The next day, Momo and Noikari returned to Class 1A. Everyone was happy to see them again. When Izuku and Bakugo had been discharged from the hospital, they had not been told when Noikari and Momo would be returning, so seeing them back was a treat.

As the two walked in, everyone happily greeted the pair, glad to see them back. Standing up, the rest of Class 1A walked up to them as they entered.

"Are you guys alright?" Uraraka asked. "Everyone was really worried about you." She continued.

"Yeah, we heard you guys got hurt pretty bad, ribbit" Tsuyu added.

Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sato stood by, smiling. They had also been very worried about Noikari.

"Don't worry. We're fine now. Really", Noikari assured them with a smile.

"Well, we're all just glad you two are alright" Mineta assured while nonchalantly walking around the duo, trying to act casual in an effort to try and cop a feel of Momo's butt. As his hand extended slowly towards the girls bottom, Mineta was stopped when Noikari's head sharply turned to him, his gaze locked onto him like a bird of prey.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Noikari calmly suggested, taking a step forward to stand directly in front of Mineta. "If I ever catch you trying anything like that again, don't expect me to be so lenient next time." His voice was soft but menacing as he spoke. Mineta trembled and backed away from Noikari.

"Uh. . y-yeah, yo-you got it." Mineta responded, his voice trembling as he quickly shuffled to his seat.

As Noikari watched the perverted boy sit down, Momo leaned in and whispered, "Thanks for that, Noikari". She ended with a quick kiss to Noikari's cheek, making the child jump back in embarrassment.

As Aizawa walked in, the class settled down.

"Good evening, students. I know we are all happy that Momo and Noikari are back, but I have some important news, so listen closely." Aizawa stated. Silence filled the air as he waited for any sort of noise, which luckily did not arise. Once he was satisfied, he began speaking.

"We will be returning to the Training Forest."

The entirety of Class 1A, save for Noikari, had reactions ranging from suprise, to shock, to fear. Many people were shocked to think that they were finally safe, others terrified at the idea of being attacked in the forest again. While there wasn't a need for concern, some still harbored a strong feeling of dread inside of them.

"Don't worry, this time there won't be an ambush by the League of Villains." Confused, Noikari leaned into Ojiro. "What does he mean by that?"

"It's a long story." Responded Ojiro.

"Um . . Mr. Aizawa, sir" Todoroki began, "When exactly are we leaving?"

Aizawa looked at his watch. "Roughly 30 minutes"

Everyone's eyes widened, not expecting to be leaving so soon.

"Now, go get ready and meet me outside. The bus will be waiting."

With those last words, everyone jumped out of their chairs and ran out of the room, heading straight to the locker rooms where they all changed and put on their school uniforms. Within the next half hour, everyone of Class 1A was outside, alongside Class 1B, who were confused at the appearance of Noikari. None of them had heard about the events that led to the child being at the school, but they nonetheless greeted him with open arms. As the two classes discussed amongst themselves, Aizawa stood a bit away, talking with Class 1B's homeroom teacher, Sekijiro Kan.

After counting one more time to make sure everyone in both classes was there and accounted for, the two classes loaded up into their respective buses.

As soon as Noikari sat down, he began to fidget with the hem of his shirt nervously, unable to sit still or stop bouncing his leg. This only lasted for about five seconds before Momo leaned over and placed a reassuring hand against his thigh. "Relax, Noikari" she reassured him. "It's just training."

Noikari was still slightly nervous but decided not to dwell on it for too long. Pulling out his bag, Noikari opened it and pulled out a book, reading through it in order to calm himself.

As the trip went on, some students found it hard to stay awake. Momo yawned as she tiredly stretched.

"Are you alright, Momo?" Noikari asked, a slight concern in his voice.

Momo answered drowsily as she slowly began to drift off. "Yeah, I'm fine Noikari. I'm just. . a little. . . tired." As she finished her statement, her eyes closed as she fell asleep, with her head landing on Noikari's lap, using it as a pillow. This caused Noikari's cheeks to flush red in embarrassment.

