Everyone's blood froze as they watched and listened to Izuku's new form. The laughter alone set everyone, even All Might and Bakugo, on edge. And then there was his appearance. Alienistic Humanoid was the closest thing anyone could think of besides Demonic Entity, and only because the latter was too cliche.

"Is that even allowed? He never displayed anything like that in the assessment test," Asui commented with a little ribbit at the end.

"It would appear that there is much more to his quirk than we initially assumed," Yaoyorozu replied, to which Kaminari muttered a quiet, "No shit."

The mostly-red monster sprinted down the halls, dragging five tendrils along the walls, floor, and ceiling to interfere if Jiro was still listening.

"M-Midoriya?" Tokoyami nervously gulped. For as much of a gothic, emo facade he put up, he was drastically outdone by the monster approaching him.

"Black bird screaming in the dead of night," the being sang with a gurgling hiss.

The thing with Midoriya's body simply walked past him and approached the room with the mock weapon.

"Umm, that happened," Dark Shadow commented as he peeked over Tokoyami's shoulder.

"I'll be taking that, if you don't mind. But please, do put up a fight," they snarled as the five tendrils on his back slithered through the air like snakes ready to strike.

"Yeah, I did not expect this," Jiro worriedly commented as she shot both ear jacks at the red and black faced Izuku. Both were snagged with ease by a clawed hand that pulled them down and back, forcing her to stumble forward and into a pair of tentacles that tightly wrapped around her.

"Care to see if you can take me without hurting your teammate?" The tendrils held Jiro between the two enemies like a shield. Even as she squirmed and tried to break free, the appendages hardly budged.

"Let...me...go!" she shouted, much to the apparent amusement of her captor.

"Oh gee, since you asked so nicely," they mocked before letting out another bout of unsettling laughter.

The crackling of rapidly approaching ice cut off the laughter and enveloped Jiro and Izuku.

"Sorry, but it was a necessary sacrifice," Todoroki unashamedly muttered as he waited for his second enemy to try to attack.

"Darn it! He had to intervene! Just as it was getting good!" Mineta loudly complained, receiving many disgusted looks from his classmate.

"Mineta's comments aside, this has taken an interesting turn. It appears that both Todoroki and Midoriya are willing to put others at risk to accomplish their own goals," Yaoyorozu deduced. Internally, she thanked whichever god was responsible for not placing her on the team against Midoriya. The tentacles combined with her admittedly skimpy outfit was just an accident waiting to happen.

"I'm not sure about that. He's a really cool bro, from what I can tell. He never gave me the 'put an enemy in harm's way' vibe. But then again, he never told me everything about his quirk. Especially that it's sentient, like Tokoyami's. My guess is that the quirk is the one fighting right now, not necessarily Midoriya," Kirishima chimed in.

"Quite the insights from both of you," All Might commented.

"By the way, shouldn't you have stopped the exercise when the two were frozen?" Sero questioned.

"Normally, I would have. But watch, and you'll find out."

As if waiting for the teacher's cue, the small glacier began to shake slightly.

Todoroki, albeit not one hundred percent confident that the ice would hold his enemy, was not expecting Midoriya to break out so soon.

At least two dozen crimson spikes stabbed through the frozen prison and retreated, then broke through again just off of their original spots.

The ice shattered and sent shards flying. Small chips of the walls were taken out. Todoroki had already created a medium sized wall to protect himself, which was quickly leveled by the barrage of ice shards.

"Wow. And here I thought I was the asshole."

Todoroki watched in anticipation as a red sphere with black streaks was sucked back into Izuku's body like blankets getting sucked up by a vacuum.

Jiro, aside from a look of shock and slight betrayal, was perfectly fine as well. If he were to also consider being wrapped in tentacles to be fine, that is.

"Jerk!"

"You're the one who got caught. I simply took what I thought was the best course of action," Todoroki retorted, then caught a glimpse of black in his peripheral vision. He turned to see Dark Shadow almost touching the bomb, having flown outside and back in through the windows.

"Uhm, we've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty?" Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, if Todoroki's ice blast meant anything. The quirk flew out the window, presumably back to Tokoyami.

With the momentary distraction, Jiro stretched the jacks on her lobes down to her boots and plugged them in.

