The bus ride to the location was bumpy. Izuku sat near the front, accompanied by Uraraka, who he still wasn't looking at, Iida, Asui, Kirishima and Ashido, who all sat around in various ways. Ashido and Kirishima were having a thumb-war, Uraraka and Asui were talking about who the mystery guest in today's lesson could be, and Iida was sternly lecturing some of their classmates on being too loud. Being near the front probably meant he felt the unevenness of the road more than someone further back would, but he was okay with that. It grounded Izuku, made him feel like he was really here. It also let him focus on something other than the way his heart felt every time he looked over at Uraraka ever since his conversation with Kaminari. He couldn't let that interfere with his performance today. Izuku had to be good at this. This was what he'd been looking forward to as a hero.

Eventually, they'd gotten close enough to see the location through the window. It was a large, dome shaped building that struck Izuku as oddly familiar in a way that he couldn't pinpoint. Like he'd been here before, but obviously that wasn't true. Maybe it was because it looked like a kind of amusement park from the outside, but Izuku didn't really know.

The bus pulled into a clearing of the forests surrounding the dome and made its way into a small parking lot, just big enough for a few cars, or a single bus. Once the bus was stopped, everyone began collecting whatever they had and getting up from their seats, shuffling down the aisle and toward the exit. Izuku was among the first to exit the bus, due to his place closer to the front, and thus was one of the first to be hit with just how clean the air out here was. That wasn't to say that the air in the city was dirty, but there was just a different quality to the oxygen out in the country, even if they weren't too remote. It felt natural, like they were out in the wilds, even though they knew that people had to come and go pretty often if this was a UA approved training facility.

As the students filed out of the bus, they all marvelled at the large building in front of them. Aizawa didn't give them time to gawk, though, as he simply exited the vehicle and immediately began walking towards the big, blue front doors, prompting his class to follow along. They grouped behind their teacher, who threw the heavy sounding double-doors open with a long, drawn out creak. The view that greeted the class, even from there, was enough to stun them silent. There was a platform that was big enough to allow them all to stand around at the entrance, but it looked like it dropped off as stairs would carry them down into a central plaza with a fountain in the middle. Around it were six areas, two concealed by smaller, domed roofs, with patterns painted on the outside of each area, likely telling of what was inside. One had fire painted on the dome, and the other had a dark blue colour, likely to do with water. The others were out in the open, and they told Izuku that each zone likely simulated a different disaster. An earthquake in a city, a landslide, a damaged boat, a mountainous region; all kinds of disaster scenes were represented throughout the facility. What drew Izuku's attention away from that was even more exciting.

Thirteen, the space hero, was standing off to the side, looking surprisingly small and polite, with their hands wringing together. Izuku would've thought it was impossible to look meek in a massive space suit like the one Thirteen wore, but they pulled it off. Izuku held back a tiny gasp, as he'd never expected to come across Thirteen so soon. They were a major inspiration to him, to his costume and to his fighting style. Thirteen's Quirk was similar to Izuku's, as Black Hole sucked in and ripped up matter. It was dangerous to use on people, and so Thirteen specialised in rescue, just like how Izuku wanted to specialise. Black Hole could be used to do what Izuku could, but from a distance, and Izuku thought that was so cool. Thirteen was like a better version of him, and he looked up to them because of it. He'd even designed his costume after theirs, as Black Hole was one of those Quirks that was always on, and so Thirteen had to seal up their suit to prevent it from going wild. They uncapped the fingertips of the suit whenever they wanted to use their Quirk, and Izuku took inspiration from that in the concept of his gloves, and how they popped up from his fingers to allow his Quirk to work. They were just all around an amazing hero that Izuku strived to be like, and from the quiet noise from beside him, someone else felt the same. He looked over and saw Ochako shaking her fists back and forth in excitement, and Izuku felt a smile crawl onto his face at the sight of her own.