In the seat next to him sat Eijiro and Denki, who were staring at him with confused looks. They were wondering why Noikari was so worried about Momo's position. They began to converse in whispers.

"Dude, just move her."

"I can't."

"Why the hell not"

"I don't want to wake her up."

Eijiro and Denki looked at each other and shrugged. Oh well, it was his choice.

By the time Class 1A arrived at their destination, it was already the middle of the afternoon. As the bus finally stopped, Noikari looked out of the window. 'That's odd' he thought. 'What are we doing here?' The bus had stopped on a small mountain overlooking a large forest. Noikari could see a medium sized building resembling a cabin a ways away. Something wasn't right here.

Aizawa told his students, "We're here, everyone out." Hearing his words, the students began to exit the bus. Noikari gently poked Momo in order to wake her up.

"Momo, wake up, we're here."

After a moment, Momo's eyes flickered open. "Noikari?"

"Come on, we're here."

Momo jumped up as she realized. "Oh, we're here!" She shouted happily, stretching as she got up and made her way out of the bus.

Noikari followed her out of the bus with Ochako, who smiled at him. Noikari smiled back, giving her a small bow.

As everyone stepped out of the bus, Noikari couldn't help but notice something off. For one, while everyone did look excited to be here, they also looked worried, almost afraid. It appeared as if everyone knew what was coming, but were reluctant to tell anyone. He didn't know whether to ask, because if they said no they were going to regret it later.

Before Noikari could even open his mouth to talk, however, he was cut off by an excited voice from behind the group.

"WELCOME BACK EVERYONE!"

Turning around, everyone noticed a familiar group of four appear before them, each striking a unique pose. Behind them a small child stood, not partaking in the posing.

Mandalay, Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, Tiger; together, the four made up the team known as the Wild, Wild, Pussycats. Each had a different quirk. Mandalay could telepathically communicate with someone, Pixie had the ability to manipulate the earth around her, and Tiger's quirk allowed him to stretch and flatten his own body at will, granting him inhuman flexebility. Unfortunately, due to an event previously where Ragdoll was kidnapped and had her quirk stolen by All For One, she was now Quirkless, although she still helped the team.

"We're glad to see you all here once again" began Mandalay. "Now with no surprises, we can do our training to the fullest!" Class 1A cheered but then stopped as they glanced over their shoulders, seeing the cliff edge behind them. Noticing his students reaction, Aizawa nonchalantly took his spot next to the hero team, before stating "Your training begins now."

Pixie-Bob stepped forward and placed a hand on the ground, a faint blue glow being visible. Seeing this, several students of Class 1A backed away, remembering last time. Smiling, Pixie-Bob began counting down.

"3. . ."

"Shit, here it comes!" Todoroki exclaimed.

"2. . ."

"Everyone get ready." barked an anxious Shoji, standing guard alongside Tokoyami and Hagakure.

"1. . ."

Although still worried, Bakugo grinned at Noikari. "Get ready, kid."

"Ready for what?"

Pixie-Bob's countdown finished right as a massive wall of rock and dirt sailed directly into Class 1A. Everyone shouted in surprise as they were hurdled off the cliff behind them, save one.

At the last second, Noikari had activated his quirk and somehow stood against the incredible force of the wave of earth, his body covered in soot and dust. The lavender flames which surrounded his hands was muddled by the dirt. Initially horrified, Noikari immediately breathed a sigh of relief as he looked behind him and saw everyone at the bottom was okay. But he quickly became angry and a little over-confident. The members of the Wild, Wild, Pussycats and even Aizawa were surprised. They hadn't expected anyone to actually stay on the cliff.

Turning back to the group, Noikari exclaimed "I don't know what kind of training this is, but I intend to win. And I'll fight you to prove it."

Aizawa was about to reprimand his student but was stopped by Mandalay. "Hold on, this could be good."

Surprised by the child's attitude, Pixie-Bob simply grinned and crouched down low in a manner akin to a cat. Noikari got into a stance as well, with one hand bent in front of his face.

Within a second, Noikari had jumped up and lunged forward, preparing to take on the catlike hero. . .