A powerful blast of sound tore through the room, causing Todoroki to cover his ears.

An agonized, ear-piercing screech drew the heroes' attention, and their eyes fell on a rather disturbing sight. The red face and tendrils on Izuku's body were spasming and convulsing uncontrollably. Tiny hair-like growths quickly grew and retracted wherever the red substance existed.

The face itself seemed to be trying to jump out of Izuku's skin, screaming and hissing like it was experiencing the worst pain imaginable.

"Hit it harder!" Todoroki ordered. Jiro complied and sent another massive sound attack at her enemies.

This time, it wasn't just the red areas that were affected. Izuku's skin and flesh themselves seemed to bubble and crawl under the onslaught. The red face still shrieked and fully broke off like a living mask, exposing Izuku himself. He too was screaming, and his face was twisted in pain, much like the being that was part of him.

"Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami ordered from the hallway. The ghostly quirk shot forward against the thrumming sound waves and slashed the boots.

Once the sound stopped, Izuku completely reverted as the red substance seemed to shoot back inside him.

"Midoriya!" Tokoyami called as his teammate and friend slumped to the ground. His lack of focus gave Jiro and Todoroki a chance to get around Dark Shadow and wrapped him with capture tape, eliminating him from the exercise.

"Midoriya?" Jiro cautiously approached the green-haired teen. Both of her jacks were plugged in and ready to send more sound attacks if necessary.

The teen remained on the ground, unmoving.

"Villain team wins!" All Might declared over the PA with less enthusiasm than he was usually known to have.

A soft groan escaped Izuku's lips as he regained consciousness. When his vision cleared, he discovered that he was being carried away on a stretcher pulled by two medical bots.

"H-hey, I'm fine."

The bots kept moving, already having their orders to take him to Recovery Girl. Izuku sighed and shakily kicked his feet off the moving platform and hopped off.

"Hey, what even happened?"

"I told you I don't like loud noises," the other groggily complained.

"Technically, all you told me was that you didn't like Present Mic because he was loud. That doesn't exactly tell me that powerful sounds are a specific weakness of yours," Izuku retorted. "Are you okay?"

"I will live."

Luckily, the bots had yet to leave the grounds when Izuku awoke, so he took the short trip back to the monitor room.

"Hey Midoriya! You sure you should be back so soon?" the redhead asked upon his classmate's quick return.

"I feel fine, so I guess I'll be alright."

"Excuse me?" Izuku turned around and was welcomed by Jiro's uneasy expression. "I'm… I'm sorry about what happened in there. I didn't know that my attacks would have such an intense effect on you."

Izuku just stared at her, somewhat confused. "It was just training, right? If this was the real thing, would you be apologizing to a real-life enemy for hurting them? Besides, I should be thanking you. After all, you taught me a little more about me and my quirk."

"Speaking of…" Hagakure added in a sing-song tone as she slid in between Izuku and Jiro. "When were you planning on telling us that it was sentient? And… well, everything else?"

"Well…" Izuku began, scratching the back of his neck. "I wasn't exactly sure how to put it," he replied.

"Hey guys, I have a sentient quirk that might freak you out?"

"Just so you know, my quirk is sentient and can morph into my body?"

"Literally any other variation of what they said?" Sero suggested, pointing at Kaminari and Mineta.

"Well, there's a bit more to it than that."

"Third round, begin!" All Might shouted, cutting off the questions.

"I must say, you all did exceptionally well. Now then, before class is over, we will decide on the MVPs for each match. First match, Bakugo and Kaminari versus Mineta and Koda. Any suggestions?"

"Truthfully, Bakugo is the only actual candidate because he was the only one that actually did anything. Neither Mineta or Koda could effectively utilize their quirks to retaliate, and Kaminari just guarded the bomb for a few minutes," Yaoyorozu stated.

"Yes, actually. Took the words right out of my mouth. That being said, there is room for improvement. Mainly in the area of cooperation. But aside from that, it was a quick and easy match."

Bakugo grinned proudly. Of course he was the MVP. It could have been all three of them against him and he still would have put them in the ground. These extras were just too far below him.

"Next match. Tokoyami and Midoriya against Todoroki and Jiro. What do you all think?"

