My Hero Academia: The Story of Twin Heroes

by Guy with a fanfic acount

[MHA AU Fic] "What if Izuku had a Twin Sister?" (This story will follow the main show.) After a Villain encounter, Izuku Midoriya meets All Might and learns the truth. Meanwhile his sister, Ami Midoriya, born with a dangerous quirk, tries to overcome her insecurities to become a hero. (Season 1 Done. S2 ongoing.) Reviews are needed & appreciated. :)3YR ANNIVERSARY! Eventual Romance

32. S2 Chapter 22: Why We're Here

Tsukauchi's Office - Night of the USJ Incident

Inside the police station, Tsukauchi sat quietly on a chair. Laid out on the table in front of him were reports of earlier events. The USJ incident, the criminals arrested and accounted for, and the recent prison bus incident. He read through the statements from the recent report and frowned, placing a hand underneath his chin in contemplation. Today's double incidents were unlike anything he's experienced in a long time. Perhaps, even years.

The rush towards UA High as soon as he received the call about the attack was still fresh in his head. An attack on UA High? That was unheard of. Something like that had never happened in the school before. What made this more confusing at the time was the fact All Might worked there now. Why attack a school with the Number One Hero of Japan as a part of the faculty? As he learned more about the Incident, the more relieved he was to know that none of the students were seriously injured. Except for two students; a twin brother and sister. But, these two weren't ordinary twins. One of them harbored a massive secret that only he was aware of in the entire police force. The truth about All Might's quirk. He finally met face-to-face with the new successor of One For All.

He looked over the profiles of the UA students in his portfolio. Principal Nezu had given him full access to the school grounds as part of the investigation, also giving him a full roster of information about each student. This class was stacked with great potential. It was incredible. But he wasn't focusing on the students. He had his eyes on the twins. Izuku and Ami Midoriya. He remembered what All Might had told him not too long ago. That he had found a successor to pass his quirk on to. That this boy had great potential to become the next Symbol of Peace. He looked at the boy with curious interest, surprised that All Might had chosen him. He glanced at the next profile and looked at Ami Midoriya. She was Izuku's twin sister. The way her hair was styled almost made him think she was related to a hero he once knew about, however, a quick check into the twin's background revealed no such relation.

He sighed and looked away from the student profiles, leaning back into his chair and stretching his arms out wide with a loud yawn. He needed to focus on what happened, not get distracted by All Might's successor.

He stood up and exited his office, heading down to the evidence room. He entered the room and flicked the lights on, turning on everything inside. In his hands was a bag, an evidence bag. Inside it was a carefully preserved piece of the tip of a tail. Not your average animal's tail, but from a human. The official report said the villains referred to the abomination as Nomu. At least, that's what they called the one that attacked the USJ. The monster this tailblade belonged to had no name. For simplification, and after learning about its physical description, Tsukauchi referred to it as a second Nomu. The differences between the Two Nomu's were easy to figure out. One was bipedal, the second one was a quadruped. More feline than human. He's seen all kinds of quirks, but he's never seen anything that could make someone look so grotesque.

He placed the evidence bag in the evidence locker and sighed. He'd unfortunately have to wait for the DNA results from both Nomu. Meaning he was stuck doing nothing.

He shook his head and rubbed his forehead. No way was he getting any sleep with a mystery like this in his hands. He memorized the report he was given about the first Nomu in his head. The thing let his men arrest him without any resistance. Even though he knew it went toe-to-toe with All Might. The Nomu did nothing, like it had no idea what to do. He then remembered the description of the Nomu's quirks.

"Shock Absorption…" Tsukauchi whispered to himself, closing his eyes and thinking of the Nomu's file.

"Regeneration, Super Strength, Increased Endurance…"

"They're all so different. No way it's all one quirk." He thought. He shook his head and flared his nostrils, exiting the evidence room. He headed back to his office and sat back in his chair, staring at the computer on his desk. He couldn't wait for DNA results to confirm what he already knew. These Nomu had multiple quirks. He needed to find out how this "League of Villains" got a hold of them. Searching on the criminal database, he typed away on his computer. Clicking the search bar, he sorted by quirks and started typing.

"Shock Absorption..." Tsukauchi muttered, typing the quirk onto his database. He squinted his eyes from the strain of staring too close to the monitor. Nonetheless, he didn't relax or lean back. He had a feeling in the back of his head like he was onto something. Sure enough, a result came up. He swallowed his saliva and clicked on the result, taking him to a profile page.

The page loaded instantly, getting a view of the person behind the quirk. He stared at the profile and reeled his head back in confusion.

"What the…?" Tsukauchi muttered, leaning his head closer to the profile. The picture in front of him was very different from the Nomu with the same quirk. It was just a guy? A criminal… He looked nothing like the grotesque monster in his custody. He closed his eyes and rubbed them, making sure he wasn't crazy.

The criminal looked like the average guy, with a full set of hair and no brain visible in sight. He looked nothing like the unresponsive monster of a man they arrested. Yet they shared a shock absorption quirk. That can't be right. There was just no way. He continued reading the criminal's profile page and scrolled down, seeing a tab for DNA. He clicked the tab and was immediately sent to a new window. He groaned when the tab took him to an unauthorized access page.

"Damn." He groaned, scrolling back to the criminal profile. He kept looking for information about the man and noticed his biography. That couldn't be right, either. This man was missing. Missing for years!

He narrowed his eyes at the last known sighting, scrolling back to the tab with his DNA results. He looked at the unauthorized access page and clicked a link in the middle of the page. The link took him to a new window, this time opening a page with numerous photos of people. Tsukauchi scrolled through the photos and squinted his eyes in confusion. This was a missing person's case. He scrolled through more photos and eventually found the man he was looking for. The man with the shock absorption quirk. He reached the bottom of the page and saw contact information. He stared at the information and read it out loud.

"If you've seen or think you've spotted one of these missing persons, please call this number:..." Tsukauchi mumbled, clicking the number. It took him to a new page, giving him access to the Hero Agency the missing person's case belonged to. He looked at the number and contemplated calling it. He needed answers. He needed to confirm if what he was thinking was true. That the man in the missing persons page was the same thing that attacked the USJ. Wasting no time to get started, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number, hearing his phone ring.

"Hello? This is Detective Tsukauchi at the Musutafu Police Department. This is the Health Syndicate's Agency, correct?" Tsukauchi asked, hearing a voice on the other end.

"Oui. Il y a un problème, détective?" The voice asked, temporarily puzzling the detective. He scrunched his nose up in confusion, taking the phone away from his ear. He glanced at the number and double checked it. That was a local number, not an international one, so why was he speaking French? He held the phone back up to his ear and awkwardly replied with the most basic reply he could muster in French.

"Je ne comprends pas?" He said, hearing a cough from the other side.

"Oh. Pardon. Pardon." The man said over the phone, "Is something wrong?" The man asked, switching to a perfect Japanese accent. Tsukauchi nodded and adjusted his posture in relief.

"I'm sure you've heard about the incident at UA High, right?" He questioned, hearing shuffling over the phone.

"Of course." The man said, wondering where this waa going. Tsukauchi looked at the computer screen and stared at the criminal's profile. Shock Absorption. It matched the Nomu's. If there was a link between the Nomu and this missing person then he had to confirm it.

"Well, I need access to your missing person's case. I believe one of the villains arrested at the scene is a missing person on your list." Tsukauchi stated, hearing silence on the other side. He glanced at the phone and listened for a sound, hearing nothing.

"..."

"Hello?" He asked, hoping the connection didn't cut out.

"Thank you, Detective. We'll be sending someone to your location right away." The man said, confusing the detective. Send someone over? That's not what he wanted.

"No, I just need-" Tsukauchi clarified, hearing the man hang up before he could finish, "-the DNA results…" He said, causing him to sigh in defeat.

The Next Day - Musutafu Police Station

Tsukauchi stood in front of the meeting room doors and took a long deep breath, closing and opening his eyes. When the phone operator said that he'd send someone over right away, he didn't think they'd arrive in two hours flat. In consequence, Tsukauchi didn't get any sleep that night. He spent all night, and later, all morning working on police procedure with the representative of the Health Syndicate. A redheaded hero he had never met before although there was something about him that seemed familiar. His lack of familiarity didn't seem to bother the redhead thankfully as he was apparently used to it. His hero name was Wyvern. Wyvern gave him a lot of information about the missing person's case within a short amount of time.

First: the investigation was started by the Health Syndicate a decade ago. Even before Wyvern joined the organization. Second: The case focused on missing persons that had, quite literally, vanished without a trace in a single day. Absolutely no one on the missing persons list had ever been located since the start of the investigation. So, when Tsukauchi called, it necessitated a quick response. Third: he needed to go to two different meetings today. The first meeting was here in the station. Lastly: the second meeting would take place with faculty at UA High. That was going to be stressful telling them what happened.

He stood in the hallway of the police station, glancing down at his watch. It was time for his headache to begin. He walked down the hall and approached a double door, squeezing the folders in his hand. He pushed the doors open and entered the meeting room with a blank expression, getting the attention of every hero in the room. The heroes stared at Tsukauchi in silence, ending the conversations they had amongst themselves. The heroes sat patiently in their chairs around a large black table. Tsukauchi stared at each hero and recognized them all, taking a deep breath in anticipation.

"Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming on such short notice." Tsukauchi said. One hero immediately stood up, getting the Detective's attention.

"Tsukauchi." Ingenium said, bowing his head respectfully at the Detective.

"Ingenium." Tsukauchi said, nodding back at the armored hero.

"Detective." Backdraft said, getting his attention. Tsukauchi made eye contact with the water hero and received a nod followed by a tip of his hat in respect. He remembered the water hero from last night. Last he heard from the crime scene, Backdraft had successfully extinguished the forest fire before it could get worse. Judging by the expressions on the other heroes' faces, the water hero was true to his word on keeping silent. Even the armored hero to his left, Ingenium, was silent. The armored hero had arrived at the scene shortly after he left. He figured Backdraft must have told him something to keep him quiet.

"Is there a problem, Officer?" Another hero asked, getting his attention. Tsukauchi looked to the right of Ingenium and saw the rest of the heroes he invited from the nearby Hosu City. The detective nodded in respect at the seated heroes.

"Rocket." He nodded, looking back at the heroes as a whole. He cleared his throat and stared at the group, "Gentleman, as you all know, UA High was attacked by villains yesterday." Tsukauchi informed, hearing whispers amongst the heroes.

"So that's what this is about?" A hero mumbled, whispering to other heroes.

"These villains broke into UA and did so with the intention of killing All Might. Luckily, no one was severely injured and the students were kept safe. The villains were arrested and transferred to Tartarus last night. Unfortunately, the villain who brought them to UA, the teleporter, managed to help the leader escape. Before the teleporter himself could leave, however, he was apprehended by the teachers and arrested. The attack on UA High was unprecedented. Unexpected. But the story doesn't end there." Tsukauchi stated, receiving puzzled looks from the heroes. Backdraft and Ingenium remained quiet, knowing what was going on.

"What?" A hero blurted out.

"Huh?" Another hero mumbled. Tsukauchi heard the confused whispers and continued. He approached the black table and laid his hands on the surface, keeping the folders under his right hand. He leaned forward and took on a more serious expression.

"What I'm about to tell you is strictly top secret. If word gets out, you will be arrested and your hero licenses will be permanently wiped from existence." Tsukauchi claimed, shocking the heroes. That threat seemed to have piqued their interest, leaning forward in their seats.

"Seriously? What's wrong?" Native questioned, looking serious and concerned.

"I've gathered you all here because of an incident that occurred last night." Tsukauchi explained, creating speculation amongst the heroes. They looked at each other in concern, questioning what they heard.

"Incident? Last night?" The heroes questioned. Tsukauchi nodded and continued with his speech.

"Yes. As far as the media knows, and I do wish to keep it that way, all the villains that were imprisoned after the USJ incident were successfully transferred to Tartarus Prison." Tsukauchi said, causing some eyes to widen. They quickly understood where this was headed and went quiet.

"That is not the case." The detective revealed.

Present Day - After Midnight

"So, you know their identity?" Imiter asked, relieved to hear some good news.

"Thanks to the recovered tail sample from the crash site. I believe so." Tsukauchi nodded, continuing with his speech. The room was quiet as the heroes stared at Tsukauchi with anticipation. They were ready to hear the news that led to this meeting starting so late at night. Tsukauchi frowned and held his breath, turning on the projector suspended on the ceiling. A single image appeared on the wall, getting reactions from the heroes.

"The identity of the Nomu that attacked the Prison Bus is this man." Tsukauchi declared, showing a picture of a criminal projected on the wall.

The heroes stared at the photo and leaned forward, adjusting their postures. The image was a mugshot of a blond haired criminal with scratches on his neck. His hair was dirty and loose, like it was falling off. He had big wide eyes that looked like he was permanently frightened by everything. He had a large frown on his lips with the tips of his fangs slightly sticking out. Tsukauchi flipped a button and switched to the next image, revealing a full body shot of the man. The criminal was short and scrawny with barely any muscle on his body. His appearance was almost skeletal, surprising the heroes. In their heads, they found it hard to believe this man was capable of causing a breakout. Then again, the past life of the first Nomu didn't look like he could do the things he did either.

Tsukauchi moved on to the next image, revealing a full body xray of the criminal. The heroes looked at the xray and took immediate notice of the man's defining feature. Between his legs was a long and rigid, bone-like tail. It was twice as long as the man and wrapped around his hips twice. Most importantly, the tip of his skeleton tail was a sharpened blade, perfectly matching the recovered tail sample.

"Gin Nakamura." Tsukauchi stated, reading off the name of the criminal on the profile.

"His quirk: Scorpion Tail. He was born with a prehensile tail with a sharp blade at the end." He described. The heroes continued staring at the criminal's tailblade and compared it with the recovered tail sample. It fit, but there was still some skepticism.

"This is who the Nomu is…or…was?" A hero questioned, not sure what to make of the revelation.

"Yes, though there are some oddities in the results, I'm sure of it." Tsukauchi nodded, confusing some of the heroes.

"Oddities?" A hero asked.

"We did find some unknown DNA mixed in with the results. We're not entirely sure what it is yet." Tsukauchi stated, causing Native to raise his eyebrow in speculation.

"How do you know this is him?" Native questioned, causing Tsukauchi to elaborate. He stood tall and confident, flaring his nostrils in concentration. He displayed Ingenium's written statement on the projector, getting the hero's attention.

"Ingenium's statement helped me figure it out." Tsukauchi explained, getting questionable glances from the heroes.

"How?" Native asked, looking at the detective in disbelief.

"Just before the Nomu arrived, Ingenium described hearing a strange tapping sound, like a knife hitting marble. Then seconds later, the Nomu appeared." Tsukauchi stated, getting confused looks from the audience. He shrugged and continued with his explanation.

"Before Gin went missing, he had a nervous habit with his tail. When under high amounts of stress, he'd poke the ground several times with his tail blade." Tsukauchi said, moving on to a short clip of the criminal inside a holding cell during interrogation. As the officer asked him grueling questions, the man swerved back-and-forth in his seat. His tail tapped on the floor repeatedly as he broke down to the interrogator.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Tsukauchi paused the clip and stared at the heroes with a solemn expression.

"It's the same way our Nomu made his presence known to Ingenium." Tsukauchi stated, receiving nods of agreement amongst the heroes. The evidence was clear as day for them. This scrawny-looking man was undoubtedly the second Nomu. Even though it was just the identity found, the news brought some smiles to the heroes. Any step forward is a good step to finding these villains. Wyvern, however, wasn't as impressed. He stared down at his hands and frowned. The identity of the second Nomu was found, but there was more to it than that. He knew the detective was holding back. He needed to know what else he found.

"And the other quirks?" Wyvern blurted out, causing the room to go silent once more.

"Huh?" Tsukauchi asked, looking at Wyvern with a hesitant face. Wyvern leaned his hands on the table and continued to frown, wishing he'd stop himself before he asked the question.

"The second Nomu has multiple quirks like the USJ Nomu. You identified who they belonged to, didn't you?" He asked, causing Tsukauchi to stutter slightly in hesitation. He took a deep breath in hesitation and answered the stoic hero.

"Yes. We identified them..." He said, feeling his mouth turn dry. The heroes looked at each other with discomfort.