Only to be blasted backwards by a stream of water that emerged from seemingly nowhere, pushing the child away and off the cliffside.

"OH COME ON WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" The boy's voice drifted downward down the cliff.

Shocked, the Wild, Wild, Pussycats and Aizawa turned to see Kota with his arms outstretched, small droplets of water dripping from his hands. Tiger couldn't help but burst out into laughter as Mandalay looked at her younger cousin in embarrassment.

"Kotaaaa." She remarked with annoyance.

"What?" replied the younger boy, "Did you not want him down there?"

Groans and grunts echoed through the forest as Class 1A recovered from their shaky landing. Fortunately, none of them were hurt, only suffering a few marks from the fall. Still, being launched off of a cliff wasn't any better than the first time. As the heroes in training got back to their feet, they noticed that they were down a member.

"Wait, where's Noikari?" Midoriya asked concernedly.

As if some form of divine intervention had blessed them, the students heard a distant scream which was getting closer and closer. Bakugo looked up trying to deduce the source of the noise, only to be met with Noikari plummeting straight down, harshly landing on the Explosion hero and smashing him into the dirt.

"Owwwww" Noikari moaned as he felt the results of his landing. Luckily something broke his fall.

He quickly learned that that something was Bakugo. "Get the fuck off me!" he shouted, shoving Noikari off him.

Getting up quickly, Noikari profusely apologized as he helped Bakugo up on his feet, wiping off excess dirt and dust that coated the sandy haired teen.

"Oh god, I'm sorry Bakugo I didn't mean to land on you!"

He stated, looking apologetic.

Bakugo growled. "Shut the fuck up, I said I didn't care." He snapped as he brushed himself off.

Meanwhile, everyone else was looking over at the pair who had landed on top of each other. There was an awkward silence between the two before Noikari spoke up.

"So uh. . where are we?" He asked, hoping someone in Class 1A could answer. The child didn't like what he saw in front of him. The trees were all massive, enough to nearly blot out the sunlight coming through, giving the forest an eerie nature behind it.

"This is the Beast's Forest" Izuku explained. "We have to go through it if we want to reach the base."

Noikari was shocked at the normality that the inheritor of All For One spoke with.

"Wait, have all of you done this before?"

The entirety of Class 1A simultaneously nodded.

Noikari let out a sigh as he rubbed the temple of his head. "Alright, so is there anything 𝘪𝘯 the forest?"

"Only the things that Pixie-Bob creates" Koda replied.

Noikari almost laughed. "What, are you saying that she created some rock monsters in the forest?"

Class 1A fell silent as the gears slowly started to turn in Noikari's head.

"Oh my god, she did just that, didn't she?"

"Yep," replied Sero, causing the boy to gasp, eyes widen slightly, and sweat to run down his forehead as he realized what that meant for him.

"Okay, so uh... can we move?" he asked nervously.

"First," began Izuku "we need to know which way the base is. But how?"

The heroes in training thought of numerous ideas for a moment, but none of them came to fruition. Then, Bakugo remembered something. Spinning around to face Noikari, he hoped this would work.

"Noikari!"

"Y-yeah?"

"Do you remember that thing you did when we fought the Colossaeus? When you made those wings and tentacle things?"

"Um. . . yeah?"

"Can you see if you can do that again?"

Confused, Noikari shrugged, "Sure? Just give me some space for a minute. I need to concentrate."

Nodding, Bakugo and the rest of Class 1A backed away slightly to give the child room. Once everyone was situated, Noikari sat down, taking adeep breath as he activated Conversion Furnace. Purple flames briefly adorned his arms before redirecting to the base of his spine. The area round the spinal cord began to bulge and morph as four familiar appendages ripped themselves outwards. Noikari grimaced as the tendrils tore out of his flesh, but unlike the first time, it was nowhere near as painful as it was before. Once more, two of the tentacles split open and connected membranes, allowing the azure, translucent wings to take form once again. Taking deep breath and feeling the air flow into the lungs, Noikari opened his eyes and stretched his wings, watching as they expanded. Those who hadn't been there to witness the battle against the Colossaeus watched in amazement.