Quiet murmurs were exchanged between the students as they threw candidates back and forth,

"It must have been Tokoyami or Jiro. Todoroki was more than willing to freeze his own teammate in order to try to capture his enemy. Had Midoriya not protected Jiro and only saved himself, Todoroki would have only injured his teammate. Midoriya, on the other hand, came up with a good plan to use Jiro's quirk against her. However, once he entered the building, he completely ignored Tokoyami. Had they worked together, the combination of their powerful quirks could have ended the match before Jiro and Todoroki could put up a fight. Jiro, on the other hand, did her best to hold her own, even when incapacitated. And Tokoyami played his part exceptionally up until he got captured for focusing on his teammate's wellbeing first," Iida suggested with a flurry of chopping motions.

"Did he just say that all in one breath?" Izuku whispered to Kirishima, who just shrugged, not quite knowing himself.

"That is what I was looking for. However, theirs was a strange match with lots of unexpected turns, so I suppose anyone could be considered the MVP if you think hard enough. Moving on..."

One by one, the MVPs were decided on for each match. Izuku made several pages worth of internal notes about his classmates' quirks and their applications and weaknesses.

"And that concludes today's exercise. Class is dismissed, so go change and return to the classroom!" All Might instructed. He and his students returned to the main campus where the kids, except Izuku, changed into their school clothing.

"Maybe I should put in a costume request," Izuku realized as he inspected his damaged shirt. At this point, the article of clothing more closely resembled a net with all of the holes and tears spread across the fabric than it did a shirt.

"Midoriya."

Todoroki walked up to the green and red-haired teen, looking as straight faced as ever. "I do wish to apologize to you and Jiro for what occurred during the training. Despite being correct that we would not apologize to villains in the real world, we are still only students."

"Eh, it's all good. But if you want to make up for it, you can tell me why you were glaring at me throughout the first day."

Todoroki gave the other teen an unentertained glare, then sighed. "The only reason I was born was because my father arranged a quirk marriage to produce a child that could surpass All Might. With his powerful flames and my mother's ice, I was the first one he considered a success. When I saw the red streak in your hair, I started wondering if he had tried with other women while he was with my mother."

"That's kinda messed up," Izuku said after a few seconds with a surprised exhale.

"Yes. but now I know you are not related, so there is no need to feel any animosity towards you," Todoroki replied as he started to walk away. "For the time being," he said over his shoulder.

"Hey nerd!" Bakugo called out from his desk once Izuku and Todoroki finished talking.

Izuku cautiously approached the teen and waited for whatever remarks the explosive boy had prepared. Instead of saying anything, the blonde stood up and gestured for the green-haired teen to follow.

"This can't be good."

"I know. Let's get it over with."

Bakugo led his classmate down the halls and stepped into the bathroom, which was empty for the time being. Once inside, Izuku just stared at his former friend, who was staring back just as hard.

"You're going to tell me everything about your quirk, or I'll force it out of you," he suddenly threatened with a small series of sparkling pops in his palms.

Izuku swallowed, but forced himself to tough it out.

"Why do you want to know? You've never cared about other people's quirks before. So, what's your reasoning for asking?"

"Tch. Because everyone else is below me. I can tell just by watching them. But you're a different story. I saw you that day, when you took on the three bullies. And the whole exercise was on camera, so you can come out of hiding."

Bakugo pointed at Izuku's shoulder, and the smiling face quickly appeared.

"So, the little boy finally wants to play. Let's just hope you didn't bite off more than you can chew."

"Shut it you damn blob. Now tell me what exactly is up with you two or I'll-"

"You'll what, Kacchan?" Izuku blurted. For a brief moment, Bakugo's angry face betrayed a hint of confusion.

"What are you going to do? Burn me? Hit me? You don't have any lackeys here, so you'll have to get your hands dirty yourself, not that that's anything new for you."

If looks could kill, Izuku would have been nothing more than a withering corpse under Bakugo's enraged glare. "Shut up you fucking Deku or-"

"NO, YOU SHUT UP!"

In less than half a moment, the red face on Izuku's shoulder had melted itself onto Izuku's face. At the same time, the boy seemed to grow by at least a foot as a handful of razor tipped tendrils extended from his back and hovered mere centimeters away from Bakugo's face.

