BUZZZZZ BUZZZZZ BUZZZZZZZ

In the dark, Jun began to stir at the sound of his phone going off. In his youth the former hero had been much more of a morning person, easily able shoot out of bed at a moment's notice, awake and aware. The year's since his forced retirement had made that habit harder and harder with each passing day. Slowly, the silver-haired man sat up in his king-sized bed, holding his head as he opened his eyes. As was his habit, he glanced to the empty right side of the bed before reaching for his phone, realizing it was Principal Nezu calling.

A bit of worry settling in his stomach, Jun touched answer before saying "Good Morning Principal, to what do I owe the honor of a 5:30 am wakeup call?"

The voice that answered was far more grave than Jun was used to, "Good morning, Luminaire-san. I wish I could be calling under less dire circumstances. I received word over night that our first-year students were attacked while at their summer training camp last evening."

That was chilling to hear. The whole point of taking those kids out to a remote location was to help avoid just such an event after they had been attacked while training earlier in the year. That would be for later, however. For now, there was the obvious question, "That's terrible, but how are they? Is anyone hurt?"

There was a pause on the other line, never a good sign. Jun knew all of those kids, stepping in for one teacher or another when they were out sick or away for a mission and the thought that something had happened to them sent all too familiar twinges of anger and sadness down his spine. "Several are injured I am afraid, and one has been kidnapped, Luminaire-san. I've called all faculty to an emergency meeting, please head to campus as soon as you can." Came Nezu's answer finally, with a reluctance Jun was not used to hearing from the small mammal.

"Yes, of course Principal. I can be there in half an hour. Thank you." With that, Nezu ended the call. Jun set the phone in his lap as he looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes after a moment. Before rushing off to get dressed and out the door, Jun gave himself just a moment to think about as many of those students as possible. So many faces and so much potential among those first years. Vlad never missed a chance to brag about his class but even Aizawa, a man very hard to please, privately had expressed how impressed he was with his kids.

They may not be his students, but they were still the future of this country, this world. They were still people. The last thing he wanted was for any of them to suffer for their choice to fight for a better future. Powerless as he was, all Jun could do was hope for their safety.

Slapping his face lightly with both hands, Jun slide out of bed and began rushing to leave for the meeting.

(X)

As expected, the mood for the meeting had been grim. Given the short notice of the gathering only a handful of the teachers were actually present, each siting at a large "U" shaped wooden desk. Nezu relayed the details that a portion of the League of Villains that had attacked their USJ training facility looking to kill All Might was behind the attack. Their goal was to secure the winner of the UA Sports Festival first year division, Katsuki Bakugo. Snipe, dressed in his stylized cowboy outfit with elongated gas mask that hid his face suggested the boy's extremely brash and aggressive behavior was what drew them to Bakugo. No one disagreed with the sentiment though none believed he could be turned. His will to be the best was far too strong for that.

Suggestions were made that this was also an attempt to further undermine hero society, an idea that Jun found pretty ridiculous and arrogant. Would this undermine the school? Absolutely. But UA was just one of many hero schools across the country and the idea that an attack on UA was an attack on the whole pillar on which society was on build was insane to Jun. Still, as a substitute teacher and head of a group that was little more than a burden to the school, he kept his mouth shut.

Present Mic, a rather slender man in a black leather outfit, a large, modified microphone attached to his neck, yellow sunglasses along with a thin blonde mustache to go along with his ridiculously tall tuft of blonde hair kept spiked, brought back up the idea of a traitor among the staff. This didn't sit well with anyone but without any evidence as to who it could be, it was agreed that baseless accusing of others would only destroy the school.

To bring things back to focus, Nezu had addressed Jun and the lighters. Given the circumstances, the principal asked Power Loader to assist the contractors to get the rooms ready as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Jun would retrieve his new students and inform Vlad King and Eraserhead of the meeting. Given the circumstances, Jun asked for a pro escort, which Nezu agreed to and would contact an agency once the meeting was over.

Nezu then kept the focus on the lighters, mentioning how successful having them live on campus was as he pulled open a folder he had in front of him when the meeting was interrupted by All Might's phone ringing. With some grumbling and apologies, the number one hero took his call outside.

In the meantime, Nezu mentioned that he asked Hitomi to journey out to check on the state of the students. Then Midnight, a voluptuous woman with black-blue hair all the way down her back and a simple red mask outlining her eyes to go with her dominatrix inspired tan leotard/black corset combo pointed out the crush of media at the front door and noted they couldn't go long before addressing this mess with a press conference.

The question of when was being debated when All Might, enlarged to his full form and determination burned into his face stepped back in. The great hero had just been on the phone with Detective Tsukauchi who, after interviewing Vlad and Eraserhead connected the dots from reports investigating the league a couple of weeks earlier.

Nodding to Jun, All Might relayed that thanks to officers under the detective's command working with two underground heroes had found out where the leagues hideout was. After discussing the press conference a bit more, the meeting concluded so All Might could begin working on the raid to get their student back and the rest of the faculty could see to their own responsibilities.