"Woah" muttered Ojiro.

"That's amazing!" screamed Uraraka.

Sero stared agape, unable to believe what he was seeing. "Wow! You look really awesome, Noikari!" he exclaimed.

Noikari smiled at the compliments before turning to Bakugo. "So um, what exactly did you want me to do, Bakugo?"

The explosion hero pointed upward to the sky. "I want you to fly up and find the direction of the camp so we know where we're going."

Smiling confidently, Noikari flew up high above the ground, looking around for any signs of the camp. After several minutes, he spotted the same large cabin-like base that he had seen when he was on the cliff face.

"I see it!" Noikari shouted, catching the attention of Class 1A on the ground. "North west!"

The boy promptly descended back to the ground, his wings retracting back into his body, tentacles following suit.

"That's where we go!"

Alright," Bakugo replied, motioning to the youth with his hand. "Lead the way, kid."

"Wait, what?"

"You're the one who knows where to go."

"Well. . alright. Let's go, everyone." With that, the team headed towards the base.

Silence.

Its eerie presence loomed over Class 1A as they entered the Beast's Forest. In contrast to before, this place was very empty. No birds or insects, no animals moved along the ground or trees. Only the occasional sound of crunching leaves filled the air, and even these sounds were unnaturally loud given that the area was still surrounded by dense trees. Noikari couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen.

He could feel a coldness radiating off of his surroundings, despite the blazing sun shining through the treetops. It felt... wrong somehow. Like there was something sinister and unnatural lurking around somewhere in this strange landscape.

Then finally, a sound. A miniscule vibration was felt.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Their heads turning left and right as they tried to pinpoint what had made the noise. Eventually, no one could deny it anymore.

There were footsteps approaching.

As the footsteps got closer, they also grew heavier, each step sending a boom throughout the area. Strangely, no one seemed necessarily afraid. Sure, they were nervous, but having traversed this forest before, this would hopefully be easier than last time.

Noikari didn't have the luxury of having experience in the Beast's Forest. This was horrifying.

When the footsteps got even closer, they were followed by inhuman growls. Emerging from the darkness was an Earth Beast, a monstrous golem-like creature made of dirt, stone and roots made by Pixie-Bob's quirk. Even though the creature was roughly the size of a car, it was still far too big for anyone to comfortably fight.

The creature's eye was black and its mouth lined with sharp teeth. Its head was topped off by a giant horn shaped like a tree stump, as well as a pair of huge hands with claws extending out of the ends. On either side of this creature were three thick legs and two pairs of thin legs, and on top of that, the thing also had spikes and spines growing on either side of his body, making him seem extremely threatening.

The beast took a menacing step forward while letting out another low growl, causing everyone to step backwards.

Noikari backed away in terror. "What the hell is that thing?"

Izuku answered him, not taking his eyes off of the Earth Beast. "That's what Pixie-Bob created for us to fight in here."

"This is the only one, right?" Noikari asked in concern.

"Nope."

"Oh. . ."

"Never mind that," Izuku reaffirmed. "We have to take it down! Let's go everyone!"

As if hearing them, the monster charged forward, shrieking in fury as everyone jumped out of the way. As the creature sluggishly turned around, it had no time to counter what was coming next.

"Todoroki, freeze it!" Bakugo barked.

"On it!" replied Todoroki, his right side becoming adorned with freezing winds as the son of Endeavor launched a subzero stream of ice which quickly encompassed the monster's legs, freezing them solid. The Earth Beast flailed and shrieked as it tried to free itself of its icy imprisonment. Slowly, it was making progress. The ice surrounding his legs slowly but surely began to crack and fracture, pieces of it shattering and threatening to free it. Just before the monster could receive freedom however, it was swiftly silenced as Kaminari pounced on the beast's head, activating his Electrification quirk to deliver a painful dose of shock therapy. Howling in agony as his skin was assailed by the agonizing watts, the monster was finally silenced as Bakugo channeled Explosion through his fist before punching straight through the Earth Beast. The monster let out a final whimper before it collapsed.