"Greetings, everyone! If you don't know me, I'm Thirteen, and I specialise in rescue work. I've built this place to help you all train your hardest to deal with disaster situations when you go pro. This is the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, otherwise known as the USJ! In this facility there are six different zones that are designed to, with us teachers' help, teach you how to navigate stressful situations, modelled after different natural and man-made disasters. To your left, you'll see the Ruins Zone, which simulates the aftermath of a volcano or particularly nasty villain attack, and then continuing around the central plaza, you can spot the Landslide Zone, the Mountain Zone, the Conflagration Zone, the Flood Zone and the Downpour Zone," Thirteen said.

"Take your time getting a good look," Aizawa said, noting how some students, Izuku and Ochako among them, were quietly trying to strain their necks to get a better, more detailed impression of each zone. "You'll be here once a week every week for three years, and you'll go through training in each zone countless times before you're finished."

"Yes, but before we begin with said training, I have something to say. It's my understanding that you've all been through battle training this week, and Aizawa pulled his little 'Quirk apprehension test' trick this year as well. Well, now you know some things about your Quirks. During those two classes, you learned the limits of your Quirks and how to use them in order to fight. As some of you may know, my Quirk is called Black Hole—" Thirteen said.

"Yeah, you've been able to use it to save countless lives!" Izuku suddenly said, and immediately shrank down in embarrassment at the unintended outburst. Some of his classmates, mostly Kirishima, Ashido and Uraraka, were looking at him with small, amused smiles.

"Yes, exactly. But, my Quirk could just as easily, if not more easily , kill. I could turn each of you to dust in seconds. Not a threat, but an example," Thirteen said, adding on the last part as some students leaned away from them. "My Quirk draws in and disintegrates matter, and that's very dangerous. That's why I stay away from combat if I can. My Quirk is one that you could see being devastating in the hands of a killer, but I've chosen to use it exclusively to help people. I've chosen to do what I can to make the world a better place, and use my Quirk to save as many lives as I can. My point is, Quirks are tools to save, not harm. You're learning to fight in All Might's class, but I'm going to instil in you the very essence of what a hero should be, someone who uses their Quirk to save, not harm. That's what you'll learn from me, so go beyond, Plus Ultra style!" Thirteen said, giving the class a thumb's up.

Izuku was frozen in place, not sure if he was even breathing. That was a lot to take in from one of his favourite heroes seconds after meeting them. They were like him. Thirteen's Quirk had the potential to be massively destructive and perfect in the hands of a villain, and they knew that , but they were being a hero anyway. That was … wow. That was exactly how Izuku felt. That was what he'd promised, all the way back then. He'd known that his and Thirteen's Quirks had similarities, but to hear it so directly from them felt so surreal. He could tell that Uraraka had sent a glance his way, but Izuku didn't care. He needed to hear that, that someone he looked up to so much had gone through something similar to him. That was nice to hear.

After a few silent moments, Thirteen seemed to notice how dark they'd made their little introduction. They chuckled, beginning to wring their hands together once again and looked to Aizawa, who sighed heavily. It seemed like they had a silent conversation, though Izuku couldn't figure out what it was about. He figured it wasn't his business and tuned out, unconsciously turning to Uraraka as if he was going to say something, but he didn't actually have anything to say. Well, crap, now he had to say something because she was looking at him now. Damn autopilot.

"Thirteen's so cool, aren't they?" he fumbled. Izuku would've facepalmed, but it wasn't the time.

"I know, right? And they're so right about Quirks being tools to save! They're the kind of hero I want to be when I graduate!" Uraraka cheered.

"Yeah, same," Izuku said, though he couldn't share Uraraka's enthusiasm. She looked over at him and seemed to realise what he was thinking.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes. Totally fine. I just—I didn't expect to hear all that from someone who I thought was so much better than me. But Thirteen just voiced my whole motivation for being a hero like it was something that they've experienced firsthand. I think being around so many heroes lately is helping me realise that they're just people . They're not better than us, just older. Maybe that's why All—" Izuku tried thinking out his feelings in real-time, but he was cut off from a sudden shout.