Midnight had suggested taking a quick break for coffee before everyone really got going. Only Snipe and Present Mic took her up on the offer though. Jun, on the other hand had an abiding hatred of the stuff and wanted to get to police headquarters as soon as possible anyway. So, despite how antisocial it may have looked after all the talk of traitors, Jun begged off the invitation and headed for his car.

(X)

Getting out of UA would have been very difficult if Jun had tried to leave out the front, with its constant mob of reporters. Luckily the service entrance in back was much more difficult for the public to access and that, combined with it now being later in the morning meant traffic was lighter and the trip to police headquarters was quick and smooth.

Upon arriving, the former hero sought out the two teachers in charge of the first years, Eraserhead and Vlad King, to relay all that had transpired at the meeting. Once done, the three parted ways as the two left homeroom teachers and Jun headed down to the minimum-security wing to gather his new charges.

The guard on duty was talking to his replacement when Jun arrived, offering a wave to the two officers as he past. However, when the silver-haired man reached the two cells he left the lighters in the night before he found them decidedly empty. The officer who was being relieved noticed the panicked look on Jun's face as the silver-haired former hero looked about the hallway and called out "You looking for our guests?"

Turning, an incredulous expression on his face, Jun barked out "Yes, of course! Who else would I be here to see?"

Unfazed, the officer, decidedly ready to go home and running out of shits to give, simply pointed backward over his shoulder with his thumb as he spoke "Yeah, they said they needed some fresh air so I sent them up on the roof."

"Oh goddamnit" Jun muttered, not in the mood to go on a chase.

(X)

For such a boring looking building from the ground, Michiru thought its roof view of the city was excellent. With no skyscrapers neighboring the police headquarters, one could get a clear view of Musutafu as it had come to life with the rising of the sun. The breeze was nice too, comforting in a way. As the air brushed across her fur, Michiru couldn't help but think back to her rooftop home at the Anima City Co-op and the view it had.

Before she could fall back into thinking about what she had lost, Michiru had her attention pulled back to the present when Zelgadis, in apparent awe, asked "Just how many people do you think live here? This city is massive…"

Michiru puzzled for a moment, stepping away from the fence that ran the perimeter of the roof before answering "You think so? It seems like any major city to me. If its anything like my world, Tokyo would be much larger than this and there are many cities like Tokyo all over the world."

The chimera turned to look at the tanuki girl, eyes wide in surprise "Seriously? How many people were in your word?"

Shrugging, Michiru answered matter-of-factly "I dunno, five or six billion? Hard to tell with beastmen in hiding a lot of the time."

Zelgadis rather dramatically fell forward, catching himself on the fence "Five or six billion! That's almost inconceivable…"

Choosing to ignore how surprised the rock-encrusted man was, Michiru turned to the ever-quiet Emeralda, who had been simply watching the cars go by below, and asked "What about you, Kasim-san? Does that surprise you?"

Emeralda had been listening, even if she made a show of ignoring her two, now much more cordial to each other, companions. While continuing to watch the world below, she answered evenly "That is a lot of people. Unlike Greywards-san though, I have been to large cities, some even in the sky. By the time I was brought here though, I don't know if there was enough people left to fill even one city."

That somber turn had quieted everyone for a moment. Not wanting to dive deeper into the clear implications of Emeralda's answer though, Michiru could said, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…" followed awkward silence that quickly settled in only for Michiru to cross her arms and wonder aloud "Where the hell is Xellos with our coffee, anyway?"

The mere mention of the purple-haired mazuku was enough to annoy the blue chimera. Almost on instinct he gritted his teeth but after a moment took a deep breath to try and regain balance. Michiru didn't mean anything by it, she didn't know the trickster as Zelgadis did after all. Still, the tanuki girl was right, Xellos shouldn't have taken this long. Turning, Zelgadis called out to the officer assigned to keep watch over them, standing on guard at the door that led back downstairs "Hey! You think you could use that-" Zelgadis paused to try and remember what Michiru had called the device before continuing, "-your radio to ask after the other one of us?"

The officer, a rather plain looking thirty-something man with short black hair and a brow seemingly permanently affixed in a scowl didn't appear to be listening to the chimera. Instead, he was focusing on the very radio he was being asked to use. After a moment, the officer realized he had been spoken to and responded "What? I'm sorry, I was trying to make sense of the garbled transmissions I'm getting, what did you-"

WHACK!

The door to the roof access flew open, smashing the poor officer in the face and knocking him flat on his back, unconscious. Three men rushed through the door, stopping when they realized they weren't alone on the roof. The sound of the door bursting open had alerted the three lighters to something wrong and had turned to see what the noise was. The two trios stood, each frozen by confusion before Michiru called out "What the hell is going on! Who are you?"

The man in front who was burly with short brown hair, a wild and full beard and featuring forearms that each looked like they had pistons sticking out of his elbows retorted, clearly frustrated "Us? None of your damn business! What are you supposed to be, some third-tier sidekicks waiting for your boss? Get out of the way, we don't have time this!"