"Were they criminals?" Native asked, instantly regretting he asked. Tsukauchi sighed and reluctantly switched to the next image, showing several DNA samples on the wall.

"We compared the sample results to the DNA of everyone in the Missing Persons case…And found matches for all of them. None of them were on the criminal database except for Gin." Tsukauchi stated, causing the heroes to look at the results in horror.

"So, then…" Native gulped, visibly shaking in his chair. Tsukauchi clenched his fists in restraint, struggling to contain his shock.

"The other quirks came from children…" Tsukauchi admitted, causing the mood in the room to change to one of sadness. The heroes leaned into their chairs, holding onto their faces and letting out small horrified grunts. Tsukauchi gulped and hesitantly finished his report, "The youngest being six…" He grunted, his voice turning into a whisper.

"Jesus…" One of the heroes whispered, clenching their fists in shock. Imiter frowned in horror, disturbed by the revelation.

"Detective…" Imiter stuttered, getting Tsukauchi's attention, "Was that everything you had to share?" Imiter questioned, hoping to hear no more shocking news.

"That was all. I'm sorry…" Tsukauchi apologized, staring at the horrified reactions.

"Damnit." Wyvern groaned, clenching his fists tightly. Backdraft stared at Wyvern with concern, watching him stand up and leave his seat.

"Are you okay?" Backdraft asked, still reeling from the haunting revelation. Wyvern stopped and stared at the floor in repressed anger. He flared his nostrils and sighed, lifting his head up at the ceiling.

"I'm fine." Wyvern said, saying nothing more. He didn't look back at the other heroes and simply headed towards the door. Imiter watched Wyvern with a sad frown, sighing deeply in sadness. As Wyvern approached the door, he could hear Fuego's growls in his head.

"Brother…" Fuego said in a quiet deep voice. Wyvern froze at the use of the word, stopping in his tracks in front of the door. He frowned and gritted his teeth, controlling his emotions.

"After everything we did…After everything our father did…looking for those people. This is how it ends? No bodies, just their quirks inside some abomination we haven't even seen." Wyvern said inside his mind, leaning on the wall next to the door. His words were heard only by Fuego, who grunted in sadness.

"I know…We'll make this right, Tatsu." Fuego assured, making Wyvern sigh.

"I'm not sure we can, Brother..." Wyvern whispered to himself, closing his eyes and stepping out of the room. Right now, he needed to get some sleep. Even though deep down he knew sleeping was the last thing he wanted to do. As soon as he started walking down the hallway, however, he felt his shoe kick something on the floor.

"Hmm? What the…" Wyvern said, getting distracted by the sight of a metal object on the floor. He narrowed his eyes in confusion, causing him to tilt his head. He was sure that what he was looking at on the floor was a lighter.

Ami's Internship Day 2 - Morning

The Museum's main plaza was bathed in sunlight that shined through the front windows and glass doors. Staff arrived early in the morning and entered the building, getting ready for the opening soon. The staff members sitting in the front desk stared out at the clear skies with a satisfied expression as they waited for the coffee machine to turn on. Clear weather like today usually meant the Museum was due for another busy day with hundreds of visitors. Misaki sat comfortably in her swivel chair, watching as her three helpers managed the front desk kiosk. Misaki had to admit they were a great help during the day.

She smiled in relaxation, staring out at the outside world through the glass doors. Pretty soon, those doors would unlock and a swarm of visitors would enter the Museum in lines of three. She was ready to welcome each guest with a smile and open arms, waiting for the tour buses to arrive.

Her three assistants talked amongst themselves as they set everything up. This early in the morning was when the Museum was at its quietest. Misaki liked listening to the silence, reclining in her swivel chair in peace. That peace was interrupted, however, by the sound of a car engine. She raised her eyes and lifted her head off the chair, looking outside. She squinted her eyes in confusion, looking down at the time on her watch. Tour buses shouldn't be arriving yet. She heard the engine come closer and watched as a black limousine came into view. She stared at the limousine in confusion before realizing who it was. She scoffed and composed herself, scooting the chair closer to the desk and placing her hands in her lap.

The black limousine drove on the road before swerving onto the path leading to the doors. Slowly the vehicle came to a stop about 30 feet away from the glass doors, hearing the engine turn off. Misaki watched in amusement as the limo door opened, revealing a white-haired old man with a massive bald spot. He smelled the fresh air and sighed, smiling contently. He adjusted his tuxedo and stared at the Museum's front entrance with a dignified pose. He saw inside the Museum and could see a woman and three other employees looking at him in the kiosk.

He closed the door behind him and approached the glass doors, heading towards the VIP entrance. Misaki sat back in her swivel chair and watched as the man approached the doors. As he reached the door, the wall beside him opened up.

"Good morning, Sir!" Dormin said, appearing out of the wall. The old man looked at the android with a soft smile, nodding respectfully at the machine.

"Good morning, Dormin." The old man said, speaking in a soft, fancy British accent.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience but the Museum is currently closed and will be open in one hour." Dormin apologized, receiving a nod from the old man.

"Not to worry, I'm not a guest. I'm here to retrieve young Master Ishida." He explained, causing Dormin to tilt his head questionably.

"Oh?" Dormin replied, causing the old man to raise an eyebrow at the machine in slight worry.

"Master Ishida is here, correct?" He inquired, holding in his breath. Dormin did a quick search of everyone in the building and nodded.

"Do you mean, Hayato Ishida?" Dormin asked, hearing a relieved sigh escape the old man's mouth.

"Yes." The man nodded in response. Dormin nodded back and scanned the old man. The old man stood still as the scanner traveled down his body.

"Please state your relation to the guest." Dormin asked, receiving a quick reply.

"I'm his butler." He explained, matter of factly.

"May I see some ID?" Dormin asked, beginning to slightly annoy the old butler.

"You can let him in, Dormin." The intercom said, overriding Dormin's orders. Dormin nodded and unlocked the VIP entrance, opening the doors for the old man. The butler smiled happily and bowed in respect, heading into the Museum's lobby. He walked inside and headed towards the front desk kiosk, smiling with joy at the woman sitting there.

"Mrs. Imiter. So lovely to see you!" The butler said, reaching his arm over the desk. Misaki smiled and slightly leaned forward, feeling the butler wrap his arm around her shoulders and neck. She smiled happily and pulled away, appreciating the hug.

"Good morning, Thane." Misaki smiled, sitting back down on her comfortable swivel chair.

"Good morning to you, too, my dear. How's the baby?" Thane asked with a smile.

"Doing good." Misaki replied, holding onto her belly. Thane nodded happily at her words, overjoyed to see Misaki in good spirits. He placed his hands on the desk and looked at her with a quizzical stare.

"Have you received my gifts?" Thane asked, receiving a nod from Misaki in confirmation.

"They were lovely. Expensive, though." Misaki said, appreciating the gifts.

"Haha. As a trusted friend of the Ishida family, I thought it necessary to send only the best from me!" Thane exclaimed, smiling warmly.

"But you didn't have to buy two of everything." Misaki laughed, receiving a shrug from the butler.

"Oh, nonsense. It's no problem at all. I know you want the baby to be a surprise, so, I decided to play it safe and bought two." Thane said with pride. He looked at Misaki and leaned his head slightly closer to her face, displaying sad puppy eyes at her.

"And, on a personal note, it's been ages since I've been able to send gifts to an expecting mother." Thane admitted, looking quite sad. Misaki stared into Thane's sad eyes and sighed.

"When the baby's born, I'll just return the others." Misaki said, making Thane happy.

"Thank you, dear. Thank you!" Thane said, clasping his hand together in prayer.

"Speaking of, I'm a little surprised to see you working the front desk still. Aren't you due at any moment now?" Thane asked, looking noticeably concerned. Misaki laughed off her worries, causing him to relax.

"Hehe. Well, you know me. Nothing's taking me away from this desk." She joked, getting a laugh from the butler. As a butler, he truly respected her work ethic.

"What about you, though? You're here pretty early?" Misaki pointed out, reminding Thane of his purpose for being here.

"Hm? Oh, yes, well, today is a school day. I thought I'd arrive early so I can give Master Ishida time to prepare." Thane explained, receiving a nod in understanding.

"Well, he might still be asleep." She guessed, judging by the time.

"That's quite all right." Thane said, nodding expectantly at the news, "I'll wait here for someone to go fetch him, unless you'll allow me to?" Thane suggested, raising an eyebrow in examination.

"Hey, Thane!" Hayato said, appearing behind the butler with a smile.

"Gah!" Thane flinched, getting startled by Hayato's sudden appearance. He held a hand up to his chest and turned around, looking down at Hayato with a gentle glare that showed his disapproval.

"Master Ishida, I do not like when you sneak up on me like that." He scolded, receiving an apologetic smile from the child.

"Hehe. Sorry." Hayato apologized, not even hiding his smile.

"Hmph." Thane sighed, shrugging off the jumpscare. He adjusted his tuxedo and took note of his behavior, "You're awfully energetic already?" He observed.

"I woke up early." Hayato explained, causing Thane to raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Oh? Might I ask what for?" Thane wondered, receiving a laugh.

"Oh, well, it wasn't actually for me. Wyvern just broke into the guest room to wake Ami up." Hayato explained, getting Thane's interest.

"Ami?" Thane questioned, raising his eyes in surprise and letting a sly smirk form on his lips upon hearing a girl's name leave the boy's mouth.

"Mhm. We had a sleepover." Hayato said innocently, impressing the butler.

"My, my, Master Ishida. Inviting a girl from school, I see?" Thane teased, causing Hayato's eyes to pop out. Hayato quickly shook his head in denial.

"Wait. It's not like that!" Hayato said in embarrassment.

"Don't worry. I understand." Thane smirked sarcastically in amusement. Of course, he knew what Hayato meant. A kid his age was more interested in video games and heroics. Frankly, he's just happy that Hayato brought a friend along for a change. Though he did wonder how the young boy managed to convince the parents.

"And who is this, Ami, hmm?" Thane asked, bending down a bit to get to Hayato's level.

"She's actually a hero-in-training." Misaki said, putting herself in the conversation. Thane's eyes shot open upon hearing Misaki mention the girl's job title, straightening up and cranking his head back at Misaki.

"She's a what?" Thane asked, questioning his aging ears.

"Are you talking about me?" Ami said, getting Thane's attention. He looked behind Hayato and saw a teenaged girl approaching with clothes taken straight from the gift shop. Ami was lucky the drawers in the guest room had clean clothes. Thane stared at the green haired girl with eyes bulging out of his sockets. He recognized her instantly as the girl from the Sports Festival he watched with Master Ishida.

"You're Ami Midoriya?" Thane asked, surprised to be meeting face-to-face. Ami opened her eyes and yawned, nodding slowly in exhaustion.

"Mhm." She said, softly. It didn't take a genius to notice the red in her eyes. This girl did not get a goodnight's rest. She looked to the right and saw the outside world through the glass doors, squinting her eyes as she adjusted to the natural sunlight. She turned her head slowly and made eye contact with the man in front of her. She noticed the man's wrinkles on his forehead and the white hair on his head, realizing she was staring at an older man.

"Oh sorry, Mister. Who are you?" She questioned, realizing she wasn't being polite to the old timer. She leaned her head against her own shoulder in exhaustion. Thane stared at her tired eyes and frowned, turning back to Hayato with worry.

"Oh dear, Master Ishida. Is she alright?" Thane asked, getting a confused look from Hayato.

"What do you mean?" Hayato asked, oblivious to Ami's condition.

"Ami, you don't look so good?" Misaki noticed, rolling her swivel chair out of the front desk and moving towards Ami. It was easier for her body than getting up.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry about me…haha." Ami assured, smiling awkwardly in exhaustion. She waved her hand at them to show she was okay. It convinced no one except for Hayato.

"I just-" she yawned, interrupting herself, "-need something to wake me up." She mumbled, letting her brain think of something. Her brain quickly thought of a solution.

"Coffee. Yeah! Some coffee. That'll do. Hehe." Ami laughed, sluggishly. Misaki nodded in agreement and snapped her fingers at her three helpers. They understood the snap of her fingers and opened a drawer in the kiosk. Inside the drawer was the emergency coffee machine.

"You poor girl. The internship got you so excited, you couldn't get any sleep last night, huh?" Misaki assumed, getting a slow nod from Ami.

"You could say that…" Ami whispered, looking down at the floor with shame. Glimpses of what she saw last night entered her mind. She remembered what was said and clenched her fists in anxiety. When she went back to the guest room, she crawled back into the bottom bunk bed and couldn't sleep, processing what she had heard. Even now, she was having trouble processing it.

"Here, drink this. This'll wake you right up." Misaki said, handing Ami a small cup of coffee. Ami held the cup in her hand and felt its warmth, getting distracted from her anxiety. She nodded at Misaki and took a sip.

"Careful, it's warm." Misaki warned, prompting Ami to drink it slowly. Thane stared at the green-haired girl in silence.

"Hey, that actually did help." Ami said, drinking more. She opened her eyes fully and squinted less, getting used to the brightly lit room.

"Excuse me, miss?" Thane said, getting Ami's attention. She turned and looked at the old man, noticing his age and the fancy tuxedo he had on.

"This must be-" Ami thought, remembering Hayato's words.

"Hi. You're Hayato's butler, aren't you?" Ami said, smiling slightly.

"Why, yes, I am. Pleased to meet you, Miss Midoriya. My name is Thane. I am the Ishida family's butler. I look after Master Ishida for his parent's." Thane said, introducing himself with a respectful bow.

"Hayato told me about you." Ami mentioned, intriguing him.

"He did, did he?" He questioned, receiving a smile.

"Mhm." Ami nodded, "You helped make his hero costume." She said, getting a smile from the butler.

"Yes, I did. Quite proud of how it turned out I'll add." Thane said, adjusting his tie with a proud smirk.

"What are you doing here, Thane?" Hayato asked innocently, getting his butler's attention. He turned and faced the boy with a small frown on his lips.

"Goodness. Almost forgot. I'm here to pick you up, Master Ishida." Thane informed, causing Hayato to look at him with a gasp.

"Why?" Hayato asked, tensing up with sadness.

"Hm? What do you mean? For school, of course." Thane said, looking puzzled.

"I have school today?" Hayato questioned, darting his eyes everywhere.

"Yes." Thane said, causing Hayato to look at the floor in disappointment.

"Aww. Can't I just not show up?" Hayato asked, making Thane gasp.

"Master Ishida, your parents did not raise you to skip school." Thane said, taken back by Hayato's words. Hayato kept his head down and stared at the floor, playing around with his gloves.

"They didn't raise me at all…" Hayato muttered, keeping his voice down. Thane heard the boy's words and gasped.

"What?" He exclaimed, taken back.

"Nothing…" Hayato said, looking away slightly with guilt.

"Hayato." Thane said in a calm and gentle voice. He crouched down and got on his knees, placing a hand on Hayato's shoulder. He positioned himself in front of him, forcing Hayato to look at him. Hayato made eye contact with Thane and loosened his eyes, seeing the old man's sympathetic expression.

"I understand your feelings, young Master. But, what your parents do is very important. They love you very much. And I know they want nothing more than to spend more time with you." Thane said, kindly. Hayato's lips formed a frown, looking at the butler with regret.

"I know…" He conceded, nodding his head slowly in understanding, "I'm sorry." Hayato apologized. Thane smiled warmly at the boy, gracefully accepting the boy's apology.

"No need for apologies, Master Ishida." Thane said, standing back on his feet. He adjusted his tuxedo and took on a distinguished pose.

"Now, we've got to get going. You wouldn't want to be late for school." Thane said, receiving a nod from the child.

"Okay…Thanks for spending time with me, Ami." Hayato said, solemnly bowing politely at Ami. Ami raised her eyes and leaned back slightly in surprise. She wasn't expecting to see Hayato act more dignified. She guessed he had to amp up his manners around his butler.

"You're welcome, Hayato." Ami smiled, bowing back at him in respect.

"I'll see you later?" She asked, causing Hayato to pause. He raised his eyes and glanced to his left at Thane, making eye contact. Thane stared at Hayato's eyes and could tell what he was thinking. He smirked and flared his nostrils, giving into Hayato's wishes.

"Hmph. Alright, I suppose once school is over, I can drop you off here." Thane said, giving into Hayato's wishes.