Noikari was amazed at the level of strategy and power the three had utilized.

"That was incredible, you guys!"

"Don't celebrate just yet, kid. There are more of them in these woods."

Strangely, Noikari didn't feel as fearful as he had before. Seeing the display Bakugo and the others had put on had inspired him. They had awoken his need for battle.

Somewhat cockily, Noikari commented "You gotta let me fight the next one, yeah?"

As if on cue, another Earth Beast appeared, only this time it was different. Unlike the last creature, this one carried itself on dragon-like wings, it's maw heralding a powerful screech which would've sent chills through anyone who heard it.

Class 1A was mostly unconcerned, however.

"Alright kid, you wanted to fight it, go get it." Bakugo remarked, waving his hand in a forward beckoning motion.

Noikari nodded as he turned around, watching the rocky hydra make its landing, dirt being kicked up as the monster saw the child in front of it. Roaring in anger, the stone fiend galloped forward, hoping to make a meal out of the student.

As the monster charged, Noikari activated Conversion Furnace as his hands were given the familiar purple glow that Class 1A had seen several times before.

The boy and the Earth Beast closed the distance between each other rapidly. As they were mere feet away, the dragon lunged his head forward, aiming to crush the child in its jaws. As the disgusting maw approached, Noikari slid underneath the Earth Beast, forcing the dragon to bite into the dirt from the ground they tread on. Spitting the foreign particles out of his mouth, the earthborn tarragon attempted to crush Noikari with his tail, but with surprising agility, the boy easily dodged it, spinning around in midair as he clenched a single fist. He then flew forward, pulling a mighty fist back with all of his might.

Had the creature been one of flesh and bone, it would've found its neck horribly broken. Instead, the creation of dirt simply exploded into dust as its head was popped clean off by the single punch. as the second Earth Beast fell, Noikari wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"Nice move kid." Said Bakugo, smiling smugly.

"Why thank you." Noikari replied, bowing in an exaggerated manner, saying "I am rather gifted," in a rather flamboyant tone.

This caused Bakugo to let out a laugh, playfully slapping Noikari on the neck.

"Let's go," he continued, walking forward once more. "We've still got a long walk ahead of us."

Aizawa and the Wild, Wild, Pussycats waited at base camp for Class 1A to arrive.

"Do you think they'll make it here faster than before?" Pixie-Bob asked Mandalay, remembering how the first time the class had traversed the forest, it had taken roughly 8 hours.

"I'm sure they will," Mandalay replied calmly. "They're students after all."

Traversing the Beast's Forest wasn't any easier than it was before. While any Earth Beasts encountered were swiftly defeated, the class still had significant trouble traversing the dark domain. Still, they certainly made up for it by getting through the forest significantly faster than last time.

Four grueling hours later, Class 1A hobbled out of the Beast's Forest to the base camp, greeted by Aizawa and the Wild, Wild, Pussycats.

There wasn't a single student that wasn't bruised or beaten. Although they didn't necessarily hurt, to say that the journey was painless would be nothing short of a lie. Todoroki held Bakugo and Noikari under each arm.

What happened to them?" Aizawa inquired, raising an eyebrow.

The student sighed before explaining. "These two idiots decided to make a game out of who could take out the most Earth Beasts."

Noikari and Bakugo looked at the ground in embarrassment, deciding it was best to just stay quiet.

The Wild, Wild Pussycats laughed in disbelief at the two student's choice of actions while Aizawa's face had a look of annoyance. Of course Bakugo would do something like that. His competitive nature always made him compete with others.

"Well what matters is that you all made it." Tiger said interjected, shooting Class 1A a thumbs-up.

"And in only half the time it took you guys before!" Pixie-Bob exclaimed joyfully. She then added, "However, that was only your first test. We have many tests to come before we can even consider our mission complete. Now, you shall eat and rest for the remainder of the day." A resounding "yes!" echoed from Class 1A except Noikari, who simply slumped to the ground, groaning.

This was going to be tough.