As if to further answer Michiru's question, an alarm started ringing out from a speaker on the roof and from in the stairwell. That told Michiru all she needed to know. "A jailbreak? Seriously? We have the absolute worst luck…"

"More than you know" piston-man answered as he turned to the man on his right, a lanky fellow with green skin, a long lizard-like tail and what looked like large skin-flaps connecting his arms with his torso. Lizard man was also sporting a pistol, likely grabbed in their escape and when piston-man nodded, he aimed and fired at the tanuki girl.

Michiru didn't have time to react, caught up thinking what she should shift into to avoid being hit. Luckily for her, Zelgadis had been standing just beside her and was able to get in front of her, the bullet impacting with his rock-like body before losing almost all momentum and lightly bouncing off. Panicked, the lizard-man fired multiple more shots, until he had unloaded his lone clip of bullets.

Zelgadis grimaced, knowing those bullets were going to leave nasty bruises, a rare experience for the rock skinned chimera. Before he could turn to ask if Michiru was alright, the tanuki girl asked after him "Thanks, you alright?"

"Yes, just going to be sore in the morning" was all Zelgadis could get out as Emeralda charged past them, arms shifting into large hammers and a steely glint in her eye.

She didn't get far though because the third member of the escaping trio, himself a much more average looking young man with wild and unkept short blue hair, stepped up and took a deep breath before blowing as hard as he could.

The resulting gale stopped the charging greenette in her tracks, who leaned forward and shifed her right arm into a large shield to buffet herself from the heavy wind. Michiru and Zelgadis we're as lucky, both losing their footing and carried away toward the fence. With her shield up, Emeralda couldn't see piston man raise an arm, holding his hand outstretched. With a self-satisfied laugh, the escapee's piston fired, sending out a pulse that blew a hole in the fence as Michiru and Zelgadis fell through it and begun plunging to their deaths over the side of the building.

Emeralda stood in horror, powerless to do anything but watch as her companions fell from her sight. Emeralda's mouth stretched to a thin line and her eyes filled with rage, the now lone girl was still pinned with the gale continuously raging around her. Without a second thought, her left hand shifted into a spike which she then plunged into the roof below her. Moments later, that same spike emerged in front of the escaped villain at an angle, extending until in pierced his chest.

Instantly, the winds stopped as the man producing them fell to his knees in pain, blood dripping on the ground in front of him. The other two looked on in shock as Emeralda shifted her limbs back to normal and rose again to her full height, her scarf whipping around her from the residual gusts of wind from the now wounded villain. She stood, saying nothing. Her eyes alone spoke, and the message was clear, they would pay.

The apparent leader of this little band with the piston arms unconsciously took a step back. Somehow, managing to kill two heroes didn't seem like such an accomplishment anymore and he began to wonder if he was better off running back downstairs and turning himself in. That doubt was only momentarily, however. If they wanted to get away, this was now the escapees' only route. They had already killed the other two, they just needed to kill one more and they'd be scott free. Steeling himself, the leader called out to the other two "Come on, pull yourselves together! We can take her!"

That resolve began to melt away at the sound of flapping followed by two voices bickering, "See? Now we're even!" Michiru exclaimed, her arms now wings and Zelgadis carried in her feet turned talons below her.

Despite being held by his shoulders in the tanuki girl's talons, the blue chimera still seemed entirely nonchalant, his arms crossed and looking completely calm as he retorted sarcastically "You know I can fly, right?"

After a moment, the two were back on solid ground and as Michiru shifted back to normal, she caught the relief in Emeralda's eyes. The blue-haired tanuki smiled before noticing the wounded villain across from them and whistled before saying "Well, you didn't waste any time, huh, Emmy?"

Looking away in embarrassment, Emeralda whispered "I…was angry. I should have known you two would be fine…" then catching the last thing Michiru said, she whipped her head back over to the tanuki girl "Wait, did you just call me Emmy?"

Letting out a short laugh and putting her arm over and behind her head, Michiru responded "Yeah! I hope you don't mind…sorry if that was too informal."

"Guys? Sorry to interrupt but we still have these three to deal with." Zelgadis pointed out, his arm moving to draw the sword he was still missing on instinct. Feeling the absence of his blade, the blue-skinned man brought his arms up, ready to cast.

Pounding her fist into the open palm of her other hand, Michiru agreed, a smile creeping onto her face "That's right! Let's do this!"

With that, the battle was joined once more with Zelgadis summoning a fireball and hurling it toward the large leader of the jailbroke villains. To the chimera's surprise, the piston man countered with another piston-powered blast from his hand, which managed to dissipate his spell.

With the air blower unable to stand up, Emeralda was free to charge in at the leader of the group, hoping to take advantage of the fact that he was focused on Zelgadis' fireball. Rushing in, the greenette leapt, hoping to get a clean shot at her target's head to knock him out but the giant man was able to react, his arm already out from countering Zelgadis, allowing him to quickly swat at the greenette. The massive forearm caught her in the shoulder, sending her flying back. Able to get her feet under her though, Emeralda landed on her feet not far from Zelgadis.