"Yes!" Hayato exclaimed, throwing his fists in the air in excitement. Thane smiled at the boy's antics, looking at Ami with respect.

"As for you, Ms. Midoriya. It was a pleasure to meet you." Thane said, bowing his head at her.

"Thank you, Sir, you too." Ami replied, bowing respectfully at him. Thane nodded in response, pleased by her manners. He turned towards the door with his hand on Hayato's shoulder, guiding him towards the exit.

"Mrs. Imiter. I will see you later." Thane said, looking back at the front desk.

"Bye, Thane. Thanks for the gifts, again." Misaki said, waving goodbye.

"My pleasure!" Thane said, raising his hand up in goodbye.

Thane and Hayato exited the Museum in silence. Ami watched with a smile as Hayato entered the back of the limousine, waving goodbye at her with a smile. Thane shut the door and headed toward the front, getting inside the limo.

Ami wondered if Hayato was still waving at her through the blacked out windows. She watched the limo drive off back onto the road and exit down the hill, leaving her sight. She stopped waving and dropped her hand to her side, holding the cup of coffee with her other hand.

"So, Wyvern woke you up?" Misaki asked, looking at Ami with her head leaning on her hand.

"Mhm." Ami nodded, receiving a nod back. Misaki returned to work and started preparing the computer.

"You should probably head to the Training Area then." Misaki said, receiving a nod. Ami assumed Imiter had told her about what she'd be doing today. She smiled at Misaki and held up her cup with appreciation.

"Thanks for the coffee." She said, feeling more awake now.

"Have fun!" Misaki smiled, returning to her desk.

Quirk Museum - Training Area

Light entered the small space as the wall panel opened up. Inside the space, engine sounds powered on and created a blue glow inside. Miniature propeller blades twirled inside, causing the engines to lift off. Three machines flew out of the panel and entered the massive space that was the Training Area. They scanned the area and assessed their location, immediately announcing their presence.

Drones deployed.

The leading drone had a deep robotic voice, zooming high above the area along with two other drones behind it. Ami watched the drones soar high above her in awe. The Training Area was truly massive. You could tell it filled the entire back of the Museum with the amount of wide open space. The area was one big open field with trees hugging the walls and an artificial lake in the middle. Near the opposite corner was a concrete floor with basketball hoops.

"Good morning, Ami. Welcome to the Training Area!" Backdraft greeted, hearing a fascinated gasp in awe.

"Wow..." Ami replied, letting her voice turn into a whisper. She looked around the open field and admired the scenery.

"I didn't expect this place to be so big…" Ami admitted, looking around in awe.

"The maps never do the Training Area justice." Backdraft stated, nodding in agreement.

"This is where I'll be testing you for today. So I hope you got plenty of rest." Backdraft said, enthusiastically. Ami's body went stiff for a moment and felt her eyes widen at the comment. She kept her face away from Backdraft and let out a small awkward laugh.

"I'm ready for anything, Backdraft, sir!" Ami replied. Backdraft nodded in appreciation and looked up at the drones flying around.

"See those drones?" Backdraft said, getting Ami's attention. She heard them flying over and looked up at the sky. She focused on each drone separately. They weren't that different from each other. The drones had four propeller blades on its sides with small pincer arms on the bottom, sort of like a moth. They were blue in color with grey stripes on the sides. It only had one camera lens for an eye with three little dots on the left side of the lens. On the right side of the lens were small holes for what Ami assumed to be speakers. Even from high up, Ami could tell they were bulky. She imagined the drone could carry her if she let it. Despite the simple drone design, Ami could tell the drones were made by the same people behind the androids here and at UA.

"Yeah, what about them?" Ami said, watching the drones fly around aimlessly without purpose.

"Your first task is to destroy them." Backdraft stated. Ami nodded in response before fully processing the task. She raised her eyes and turned around, making eye contact with the water hero in confusion.

"Wait what?" She questioned, staring at Backdraft with a dumbfounded expression. She curved one side of her lip downward and placed a hand on her elbow in shy protest, "But…don't those drones belong to the Museum?" She asked, not wanting to damage Museum property.

"Don't worry, Kid. They're disposable for today." Wyvern said, approaching from behind. Ami turned around and watched as the stoic redhead walked towards the two. She let a tiny smile form as he got close. Wyvern made eye contact with Ami and stood in front of her, looking deep into her eyes with a slight glare and arms crossed. Ami flinched for a nanosecond in slight discomfort at the way Wyvern was looking at her. She could tell he had something to say about her present state.

"Well, you sure look fully rested." Wyvern said, sarcastically. Ami dropped her smile and continued to shift around in discomfort, looking away in embarrassment. He had no idea how much that bothered her. She started brushing her hair to avoid eye contact.

"I'm fine." Ami said, softly. Was it obvious that she was tired? Did he know? No, of course not. She was sure Wyvern was just messing with her. Not that he knew what she overheard last night. Wyvern analyzed her reaction and narrowed his eyes, sensing her guilt.

"Wyvern. Glad you could make it." Backdraft greeted, waving at the redhead. Wyvern turned his head and made eye contact with the water hero, nodding at him. Ami also turned to look at Backdraft with surprise.

"Make it?" She questioned out loud, looking for an explanation. Wyvern heard the question and flared his nostrils in amusement.

"Mhm. Looks like I got here in time before the party started. Had to get some things sorted out before I got here." Wyvern explained, rubbing the back of his head. Backdraft nodded in acceptance, while Ami stood there in confusion. What things? Was it about what she overheard? Why was he here? She crossed her arms and stood straight, bowing at Wyvern.

"Good morning, Wyvern, Sir." Ami said, addressing Wyvern properly. Wyvern raised his eyebrow in response at how properly she addressed him. He let a tiny smirk form on his lips in response.

"Morning, Ames. Ready for the test?" Wyvern questioned, receiving a confused reaction. She raised her eyes at him and stood silent, keeping her composure as she focused on the nickname.

"Ames?" Ami repeated inside her mind. That was a new one. She's never been called Ames before. She let the nickname stew in her mind and questioned it.

"Aims? What, he can't mess with me physically, so now he regresses to nicknames?" Ami questioned. She didn't mind nicknames, thanks to Bakugo, but there's no way Wyvern knew about Habanero. But, why nicknames now? She remembered Backdraft saying he'd talk with Wyvern after she let it slip that he poisoned her sandwich. Maybe this was all he could do now. She mentally shrugged and moved on, realizing she was starting to overthink.

"Yeah. I'm ready. But, what are you doing here?" Ami questioned, ignoring his nickname for her. Wyvern noticed her brushing aside the nickname and dropped his smirk, flaring his nostrils in interest. No reaction was as interesting as a reaction. He nodded and looked at Backdraft with arms crossed.

"Care to explain?" Wyvern asked, getting a nod from Backdraft.

"Yes. Wyvern is here to assist me with testing you. Since your specialty is fire, I thought it prudent to have another fire user here to lend a helping hand." Backdraft admitted, getting a nod from Ami.

"He's here to help me?" Ami questioned, skeptically. She glanced at Wyvern through her peripheral vision and noticed he was nodding profusely.

"Mhm." Backdraft nodded, "However, there's something that needs to be addressed before we begin the test." Backdraft said, getting Ami's attention. Her stomach churned a bit at the tone of his voice, making her worry slightly.

"What's wrong?" Ami questioned, keeping her composure.

"Your clothes." Backdraft said, confusing Ami.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Your hero costume, kid. Where is it? You look like you just raided the gift shop." Wyvern said, pointing out her clothes. Ami looked at Wyvern and then looked down at her clothes, causing her to frown. He was right. She wasn't wearing her hero costume. She gulped and remembered part of Backdraft's words from yesterday.

"Oh, and don't forget to wear your hero costume." Backdraft said, causing Ami to frown in embarrassment.

"I completely forgot!" Ami realized, turning red in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Backdraft, Sir! I'll change right now!" Ami exclaimed, apologizing in a hurry. She quickly scurried off towards the entrance and ran out, leaving Backdraft and Wyvern in the dust.

"Be quick!" Backdraft hollered, receiving a response from Ami.

"Yes, Sir!" Ami hollered back. She exited the Training Area and bolted towards the guest rooms, feeling her heart pumping with excitement as her embarrassment vanished. She clenched her fists and smiled excitedly, "Finally! I can show Backdraft my costume!" She thought. Backdraft and Wyvern stood around the Training Area in wait, watching Ami leave.

"She looks a little tired, is that just me?" Backdraft pointed out, looking at Wyvern.

"No, it's not." Wyvern replied, stoically. Backdraft frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

"All the excitement must've kept her up last night." Backdraft sighed, staring at the floor with a frown.

"Yeah…" Wyvern agreed, dropping his arms to his pockets. He felt the insides of his costume and gripped onto a metallic object. He held it in his hand and squeezed it tightly, knowing exactly what it was.

"It must be that…" Wyvern said.

Guest Room - Museum Interior

Ami finished zipping up her skintight bodysuit and quickly moved on to her red jacket. She stared at herself in the mirror with a proud smile.

"It's been a while since I've put you on." She thought, strapping on her red gauntlets. She brushed her skirt and made sure her utility belt was properly tightened. It was almost exactly the same as before. Well, almost. She remembered when she grabbed her hero costume from the school, there was a little note left on top of it. She recalled the exact words on it as well.

"Dear, Ami Midoriya. As we made repairs to your costume, our designers decided to make a few changes to materials and appearance. Thank you for your understanding." The note said. She sighed at the note. It sounded like some automated response they'd send to everybody. She was happy at least that the changes were minor.

Her poncho kept its flame design but was slightly extended to cover her back entirely. It was a true cape now. Her bodysuit was purple instead of dark blue and updated with a stronger material. It also seemed to make her abs more apparent through the bodysuit. She was content with the fact no skin was showing. Her helmet had also changed. Her blue glasses were replaced and integrated with her fire hat. Now when she put on the hat all she had to do was tap on the side and blue-tinted glasses would drop down to her eyes, landing comfortably atop her nose. Her initials were also changed to reflect her new hero name. Instead of A.M on the front of her helmet, it was now changed to F.G, for Flame Guard. Her boots were thicker, too, but lightweight enough to not make a difference with her speed. They were also black now with red on the outlines. Overall, no major changes to the design. It was still as friendly and cute as she had imagined it to be. Looking at her belt in the mirror, she gripped her pockets and frowned. Her first aid and canteen were accounted for, except for her lighter. She didn't know where it was at the moment, guessing it was somewhere in the room. She didn't bother looking for it so as not to waste any more time than she already had.

"It must've fell out of my pocket when I was sleeping." She assumed. She sighed and finished changing, staring proudly one final time in the mirror.

"I'm ready." Ami said, hyping herself up. She made one last check and returned to the Training Area with confidence in every step. She entered the Area and made eye contact with Backdraft and Wyvern. The two heroes stared at Ami in silence, looking at her costume. Backdraft's eye went wide in surprise, examining her costume with a smile. All he could think about was how heroic she looked. She definitely looked the part of a pro hero.

Wyvern kept his face blank as he looked at her costume. She really nailed the hero look in his eyes though there were some things that he had questions about. Namely, why were her support items an ax and a whip? He looked at the overall costume and stared at her helmet, noticing some similarities. He raised his eyebrow and glanced at Backdraft, comparing his costume with hers. Seeing the similarities, he formed a tiny smirk on his lips.

"You're so obvious, fangirl." Wyvern thought, shaking his head in amusement.

"So, what do you think?" Ami asked, playing with her fingers shyly.

"Incredible, Midoriya. You're like a real firefighter with your costume. So inspiring, professional, and friendly, too." Backdraft said, creating water hands from his pipes. He clapped excitedly in praise. Ami felt exhilaration from his praise and jumped in joy in agreement.

"That's exactly what I was going for!" She exclaimed, feeling happy. Wyvern stayed silent and listened to them go on and on with each other about her hero costume. He kept his eyes focused on Backdraft and wondered if he had seen the similarities, too. Even if he did, Backdraft didn't seem to bring it up. He shrugged and stared at the drones flying aimlessly in the air. He flared his nostrils and kept his smirk as an idea entered his mind.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Fuego?" Wyvern asked, seeking out his flaming quirk. A deep chuckle was all Wyvern needed to know Fuego was in agreement.

Test Start

Up in the tower, Imiter sat in his desk with a patient smile. He leaned into his chair and propped his legs onto his desk, staring at the computer with his hands on his lap. He stared at security camera footage of the Training Area through his computer. A student was using his Museum for hero training, he wasn't going to miss this.

Ami stretched her arms and felt her muscles relax. She stared up at the flying drones with a nervous expression. She tapped the side of her helmet and felt her glasses fall to her nose, taking on a ready position.

"Are you sure it's okay to destroy them?" Ami asked, glancing back at Backdraft. The water hero nodded at her in encouragement.

"Absolutely, Midoriya." Backdraft assured, making Ami feel slightly better.

"Plenty more where they came from." Wyvern said, standing next to Backdraft with arms crossed.

"Why do you want me to destroy them anyway?" Ami asked, looking up at the drones.

"I'll tell you after. Just go ahead and use your quirk." Backdraft said, receiving a nod from Ami. She listened to his orders and took a deep breath, tensing her muscles.

"Alright…" Ami whispered, preparing herself. She looked at the drones and carefully analyzed their movements. They were circling above her like vultures, never once changing their altitude. They were pretty high up, making her realize just how big the whole place was.

"They've gotta be at least four stories above me." Ami guessed, narrowing her eyes. She clenched her fists and gulped, activating her quirk. She felt the warmth of her flames reach into her mouth as her neck lit up orange.

"My flamethrower won't reach at that height. I'll have to try something else. In that case…" Ami thought, swirling around the flames in her mouth. She stared at the drones and looked for the right target. There was some distance between them in the air, she'd only be able to take out one at a time.

"Backdraft said to just attack them, but what if they attack me?" Will they fight back?" Ami thought, doubting herself. She shook her head and focused on only one drone.

"Guess I'll find out." She muttered, looking at the third drone.

"That one." She said, opening her mouth and firing at the drone. She spat a fireball out of her mouth towards the drone at fast speeds. The sensors on each drone alerted them to a change in temperature, causing them to hover in place.

Object Approaching

The third drone said, moving its camera lense down to figure out what was coming. Its camera lense was immediately blinded by the light coming from the fireball. Before it could react, the flames reached the drone, knocking it back a few feet and bursting into flame. It's sensors quickly realized the danger it was in.

Fire hazard detected. Drone suffering major system failuuuuur-

The drone said, shooting sparks out of its body. The flames pierced through its armor and melted its electrical systems, causing a chain reaction. The lights on the drone turned off as it exploded in midair, falling to the floor. Ami smiled at her successful hit and clenched her fists in accomplishment.

"Yes!" She exclaimed.

A small fire started where the drone crashed, causing Ami to quickly react. However, she wasn't the only one to react to fire. The other drones looked down at the crashed drone and sensed the fire.

Fire detected. Scanning for source.

The leading drone said, turning on its sensors. The two drones quickly activated their infrared cameras and scanned their surroundings. It immediately came upon Ami, focusing their scans on her body.

Human detected. Scanning…Heat levels are significantly higher than the average person. Hostile Quirk use detected.

The drone said, letting its lights turn red. Its sides opened up, revealing a hidden compartment.

Hostile detected.

The drone stated out loud, getting Ami's attention. She looked up at the drones and noticed they were staring at her with red lights. She watched as weapons slid out of the hidden compartments on their sides, turning on a laser sight that was aimed at her.

"Uh oh." Ami said, looking up at the angry drones with a frightened smile.

"What the?" Backdraft said, looking at what the drones were doing.

"They're scanning her as a threat." Wyvern stated, staring calmly at what was going on. Backdraft looked at him and narrowed his eye, immediately realizing what was going on.

"What are you doing?" Backdraft questioned, looking sternly at the stoic hero.

"Just skipping ahead a bit, is all." Wyvern said, raising his right arm up to reveal the gadget on his wrist. He tapped his fingers on the gadget and ordered the drones to target Ami. He inputted commands into the drones and followed his instructions, scanning Ami for danger. Its scans quickly caught sight of her support items, recognizing the ax and the whip.

Hostile is armed and dangerous…deploying countermeasures.