"Everyone, get back to the bus!" Aizawa yelled, grabbing at his scarf.

At that moment, it was as if the class were twenty deer in the world's biggest set of headlights. They froze, looking at their teacher quizzically, as if he hadn't just given them an order. Izuku snapped his attention back to the two of them, and saw Aizawa and Thirteen standing at the edge of the main entrance and looking down at something that he couldn't see. Izuku tried to set forward, but Aizawa turned back and held a hand out that was completely still, so movement at all after it was thrust out in front of him. In any other situation, Izuku wouldn't have noticed that detail, but right now, when Aizawa and Thirteen seemed so intently focused on whatever was down there, and with Aizawa tell them to leave, Izuku thought that the odd stillness of his hand told of great danger. Izuku had watched interviews of pros who talked about a 'battle mode', where their regular little habits fell away and they entered into a state of pure instinct and control over themselves, like an adrenaline rush but with a clearer mind. This must have been that, as Aizawa was completely still, yet seemingly surprised by the scowl and wide eyes that Izuku could just see from his angle.

"What's going on?" Izuku asked.

"Thirteen, stay with the kids and make sure they get out," Aizawa said, and Izuku was suddenly unsure that he'd been heard, since neither teacher reacted to his question at all.

"Yes. Stay safe," Thirteen replied to Aizawa's instruction.

Not one to wait around for an answer when he could see for himself, Izuku ran up to the teachers and took a place next to them. He gasped at what he saw, as a black and purple swirling fog was spitting out dozens of villains in the central plaza. There had to be at least fifty, and there were more coming through as Izuku processed this. Most looked like the normal villains Izuku would see on television, but there were three there that were different. One was the fog itself, as it seemed to have a face as it took an identifiable form as it stopped allowing villains into the USJ. It shaped itself as a man, coming to rest to the side of a monster that had deep purple skin and scars littering its body. It had an exposed brain and a beak on its face, and it was bigger than All Might if the mist man was of average height.

The third different villain sent chills down Izuku's spine. It was as if this one, single man emitted an aura of death and despair. Izuku stopped breathing, and his hands started shaking as he took in the man's features. He was of average height, and wore a very expensive looking suit. The pants and blazer were black, but the dress shirt underneath was white, and there was no tie. The man had pale skin, but his red eyes seemed to shine with a sheer power that Izuku had never felt from a person before. Those eyes were old and powerful, so old that Izuku couldn't tell if the man was in his early twenties, or if he was hundreds of years old and just pretending. It seemed like there wasn't an end to the things those eyes knew, and the shock of it all sent Izuku a step back. The man's hair went down to his shoulders, and was a stark white, a flowing blank sea of nothing that seemed to have no end or beginning, and seemed to blow with no wind to blow it. He was floating off the ground—no, he was walking on the air, as if there were solid platforms under him that Izuku just couldn't see. The man stayed above his comrades, or maybe they were underlings, because this one man felt like more of a threat than anybody else there. He held something in his eyes that spoke of untold power, and Izuku didn't feel like finding out how strong he was.

Seemingly breaking out of a brief panic, Aizawa grabbed at something under his scarf and pushed it up, revealing a pair of goggles that seemingly protected his eyes from harm while using his Quirk. That completed the iconic Eraserhead costume that he'd seen in the limited video available to Izuku. But there was a problem. Aizawa's fighting style, from what Izuku knew, was akin to an ambush predator, short bursts of sneak attacks that quickly took out the target so that he could move onto the next one. These villains, that villain , wouldn't go down so easily. Izuku went to say just that, but Aizawa put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"You kids need to go. Run and don't come back. Thirteen, get them out of here," Aizawa said, before running and leaping from the entrance platform and almost floating down the stairs as his feet barely touched the ground before he'd gain more airtime while rushing down to meet those villains.