"You alright?" Zelgadis asked, glancing to his right while continuing to face the villain.

Emeralda briefly rubbed her shoulder but nodded, lowering her stance, ready to charge forward again. She didn't get the chance as the piston-armed villain raised both his arms and with an ear-piercing smashing sound, both his pistons fired. Instead of being thrown off her feet though, Emeralda watched as a gale coming from Zelgadis' hands seemed to counter the blast. For a moment, the girl wondered if this was the same wind spell he had cast the day before when confronting the berserk Terra.

Whether the counter gale was the same as yesterday or not didn't matter, what did was that Emeralda saw another opening, and she took it, sprinting forward once more. The villain still had his arms outstretched and was confident whichever way she came in, he could counter. He wasn't prepared however when, several feet before Emeralda ever reached him, she lowered her body and whipped her head. Her hair extended forward, forming into a thick metal bar that swung in an arc along with the motion of her head. The bar impacted hard with his lower legs, sweeping them out from under him. The large man fell hard on his back and the wind knocked out of his lungs.

The villain leader down, Zelgadis called out "Freeze Arrow" and a frozen projectile formed in front of him and took flight. On hitting the piston-armed villain, instead of piecing him, he began to freeze over, up to his neck, trapping him.

Frozen in a block or ice and unable to move, the piston-armed man lay his head on the ground, a defeated sigh escaping his lips. Having watched the man freeze over, Emeralda turned and gave Zelgadis a grateful nod, which he returned in kind. With the leader taken care of, the two then looked over to see Michiru had just upper-cutted the lizard-man with one of her massive gorilla forearms, knocking him up in the air a few feet before landing in a heap on the ground.

Turning, Michiru saw she had an audience and after shrinking her limbs back to normal, flashed a victory sign along with a cheeky grin. Zelgadis rolled his eyes and Emeralda offered the slightest of smiles as the three came together.

Once the trio were at arm's length Michiru asked "What the hell was that all about? How the hell did they get out?"

Neither of her companions had a good answer, though Zelgadis shrugged and offered "Wrong place and the wrong time would be my guess. Kind of our luck so far, I'd say."

Just then the sound of more footsteps could be heard rushing up the stairwell through the still open door. The three turned, ready to face more escaped villains. Instead, they were greeted with an extremely worried Jun, who was followed by a couple of officers and a rather tall and round gentleman in an orange jacket that seemed to wrap around not just his body but his ovate head that featured a black mask over his eyes.

The three lighters dropped their guard seeing Jun in the lead but the former hero himself came to a sudden stop once he was able to take in the surroundings. After being told his new charges were on the roof he had begun making his way in that direction, a nagging fear at the back of his mind. That tiny voice exploded into a screaming siren of worry when captured villains burst into the main hall from the cells, an apparent escape attempt in progress.

Being quirkless, Jun had to rely on his martial arts training from one of the previous lighters and the officers to try and fend off the villains. Things hadn't been looking good until the hero Principal Nezu had sent as an escort, Fat Gum and his intern Suneater turned the tide. Having witnessed several villains making their way up the stairwell, Jun was stuck worrying as he continued to battle the escapees around him.

Now, seeing that Michiru, Zelgadis and Emeralda were safe, with three incapacitated villains and a chunk of the perimeter fence destroyed, Jun felt relief wash over him, his shoulders slumping as he weakly asked "You three OK?"

Zelgadis scoffed as he kicked the discarded gun on the ground, causing it to slide toward the newly arrived group as he said "If you call getting blown off a roof and shot at a few times OK, then yes, we're peachy."

Michiru, standing to the chimera's left, lightly punched him, hurting her hand and shaking it to relieve the pain as she added "Really, we're fine, Sanada-san. Don't let the grump here give you the wrong impression."

Having stopped the sliding gun with his foot, Jun nodded at Michiru's reassurance, suddenly feeling very tired as he said, "If you say so." Then, noticing that Emeralda was looking down at the villain who appeared to be gasping for air, the former hero reluctantly asked "Emeralda, is…is he ok? Are you ok?"

Without acknowledging the former hero, the green-haired girl softly answered "I punctured his lung, he will need medical attention."

Jun turned and nodded to one of the officers, who quickly left to get a gurney. Looking back over at the taciturn young woman, the silver-haired man noted she hadn't answered his other question and pressed "And what about you? I know it's not always easy to hurt someone else, but he attacked you, didn't he?

Emeralda nodded "He did. He also tried to kill Kagemori-san and Greywards-san. I was so angry that I missed."

Jun's first thought was to wonder what she meant by 'missed." The thought quickly occurred to him that she likely meant something much more permanent, though he very much hoped he was wrong.

Jun was brought back from his thoughts when a gloved hand came down on his shoulder, giving the silver-haired man a friendly pat as the rotund man in the silly outfit stepped forward and said "I'm impressed! You three took these villains down?" the pro hero Fat Gum asked, his voice jovial, clearly tiring to lighten the mood.