The drone said aloud, making Ami gulp. She heard the gun barrels beneath the laser sights start spinning and winced. She didn't wait to see what would happen next and ran away, quickly leaving the drones sights.

Target running…Firing!

The drones activated their defenses. Ami panicked as bullets flew towards her, hitting the ground behind her.

"I knew it. I knew they'd get mad!" Ami thought, putting all her effort into running away. She narrowly avoided getting shot as Backdraft watched in distress.

"Backdraft! They're firing at me!" Ami yelled, feeling her heart racing with fright. Backdraft heard her cries and yelled back.

"Keep running! Try and lose them!" He instructed.

"Okay!" Ami hollered in compliance.

"Lose them. Lose them. Lose them." Ami repeated, looking at her surroundings. She was exposed in the open field with nothing to shield her against the Drones. She tightened her chest and gulped, trying to think of what to do. She activated her quirk and thought about turning around and burning them, but she didn't know what kind of firepower she was dealing with. Instead, she stared at the grass ahead and thought of an idea. She opened her mouth and sent a burst of flames towards the ground, starting a grassfire. The flames burned the ground in seconds, sending smoke into the air. Ami closed her mouth and ran into the smoke. The drones stopped moving and kept their distance from the smoke. The flames were too big for their infrared cameras, losing her instantly. They switched out of infrared and scanned the environment, seeing no sight of her.

Deploying Fire Extinguishers…

The drone switched its guns to fire extinguishers and sprayed at the flames, beginning to slowly extinguish the grassfire. The other drone stayed on the offensive and scanned the environment, waiting for her to come running out.

As the drone extinguished the flames, a burst of sound came from within the smoke. Ceasing fire, the drone looked forward to see a body come flying out of the smoke with flames spewing out of the target's mouth. Ami landed on the grass behind the drones and narrowed her eyes at them, clenching her fists and swirling flames around her tongue. She spat out another ball of fire at the drone, making contact with the fire extinguishing drone. The flames melted through its components, causing it to burst into flames. It crashed onto the grass and exploded, alerting the other drone. It flew above the smoke and aimed at Ami, getting her attention.

"Firing!" The drone said, firing at Ami. Bullets came flying towards her, causing her to jump to the side. She yelped as a single bullet made contact with her wrist. She dropped to the floor and held her wrist, looking down at her wound. Her expression lightened a bit when she saw the damage. It was just a sting from a pellet round. The drones weren't firing real bullets at her at all. She flared her nostrils and looked at the drone with anger.

"That hurt!" She exclaimed, unleashing a burst of fire towards the drone. It stared at the approaching wall of flames and swerved in an attempt to dodge, however, the area of effect was too wide for the machine to dodge. Flames instantly melted through its armor, reaching its components and burning them to a crisp. The drone exploded in midair, falling to the floor in melted scraps. It barely resembled what it was before. Ami stared at the drones and opened her mouth, inhaling all of the flames in her environment. The grassfire was stopped instantly, leaving behind nothing but smoke and dead grass. She felt the flames enter her mouth and closed it, swallowing it all and wiping her lips. She took deep breaths and deactivated her quirk, gasping for air. She fell to her knees in exhaustion, feeling thirsty. She pulled the canteen from her belt and opened the cap, drinking profusely.

"Ami, are you okay?" Backdraft said, running up to Ami. He crouched down to the floor and looked at her with sympathy.

"Mhm." Ami groaned, catching her breath. Her heart was still pounding from the fight.

"How's your hand?" Backdraft asked, taking a look at her wrist.

"It's fine. Just a sting." Ami assured, feeling a lot better now.

"I'm sorry about the drones. They weren't supposed to fire yet, but someone wanted to skip ahead." Backdraft scolded, turning his head back and glaring at Wyvern.

"Way to go, Flame Guard." Wyvern complimented, approaching the two with a stoic face and clapping lightly. He paid no attention to Backdraft's glare. Backdraft sighed and stood up, facing Wyvern.

"Wyvern. I told you I didn't want them to fight back until after the first test was complete." Backdraft said, shaking his head in disapproval. Wyvern shrugged and spread his hands out in response.

"Yeah, but I thought doing this was better." Wyvern admitted, coming clean with his plan. Backdraft facepalmed and shook his head a second time, brushing his frustration aside.

"A warning would've been nice." Backdraft complained.

"Is there ever?" Wyvern questioned, making Backdraft roll his eye. He had a point there.

"Ugh. Well, Midoriya, despite Wyvern changing the plan, you've done great." Backdraft said, helping Ami stand up.

"Really?" She said, squeezing her hands together. Sparkles appeared in her eyes upon hearing his praise.

"Mhm. The first test was done for two reasons. I wanted to see how much range your flames could cover and to see how you handled a target that was out of that range. I assume you knew your flamethrower wouldn't reach that high, correct?" Backdraft asked, receiving a nod from Ami in confirmation.

"Yeah, I did the math in my head and realized I wouldn't be able to reach with just my flamethrower move." Ami elaborated, receiving a nod of approval.

"And, because of that, you decided to use a fireball instead." Backdraft assumed, receiving another nod.

"Uh huh." Ami replied, impressing Backdraft.

"That's good. Originally, after the first test was complete, you would have moved on to dealing with moving targets. I wanted to see how good your aim was. Then, the third test would have been what happened now. How you handle dangerous targets." Backdraft explained.

"But didn't you see me do all this and more at the Sports Festival?" Ami asked, raising an eyebrow at the water hero. Backdraft nodded in response, knowing she had a point.

"Well, I had to see it for myself before I took you out in the field." Backdraft admitted, piquing Ami's interest.

"The field? Like in the city?" Ami asked, feeling her excitement increase.

"Mhm. And congratulations, you passed the tests." Backdraft said, clapping his wrist pipes together.

"Sweet. So, does that mean we'll be patrolling around Hosu?" Ami asked, jumping in celebration.

"Eventually." Backdraft said, causing Ami to pause.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, looking at the water hero in confusion.

"There was another reason I tested you." Backdraft said, putting his wrists behind his back, "Can you guess what it was?" He questioned, leaning forward slightly.

"Uhhh…" Ami paused, placing a finger on her lips in thought. Backdraft expected she'd have difficulty answering and gave her a hint.

"Think back, Midoriya. What were you standing on during all of your previous fights?" Backdraft said, causing Ami to think.

"Standing on?" Ami thought, recalling her previous fights. She remembered where she was in all of her past fights and thought about the floor. She thought about fighting the Sludge Monster, then the UA entrance exam. They were both in the street. She remembered the USJ and the Sports Festival as well, recalling the concrete floors. In all of her fights, she was always standing on solid surfaces. The one time she wasn't was during the Cavalry Battles when she rode on Shoji's back with her teammates. She remembered how careful she was when using her quirk around Shoji, Tsu, and Mineta.

Well…it was solid ground. Usually concrete, rocks, or-" Ami paused, widening her eyes in realization. She slowly turned around and looked at the ground behind her. It was covered in scorchmarks and smoke from the destroyed drones.

"-dirt." Ami said, realizing the mess she made in the park. She blushed in embarrasment and turned back around, facing Backdraft with hands behind her back.

"I really messed up the grass, didn't I?" She said, shyly moving her foot around. Backdraft nodded in response, holding back his smile.

"You understand then. The other reason I tested you was to see how you use your quirk in a flammable environment." Backdraft explained.

"I figured this would happen. Up till now every battle you've been in has been for the sake of training. You've faced no consequences whenever the ground you stood on cracked or melted away from the power of your flames. In short, you've been careless about your surroundings." Backdraft explained, causing Ami to frown. She was always too focused on being careful around using her quirk on people. She never considered the damage to her surroundings. In fact, she often took advantage of using the damaged floor to attack or distract.

"So, that's why we're here and not in the city?" Ami fully realized, making Backdraft nod.

"Mhm." He replied, continuing into a speech, "Heroes use their quirks to keep the people safe. They're given that freedom by the law and are expected to act responsibly with that power. That means defending the innocent and knowing when it's appropriate to use their power." Backdraft said, causing Ami to frown. She looked up at Backdraft with sad eyes, causing him to pause.

"So, you don't think I'm responsible enough…" Ami asked, feeling sad. Backdraft looked at her sad eyes and tilted his head a little, shrugging his shoulders and exhaling.

"Oh, Ami. It's not that I think you lack responsibility. This is something all Heroes-in-training work on, especially flame users like you and Wyvern." Backdraft said, confusing Ami.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Minimizing damage." He answered.

"Heroes have to always be aware of their surroundings. And that means controlling the power of their quirks. Holding back in your case. You've done an excellent job holding back on your opponents when in combat, so, I have less concern about that. What I'm talking about is cause and effect. What happens when you miss? Where do the flames go? What are the objects you hit? Often enough, the things that get caught in the crossfire end up causing more harm to the people you're saving." Backdraft said.

"For example, you set a car on fire with your quirk. Depending on the model and the amount of gas inside that vehicle could potentially explode without intending to. You could eat the explosion and minimize the damage through that, sure, but you'll still be dealing with rogue shrapnel. Shrapnel that could hit anyone and damage anything. Same applies to a gas line, you spit out a fireball at a villain and it misses. Even worse, flies out of your range and melts through a gas pump. That could potentially create an explosion that damages an entire block. Or worst of all, you accidentally melt through a load-bearing wall, potentially causing a collapse that traps you and innocent people inside." Backdraft said, finishing up listing examples from Ami's nightmares. She understood his point and gulped, cringing at the thought of doing more harm than good. Ami knew the exact term Backdraft was referring to.

"Collateral damage." She blurted out, receiving a nod from Backdraft.

"Correct. There are many situations where a villain will have the upperhand. Whether it's their power or the amount of hostages they have. They don't worry about holding back because most simply don't care about who gets hurt or what gets lost. Whereas-" Backdraft said, stopping just short of finishing his sentence. He pointed at Ami and waited for her to speak.

"We do." She said, finishing his sentence. Ami understood that one very well. She remembered the villains at the USJ and gulped. None of them were holding back against her and Ojiro in the Fire Zone. They seemed dead set on killing her and Ojiro, especially the one covered in obsidian.

"Mhm." Backdraft confirmed.

"Your flames. They're powerful, flashy, hard to miss. Unfortunately, that makes it easy to miss." Backdraft stated, confusing Ami a little.

"I heard about the USJ incident and what your class went through. You were lucky to have only faced petty criminals and crooks. Had you fought against true villains, you would have surely been killed." Backdraft admitted bluntly. Ami knew he was right. She was of equal footing against her attackers in the fire zone for the most part despite being only a student. She was also lucky to have ended in the perfect place for her to fully utilize her quirk. The only real threat she faced that had a chance of killing her was that obsidian guy. Ami wasn't sure of what Backdraft knew about what happened, but there was no way he knew about that villain. Or the one that nearly turned her to dust had it not been for Mr. Aizawa. Her stomach churned a bit at the memory, starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Your flames move fast, but not fast enough. Your speed will get by against an average criminal, sure, but against a pro? Definitely not. And certainly not for an actual villain." Backdraft stated, looking at Ami solemnly.

"Do you understand?" He asked, receiving a quick nod from her.

"I understand. I need to focus on containment. Keeping damage to a minimum. And that means making sure I don't miss." Ami said, receiving a nod of approval from the water hero. Wyvern listened in on the conversation and whistled in response.

"Damn scared her." Wyvern whispered, scoffing a bit. He was surprised how blunt Backdraft was acting. He couldn't deny it was good for her.

"Pro heroes often do more collateral damage when starting out than in their later years. They're young, of course, and sometimes get swept up in the spectacle of their own power. I was the same when I started out. But, my master taught me what I had to do in order to reduce the chance of causing more harm than good. I owe him everything. And that's what I plan to teach you." Backdraft said, pointing at Ami. Ami stared at his wrist and straightened up, composing herself and appearing more professional.

"The focus for today will be accuracy." Backdraft said, crossing his arms in completion.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Ami said, performing a military salute. Backdraft stared at the seriousness in her eyes and smiled, nodding at her in approval. Wyvern was impressed at Ami and smirked, deciding now was a good time to talk.

"That's great. We're moving on to real bullets." He said, causing Ami's eyes to widen.

"What?" She said, panicking slightly.

"He's joking." Backdraft said, easing Ami's concerns.

"That better be a joke." Backdraft said, turning to glare at Wyvern.

Test Start #2

Ami stared up at the sky with a determined expression. Drones circled around her at high speeds, making it hard to keep track of just one. She narrowed her eyes and activated her quirk, feeling the warmth of her flames enter her mouth. She had been working on taking them down for at least thirty minutes. Spitting out a fireball at them and missing. Each time the drone would sense it and swerve out of harm's way. Ami would quickly run after the fireball as it fell to the ground and inhale it, sending it flying back into her mouth. Even though she missed, catching the fire with her quirk before it landed earned some praise from Backdraft.

"Nice one, Midoriya. Keep it up." Backdraft said, clapping with his wrists.

"Ugh." Ami groaned, temporarily deactivating her quirk and taking a drink of water. Wyvern watched her take a drink from his spot and stared at her hero costume. He was currently laying down on a park bench with a bag of pretzels in hand. Ami paid no attention to Wyvern and focused on trying to take the drones down.

"So much for helping hand." Ami thought, glancing at Wyvern through her peripheral vision. She looked up at the drone directly above her and spat a fireball towards it. The drone immediately flew to the left, avoiding the fireball. Ami frowned and inhaled the fireball back into her mouth.

"Hehe." Wyvern chuckled at Ami's expense.

"You're really good at missing, huh?" Wyvern said.

"You're really good at helping." Ami snapped back.

"Yeah, I know, huh?" Wyvern said, sarcastically. He stood up off the bench and approached Ami. Backdraft watched Wyvern walk towards Ami and kept his eye on him. Ami looked at Wyvern and swallowed her flames, letting smoke fly out of her mouth.

"Pretzel?" Wyvern offered, receiving a look of suspicion. Wyvern scoffed at her reaction, shaking his head.

"C'mon. I'm eating them. You think I messed with them?" Wyvern asked. Ami dropped her suspicion and stared at him with a blank face.

"Why do you have those all the time?" She asked.

"I eat for two." Wyvern answered. That made sense.

"Want it or not?" He offered one last time. Ami stared at the pretzel and relented, taking it from his hands. She looked at the pretzel and bit into it, enjoying the taste.

"Thanks." Ami said, being polite.

"Mhm. So, that axe of yours for show?" Wyvern said, changing topic. Ami paused for a second and looked down at her axe.

"Huh? No. It's a support item." Ami answered, getting a nod.

"What do you do with it?" Wyvern asked.

"Self Defense. And if I need to break a door down." She quickly answered.

"Uh huh." Wyvern said, letting an idea form in his head, "Bet you can't hit one with the axe." He said, getting Ami's attention.

"What?" She questioned.

"The drone." Wyvern said, glancing up at the sky.

"I can throw, but I'm not that good." Ami said, looking up at how high the drones were.

"So, no?" Wyvern questioned, receiving a nod from Ami.

"I'm good." She said, looking up at the drone. She noticed it was hovering above her and focused on it, reactivating her quirk. She clenched her fists and spat out a fireball, watching it just barely get high enough. The drone saw the flame and didn't even flinch. Ami and Wyvern watched as her fireball slowed down and fell back towards the ground, making her frown harder. She quickly inhaled and pulled the flames back into her mouth.

"Oof. That was shorter than the last one." Wyvern observed, pointing out the obvious.

"Aww, man. I need more fire." She moped, kicking the dirt with a frown. Wyvern heard her moping and grew curious.

"What, you running out?" Wyvern asked, raising his eyebrow at her.

"Yeah. If I could only get more flames." Ami said, wishing she had her lighter. She glanced at Wyvern and smiled with hope, clasping her hands in prayer.

"Hey, could you light yourself on fire?" Ami requested, surprising the redhead. He flared his nostrils and shook his head at her request.

"Heh. Sorry. If I do that, you'd be eating Fuego. And I don't think he'll be happy." Wyvern answered, disappointing Ami.

"Aww." She sighed.

"Course, I could use him to light the ground on fire and you can eat that." Wyvern said, giving her hope. She looked at the tiny smirk on his lips and felt her hope dissipate once more.

"But you're not, are you?" She asked.

"Nope." He said, plainly. Ami sulked and groaned in defeat.