"You may have been hot shit in middle school, but here, you're gifted at best and slightly above average at worst. You never got a good reality check as a child and it shows, you arrogant prick. Now, I'll return your little friend if you can act like a civilized human being and not some rabid mutt. Sound good?"

The monstrosity hunched over and brought its glimmering teeth so close that Bakugo could have sworn he saw his own reflection in them. As the thing stared him down, he felt something he had not felt in a long, long time.

Fear. Not just the fake fear that comes from watching too many horror movies or the temporary fright from roller coasters; but instinctive, animalistic fear.

The blonde nodded, and the red face smiled a wicked smile. "Good."

The tentacles drifted away and slowly disappeared behind Izuku's back as the face seemed to permeate out of Izuku's skin and returned to perching on his shoulder.

"God, you could have at least given me a warning," Izuku griped to the thing still on his shoulder.

"He had it coming to him," it replied like it hadn't just threatened a student.

"Do you really want to know about me and them?" Izuku asked Bakugo after giving a hefty sigh. The greenette leaned against a stall, and regaled Bakugo with the events that started over a year ago.

"You remember how I was diagnosed with lung cancer and all? Well, that day I also met someone who worked at Life Foundation. He claimed to have an experimental cure that could help. Honestly, it was a really bad lie, now that I think about it. But my mother and I bought it, so we signed me up for treatment. A little while later, I was taken to this underground lab where they subjected me to this red goo-like substance. Some time later, I found out I can grow tendrils, then I find out this thing is alive inside me…" Izuku started, throwing a point at the thing hovering at his shoulder.

"He claims he's non-terrestrial and his only desire is to feed, but he's been rather subdued compared to what I first expected given his appearance and initial attitude. Anyways, we slowly learned to work together, and you sort of know what we can do when that happens. There are still some things I want to try, and all, but we get along enough."

Bakugo turned his face to the ground as he processed everything he had been told. Aliens? Body-sharing parasites? What kind of sci-fi movie had he been teleported into?

"So... you're still quirkless?"

Izuku flinched at the comment, but calmly replied, "Yes."

The blonde scoffed and got up to his feet. "Whatever. But this doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you, Deku. Quirk, alien body snatcher, whatever. I'm still better than you, so stay out of my way."

Without another word, Bakugo stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door extra hard on the way out.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Izuku muttered as he stood up and looked in the mirror.

"He still thinks he's better than us. We should correct that," the other declared with a slight hint of eagerness.

"I'm going to shoot that idea down before you can suggest it." The teen pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket and unwrapped it, allowing the red blob on his shoulder to extend his jaws and bite down on the delicacy before heading back to the classroom.

"You know, we should probably tell Mom. I really should have let her know before everyone here. And before I forget, what exactly happened just now? When you took control?"

"..."

"..."

"...what?"

Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose as the other laughed in his head. And he had spent so much time preparing for different reactions. Denial, immediate acceptance, even anger that he hadn't told her and happiness, for some reason.

Yet the possibility of confusion had completely slipped his mind.

"Just please make a good first impression."

Inko watched as Izuku rolled up his sleeve and grew a red bulb that morphed itself into something resembling a face from his shoulder.

"Hello."

"..."

"Well shit," Izuku swore as his mother fainted, catching her just before she hit the ground.

"And that's everything that I know so far. No more secrets, I promise."

"Trust me, he's both amazing and terrible at keeping secrets."

Inko stared in disbelief as the... thing… on his shoulder spoke on its own behalf. Of course, she had heard of sentient quirks before. Though quite rare, there have been a handful of instances throughout history.

She was ready to try to accept that fact, until Izuku explained that it wasn't in fact a quirk, but a separate organism that had bonded to him. And apparently had a mild murderous side that was, for some reason, deterred by chocolate of all things.

And it could both change his body, take control if need be, and had very, very sharp teeth.

"We… we need to let Mister Tanaka know. This clearly isn't natural, and I think we should get you separated."

"We can't. I know it's not ideal, but it works. Besides, the reason I didn't mention this earlier is that Mister Tanaka would probably just try to find a new host for him. And that's if he found a way to get us apart. Maybe he'd just find another quirkless person, but I wouldn't be surprised if more people died from the experiments. And, at least right now, he and I have enough trust to work together. He hasn't actually hurt anyone yet, unless you count the time he threatened Bakugo earlier today."