"They got the jump on us, but once we got our bearings, it was fine. Honestly, with the look in Emeralda's eye when we got back to the roof, I think she could have taken all of them herself." Zelgadis answered coolly, as if what had just transpired had been no big deal.

The rotund hero let out a laugh as he turned to Jun "You hear that! And here you were worried for nothing Jun! Seems like combat won't be something you'll need to teach this bunch."

Jun rolled his eyes at the pro hero's dismissal of his perfectly legitimate concerns. Speaking of worrying, another thought occurred to the silver-haired ex hero and he asked, "Fat Gum, shouldn't that intern of yours be here by now? Xellos was only a few rooms down wasn't he?"

"Indeed I was!"

All eyes turned to see the narrow-eyed mazuku carrying a cup holder, four coffees filling all the slots and a big smile on his face. Behind him came a young man wrapped in a white cloak, gold markings adoring the top of the hood. Just visible were portions of dark blue hair and a face featuring a light purple mask over his eyes. The open portion of his cloak revealed a multitude of purple pockets strapped to his midsection. Most notably, the young man looked miserable, though whether that was because of his current company or some other reason, none of the lighters could tell.

Fat Gum, towering over the two new arrivals, asked "Suneater! What took so long? Any more escaped villains slow you down?"

Wincing, Suneater, or Amajiki Tamaki, refused to look up at his mentor as he answered, clearly afraid of having to explain "No…no villains. It's just that…it's just that this man insisted on finishing the coffee. I'm sorry, sir."

Despite, or perhaps because of, the looks ranging from disbelief to disgust, Xellos' demeanor only seemed to brighten as he clarified "I promised I would bring coffee, didn't I? I wasn't about to let any roaming bad guys stop me, even if I had to hide in a closet for awhile!"

Barely able to keep himself upright, so stunned was Jun that he looked like a stiff wind may blow him over. Not missing a beat, Xellos stepped up to the older looking man and cheerily offered, "Here, you look like you could use one. You can have Zelgadis'!"

"Hey!" the chimera indigently called out.

Without giving it a second thought, Jun took one of the cups and took a sip of the bitter fluid. Remembering why he hated the stuff, Jun immediately spit it out, nearly hitting Xellos' foot and causing the mazuku to fall back and spill the remaining three cups. Michiru groaned at the sight while Zelgadis stood stone-faced, glancing between the spilt coffee and his "teacher."

Now Jun was left with the awful aftertaste of the coffee to pair with that of the shame he felt. At the very least, the former hero did perk back up. Noting the odd looks and the death stare from Zelgadis, the silver-haired man tried to regain some of his dignity, standing at his full height, keeping his head up as he spoke "My apologies, I'll buy you all something on the way to UA."

A smile returned to Michiru's face, as she asked, "Does that mean our rooms are finished, Sanada-san?"

Jun shook his head "No, but we are hoping they will be done by the evening. It's just that things have changed since last night."

Still angry at having lost his coffee, Zelgadis kept his arms crossed as he raised an eyebrow "Oh? Have anything to do with the fun we just had?"

"No, actually. The jail break appears to have been some bad luck. Actually, we got word that our first years were attacked while at a training camp. I've been asked to bring you back as soon as possible." Gesturing to Fat Gum and Suneater, Jun continued "Fat Gum here and his intern are here to be our escorts to the school and just so happened to arrive as the jail break got going. The two were extremely helpful in re-securing the building."

To that, Fat Gum gave a thumbs up and a toothy grin. Suneater, for the first time, took a good look at the newest trio of lighters he was to assist in escorting. As he nodded at the three, he couldn't help but linger on the green-haired girl. There was something different about her that seemed to captivate him. After a moment, said girl glanced his way, her amber orbs briefly meeting his and he quickly glanced away, ashamed of having been caught starring. For her part, Emeralda paid it no mind, turning and following the rest as they left the roof, the villains being attended to by several more officers that arrived to take them back.

(X)

When the four lighters got back to the large main room that had been a constant buzz of controlled chaos the day before, they were greeted with what looked more like a battlefield. Computers destroyed, papers and equipment strown about the floor and staff being tended to by emergency medical personnel. It was an unsettling sight for Michiru, who for all that she could say about the last twenty-four hours had at least felt safe in this place. The thought occurred to her that even the peaceful city they had traveled thru to get here wasn't immune to the darker side of humanity.

Jun had picked up on the subdued mood of the group as they passed by all of the damage the escaped villains had caused. As quickly as he could, he directed them to a transport vehicle they had been given access to. It was a large, boxy truck that allowed them all to sit facing each other in the spacious back section and was both more comfortable and yet still quite stifling for the group, not the least of which because Fat Gum took up more than his fair share of space.

Thus, they were finally on their way to this UA that Jun had promised would be their home away from home.

However, it wasn't long before the friendly and outgoing Fat Gum attempted to strike up conversation, turning to the green-haired young woman in his care, a toothy grin plastered on his round face "So…Emeralda-san was it? Were you a hero where you're from? Whatever your quirk is, you seem to be pretty good at it and you didn't seem the least bit phased by defending yourself against those villains."