"Ugh." She sighed, feeling defeated. Wyvern looked at her pitiful expression and sighed, returning stoic. He looked at the axe on her hip and then at the drones.

"Hand me the axe." He said, reaching his hand out towards her. Ami looked up at his hand and looked at him incredulously, "What for?" She asked.

"You want some more fire, right?" He said.

"Yeah…"

"Then, I'll get you more fire." He smirked, feeling her hope rise. She raised her eyebrow at him with disbelief, looking at him and the drones above.

"You're gonna try and take a drone down with my ax?" She questioned, receiving a nod.

"Uh huh."

"But they're so high up. There's no way." Ami said, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Watch me." Wyvern said, betting on his odds. Ami sighed and reached for her axe, releasing it from its strap and handing it to him. Wyvern held the axe in his hands and squeezed the grip, swinging it around a bit for practice.

"Ready?" He asked, looking at Ami with a stoic face. Ami looked at the drones and smirked in return, wanting to see what would happen.

"Do it." She said, giving him the go ahead. He nodded and activated his quirk, feeling heat coming off his neck. Flames came rising out of his neck and swirled around his left arm, quickly leaching onto the axe. Ami stared at the flames on Wyvern's arm and saw a red glare within the flames. Fuego covered the axe in flames, appearing from the tip of the sharp edge. Wyvern focused on the drone above them and swung.

"Hiya!" He shouted, throwing the axe into the sky. Ami watched its trajectory as it spun towards the drones at incredibly fast speeds. Her eyes shot open at the speed in which it flew. Within half a second, the axe flew into the drone, piercing through its armor without any difficulty.

"How strong is he?" Ami asked herself, letting her jaw drop in awe.

Engines compromised…System Failure!

The drone started heating beyond normal temperatures. Sparks started flying out as it fell to the ground, bursting in flames upon impact. Ami stared at the wreckage as Wyvern approached the destroyed drone with a smug grin. She watched as he casually pulled the axe out of the drone without getting burned by the flames. In that split second, Fuego swirled out of Wyvern's arm and attached itself to the drone. He growled and crushed the drone, creating a bigger flame. Wyvern removed the axe and walked off. Fuego quickly separated from the drone debris and flew back towards Wyvern, reentering through the axe and zooming up his arm and back into his neck.

"There you go. More flames." Wyvern said, handing Ami back her axe with a smug grin. Ami looked at Wyvern and back at the debris, quickly inhaling the flames. She closed her mouth and swallowed it all, restoring her strength.

"Thanks." Ami said, deactivating her quirk.

"Don't mention it, Ames." Wyvern said, walking back to the bench, "Now you've got two left." He said, resuming consumption of his favorite pretzels.

"Feeling better, Midoriya?" Backdraft hollered, receiving a thumbs up.

"Uh huh." Ami smiled, ready to keep on going. Backdraft smiled back and nodded, thinking about her flames.

"That's good. Say, about that fireball move. It's impressive, but still too big. How small can you make it?" Backdraft inquired, watching Ami try again.

"I can spit out a fireball the size of a golf ball, but the problem with that is I lose speed and distance." Ami said, inhaling her fireball.

"How are you making that fireball with your mouth?" Backdraft asked, tilting his head slightly with curiosity.

"Like this." Ami said, opening her mouth.

"I use my tongue to twirl the flames around in my mouth until I condense it into a ball." She said, providing a demonstration. Backdraft nodded in understanding, hiding his slight disgust at her demonstration.

"So, your quirk is influenced by movements in your mouth?" He assumed, receiving a nod.

"I guess so." Ami said, making Backdraft smile.

"This is great. If you can manipulate your flames with inner movements, then it stands to reason you could do the same with outer movements." Backdraft theorized, getting Ami to think about it more.

"Like when I make flames stick onto me." She said, making an example.

"Exactly! In the Sports Festival, I watched you redirect the flames to your hands during your fight with the sentient quirk student. Did you do that consciously or passively?" Backdraft asked, making Ami think back to her fight with Tokoyami.

"Consciously. I could've put the flames on my legs if I wanted to." Ami answered. Backdraft rubbed his chin with his wrist and nodded, thinking of something. Wyvern looked at the water hero and raised his goggles up, looking at him with an eye raised.

"What're you thinking?" He asked.

"I'm thinking I'm onto something." Backdraft said, approaching Ami.

"Let's pause for a second, Midoriya." Backdraft ordered.

"Okay. Ami complied, turning to face Backdraft.

"So, without any outside influence, what is the range of your flamethrower?" He asked, getting a quick reply.

"Around 20-23 feet. I could hit 30 with a little boost using my lighter, but I'm not sure where it's at right now." Ami said, without any doubt. The Sports Festival had improved her range twice over.

"Hm." Backdraft nodded in deep thought, "In that case, forget the drones. Let's practice using that bench over there." He said, looking at the bench where Wyvern was sitting. Ami smiled and quickly accepted the chance.

"Okay!" She said a bit too happily.

"I heard that!" Wyvern hollered, looking at the two with a glare. Ami smiled at the chance of payback and started walking, however, Backdraft quickly stopped her.

"Nope. You're staying right here." Backdraft ordered, confusing Ami.

"Um, Backdraft, Sir. My flames won't reach the bench. I'm too far even if I use a fireball." Ami said, looking at Wyvern on the bench.

"Damn right you're too far." Wyvern scoffed, taking a bite of a whole pretzel. He was adamant on not moving.

"No. You're just close enough." Backdraft assured, making Ami wonder what he was thinking.

"When you breathe fire, you don't do anything to influence its path. There's no redirection of any sort." Backdraft noticed, receiving a confused nod from Ami.

"That's all I can do." Ami said, feeling less confident. Backdraft shook his head in denial, raising his wrist up.

"How do you think I use my quirk?" Backdraft asked, pointing his wrist pipe at the bench. Ami looked at Backdraft's wrist and then at his face, giving her best answer.

"You aim with your arm and fire?" She guessed, getting a chuckle out of him.

"Not wrong, but there's more to it than that." Backdraft laughed, "If I used my quirk the way you use yours, then I wouldn't be able to hit the bench, either." He explained, getting a surprised look from Ami.

"Really?" She said in confusion.

"Mhm. Observe." Backdraft said, activating his quirk. A volley of water came bursting out of his wrist pipe, dropping to the floor like a broken fire hydrant. Wyvern watched the water come shooting out and flinched, bracing for impact. To his surprise, the water didn't reach him. Making him sigh in relief.

"Nope." He said, hopping out of the bench.

"This is what it looks like when I use my quirk without any restraint. Lot like your flamethrower, isn't it?" Backdraft compared, getting a nod from Ami.

"Uh huh." She said, smiling in awe.

"But, when I do this-" Backdraft said, focusing more on his quirk. The water bursting out of his wrist pipe started to condense, becoming more controlled. It was like a hose switching from blast to jet. The jet of water quickly slammed into the bench, making the entire thing wet, "-I can reach it." Backdraft said in accomplishment.

"Wow." Ami gasped.

"How did you do that?" She asked.

"Focus. I condensed the water in my body and forced a more precise blast to come out. It may be coming from my arm but I assume the principle is still the same for you." Backdraft explained.

"Cool, huh?" He asked, receiving an excited nod, "Now, it's your turn. Think of what I did, Midoriya, and try it yourself."

"But how?" Ami asked, looking at Backdraft for guidance.

"Think of how you made your fireball. Find a way to condense your flame for a more accurate shot." He advised. Ami nodded and went to work. She activated her quirk and fired a burst of flames toward the bench.

"C'mon. C'mon. Condense the flame." Ami thought, blasting away with all her might. Despite her best effort the flame didn't reach. She deactivated her quirk and took a deep breath, staring at the wet bench in disappointment.

"Sorry, Backdraft." She apologized, feeling bad about failing. Backdraft quickly accepted her apology, placing his wrist on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Ami. I don't expect you to get it right on your first try." Backdraft said, ready to do this for as long as it took.

"Think of when you were practicing in the past. How did you learn you could make a fireball?" Backdraft advised, forcing Ami to think back. She remembered the night before her first day at UA.

"I was in my bathroom. Finishing up with brushing my teeth." Ami remembered. 15 years and she never once thought of spitting with her quirk? It should have been obvious from the start that she could do that. So, if it was so obvious now, why wasn't it then? She knew the answer. It was that past fear of hers. A fear she had overcome. If she could make a fireball by using her tongue, then what other way could she use her powers that she wasn't aware of? She thought about it and tuned everything out, concentrating hard.

Wyvern stared at the wet bench with a solemn expression. He sighed and shook his head, whistling a song in memoriam of losing his spot. Ami heard the whistle and raised her head up, searching for the source. She looked at Wyvern and listened to his sad whistling, reaching an epiphany. She gasped loudly and placed her hands on the side of her forehead. It was obvious now.

"If you can manipulate your flames with inner movements, then it stands to reason you could do the same with outer movements." Backdraft's words repeated inside her head.

"Ugggh! Why didn't I realize this sooner?!" Ami exclaimed, interrupting Wyvern's whistling tune.

"Huh?" He said, looking at Ami.

"Wyvern, stand back." Ami said, waving her hand to the left. He flared his nostrils and stepped back.

"What? Figured something out?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mhm." Ami said, smiling with pride. She stared at the bench and focused, activating her quirk. She felt the flames enter her mouth and flared her nostrils, preparing herself.

"Let's do this." She thought, swirling the flames around with her tongue. She curled her tongue and opened her mouth slightly, getting into position. Holding in her breathe, she whistled as loud as she could, causing the flames inside her mouth to come zooming out at extreme speeds. Wyvern and Backdraft went wide-eyed at the sight of the fire. The flames spewed out of her lips in a small spider web-like thread of pure fire, zooming towards the bench in less than a second. The fire impacted the bench and ignited it in flames. Ami stopped her whistling and breathed in, looking at the burning bench with a wide smile.

"Ha… Holy crap! I did it!" Ami shouted, jumping up and down with her hands in the air.

"Nice shot, Ames." Wyvern complimented, giving Ami a thumbs up. Backdraft was blown away by the speed Ami's new move had traveled and rapidly clapped his wrists together in awe.

"Well done, Ami. That was perfect! Flawless!" Backdraft said, clapping profusely.

"Did you see how fast that was?" Ami said, rushing towards the burning bench. She inhaled the flames and quickly devoured them, deactivating her quirk. She turned to look at Wyvern and smiled, raising her hand up in the air.

"Damn, right, Ames. You sure lived up to the nickname fast." Wyvern said, giving Ami a high five.

"That was beyond my expectation. That shot was so precise. You were like a sniper!" Backdraft said.

"How's that for accuracy?" Ami said, full of pride.

"Hehe. Keep it up, Midoriya, and we'll be out patrolling by lunchtime!" Backdraft exclaimed, giving Ami a high five with his wrist.

"Now how bout you take down some drones?" Backdraft ordered, getting a quick nod from Ami. She turned around and stared up at the two drones flying around in the sky. She demonstrated she could hit an object with her new move, now it was time to try it on moving objects.

2 Hours Later

Ami followed Backdraft off the burnt grass and stepped foot onto more solid ground. Concrete, to be exact. Backdraft directed Ami over to a particular spot to stand in, leaving some distance between them.

"Stay right there, please." Backdraft ordered, getting Ami to comply. She stood still and watched Backdraft walk further and further away, causing her to fold her arms together in confusion.

"Okay?" Ami muttered, watching Backdraft come to a stop a couple hundred feet away from her position. Backdraft looked at the gadget on his wrist and pressed a button, releasing more drones into the air. Ami watched the drones fly overhead and readied herself.

"Don't worry about them." Backdraft hollered, getting Ami to relax. She stood at her position and stared up at the drones with a curious expression.

"What's going on?" Ami hollered at Backdraft. She watched him press buttons on a device attached to his wrist and raised her eyebrow in suspicion. That device wasn't there before.

"All set?" Wyvern asked, staring at Backdraft with hands in his pocket.

"Mhm. Let the final test begin." Backdraft nodded, pressing the red button in the center. The ground began to shake beneath Ami, causing her to tense up. She looked at the floor and stumbled a bit, balancing herself on the ground. She heard a deep rumbling coming from the ground and watched as the concrete began to rise up.

"Whoa..." Ami muttered, keeping herself standing. The concrete rose up higher and higher, blocking her from seeing anything past it. All she could see were thick concrete walls and the ceiling above. She looked around at her new surroundings in bewilderment. She was suddenly trapped inside a labyrinth with no one in sight.

"What is this?" Ami thought, touching the concrete wall in confusion. She then heard the sound of a speaker echoing across the Training Area, getting her attention.

"Alright, Midoriya! This is it." Backdraft exclaimed.

"Welcome to the Obstacle Maze. This whole maze has been designed to simulate close quarters environments such as small buildings, tight corners, and alleyways." Backdraft explained, getting Ami to look around in a hurry.

"What purpose does the Training Area have for this?" She asked, looking up at the hovering drone.

"During events, heroes take this course to show off how fights are carried out in the city. Today, it's the location of your final test. You'll be facing several enemies inside the maze as you make your way to the exit." Backdraft explained receiving a nod from Ami in acknowledgment.

"Where's the exit?" She asked, keeping a straight smile.

"You'll have to find it yourself." Backdraft replied, rolling his eyes in amusement.

"Thought so…" Ami mumbled, knowing it wouldn't be that easy.

"So, I'm just escaping and that's it?" She questioned.

"Yup." Backdraft said, making Ami feel better about the enemies inside, "I can do that." She said, with honesty.

"However-" Backdraft said, causing Ami to frown.

"Aww…" She grumbled, knowing there would be a catch to this challenge. She stood still and waited for Backdraft to explain the rules.

"You cannot hit the walls or cause any damage to your environment." He clarified, causing Ami to look up at the drone with surprised wide eyes.

"What?" She questioned.

"Mhm. The key is accuracy and control. In addition, you'll need to destroy all the enemies inside. We've even made it easier for you to get around by removing all the unnecessary obstacles." Backdraft elaborated, making Ami nod.

"Okay. So, what kind of enemies are gonna be in here?" She asked, receiving no straight answer.

"You'll have to find out for yourself." Backdraft teaaed, making Ami flare her nostrils.

"Right. Got it." She nodded, tensing up her muscles. She squeezed her fists together and took a deep breath, psyching herself up.

"You can do it, Midoriya. Use what you've learned and I'm positive you'll do fine. I believe in you." Backdraft encouraged, making Ami's smile grow wider. She stared straight ahead and took on a more prepared stance.

"Are you ready?" Backdraft asked.

"I'm ready." Ami said, ready to run.

"Good. You may begin. Oh, and don't try to fly out of the maze with your flames, I'll have to spray you." Backdraft said, giving an additional warning.

"Wasn't planning on it." She mumbled, running straight ahead deeper into the maze. As she charged further inside the maze, one thought went through her head.

"How am I supposed to not cause damage to the walls? What if the drones explode?" She questioned, coming to a full stop. She heard shuffling from around a corner, making her focus. She clenched her fists and silently activated her quirk.

She slowly advanced towards the end of corner, hugging the wall and staying silent. She held her breath and slowly leaned her head forward, getting a look around the corner. She saw another hallway that led to a medium-sized room at the very end. Her eyes widened when she noticed what was inside the room.

There was no drone, instead it was a robot with a similar appearance to the robots from the UA Practical Exam. Only this robot was completely blue instead of green. It also walked around with backward-facing legs, kinda like a bird. Ami raised her eyebrow at the robot, feeling like she'd seen it before in a movie. She examined the robot from down the hall and observed its movements, noticing it was circling the room it was in.

"It's just patrolling the room. These must be the enemies I have to deal with. It would be easy for me to take it down with just my flamethrower." Ami thought, shaking her head in denial.

"No. That might cause it to explode. I can't damage the concrete." Ami said, shaking her head profusely. She looked down at the floor and back up again, noticing the other hall on the opposite side. There was another empty corner down that way, too. She tilted her head a little and smiled, getting an idea.

She placed her hand on her belt, feeling the holster containing her ax. She unstrapped the safety holster and slowly took out her ax, making as little noise as possible.

"I can destroy it however I want as long as it doesn't damage the surroundings." Ami thought, nodding to herself. She leaned her head forward and held onto her ax with a tight grip. Thinking about Wyvern's ax throw gave her inspiration, deciding to try it out. She looked at the empty hallway on the opposite end and raised her arms up, throwing the axe towards the empty hall.