"What happened?" Inko asked, suddenly much more worried.

"Not much. He just gave him a good tongue lashing," Izuku said as he nodded to the thing on his shoulder, which seemed to absolutely beam in pride.

"So, it's not hurting you or forcing you to do things?"

"No. Or not to my knowledge. But if he is, I'm sure we'd have people knocking on our door for it," Izuku replied.

"How… how are your classmates taking it?"

"Most are impressed, Kacchan reacted more or less as you'd expect, but Tokoyami seems to have a special interest. His quirk is sentient, and also has a mildly frightening appearance, so we get along well enough."

Inko sighed and stared into her tea. This was just too much. Of all people, why did Izuku have to be the one that got stuck in this situation? She was glad that they were working together, but still.

"Just promise me you'll keep me updated with… him. You've told me before you'd tell me if something happened and didn't but I'm trusting you to keep me filled in now that I know the whole story."

"I will. You can hold me to that."

"Good. Now, if we're going to have a guest, there needs to be a few ground rules."

"You! Do you have All Might for a teacher? What's he like?"

"He's nice," Izuku replied before dashing into the school with Uraraka and Iida right on his heels.

A swarm of reporters had gathered outside the main entrance and ambushed anyone that so much as approached the gates.

"Hey little listeners. How're you hanging?"

"We are alright, Mister Mic. But I do wish the reporters had the decency to keep a clear path for the students," Iida replied.

"It's the paparazzi. They don't do 'clear paths'. Come on, Hizashi. Let's get this over with," Aizawa said in an it's-too-early-for-this tone.

"Oh, hey! It's some of the teachers! Are you here to tell us about All Might? The students haven't been all that informative," one of the reporters asked.

"Speaking of the students, you're all disturbing their classes. Please leave," Aizawa requested as politely as he could before turning and leaving.

"How do you put up with this, All Might?" the underground hero asked. He tuned out the complaints from the reporters who had yet to get anything resembling a scoop.

A loud buzzer sounded behind him, which was followed by clanging metal that shook the ground he was walking on. He didn't miss a step as he continued the trek to his classroom.

"Idiots," he scoffed as he put more distance between him and the now activated U.A. barrier behind him.

"Let me get this straight. You only want to join because you believe your 'crush' might try to join as well, despite not having a name or affiliation to go off of?"

The blue-haired man just focused on his drink as the psycho that somehow found his hideout danced on her heels.

"Yes yes yes! Oh, and maybe we could meet Stain! If what I've heard about you is true, then he'll be an invaluable asset to the League of Villains! Maybe I could get some of his blood!"

The girl began to ramble a little, causing Tomura to tighten his grip on his glass. Not even five minutes in and she had already changed the topic from joining the League, which was still barely advertising itself in the deepest, darkest of corners, to meeting Stain.

It made him itch. It made him itch something fierce.

Meanwhile, Kurogiri mindlessly washed the glass in his hands for the third time that day. Sure, there were visitors from time to time, but not enough to warrant washing it three times.

"Assuming I let you join, what skill set can you bring to the team? Are you a heavy loadout or more of an assassin type?"

"Uhh, staby type? I don't speak video game."

"Last question." The man with all the hands gulped the rest of his drink and slid it to the bartender, who opened a hazy purple circle under it. The glass fell in and reappeared in the sink nearby. "If your 'crush' doesn't join, are you going to turn tail? If you try to switch teams, there might be a little friendly fire involved," Tomura threatened.

"I'll stay if I still get to meet Stain. I love my crush, but I also love Stain!"

God, this girl was going to be a handful and a half.

"Very well then. I guess you're part of the clan. Our first mission begins in three days, so you should make sure your inventory's all arranged."

"Great!" the girl cheered. "But quirk question. What's that thing in the corner?"

Tomura smiled an evil smile. "That is how we will kill the Symbol of Peace."

At the mention of All Might's nickname, the creature raised its head, readying for battle.

"I watched your performances yesterday, and I must say I'm admittedly impressed. You all have things to work on, but that's why you're here. I'll pass out individual notes All Might and I came up with for each of you. After that, you will need to decide on a class representative and a vice representative."

Before the teacher could take a step away from the podium, the classroom filled with practically everyone declaring that they would be the representative. The more introverted ones, like Tokoyami and Todoroki, merely shook their heads at the display.