Jun raised an eyebrow. The general public and indeed most heroes were only aware that lighters were just displaced from somewhere else in the world, not from another world entirely. Based on what Naomasa said last night about the interviews, Jun got the impression Emeralda specifically may not be well suited to hiding her origins.

Under normal circumstances Jun or Hitomi or one of the UA faculty in the know would help escort a new lighter to campus. With last night's attack, that wasn't an option which meant outside help, and Fat Gum happened to be available. So now Jun was stuck hoping that Naomasa was wrong and that Emeralda wouldn't make the rest of this ride a lot more awkward.

Michiru and Tamaki both turned to hear Emeralda's answer while Zelgadis kept his head down, arms crossed and hood once again up. Xellos kept his usual smile plastered on his face but didn't turn to witness the response, instead choosing to observe the others.

After a long moment, Emeralda finally spoke, soft but serious "No one has ever called me a hero before but I do have a great deal of combat experience."

"I'd say!" Fat Gum agreed, slapping his leg "you'd have to be pretty experienced to be able to precisely hit that guys lung like that in the heat of battle!"

Without missing a beat and just as serious as before, Emeralda volunteered "You are mistaken. I had not been aiming for his lung. I was going for his heart and if I hadn't been so angry, I would have."

Outside of Zelgadis and Xellos, the rest of the vehicle's occupants were taken aback by such a brazen admission. Michiru recovered first, blurting out "Are you serious? How could you even think that? Why would you try to kill him?"

Fat Gum narrowed his eyes, his jovial demeanor evaporating as he echoed the tanuki girl "Agreed. Killing should never be taken likely, young lady."

Emeralda grew worried at the reaction she was getting, clearly evident on her face as she whispered a response "Be…because I, I thought he had killed you two, Kagemori-san. I couldn't, I couldn't let them get away and do it again. And besides…they attacked us and meant to kill us."

There was logic to her words but to hear it, especially from someone so young, Fat Gum was as much saddened as shocked, glancing at his own intern to see Amajiki's own appalled expression and glad the boy seemed to share in his distress.

Michiru was again was quick to reply "Even so, there was another way, you proved it when you missed! You should have-"

"Clearly, there is much to discuss and to teach, Kagemori-san. Rest assured this is something we'll address at UA." Jun cut in, raising his hand to draw attention to himself. Michiru slumped her shoulders and nodded and while everyone's attention was on him, the former hero continued "While we're on the subject, has anyone else found themselves in combat as Emeralda did?"

Xellos cheerily raised his hand as high as he could before speaking, quite eagerly "I've fought in a war!"

From the opposite corner of the vehicle Zelgadis huffed "That's putting it mildly. To this day he is respected and feared among his enemies for the scores he killed."

Lowering his arm to rest behind his head, Xellos let out a mild laugh as he confirmed the claim "Well, I was following orders, after all, but I suppose I do have a bit of a reputation back home."

With an eyebrow raised, Jun took note that this purple-haired…man was apparently some great warrior and yet in two encounters since arriving hadn't lifted so much as a finger in either fight. Very concerning indeed and something to be addressed sooner rather than later. As for now though, he turned back to Zelgadis "And what about you, Greywards-san? You were quick to talk about your fellow lighter but what of yourself?"

With his arms still crossed, all eyes turned to the chimera. After a moment, he sighed and rolled his eyes as he turned to face the doors to his right before answering "Yes, I have had to kill before. I can't speak for the rest of you but where Xellos and I are from, sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive."

"Oh ho! Is that what you told that bandit leader as you took his prized possession and cut him down?" Xellos accusatorily asked.

"WHAT?!" Michiru blurted out as the pervious inquisitive stares turned to shock and dismay.

A rare look of panic spread across the rock-encrusted young man's face as he frantically waved his hands in front of him "No no, I didn't mean to kill him, you know that Xellos! I struck him with the back of my sword to knock him out!"

Not missing a beat and completely dead pan, Emeralda spoke up "Is not your sword double-edged?"

Slumping in defeat and shame, his head now hanging low, Zelgadis grumbled out "...yes, it is. I, I forgot, ok!" Raising his head again, a fire in his eyes as he tried to defend himself, Zelgadis declared, "He raped and pillaged, ok! We're not talking about a nice guy here, you know! If I hadn't, Lina probably would have done it anyway. Even you have to admit that, Xellos!"

Sitting back, clearly pleased with himself, said mazuku simply replied "That is true, she most certainly would have!"

Luckily for Jun, the rest of the trip passed in relative silence. This group was already showing that this was going to be the greatest challenge of his career, all while in the mist of the greatest crisis that UA has ever faced.

(X)

Luckily for the vehicle's occupants, their police transport lacked windows because otherwise, they would have been treated to the sight of the front gates of UA absolutely flooded with reporters desperate to get in and ask questions of its administration and faculty or students for the disaster at the summer camp the night before.