Clang

The robot heard the sound and raised its head up, switching it front facing camera lights to turn from blue to red.

Unknown sound detected…investigating source.

The robot turned around and walked out of the room, entering the hallway. Ami reeled her head back and quickly hugged the wall tightly, holding her breath and making zero sound. She looked to her left and watched as the robot slowly walked straight past her hall, not even noticing her. The robot reached the source of the mysterious sound and looked at the floor.

Weapon spotted…

The robot analyzed its position on the ground and started processing information, leaving it wide open for an attack. It quickly assessed that the ax was thrown and went to work.

Plotting trajectory…

The robot raised its head up again and slowly turned its head to the right, looking down the other hallway. Ami stared at the robot with a glare and opened her mouth, whistling fire towards the robot. It pierced straight through the robots cameras, making contract with its brain and melting its computers. In an instant, the robot's life was put to an end. The robot fell to the floor with a thud, causing Ami to smile.

"Yes! One down." Ami thought, composing herself. Outside tbe maze, Backdraft watched Ami succeed in taking down the robot without damaging her surroundings and smiled.

"Way to go, Midoriya." Backdraft whispered, silently celebrating her success. Ami quickly crawled over the dead robot and retrieved her ax, advancing further in the maze. She huffed and flared her nostrils, coming to a stop and taking a small breather. She turned a corner and scoffed when she reached a dead end.

"Wrong way." She thought, turning around and heading another way. She entered a larger room with concrete barriers strewn about and immediately kept quiet. Her gut sensed danger was inside the room, prompting her to crouch down and listen for more sounds. On cue, she heard heavy footsteps coming from the other side of the barriers. She hid behind the barrier and peeked her head out slightly, noticing there were two robots in the room this time. She gulped a bit and stayed hidden, getting on her knees and crawling. The barriers kept her body hidden as she crawled around the robots. They both walked towards her right and still didn't notice her. The left robot looked around the room and walked to the other end, leaving behind the other robot. Ami watched as the robot looked down the hall she came from, leaving the other robot exposed. She looked at the back of its neck and stared at the wiring, prompting her to try something.

As the robot began to move, Ami used her whip and latched it around the robots neck. It felt its neck get choked up by the support item and quickly spun around. Ami held onto her whip and was lifted up in the air, she quickly jumped off the barrier and landed atop the back of the robot's neck. She quickly pulled out her ax and chopped away on the robot's neck, cutting through its wires.

Systems disconnecting…Failure. Failure. Failu-

The lights on the robot turned off, bringing relief to Ami's face. She exhaled and almost forgot about the second robot. She turned her head around and quickly swerved out of harms way as the second robot punched the dead robot in the neck where she once was. She left the ax on the dead robot's neck and quickly whistled at the second robot, shooting it right between the cameras on its face. The second robot's lights immediately turned off afterwards, both robots falling to the floor at the same time. Ami breathed another sigh of relief and retrieved her support items.

"That was rough." Ami muttered, surveying the room. She examined the concrete for any damage and smiled with satisfaction. No damage anywhere. She nodded to herself and turned around, heading off towards another direction. She came across several dead ends inside the maze and slowly made her way to some small rooms. Seeing no enemies in sight, she took the chance to relax and leaned on a wall.

"How do you get out of here?" Ami wondered, removing the cap off of her canteen. She took a drink of water and sighed, placing the cap back on. She then heard a sound coming from behind her, sending goosebumps down her spine. She raised her eyes and slowly turned around, coming into eye contact with dozens of red lasers pointed at her entire body. Standing on the floor and on the walls were dozens of small robots that resembled spiders. They stared at her and made buzzing sounds from their mouths. Ami froze and kept her eyes on them, watching them watch her with curious eyes. They certainly nailed the creepy stare of a spider on your ceiling. Ami gulped at the amount of robots in front of her. There were way too many of them for her to use her flame whistle on. She'd have to take care of them through some other method. She slowly brought a hand to her hip and touched the strap of her ax, cautiously staring back at the spiders. They watched her actions carefully yet remained frozen, creeping Ami out even more. She kept her hand on her ax and took a step back, carefully watching the spiders. Every time Ami took a step back, the spiders would step forward. They were keeping the same amount of distance from Ami. She lowered her eyes and frowned, thinking of how to deal with the spiders.

"There's only twelve, but they're so small. She turned her head back slightly and got a look at what was behind her. Nothing. That was perfect.

"At least I don't have to worry about a sneak attack." She thought, turning back towards the spiders.

"Hi, little Spider-Bots. It'd be really nice if you could all self-destruct for me or something…" Ami said, waving her hand at them. Upon waving at them, the spider's laser sights all pointed at Ami's hand. She tensed up and flinched a bit, looking at all the lasers aimed at her hand.

"Guess you don't like that, huh?" Ami said, feeling sweat fall down her forehead. She noticed how quick they were to respond to that and realized something.

"I see how it is. They react to fast movement. They all pointed their lasers at my right hand even though my left hand is still holding onto my ax. Because I waved at them…" Ami thought, thinking of a plan. She kept taking small steps back and watched the spiders slowly follow.

"They must have locked onto me when I came rushing down the hall." Ami realized, continuing with her thoughts. Eventually, she reached the corners and came to a stop. Finally, a chance to leave. She didn't know what they would do if she started running but she had to do something. She was at a disadvantage where she was. She needed to be somewhere open. Like the rooms before. She nodded to herself and came up with an idea. She stopped moving and stared at the spiders with narrowed eyes. She made sure nothing was behind her and gulped, breaking into a sprint down the hall to her left. The spiders made louder buzzing sounds and charged after her. They fired hooks off of their mouths, hitting the walls and floor around Ami. One of them managed to hit her in the back, grappling onto her. She felt the grapple and winced a bit, feeling it hit her.

"Ah!" She jolted, running even faster. She ran down the hallways and gained some considerable distance from the rest of the spiders, giving her time to deal with the one attached to her back. She grabbed hold of the wire that connected them and started pulling, gritting her teeth and flexing her muscles. She heard a pop and felt the pressure on her back disappear, She looked at what was holding onto her and saw it was a thick grey wire coming from the spider's mouth. She scrunched her nose up a bit in disgust.

There was an adhesive at the end that acted like glue, holding onto whatever it hit. Ami felt relief knowing it wasn't a sharp hook at the end. That would've been painful. She looked at the lonely spider with a glare and heard it make more buzzing sounds. She pulled out her ax and swung it into the spider's eyes, piercing through its armor. A small puff of smoke escaped through its armor as lights turned off on its body. The spider fell to the floor and died. Ami sighed and pulled the ax away from it's body. As she removed the ax, the other spiders watched her. Ami's eyes shrunk back in panic and turned to look at the spiders. The spiders stared back-and-forth at Ami and the dead spider, making her laugh nervously in response.

"Uhm..hehe…Whoops?" She said, hoping there was no hard feelings. The spiders looked back at her and buzzed more agressively, receiving her answer. She quickly turned around and ran, but felt a hook grapple onto her right leg. She caught herself before it could trip her and kicked the dead spider at the one who fired at her, distracting them. She swung her ax at the wire and quickly cut it in half, freeing her and bolting off once more.

The spiders recoiled and manuevered around the fallen spider, charging after Ami once more. She turned another corner and entered a different hall, keeping track of where she was going through memory. She heard a different buzzing sound above her and saw a drone hovering above her. Backdraft and Wyvern were still watching her. She shrugged and looked straight ahead, focusing on her situation.

"The rooms were this way." She thought, continuing to run.

She reached the room and stopped, listening to the spider's legs skittering towards her down the hall. She looked around the room and saw what she was looking for. The two robots were still laying on the floor dead, bringing a smile on Ami's face. She rushed towards the robot and started to mess with it, grabbing hold of its arm. She tensed her muscles and gritted her teeth, dragging the dead robot towards the entrance of the hall. Slowly but surely she managed to block the hall with the dead robot. She quickly climbed on top of it and looked at its arm. She remembered what Izuku did at the Sports Festival and returned to reality, grabbing hold of a piece of its arm. She pulled the metal off and waited, staring down the hall. The lights from the spider's laser sights illuminated the walls. She narrowed her eyes and ducked behind her cover, preparing for their arrival. The spiders entered the room and scanned the environment in search for Ami. They scanned the dead robot leaning on the wall and crawled around it. Ami watched them enter and counted them.

"Nine. Ten. Eleven." She mumbled, counting all of the remaining spiders. She pushed the dead robot with all of her strength and tipped it over. The spiders heard the sound and turned around, getting squashed by the dead robot. The weight of the robot crushed five spiders, leaving behind six. They looked on top of the dead robot and spotted Ami, firing their wires at her. She quickly blocked them with the metal piece of the robot, feeling the spiders adhesive make contact with the shield. The spiders retracted their wires and easily pulled the shield away from Ami's grip, giving her the opening she needed. She spat a fireball on the shield and engulfed it in flames, causing the spiders to detach their wires. The shield made contact with two spiders and lit them on fire, bursting into flames. Ami quickly inhaled the flames and brought them to her hand. She quickly punched a spider in the face and melted through the armor. With her hand still in the spider she lifted it up and threw it at the second spider. She quickly pulled her ax out and swung at the third spider, killing it instantly. She panted lightly and inhaled the flames back into her mouth, deactivating her quirk. She pulled the ax out of the third spider and looked at the second spider trapped beneath the first spider. She grabbed the dead spider on top of it and swung her ax into its armor, easily putting an end to its existence.

Ami wiped sweat off her forehead in relief, relaxing her muscles. She brought her ax back to its holster and smiled victoriously. She returned to walking down the halls and came to a stop, staring out at the exit. She raised her head up and smiled, breaking out into a sprint.

"I did it. Backdraft, did you see? I took out all the enemies and I didn't damage the concrete." Ami said in exhaustion. The coffee from hours ago had ran its course. She stared at Backdraft with tired, but proud, eyes. Backdraft returned her smile with a nod and thumbs up.

"Well done, Midoriya!" Backdraft congratulated, "You've officially beaten my tests. You're ready now." Backdraft said.

"Awesome." Ami exclaimed, composing herself. Wyvern approached Ami from the side with a stoic face. Ami saw him coming and looked at him in silence.

"Nice trick with the shield. Though, I wouldn't advise sneaking up on people and axing them in the neck." Wyvern stated, causing Ami to laugh a little. He let a grin form on his lips and chuckled as well.

"Sorry." Ami apologized, laughing exhaustively.

"After the tests were finished, Backdraft let me take a break and freshen up. Now that I was ready to go outside, we would be patrolling soon after." Ami narrated.

"However…"

Ami exited the locker room in a flash. Feeling ready to go. All she had to do was eat some lunch before they left in the afternoon. Ami quickly grabbed lunch and sat on a wooden table in the Training Area, happily eating away in excitement. She was now more awake than before and felt re-energized. Not wanting Wyvern to mess with her food, she made the sandwich herself and ate in silence. Wyvern sat across from her and ate more pretzels.

"How are you doing?" Wyvern asked, making Ami pause for a second.

"Good." She replied, receiving a nod.

"So, what'd you think about the robot's?" He asked, making conversation. Ami finished chewing her food and swallowed, speaking up.

"They were cool. What were the spiders for?" She asked.

"To capture or restrict a villain's movement. Once the wires stick on you they take a lot of effort to pull off. We had it set to the lowest level so you could have a chance of pulling the adhesive off." Wyvern answered, surprising Ami. That was the lowest level?

"Thanks." She replied, receiving a nod from Wyvern.

"Ya know, Ames. You keep getting more interesting as time goes on. I thought you'd at least break a wall, or something, but you managed to hold back." Wyvern admitted, confusing Ami with his compliment. She shrugged and smiled, knowing how hard she worked was worth it.

"Well, I was only following directions. I wanted Backdraft to know how serious I was with my quirk. And without it." Ami said, staring solemnly at the stoic hero. He stared at her face and grinned, nodding lightly. He thought about the past in his head, remembering his own training from long ago.

"I was trained like that, too, when I was your age." Wyvern said, causing Ami to raise her eye.

"Really?" She asked, getting interested. She looked at Wyvern with curiosity, noticing the slight grin on his face.

"Uh huh. I had a lot of teachers. Learned a lot from each one. But none of them came close to what my master taught me." Wyvern said, reminiscing.

"He was a lot tougher on me than how Backdraft is with you. Tch. He would've armed the spiders with shock pellets." Wyvern grinned slightly, making Ami wince at the thought of electrocution.

"That sounds harsh." She said, plainly. Wyvern shrugged at the comment and nodded slowly in agreement.

"It's what I needed. Fuego, too. He taught me everything I needed to handle myself in situations that Fuego couldn't be in." He said, reminiscing. Ami stared at him with deeper interest, wanting to know more about Fuego.

"How does Fuego work?" She asked, tilting her head slightly in curiosity. She remembered how Wyvern threw her ax at the drone and pondered an explanation.

"I mean, earlier, he crushed that drone while you were still pulling my ax out of the armor, then he came back to you as soon as the ax was removed." She said, refreshing Wyvern's memory. Wyvern nodded and leaned forward, clasping his hands together.

"Yeah, Fuego isn't like that other sentient quirk friend of yours. He can't stay out of me for very long." He answered, confusing Ami.

"Why's that?" She asked.

"He needs a surface to cling to. Constantly. He can't freely move around unless he's attached to my body. It annoys the Hell out of him, but that's life." Wyvern admitted, hearing a growl in the back of his head.

"So, how do you work together?" Ami asked, looking more seriously at him. Wyvern stared up at the roof in contemplation, thinking of a easy way to explain how Fuego works.

"Offensively, he wraps himself around my hands and engulfs whatever weapon I use in flames. We call it going Full Arm. Using him like this increases my strength and keeps my hand protected. I used that increased strength to throw that ax of yours." Wyvern explained, receiving a nod from Ami.

"Wow." She said.

"As for defense, he's a perfect shield. If something were to shoot me in the back while I wasn't looking, Fuego would activate and stop the bullet. He basically acts like a flaming suit of armor." He explained, shocking Ami with Fuego's ability.

"That sounds amazing!" Ami exclaimed, getting blown away by his sentient quirk. Wyvern scoffed at her amusement, shaking his head and continuing.

"Yeah, you'd think that. But there are drawbacks. If I don't eat enough, then he can't perform. I'll be stuck dealing with enemies by myself. Then, of course, there's the fact he's made of fire. He's easily capable of starting a fire if we're not careful." Wyvern added, making Ami realize his weakness.

"Oh." She muttered.

"Fortunately, there's a weirder side to his flames." He added, picking up Ami's interest.

"A weird side?" She questioned, confused by his choice of words.

"Fuego can choose not to hurt someone if he trusts them." Wyvern explained, causing Ami to lower her eyes in confusion.

"What does that mean? So, he can choose not to burn someone?" She asked, receiving a nod in confirmation.

"Exactly. If he doesn't trust you, then touching him will burn you. If he trusts you, then he won't burn you." Wyvern answered, surprising Ami for a third time. She remembered how Fuego messed with Wyvern's neck yesterday and connected the dots.

"So, is that how he burned your neck yesterday?" She asked.

"Mhm." Wyvern nodded. Ami stayed quiet for a few seconds and gathered her thoughts, thinking about how different his quirk was from Dark Shadow.

"That's still awesome. Can you imagine touching a flame and not getting burned? I wish I could do that with my flames." Ami admitted, focusing on the positive side of things.

"Yeah. I guess that's a plus. When I was a kid, Fuego and I weren't exactly on good terms. We'd argue with each other a lot and would always mess around. Then one day, we realized we could work together to save people. And that decision allowed us to get our act together. We may look dysfunctional, but we're brothers. And we'll always have each other's back." Wyvern admitted, receiving a nod from Ami. Wyvern stayed quiet for a few minutes after that, letting Ami finish up her lunch. He reached into his pockets and grabbed onto a metal object inside. He felt the object and sighed, knowing what he had to do.

"There's something you're missing, right, Kid?" Wyvern asked, getting Ami's attention. She stayed in her seat and paused for a second, confused slightly by the question. She didn't think anything of it and answered truthfully.