Izuku watched Aizawa go, but couldn't watch him clash with the villains as he was pulled away by Thirteen. He had to set aside his panic and worry, because even if he thought Aizawa wasn't good for this kind of fight, he had to trust his teacher. He'd done more for Izuku than any of his other teachers in his life, so he had to put his trust in him. If he didn't, it'd spit on what Aizawa had said to him and treat that as meaningless, which it wasn't. Aizawa owning his mistake and hearing Izuku out meant a great deal, and he felt the sudden need to tell him that. He would, because Aizawa wasn't going to die here. There were a lot of villains, there were bad villains, but he could beat them. Whatever that horrible vibe from that floating villain had been caused by, Aizawa could handle it. If it was a Quirk, Aizawa could cancel it. If it wasn't a Quirk, then Izuku would have to trust that it'd turn out okay.

As Thirteen guided him toward the rest of the class, Izuku fell into step beside Uraraka. Something was wrong. The air felt different, like it was somehow denser than normal, harder to move through. He looked around, stopped in place by this wrong feeling. A sudden flash of panic wracked Izuku's whole being, as he wondered if this could be the same villain that had caused such an absolutely vile feeling in him before. Could he be near? If so, then Izuku had to say something, but he couldn't. His mouth wouldn't form words, no matter how much he wanted it to. He tapped Uraraka on the shoulder just before she passed out of his reach, and she turned around and stopped as well. She looked at him, looking confused for a moment, before realisation made her eyes focus in on him more, like she was trying to figure out exactly what was wrong.

"What is it? How can I help?" she asked.

"Come on, you two! We have to keep moving!" Thirteen called from further toward the exit, where the class was attempting to flee from.

"Midoriya's panicking. He's not okay!" Uraraka called back, her voice strained.

"Aw, sh—" Thirteen paused in place, trying to keep an eye on both the kids who'd just fallen behind and the students in front of them. "Help him along, but hurry! We don't have the luxury of time!"

Uraraka put her arm around Izuku's shoulder and began pulling him along so that they could catch up to the class. Normally, Izuku's face would be beet-red and he'd be a stuttering mess at having Uraraka's face right next to his, and at how gentle yet supportive her embrace was, but right now all he could feel was the tightness in his chest and the numb feeling spreading throughout the rest of his body. It was happening again, wasn't it? Shit. Izuku tried his best to hobble along with Uraraka, but his legs didn't seem to want to obey him.

As it turned out, Izuku didn't have to go very far, as everyone had stopped before making it to the door. That feeling that Izuku had gotten before, that the air felt wrong, intensified for only a moment before that feeling vanished entirely. It was too bad that his reaction to that feeling wouldn't go away, though. Even as it seemed like everything depressurised and went back to normal, Izuku's face still felt cold and numb, his heart still felt like it would leap out of his throat, and his stomach still felt like it would drop out of his body if he tried to move, not that his legs would let him if he tried. Uraraka stopped walking, too, as she saw something he didn't. Izuku tried to hold his head higher, and when he looked up from the ground, he finally spotted what was making everyone hesitate.

The mist man was there. He was taking his human shape after having presumably warped over to them. He'd been how these villains had gotten in there, after all, so he had to be a warper. Those kinds of Quirks were rarer than rare, so rare that Izuku didn't know of one off the top of his head. The person came to rest in front of the exit, blocking it from use by the class. His eyes, yellow, narrow and snaking up where his face should be, but where there was an almost blackish-purple cloud of fog instead. It was all Izuku could see of the man, really, that fog. There was a metal brace around where the man's neck should've been, but that was it. The rest of him was a kind of incorporeal, ethereal mist that made up his body, seemingly. He had to have a physicality about him, since that metal brace would just fall through him otherwise, so this guy must've been hiding his real body under the mist. That meant that he was vulnerable to attack, and wasn't very good at defending himself. That was good to know.

"Hello, UA students. We are here to kill All Might. Could you tell me where he is?" the mist man asked, sending a shiver down Izuku's spine.

They couldn't be here to kill All Might.

That was impossible.

Wasn't it?