As it was, with so much commotion, going through the main gate wasn't possible, so the officer driving took them around to a service entrance in back, leaving behind several curious reporters who attempted in follow the vehicle on foot as it passed by the front gate. Once inside the grounds, the vehicle came to a stop only a few feet from the gate. After a few moments, the officer got out and opened the transport's back doors for its occupants.

Michiru and Zelgadis, closest to the doors, were first step out, which was followed by a moment's blindness from the suddenly bright sun. Once their vision had adjusted they got their first look at the top hero academy in Japan. Before them stood a massive building with a traditional brick and mortar square shaped base on top of which stood four massive square towers. Each tower stood at least twelve stories above the base and each appeared to be made of glass, not unlike modern skyscrapers. Each tower had a enclosed bridge that connected to the neighboring tower, which made the building look like a massive letter "H" if looked at head on from any cardinal direction. It was an impressive sight, even for Michiru, who came from a world mostly contemporary to this one.

Zelgadis was completely taken with the academy's appearance, yet another in a long list of things new to him. Michiru began looking about the grounds, and saw just how massive the property really was, with vast open grounds, though a smaller structure not unlike a small apartment complex could be seen off to the side on a corner of the property. Out loud she wondered "This is a high school?"

Xellos and Emeralda got out and took in the scene as well, though with less fanfare. As Jun emerged, he answered Michiru's question when he stepped in front of the group, which now included Fat Gum and Suneater "This isn't just a high school, Kagemori-san. This is where the future of our hero society is raised. The greatest heroes of Japan come from this institution. Under less complicated circumstances, I would love to give you the tour but for now, let us head over to that smaller structure, that is the lighters residence hall, where you'll call home. With any luck your rooms will be ready and I can introduce you to your fellow lighters."

(X)

With that, the group made their way to the dormitory. As they walked, Michiru fell back to walk in line with Emeralda, who had kept to the back, clutching her sketch pad to her chest. The green-haired girl seemed caught off guard when Michiru asked "You ok?"

Briefly glancing at the tanuki girl before turning back, her face slighting down as she walked, Emeralda said "No, I don't think I am. I am still learning how and when to talk and clearly I said something wrong back in the vehicle."

Michiru couldn't deny that, and she briefly cringed when Emeralda pointed out her perceived error. Still, seeing the tan girl look so down was hard to see so Michiru resolved to cheer her up, saying "Yeah, I admit I was pretty surprised too. At the same time, we're all from different worlds and from different circumstances, right? Whats right in one may be wrong elsewhere, it's just a matter of learning is all. I know in my heart you did what you thought was right and I'm glad you were so worried for me!"

A smile briefly played on the greenette's face before it sank back into a neutral expression "You are welcome, Kagemori-san. You were surprised like many of the others, maybe you can tell me why Suneater kept looking at me?"

Having caught the smile, Michiru flashed a big grin herself "Ah, no need to be formal, please just call me Michiru!"

Emeralda nodded "I can do that, and…please call me Emeralda, I'm not use to this world's customs anyway."

Michiru flashed a thumbs up before shifting into a thinking pose, her head moved up slightly, her index finger on her chin "As for your question, I noticed him looking at you to. Did you notice him doing it before the conversation with Fat Gum?"

Emeralda nodded again "Yes, the glances were brief and every time I noticed he would turn away."

A sly grin crept onto Michiru's face as she leaned in to make sure the hooded young man didn't hear "Well, Emeralda, I think it means he likes you."

Turning her head to face the tanuki girl, Emeralda looked very concerned at this input "I…see. I was afraid that was the case."

Michiru struggled to keep her voice down as she continued to lean in close "What do you mean! Shouldn't you be happy? You're pretty hot, after all. Didn't this happen in your world?"

The greenette's neutral expression folded into a frown at her companion's question "Several in my unit have acted as he did. At first, they would be friendly, but in turn, after each saw my abilities, they would grow cold and distant, some even hostile to me."

A flash of anger burned in Michiru's eyes as she pulled back to walk normally "What do you mean, hostile?"

"I…would be yelled at. Blamed for what happened to our world. Called names. That kind of thing."

"But, why? I don't understand, you're clearly a badass but you seem like a quiet and caring person Emeralda." Michiru replied, her anger shifting to empathy.

"I'm…different. When people see my morphing ability, they think of those who brought our world to destruction. I understand why, so its ok. Besides, in a way, they aren't wrong. If I didn't exist, then things wouldn't have turned out the way they did." Emeralda explained, matter of factly.

Michiru couldn't believe what she was hearing. Had this girl really just blamed herself for a whole world's destruction? Michiru was sure that couldn't be right, and trying to cheer the tan girl, saying, "I may not know the details, but I think you're a great person Emeralda and neither I, nor I'm betting anyone else in this world cares about what you can do, so let's make the best of it!"

Another smile spread on to the tan girl's face, even if her eyes betrayed a continued guilt. "Thank you, Michiru, I…I will try."