"Yeah…I lost my lighter. I don't know where I left it, either." Ami admitted, making Wyvern frown.

"A lighter, huh?…That explains what I picked up after the meeting last night." Wyvern said, causing Ami to go silent. Ami felt everything around her come to a stop. Even her heart stopped beating. All she could hear was the sound of a lighter flicking on and off. Ami stared at the table and gulped in realization. She finally knew where she had dropped her lighter. Slowly, she looked up at Wyvern and came face-to-face with her lighter.

"You know what they teach you about Stealth Missions?" Wyvern asked, throwing Ami off guard. He threw the lighter onto the table, sliding it onto Ami's side. She looked at the lighter on the table and felt her pupils shrink in fear. She felt a chill go down her spine as she held the lighter in her hand. She looked back up at Wyvern and saw a disappointed frown on his lips.

"Never leave anything behind." He stated, finishing his sentence as Ami looked upon him with fear.

"I-I-I can ex-" Ami said, quickly devolving to a stuttering mess. She tried to speak clearly before getting interrupted by Wyvern.

"Tsk. Tsk. What were you thinking?" Wyvern questioned, shaking his head slowly in an intimidating fashion. Ami gulped in fear, feeling her legs shaking intensely.

"I didn't mean to, I was just-" Ami stuttered, tightly holding onto the lighter in her hands.

"Just what? Sneaking around late at night, listening to a confidential meeting?" Wyvern interrogated, making Ami feel worse.

"I'm sorry." Ami apologized, bowing her head in shame. Her tears were starting to fall out of her eyes. She was caught red handed and knew she was in trouble, causing her to break down. Wyvern stared at her with a stoic face and winced, feeling sad for her. He rubbed his head and sighed.

"How much did you hear?" He asked in a quiet voice, forcing Ami to respond.

"...All of it." She admitted, causing Wyvern to close his eyes and grovel.

"Ugh. That much, huh?" He asked, receiving a nod.

"Are you going to tell, Backdraft?" Ami asked, looking at the stoic hero with fear. Wyvern looked at her eyes and shook his head.

"Don't worry, kid. I'm not." Wyvern said, shocking Ami.

"You are." He said, making her stomach churn. Backdraft returned with an ignorant smile on his face, staring at Wyvern's stoic face obliviously.

"How's everything going?" Backdraft asked, oblivious to everything. Ami turned around with red in her eyes, immediately bringing concern to Backdraft's face.

"What happened?" Backdraft asked in exhaustion, wondering what Wyvern had done to her this time.

"Backdraft…I'm so sorry! P-please forgive me!" Ami apologized, leaping onto the water hero and squeezing him tightly.

"Whoa! Huh? What's wrong?" Backdraft questioned, watching Ami sob into his costume.

"She heard it all. Last night's meeting." Wyvern said, causing Backdraft to freeze. He looked down at Ami and put a hand on her shoulder in comfort, making her look up at him with tears falling down.

"So, that's what made you so tired today?" Backdraft asked, softly. He took a deep breath and sighed in defeat, silently wishing this happened at a better time.

"Relax, Midoriya. You're not in trouble." Backdraft said, confusing Ami. She sniffled a bit and tilted her head in confusion, slowly processing his words.

"What?" She questioned.

"C'mon, let's talk." Backdraft said, leading her out of the Training Area. The three of them moved into the elevator in the main lobby, reaching a private room in the observatory. Ami wiped the tears away from her eyes and held her breath, wondering what was going to happen next.

UA High - Afternoon

"I'm sorry to show up unexpectedly. Hope you don't mind." Tsukauchi said. All Might smiled and brushed the question off without issue.

"Please, it's always a pleasure to see you, Tsukauchi. So, how's the investigation?" He asked, taking a seat in front of the detective.

"Well, there's been very little progress so far." Tsukauchi admitted, sighing in disappointment. All Might winced at the detective's facial features and frowned.

"That bad, huh?" He asked, receiving a nod.

"We finished running tests on the Nomu you encountered." Tsukauchi brought up, causing All Might to remember the villain.

"Ah, that strong bird guy. What about the second one?" All Might asked.

"We only got those test results last night." Tsukauchi said, not saying any more. All Might looked at the detective and noticed his hollow stare. He hadn't seen that face on him in a long time.

"What exactly did you find? He asked. Tsukauchi took a deep breath and answered the question.

"First: we're not asking you to help us with the case. Technically, this is a leak. I just felt I owed it to you to let you know. It could lead us to the one in charge." Tsukauchi admitted, receiving a nod from All Might in understanding.

"After several attempts at interrogation, we realized that the first Nomu can't speak. He shows no reaction to anything. It's as though he literally can't think for himself. No matter what's going on around him." The detective explained, causing All Might to raise his eyes slightly.

"As for his identity: we discovered that he used to be a low-level thug with a record of assault and extortion." He added. All Might nodded at the evidence and looked at the detective questionably.

"Why do you think this'll lead us to the mastermind behind the League?" All Might asked.

"Here's where it gets interesting. Our reports show that the Nomu have been altered drastically. When we analyzed the first Nomu, we discovered four different people's DNA." Tsukauchi revealed, surprising All Might greatly.

"Someone combined people's DNA to make this guy. So is he even human anymore? What about the second one?" All Might asked.

"The second Nomu's DNA is even stranger, but we've still managed to identify him as well."

"Their transformation into these things were a result of drugs and other unknown methods. To oversimplify a bit, these Nomu's have been modified so that their bodies can hold multiple quirks at once. The first Nomu has an apparent lack of processing power. We assumed it was caused by the burden of carrying multiple quirks, but with the second one running around, we aren't too sure." Tsukauchi said, concerning All Might. The second Nomu has already displayed a far superior level of intelligence just by single handedly attacking a prison bus.

"Their DNA is what concerns us the most. These Nomu shouldn't have more than one power. Even if new DNAs introduced, that shouldn't give a person multiple powers. Not unless it's completely integrated into someone's body." Tsukauchi stated, pausing for just a moment. All Might listened to him with suspense.

"Not all quirks work like One For All. But, maybe…There's someone out there with the power to pass different quirks on to other people." He said, causing All Might's eyes to widen in shock. His mouth slightly dropped, feeling the air escape his lungs.

"It can't be!" All Might exclaimed, standing up out of the couch in denial. Tsukauchi shared his shock but stayed stoic, continuing with his speech.

"Given the evidence, I think it's a reasonable conclusion. It's why I came. I had to let you know immediately." He said, causing All Might to turn towards the window. He stared at the sun and gritted his teeth with anger, squeezing his fist tightly.

"No. It's not possible. Don't tell me he's back again." All Might said, turning into his muscle form.

Observation Tower - Private Hero Room

Wyvern placed a bottle of water on the table in front of him. He and Backdraft took their seats and stared at Ami across the table.

"Take a seat, kid. You'll need it." Wyvern suggested. Ami stared at him and nodded slowly, taking a seat and putting her hands on her lap. The silence permeated the room. None of them wanted to be the first to talk. Wyvern kept to himself and stared at the floor, appearing stoic. He kept his eyes on the floor until, eventually, Fuego began to growl in his head.

"Talk before I do." The fire quirk demanded, forcing Wyvern to flare his nostrils in reluctance.

"Suppose I should start, right?" Wyvern said, crossing his arms together. He leaned back and made eye contact with Ami, getting her full attention.

"Ami, before you arrived, what did you think was the reason Backdraft was having your internship here in Hosu?" Wyvern asked, causing Ami to think.

"I guess, I assumed it was because of the Hero Killer." She answered, truthfully.

"Hmm." Backdraft hummed, nodding at her answer.

"It was a good guess." Backdraft said, continuing, "Although the Hero Killer is a serious problem, he isn't the reason we're here." He answered, receiving a slow guilty nod from Ami.

"I know…" Ami said, frowning as the memory of what she heard repeated in her mind.

"On that note, the reason for this meeting is about the second Nomu. As you know, we've had the Nomu that attacked the USJ in custody for quite some time. But, until now, we haven't been able to confirm the identity behind the second Nomu that helped break out Kurogiri." Tsukauchi's voice echoed through her head, making Ami tense up. She squeezed her skirt with a tight grip out of anxiety, feeling uncomfortable.

"It's because of the second Nomu… The one that attacked the bus, right?" Ami said, hesitantly raising her head up and staring at Backdraft and Wyvern. The two heroes glanced at each other and nodded slowly in acknowledgement. Wyvern nodded and crossed his arms, sighing quietly.

"Since you heard that part already, I guess I'll keep it quick. A few weeks ago, Prison Bus #4 was attacked by an unknown creature that was later identified to be of similar appearance to the Nomu that you encountered at the USJ. Its cargo were two villains arrested at the USJ. One of them was a man known only as Kurogiri. He was the one that brought those villains to UA." Wyvern recapped, receiving a nod from Ami. She remembered the name of the misty villain responsible for separating her classmates.

"I remember." She said, remembering his intimidating yellow eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He escaped because of a second Nomu? She was shocked to learn there was even two in the first place. Wyvern and Backdraft noticed her shock and frowned, moving on.

"The other was less important, but still a dangerous criminal by his own right. They said his whole body was made of obsidian." Wyvern explained, hearing a quiet gasp from Ami. Ami's eyes went wide at the statement. She visibly recoiled at the mention of obsidian, thinking only of the villain she encountered at the Fire Zone. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed by the two heroes, causing them to look at her with worry.

"That's the villain my classmate and I met at the Fire Zone. He was leading the others in trying to get us. He escaped, too?" Ami questioned, feeling heart rate accelerate.

"We're sorry, we had no idea." Backdraft apologized, feeling sympathy for her. She was already uncomfortable as is, now that she learned about his escape, he could tell she was feeling more stressed than before.

"It's alright. I never talked much about the villains I encountered. Who was he?"

"His name is Kazan Takayama. He's wanted for murder and multiple counts of assault and robbery. He used to be involved with another group of villains before they were taken down by All Might. After that, he escaped prison and somehow ended up in contact with the League of Villains. That's all we have on him so far." Backdraft answered, receiving a nod from Ami in understanding. Wyvern looked at Ami and Backdraft with a stoic face. He flared his nostrils and continued talking.

"Anyways, the second Nomu managed to sneak onto the roof of the bus using an invisibility quirk to hide its appearance. Once it was discovered, it decloaked and grew to an even larger size. Then, it attacked the bus and murdered the driver, sending it careening off the edge of a cliff in a violent explosion." Wyvern explained, shocking Ami to her core. She felt her jaw drop and covered it with her hand. She was horrified to hear what had happened. She looked at Backdraft and Wyvern with a fearful expression, wondering why she was only hearing about this now?

"How come I didn't hear about this over the news?" Ami asked, getting an immediate response from Wyvern.

"It was immediately kept hidden by the public for the purpose of the investigation as well as perpetuating the idea that Tartarus was inescapable." Wyvern explained, knowing that letting this info out would only lead to more controversy and panic. Ami nodded in understanding, realizing the importance of remaining secret.

"After the incident occurred, I was the first hero to arrive on scene. It was there that I met up with Detective Tsukauchi. That's how I first got caught up in all this." Backdraft explained.

"Fortunately, before the crash, one of the passengers managed to shoot off a piece of the second Nomu's tail. That tailpiece led us to uncovering the identity of the second Nomu. That was the purpose of last night's meeting." Wyvern said, making Ami feel slightly better. She stared at the floor in deep thought, remembering the USJ Nomu. It's grotesque body, creepy smile, and exposed brain. It was a thing of nightmares. The idea that there was another one just like it disturbed her to no end. Nonetheless, she needed to know more.

"So, there's really more than one Nomu?" Ami asked, looking up at Backdraft for confirmation.

"Yes." Backdraft nodded.

"And the League of Villains…They're behind this?" Ami asked, receiving a solemn nod in confirmation.

"We believe so." Backdraft said.

"After the breakout occurred, Tsukauchi searched the criminal database for anything he could find on a shock absorption quirk that the first Nomu possessed. That was when he found a link between the Nomu and a person in my organization's missing person's case." Wyvern explained, getting Ami's attention. She looked at him with a puzzled expression, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"Missing person's case? I remember hearing about that, but…you work for a hero organization?" Ami asked, receiving a nod from the stoic hero.

"Mhm. You were probably wondering what the insignia on my shoulder was, right? Wyvern asked, glancing at the insignia on his shoulder. He leaned forward a bit to give Ami a clearer view of the logo. Ami saw the logo and remembered wanting to know what it was when she first him in the Hero Area.

"Yeah." She said, nodding her head.

"That's our logo. It's different for every member." He explained, confusing her even more.

"Why?" She asked. Wyvern was quick to answer the question.

"Each member represents a different part of one person. Usually it's in reference to a body part, but, for my case, it's two swords clashing together. I represent the fighting spirit." Wyvern explained.

"Oh." Ami said, still a bit confused by what it all meant. The biggest question on her mind was what was the organization Wyvern worked for?

"What hero organization do you work for?" She inquired, causing Wyvern to lean back into his seat.

"My hero organization is pretty old school at this point. It's been around since I was a baby. It won't surprise me if you've never heard it before. It's called the Health Syndicate." Wyvern answered.

"The…Health Syndicate?" Ami repeated, trying to think of if she ever heard of that name before. She didn't.

"Mhm. We're a group of heroes with quirks that some consider to be villainous. For example, Imiter. He was a member of the Health Syndicate before he retired. I'm sure you understand why a quirk like his would belong in a group like ours?" Wyvern said, making Ami nod in understanding.

"Yeah..." She agreed.

"Take Fuego for example. Fire quirks are dangerous enough. Give it a mind of its own, however, and you have a walking disaster written all over you." Wyvern explained. Ami nodded slowly in understanding and focused back on the organization in her mind.

"I've heard of Heroes that look like villains, but I've never heard of the Health Syndicate before." Ami admitted, getting a nod from the stoic hero.

"It's like I said yesterday. We're not high profile. Although some of us are more famous than others. A few of our members even appear in that, "Heroes That Look Like Villains" magazine. Either way, we keep ourselves purposely low to avoid any scrutiny." Wyvern elaborated. Ami continued to nod at his explanations, letting her mind return to the Nomu.

"So, the USJ Nomu was on your missing persons list?" Ami asked, receiving a nod.

"Yes. He was. For years, actually." Wyvern said, surprising Ami.

"Wait. He was missing for years?" She questioned, raising her eyes up higher.

"Yes. That's what got the Health Syndicate involved in this investigation. Truth is, this missing person's case has been in our possession for a long time. Even before I ever joined." Wyvern revealed, shocking Ami even more. She started to wonder how old the case was and how many people were on that list? Wyvern stayed stoic and flared his nostrils, thinking of the past.

"...My father spent years searching for leads, anything to find at least one person on that list. But, he never found one. Eventually, he retired and I made a promise to him that I would keep looking. I would find out what happened to them." Wyvern explained, taking a deep breath.

"That's why when the Detective sent us a call about a potential lead, we had to take it." Wyvern explained, "But…I never thought it would lead to this." He said, clenching his fists in a repressed rage. Ami could sense the anger coming off of him and frowned, feeling sympathy for him.

"This must be horrible for him. He finally found a person on the list, but it was at the cost of a terrifying discovery." Ami thought, tightening her grip even harder. She thought about the Nomu and winced, remembering its capabilities. The sight of it withstanding the heat from her flames and healing in seconds shook her to the core. She slowly processed the information being told to her and started to think of more questions, prompting her to ask.

"So, what Tsukauchi said was true. About the quirks the Nomu possessed? Did they really come from…children?" She questioned, causing the two heroes to wince.

"Yeah. It's true." Wyvern said, nodding in confirmation of the facts. He visibly frowned, making Ami feel worse for asking the question.

"I'm so sorry." Ami said, feeling her stomach churn.

"It's okay. I've already come to terms with it. It's just…I don't know what I'm going to say to the others. If I should even tell the families about what happened to their children. There's not even a damn thing to bury." Wyvern gritted, keeping his rage in control. Ami looked at Wyvern's face and regretted asking the question, deciding that she would ask a different question.

"So, why have the meeting here? In Hosu?" Ami asked, changing the topic. Wyvern heard the question and nodded, calming himself down.

"Being a former member of the Health Syndicate, and its close proximity to the location of the breakout, Imiter's Museum seemed like the best place to have our headquarters at the time. We didn't expect it to end up working in our favor." Wyvern mentioned, piquing Ami's interest.