"SHUT UP!"

Twenty pairs of eyes, including a dumbstruck Bakugo, fell upon the red and black face that had stretched from the back of Izuku's neck.

"Thank you," The face offered as it sunk into Midoriya's flesh.

"Perhaps we could vote? These are positions to be taken seriously. By voting, we can deduce the best candidates. Even should most of us vote for ourselves, the ones to get more than one vote clearly have the trust of their classmates," Iida suggested.

A murmur of agreements went around the room, thus a simple vote was used to select the two positions.

That left Izuku with the dilemma of who to vote for. Surprisingly, Tokoyami and Kirishima were two of his first choices, as both were two of the first real friends he ever had. The former had managed to remain calm throughout everything the year had thrown so far and had a generally level head. On the other hand, Kirishima was much more energetic, but in a good way. He didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body, and his regular use of the term "manly" appeared to be gender neutral, given he used the term to describe many of the female classmates as well.

But then again, Tokoyami always had that "revelry in the dark" thing going on, and being good natured was not necessarily the same thing as being a good candidate for either position.

That left Uraraka, Iida, and Yaoyorozu as his potential votes. He scratched his head with his pencil as he mentally compared the three, trying to come to a good decision.

With a sigh, he scribbled a name on the paper and went to drop it in the box Yaoyorozu had created with her quirk.

As soon as the last person voted, the box was opened. In the end, Iida received four votes, followed by a tie between Izuku and Yaoyorozu, each of whom had two. The rest of the votes were negligible, as no one else had more than one.

"Who the hell voted for Deku? And why am I not up there?" Bakugo stood up and slammed his hands on his desk, and ended up in an argument with Sero regarding which of the two was better.

The aforementioned green-haired teen stood up, once again drawing everyone's attention.

"Actually, I'd like to give Yaoyorozu the position of vice rep," he said, then sat back down.

"Are you sure? We could hold a separate vote for the two of you?" Kirishima responded. His friend just nodded.

"Very well then. The class rep and vice rep will be Iida and Yaoyorozu respectively," Aizawa groggily declared just in time for the first class to begin.

"Wow, it's pretty busy today, too. Almost as busy as yesterday." Ochaco looked in wonder at the multiple rows of multiple tables, each of which seated multiple students.

"I think all students in the same year eat at the same time," Iida said as he and a small group of students sat down. The blue-haired boy sat with Uraraka and Tokoyami to his sides, with Izuku and Kaminari across from him.

"Yeah, it's neat seeing all kinds of people with different quirks. It's a shame I don't have enough notebooks to properly document them." The green haired teen descended into a muttering storm, making it the fourth one since classes began.

Uraraka and a few others would know; they had been keeping a tally after the second time.

"By the way, Iida. I must congratulate you again on your success this morning. An admirable feat; earning the trust of four individuals we have yet to fully befriend." Dark Shadow, on the other hand, complained that he had not been given the chance to vote.

"As if you wouldn't have voted for the Goth Chicken here."

"Sure as hell wouldn't have voted for you, Oozymandias!"

"Huh?" Izuku and his counterpart grunted in unison.

"There was a movie that Dark Shadow and I watched many moons ago. One of the characters was named 'Ozymandias'. Clearly, he is making a pun in an attempt to get on your demon's nerves," Tokoyami explained to Midoriya.

Once again, the two entities began trash talking each other, earning some snickers from the group.

"By the way, Iida, this is something I've been wondering about for a while. Are you related to Ingenium in any way?" Ochaco asked. Instantly, Izuku perked up, eyes gleaming with excitement.

Not that he hadn't already deduced the relationship. He figured that out half an hour into the first Hero Basic Training class.

"Yes, actually. He's my older brother. He and I are, as our last names would suggest, part of the Iida family. We have been heroes for generations now, using the engines passed down by previous generations to rush into danger."

"Man, that's awesome! My mom's a hero too. But she's admittedly not very well known. I hope that someday, I can also-"

There has been a level 3 security breach. All students evacuate outdoors promptly. There has been a level 3 security breach. All students evacuate outdoors promptly.

"Well, this can't be good," the blonde sighed as everyone in the cafe ran like the devil was on their heels.