(X)

The dormitory was an interesting building. The first floor was white, with Greek inspired pillars lining the entire exterior. All the upper floors were brrick, though the middle of the structure only had one more level, to the right were the living quarters, four stories tall and four rooms deep, also brick. The left side was two stories shorter and wider, with far fewer windows. Above the doors, in white letters said in English "Lighters Hall" and parked in front was a large van with the name of a security services company branded across it. Several workers were loading up, as if to leave when the group walked up.

Waiting at the door was what appeared to be a slender young man with wild, spikey orange hair and disproportionally large hands, each finger of which was capped with a "L" shaped cap and was shirtless, wearing just a pair of blue jeans. "Ah, just in time, Sanada-san! Everything appears ready, I helped where I could to speed things along like Principal Nezu asked."

Still at the head of the group, Jun bowed as he responded "Thank you Power Loader, I greatly appreciate you taking the time. With all the security upgrades Principal Neu just ordered, I am sure you will be quite busy."

The head of costume and hero support equipment development grinned, crossing his arms in front of him "Your right about that! But hey, it's for the students, right? Just let me know if you all need anything else, alright?"

As Power Loader made his way down the steps, he offered a wave to the rest of the group. Fat Gum took that as his cue to leave as well, along with Suneater. Wishing them luck, the two departed, their escort complete. Motioning for the rest to follow him in, Jun opened the door and stepped into the dormitory.

As the rest of the group followed, Michiru got her first look of the main room along with Emeralda, being the last two to enter. It was a huge room, with a TV to the side framed by several large couches and a large table behind them. The back lead to a kitchen and to the right were doors and a stairwell leading to the rooms. There was a hall to the left as well that curved to the right. What caught Michiru's eye though were a series of photos lined high against the back wall, a total of eight of them.

Michiru could hear Jun going over what was where, but her focus remained on the photos. It only took a few moments of looking for her to recognize Terra, Sakura and Shinra's photos. Several of the others looked like normal people, if a little young but one was wearing what appeared to be a motorcycle helmet with cat ears and another was orange, had long white hair and a long protruding beak for a mouth.

Just as Jun was finishing up explaining the kitchen, Michiru raised her hand "Sanada-san, are all the people pictured up here living here?"

The gathering looked up at the row of photos as Jun answered "Ah, no, Kagemori-san. Aside from yourselves, there are currently four residents here. That being said, everyone you see up there has lived here. These are all the lighters who came before you. You've met a few of them already and I imagine in a moment you'll meet two more."

Sure enough, moments later, two pairs of feet could be heard coming down the stairs. As the two reached the stairs landing, Jun offered "And here they are now, may I introduce Hina Yoshifumi and Shigeo Kageyama."

Both appeared to be teenagers about sixteen, the girl featuring dark blue hair hanging down above her shoulders, blue disinterested eyes and wearing a simple T-shirt with grey jogging pants. The boy had short bowl cut black hair and beaty black eyes, combined with a calm expression that gave the impression he couldn't care less about what was happening. He too wore a blank white T-shirt, but his pants were a simple pair of black slacks. It was he who spoke first "Wow, its true, there was more than one this time. These...are kind of weird, aren't they?"

The girl, Hina, rolled her eyes "Mob, as usual, your clueless. Hello, I'm Hina though you will address me as senpai, and this odd ball here is Shigeo but you can call him Mob. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

Neither Michiru nor Zelgadis liked the sense of superiority that this Hina girl seemed to carrying herself with. Michiru outright took offense at the sempai comment, being the only one who knew what it meant, though neither got the chance to express their displeasure before Xellos chimed in "Oh, what lovely young people you are! I look forward to everything you two have to teach us!"

That seemed to satisfy Hina, though Mob shied away from the ever-social mazuku. Jun stepped in to formally introduce the newest members of the dormitory seeing how nervous Mob was getting. With introductions done Jun talked a bit more about Hina and Mob "Yoshifumi-san has been here the longest since she was ten when she arrived. Kageyama-san was our second youngest at fourteen but since he got here four years ago he is actually the older of the two. Both are psychics, quite powerful ones too. I trust you two will give them the rest of the tour and show them to their rooms?"

Mob nodded automatically while Hina turned to stare at the group of four for a long moment before turning away "…fine, but you better bring back some fine caviar when you get back!"

"I think I can manage that." Jun said, smiling. Turning back to Michiru and company he added "I need to check in on Brandford-san but these two will take you to your rooms. Michiru, you're the most familiar with things in this world so help out if you can, ok?"

With a mock salute, the tanuki girl confirmed "You can count on me, Sanada-san!"

(X)

This chapter was originally written during a very busy time in real life and was released with quite a few errors and took quite a bit of editing to get up to what has become my standard. It also stops somewhat randomly, as there was more planned and had to be pushed back to next chapter. Two more lighters are introduced here but those of you in the know, please don't expect much from Mob. For the time being and for quite a while to come, he will be little more than a side character. Please don't expect him to be leveling city blocks or the like any time soon. As always, thank you for reading!