"How so?" She asked.

"In the past weeks we had nothing to go off of other than our tail sample. We had no idea what the League was doing or where they were. But that all changed after Ingenium happened." Wyvern answered, causing Ami to quickly realize what he meant.

"Ingenium saw the second Nomu." She remembered last night, getting a quick nod from Wyvern and Backdraft.

"That's right. Because of the incident, we now know that the Hero Killer has a connection to the League. That's why recently, our investigation has included finding the Hero Killer in its mission. We find the Hero Killer, we find the League and the second Nomu." Wyvern explained.

"Any other questions?" He asked. Ami took a deep breath and thought about another question that was in her mind. One that seemed small but needed an answer.

"The investigation started after the breakout, right?" She asked, receiving nods from both heroes. She gulped and confirmed her thinking of the timeline, prompting her to continue with her real question.

"So, then…why were you at the Sports Festival during it all? You didn't even know me and my brother were going to be there? So, why go in the middle of the investigation? I mean, you had to have known about Ingenium during it, right?" Ami asked, causing the heroes to go silent.

"..." Backdraft and Wyvern looked at Ami in surprise, not knowing how to proceed. Wyvern grunted and crossed his arms, glancing at Backdraft to answer.

"Backdraft?" Wyvern called out, staring at the water hero with narrowed eyes.

"Uhm…yes, well. I was invited to go to represent the Musutafu Fire Department and I was originally going to decline. However, after learning more about the first Nomu and its multiple quirks. I had a theory." Backdraft awkwardly replied, shifting around a bit in discomfort.

"What theory?" Ami asked, noticing his uneasy behavior.

"Before the DNA tests confirmed the source of the multiple quirks. I believed that if they did come from others on the missing list, then what was to stop them from getting more?" Backdraft said, causing Ami to think of his words. The implication of his sentence caused the color on her face to disappear with fright.

"Once I learned the teleporter had separated your classmates across different zones, I considered the possibility that it was to have an easier time abducting you, taking your quirk, and…possibly…turning you into one of the Nomu." He admitted, causing Ami to think about the possibility. The thought of getting abducted and forced to become the monster that attacked UA caused her face to turn green.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Ami grumbled, holding her mouth closed. She tried to think of happy thoughts in an attempt to ease her uncomfortable feelings.

"I just want to make it clear, Ami, that I truly had no idea you were in class 1-A to begin with. I was horrified to realize you and your brother were involved in that traumatic event. And it filled me with great relief to see you on the field that day." Backdraft said, referring to the Sports Festival. Ami looked at him with a shocked and confused expression, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You knew I was involved with the USJ incident and you still scouted me? Knowing you were part of the investigation team? Why?" She asked, causing Backdraft to frown with sympathy.

"Hmph. I take full responsibility for that one." Backdraft sighed, shaking his head in shame, "When I saw you for the first time at the Sports Festival, I was blown away. Seeing you again almost made me forget why I was there to begin with." He admitted, making Ami feel slightly better.

"That's how I knew when the time came to send out offers, I would send one to you. Which was why I informed the team beforehand." He revealed, causing Ami to look at him with eyes wide open.

"Wait. So, the whole investigation team knew I would intern with you before I even accepted?" Ami asked, receiving a hesitant nod.

"Mhm. There were some protests at first, but once they knew my mind was made up, they backed down. As long as I took complete accountability for anything that happens." Backdraft said.

"Protests?" Ami inquired.

"Yeah. The other heroes thought it was a bad idea, but strangely enough, Tsukauchi was less against the idea than I thought he would be." Backdraft stated, throwing Ami by surprise.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"At first he was apprehensive, but when I told him it was you, that seemed to have changed his mind, surprisingly." Backdraft admitted, equally surprising Ami.

"He was less against it when he found out it was me? Was it because of our relation with All Might? We're the only ones who know his secret. Maybe since he knows I can be trusted to keep a secret, he was less worried about potential leaks?" She thought, coming to a conclusion that made sense to her. She looked at Backdraft and formed another question in her head.

"So, does that mean you planned to tell me all of this?" Ami asked, receiving awkward silence.

"No…Eventually…maybe. I was only going to tell you that we were searching for the Hero Killer. But, since you heard everything, I figure there's no point hiding it all now." Backdraft explained, rubbing the back of his head with his wrist. Ami nodded in understanding, starting to improve upon composing herself.

"We really are going after the Hero Killer, then?" She assumed, receiving shaken heads of denial.

"Not exactly." Wyvern stated, interjecting himself in their discussion.

"What? But if we find him, we find the League, right?" Ami protested, quoting Wyvern.

"The team is, but we're not. In order for me to stay on the team and keep you with me, I agreed to some terms." Backdraft mentioned, causing Ami to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What were they?" Ami asked.

"For your safety, we will only patrol in areas that we know the Hero Killer wouldn't strike at." Backdraft clarified, making Ami think.

"Where's that?" She asked.

Hosu City Shopping Mall

"Heavily populated areas." Backdraft answered, entering the mall with Ami by his side. The two entered the mall through the doors of a clothing store, getting some looks of surprise by citizens. Backdraft saw the random shoppers and tipped his hat at them in respect. Ami stayed close to Backdraft and copied him, tipping her hat at others in respect. The random shoppers whispered among themselves, wondering what the water hero was doing here.

"Is that Backdraft?" A citizen whispered to another.

"Yeah, but who's she?" The other citizen asked.

"She looks familiar." The citizen replied. Ami could hear their whispers and stayed silent, smiling widely at the attention. They were looking at her with a sense of familiarity. She reckoned they'd recognize her from the Sports Festival.

"She looks young. Is she new?" Another citizen whispered.

"Mommy, look at her costume." A girl said, pointing at Ami. Ami turned her head and made eye contact with the girl as she walked by, waving at her with a happy smile. The girl was surprised to have been noticed and waved back at her in excitement. Ami felt a rush of excitement flow through her. This was what she'd been waiting for. The public was seeing her in costume for the first time.

"So many people are looking at my costume." Ami thought, keeping her cool. She followed Backdraft as they exited the clothing store and entered the mall. She gasped at the amount of people inside. The people closest to them gave them glances and were surprised to see the water hero.

"Whoa. It's Backdraft!" A man exclaimed, rushing towards Backdraft. He was soon followed by a woman, presumably his wife.

"Afternoon, Citizen." Backdraft greeted, staring at the happy citizens.

"This is so cool. I can't believe you're in Hosu!" He exclaimed, receiving a chuckle from Backdraft.

"Only for this week." Backdraft explained. They circled around Backdraft and quickly came into contact with Ami, coming to a stop and staring at her. Ami looked at the couple and waved politely at them.

"Hi." She greeted, receiving nods from the couple. They looked at her and noticed what she was wearing, making their excitement rise up.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We didn't see you there. Are you a hero, too?" The couple apologized, looking at Ami with curious interest.

"Hero-in-training, actually. It's nice to meet you! My name is Flame Guard." Ami said, receiving smiles from the couple. Backdraft watched the couple talk with Ami and smiled, looking back at the mall. More shoppers were starting to take notice of them. Soon enough, the two were caught up in a crowd of support. Backdraft greeted them all and kept a close eye on Ami, taking notice of her body language. She was smiling, laughing. and talking with the people. She was also happily showing off her costume, making Backdraft smile through his mask. It was hard to believe she was bawling her eyes out earlier. He sighed in relief at her feelings. In truth, this area had a low crime rate. He just wanted to cheer Ami up after learning why they were here. He brushed his thoughts aside and continued greeting citizens with Ami.

The two stayed at the Mall for hours, wandering around and keeping watch for any signs of crime. There wasn't much activity in the area, but Ami didn't mind. She was happy just being seen by her target audience. Several families had given her compliments on her costume, improving her mood. When it was time to return to the Museum, she reunited with Hayato. The two returned to the guest room and talked to each other about their day.

"Once we were finished, we came back here. Backdraft told me we'd be going out to a different area tomorrow. For now, I need to get some rest." Ami said, lying on the bottom bunk bed.

"I wish I could've seen you in your Hero Costume." Hayato pouted, lying on the top bunk. Ami giggled a bit and turned to the side, clinging to her pillow.

"Sorry about that. There's always tomorrow." Ami said, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, but I have school tomorrow, too." Hayato said, begrudgingly.

"Well, in that case, maybe I'll wear it in the morning." Ami said, making Hayato happy.

"Really? Sweet." Hayato exclaimed.

"Anyways, let's get some sleep." Ami said, hearing a loud sigh.

"Okay…" Hayato said, crawling into his blanket.

"Goodnight, Ami." Hayato said.

"Goodnight, Hayato." Ami replied, closing her eyes. What a day it's been. She closed her eyes and relaxed, thinking about everything she learned. She didn't know how to feel about the investigation. She also wondered if Hayato knew what the Health Syndicate was. Eventually, she fell asleep with the hope that tomorrow would be more eventful.

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Author's Notes:

Hello, everyone! It's been an embarrassingly long amount of time since the last chapter. Once again, I have to apologize for the time it took me to release this chapter. If you've read my profile, then you'll know what happened to me since 12/21/22. I took a break for the month of January with the intent of releasing the chapter in February. However, after my trip to Texas, February became one problem after another. I got sick again and it ruined all of my plans. Even worse, my laptop is breaking and I lost my progress. Because of that, this chapter has now become the worst experience I have ever had with writing. Something that keeps happening a lot lately.

Thankfully, this chapter is finished and I can move on to the chapters I have eagerly been wanting to write for a very long time. So, let's get started talking about this chapter.

This chapter starts back in the past with Tsukauchi. This was to provide context to the rest of the conversation that Ami overheard. It's in this meeting with the heroes that we learn the identity of the second Nomu: Gin Nakamura. You're probably wondering why I revealed his identity now and I'd like to tell you but that would be spoilers. Let's just say that the team is still lacking information.

Next, we start Day 2 of Ami's internship with the introduction of Hayato's butler, Thane. He doesn't have much of a role in the next chapters but he will show up again. When I imagine Thane's voice in my head, I hear Mong Dal from Chowder. If you don't know who or what that is, Chowder is a show I used to watch all the time as a kid. Mong Dal is like the head chef and he's basically Chowder's dad.

Now, at this point in the chapter, I had flown to Texas for a week. I got to meet my nephew for the first time and reunite with my niece. I was happy to see them and time flew by pretty fast. Unfortunately, when it was time to go home, it became the worst experience I ever had on a plane. No one is at fault. The flight wasn't bumpy and the flight attendants were really nice. What happened was we had to bring our sister's dogs back with us home. One of them cried at the airport to the point of howling and freaked me out. Everyone was looking at me and no matter what I did I couldn't get her to quiet down. My mom eventually got her to stay quiet but by that point I had a panic attack. That was before we even boarded the plane.

When we boarded the plane and took off, she stayed quiet. However, the other dog started to bark and cry. I was sure everyone on board could hear him. I'll say it again that none of the flight attendants were mad, they were trying to help us get him to calm down. I will say though that our neighbors in the seat in front of us did not like it one bit. I think they even asked the flight attendant if WE could move. Anyways, it took 30 minutes for our dog to stop crying. I thought it was over when the other dog was crying at the terminal, but this was far worse. I was so upset and felt sick. Even thinking back to it literally makes me want to throw up. I have never had an anxiety attack (panic attack?) in public before until now. I had to go to the bathroom in flight because of how bad it got. I ended up not eating in-flight lunch because I would've thrown it all up. For the rest of the flight, I sat on my seat hoping to God they wouldn't bark or cry under the seat. They were small dogs so we had to take them onto the flight with us. I don't know how people travel with their dogs. I watched Iron Man on the plane and only drank water and some ginger ale. I never want to experience that flight again. When we landed, that was a perfect time for the first dog to cry again. In summary, one dog cried at both terminals and the other dog cried on the flight. Thankfully, they didn't cry during the drive home. When I got home, I sat on my bed and just went to sleep. I ended up eating only dinner that day.

To top off my suffering, my brother, who didn't go with us to Texas, got really sick. When we got home, he was getting out of it, but he still stayed in his room to avoid infecting us. Sadly, I still got sick anyway. I got whatever he had. It wasn't covid but it was horrible. I was so sick I couldn't do or think about anything. When I posted an update in my profile on 2/27/23, I said I lost time and progress. Well, my laptop is breaking. I use that primarily for writing and when it died I lost everything I wrote after Hayato's butler left. After that, I lost the strength to write. I just gave up. When March 1st came around, I returned to work. This time writing on my phone. So everything I wrote was on my phone.

Anyways I've lost my train of thought. Im writing this all in the first take. Returning to the chapter, Wyvern continues to mess with Ami by skipping a few lessons and making the drone shoot her. He was going to follow Backdraft's instructions but after finding the lighter, he decided to punish Ami in his own way. Coming back to this part after losing everything just crushed me. And, honestly, the most important parts were with Tsukauchi.

This wasn't how I wanted this chapter to turn out but I had to work fast. It's already been 3 months since the last chapter so I knew none of you deserved to wait any longer. I didn't feel comfortable posting a chapter below 10k words so I doubled my efforts and did some all nighters. Anyways, getting distracted again.

Just before Ami is exposed, we learn more about Wyvern and Fuego. Fuego can't go move all over the place like Dark Shadow. Obviously, he can travel longer distances if we moved using the floor but that would mean Wyvern would have to stand still. I already demonstrated the kind of strength Wyvern gets when Fuego wraps flames around his hand. If you remember during the sports festival, he punched the bathroom stall and left a dent. We also learn the more mystical side of Fuego. His flames don't hurt people he trusts.

Imagine Dark Shadow. He's made of shadow yet he's physically there and can touch things as well as be touched. Fuego is made of fire but he can still be touched physically. To help visualize what that might look like, think of the energy shields from Dune. Instead of blue, picture it red. As for what the flames look like on Wyvern, think of Ghost Rider and how his flames look on his head. Now imagine that with his whole body.

The act of enveloping his arms in flames is a hero move called Full Arm Wyvern. Wyvern also mentions his father in this chapter. He'll be mentioned eventually. But don't expect it to be a canon character. Wyvern is not related to anybody in canon. As for who his master is, that will be mentioned someday.

After Ami is found out, we cut to the discussion All Might had with Tsukauchi. This was something that I had no idea where to place. This scene was too important for canon to skip for obvious reasons so I had it take place in between Ami getting found out and her conversation with Backdraft and Wyvern. It was also changed to better reflect this arc.

Finally, the conversation with Backdraft and Wyvern. This part is extremely important to this arc. Its purpose was to give more context to the arc and to provide explanations for several things. Such as why at the Museum? Why did Backdraft go to the Sports Festival? And why did Backdraft still recruit Ami despite being part of the investigation team?

Originally, this chapter would've ended abruptly after Ami and Backdraft talk about the terms of agreement but I realized it was a bit of a downer ending. For it to end like that would mean I'd have to carry that negative emotion onto the next chapter, which wouldn't work very well. So I added the mall visit in and finished it with Ami telling Hayato about what happened. She left out the parts with the Hero Killer of course.

And now here we are at the end of the chapter. I am glad to be done with this chapter. In a way, I completed a new year's goal. I finished this chapter in a month. The next two chapters are the most important and will take longer to finish. Even more so, because I have another problem. I've said it before that I've got ADHD and that I have a prescription for it. Well, I haven't been taking it this year since I'm currently out of school. The prescription helped me focus and not taking it has evidently caused me to stop writing. I guess I didn't realize how important my prescription was on getting me focused enough to keep writing. Right now, I've just run out. Now I have to try to write without it. I'm not sure what will happen but we'll just have to see.

Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews, I will answer them in an update on my profile later today. Right now, I'm just exhausted. Sorry about the quality of this chapter or lack thereof. Frankly, I'm not too sure I removed all of the errors and weird transitions. The only solace I can give is that I've put a lot of thought into how the next two chapters play out. They're that important to me. Anyways, if you see any mistakes, spelling, or grammatical errors, please write it into your review. Be sure to tell me what you think about the chapter and if It's good. Personally, I think it needs more oomph to it, but I just can't think of anything at the moment. Anyways, thanks for reading and have a good day!

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Next chapter: Prelude to Terror!

Day 3 of Ami's internship turns out to be pretty eventful.