny cupcake with cream spread lavishly on top. He placed the delicacy in front of Eli before gesturing to it, and with a short nod of thanks, Eli began to devour it.

"So, E", Adrian began, his voice laced with an undercurrent of curiosity. "Care to spill the details? I've heard quite the commotion happened at the USJ today. How did you handle yourself?"

Eli shrugged, his expression remaining unchanged. "I'm fine. It wasn't as intense as it seemed. All Might took care of things."

Adrian raised an eyebrow, studying his brother's nonchalant demeanour. It was as if Eli possessed an unwavering composure, unfazed by the perilous situations he found himself in. Although, in truth, Adrian himself wasn't that worried.

Elijah, his younger brother and a student at U.A. High School, had been caught in a dangerous situation where villains of all kinds tried. The thought should have sent waves of worry crashing over Adrian like any other parent or guardian, but strangely, his composure remained steadfast. It wasn't that he didn't care or love Eli. On the contrary, the bond between them was unbreakable, forged through shared experiences and mutual understanding, the like that not many in the world could ever have with others.

Adrian's mind was a labyrinth of calculated thoughts and cunning schemes. Yet, he had a knack for assessing risks and anticipating outcomes. This skill, forged in his homeland, often made him seem unfazed by perilous circumstances. Deep down, he had faith in Eli's abilities, his quiet determination, and his ability to adapt to any situation, no matter how dire. Perhaps it was this unspoken trust that allowed Adrian to maintain a sense of calm, even in the face of danger.

"You're a tough one to worry about," Adrian commented, a touch of amusement in his voice. "Always so calm, even in the face of danger. Are you sure you're not secretly made of steel?"

Eli's lips twitched, a subtle hint of amusement betraying his usually reserved nature. "I suppose I have my moments," he replied, his voice tinged with a touch of self-awareness.

"So, was our lovely Midnight there at the USJ too?" Adrian asked as he crouched down and began organising the shelves.

Eli nodded, focused on eating the cupcake on his small plate. "Yeah, she was. She pulled me into a hug when I arrived. She seemed genuinely worried."

Adrian chuckled, his voice laced with amusement at Eli's words. "Well, of course, she would be. You know how she is. Always wearing her emotions on her sleeve. It's one of her cutest parts."

Eli's only grunted in response, or maybe it was a hum, but whatever it was, it was one of acknowledgment.

"So, what do you think happened afterwards?" Adrian broke the silence, glancing at Eli momentarily before dipping back down.

The boy shrugged nonchalantly, his voice calm and measured. "Well, the heroes arrived, and the villains disappeared. Apparently, it's the usual cat-and-mouse game that happens here, I suppose."

Adrian nodded, an amused grin spreading across his face. "Yeah, those villains always seem to slip away, don't they? Maybe our friends and we should stop them from running next time, huh?"

Eli rolled his eyes, though there was a rare spark of amusement. "What, you planning to be a hero now?"

Adrian chuckled, his tone filled with playful arrogance. "Why, of course. Like many, I want to wear those stupid tight suits and run around in my underwear."

"Don't let Kayama hear you say that. Otherwise, you'll be in trouble."

Adrian laughed once again. "Then let's keep it a secret between us."

A silence too over the two of the Lokadis, and they basked in it. Allowing it to encompass the whole store. It was a comfortable silence that only a few could achieve without it turning awkward. Adrian continued putting the last few things behind the counter while Eli finished his enjoyable treat.

The silence, however, eventually ended as while Adrian stacked the last of the supplies crouched behind the counter, Eli glanced around the empty café. His voice dropped to a hushed tone as the following few words were uttered in a language spoken by only a handful of people in all of Japan.

"Are we alone in here?"

Despite kneeling behind the counter, Adrian seemed to recognise his ward's tone. "Just the Twins," he replied, still crouching, referring to the two siblings who lived at the shop. "They're at the back, doing whatever they do."

Satisfied with Adrian's response, Eli reached past the stool towards the ground, where his trusty shadow was always located. Like always, black smoke emerges, billowing out and cascading outward like tendrils reaching for freedom. The smoke moves with an eerie grace, as if it has a mind of its own yet remains wholly subservient to its master's command. Eli didn't even have to fully reach into his shadow before the object that Eli called came out from the darkness and placed itself into his hand.

The youngest Lokadi then dropped the object onto the counter with a resounding thud; its impact echoed through the empty café, filling the space with an air of mystery.

Adrian twitched at the noise, and with curiosity getting the better of him, he peered up to see what caused it. On the table, the glowing axe Eli had acquired earlier at the USJ rested flat on the counter. It glowed menacingly, its sky-blue light shining across the room. Yet, oddly enough, the light seemed to emanate even more brilliantly than when either Eli or the African villain had held it, and it exuded a sense of happiness and familiarity. As if it was joyful to be in the presence of the oldest Lokadi. Surprise flickered across Adrian's face, momentarily breaking his usually composed demeanour.

"...Isn't that?" Adrian muttered, his voice barely audible as he stared at the weapon.

Eli's expression remained impassive, but his black sclera stared at the axe with confirmation. "Looks like the world is a lot smaller than we hoped it to be."

The two Africans stared silently at the weapon as the glow from the axe seemed to intensify, surpassing its usual radiance. It bathed the surroundings in a vibrant aura, casting dancing shadows on the walls. Yet, it continued to give off a feeling of happiness and familiarity, like how a pet dog felt when its owner returned home from work.

Or

When a weapon was in the presence of its creator.

---

A/N: Hey everyone, how you been? *Awkwardly waves* So this chapter came out a lot later than I thought it would. I originally planned for this chapter to come out around New Years, but a bunch of stuff just happened in life that I never really got the chance. Also I actually ended up writing this chapter before scrapping it as I wasn't happy with it. To be honest I'm still not thrilled with this chapter, but I just had to get this chapter out, and I really wanted to move on from the USJ attack and towards the Sports festival as that's where things start getting a bit spicy. So yeah, I finished it writing and finished editing it and I just submitted it. Maybe later I will come back and try to fix it up, but not today. But as a sorry gift, this chapter is longer than usual, so there you go. Once again, sorry this took longer to come out. As I said previously, I don't have a schedule or anything when i write, it's really just when I have time and inspiration. I will try to make the next chapter not take as long as thats where the Sport's Festival is, and let me tell you I have some stuff to write about! But I can't make any promises.

So about the story, we got some info about world. Such as the Wasteland, the Horseman, and Mythics. As you all know, in the My Hero Academia universe, it is not possible for objects to have Quirks, so let's see how this new thing affects the world of My Hero. Hopefully I was able to showcase that there are multiple Mythics that exist, the axe which Djoku had, as well as the bow which Eli produced from his shadow is Mythic too, meaning that Eli has his own. Also it seems that Adrian is related to Mythics, which will be interesting to see how it affects the story and the My Hero world.

So with all that out of the way, once again thank everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed up until now. Many thanks, and wherever you are in the world, hope you have a good morning, afternoon, evening, or good night.

-Gaming Terms-

DPS = Damage Per Second

Tank = A strong player or character with high stamina

Tanking = Is when a Tank knowingly sustains or withstands a lot of damage in a battle in order to enable other team members to play their roles more easily.

Noob = inexperienced player, typically used as a derogatory term.

Feeding = derogatory slang for someone dying a lot in a game and giving points to the enemy team.