The bus ride to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint (USJ) was a study in high-school social dynamics. I sat near the back, my head resting against the vibrating window, watching the city of Musutafu blur into a smear of grey and green. To my left, Kirishima and Kaminari were debating whose Quirk was "flashier," while in front of me, Tsuyu was blunt-force trauma personified in a conversation with Midoriya.
"Your Quirk is like All Might's," she said, her large eyes fixed on the freckled boy.
Midoriya's panic was visible from the back of his head. "R-really? You think so? I mean, I... it's... it's much more of a physical enhancement type, whereas All Might is just..."
"All Might is a pillar," I interrupted, my voice low but carrying. The "Deku-Squad" turned to look at me. "Midoriya's Quirk is like a glass cannon. He's got the power, but his body isn't the container for it yet. If anything, my Quirk is the opposite. I'm a container without enough pressure."
"A container?" Uraraka asked, tilting her head.
"Rubber doesn't generate its own force," I explained, holding up my hand and watching it wobble slightly as the bus hit a pothole. "It stores it. Every punch I throw is just recycled kinetic energy. Midoriya creates an explosion from nothing. I'm just a guy who knows how to bounce."
"You're too modest, Sora-kun," Iida said, his hand-chopping beginning as he sat perfectly upright. "Your performance against Todoroki-kun proved that you have mastered the environmental application of your Quirk! As the Tactical Liaison, you must maintain confidence!"
I offered a weak smile. Confidence was hard to come by when you knew that in about twenty minutes, the "fun rescue trial" was going to turn into a desperate fight for survival. I felt the familiar creak of my shoulder—the "Slack" was gone, but my internal tension felt... brittle. I wasn't at a hundred percent.
"We're here," Aizawa announced, his voice cutting through the chatter like a knife. "Get off. And keep the noise down."
The USJ was a marvel of architectural engineering. It was a massive dome, a world under glass, divided into various disaster zones: shipwreck, landslide, fire, windstorm, and downpour. It was a theme park for tragedies.
Standing at the entrance was the Space Hero, Thirteen. She looked like a giant, adorable marshmallow in her white space suit, but I knew the power of her Black Hole Quirk. She was one of the most dangerous heroes on the faculty—if she wanted to be.
"Everyone, I have been waiting for you!" Thirteen's voice was melodic and kind. She didn't launch into a combat speech. Instead, she spoke about the responsibility of power. She talked about how Quirks, while used for heroism, were ultimately weapons that could kill in the wrong hands.
I saw Midoriya hanging on her every word. I saw Uraraka's face light up with inspiration.
But I was looking at the center of the plaza. The lights were flickering. The air felt heavy, like the atmosphere before a thunderstorm.
"Alright, first thing's first—" Aizawa started, but he stopped mid-sentence.
A swirl of black-purple mist erupted in the center of the fountain plaza. It started as a pinprick and expanded into a jagged, pulsing void.
"Is the trial starting already?" Kirishima asked, stepping forward. "I thought we were doing rescue!"
"Don't move!" Aizawa roared, his goggles snapping down over his eyes. His scarf began to float as his Quirk activated. "Those are... villains."
The air in the room died.
Dozens of people began to step through the mist. They weren't the polished, costumed heroes we were used to. These were the dregs—the desperate, the twisted, and the violent. And leading them was a man covered in severed, pale hands, his eyes peering through the gaps with a manic, childish hunger. Shigaraki Tomura.
Next to him was the creature. The Nomu. It was a mountain of purple, exposed muscle, its brain bulging from its skull, its beak-like mouth filled with rows of jagged teeth.
"Thirteen, protect the students!" Aizawa commanded.
"Wait, Sensei! You're going to fight them all alone?" Midoriya cried. "Even with your Quirk, you can't erase all of them! Your style is meant for stealth and capture!"
"A hero always has more than one trick," Aizawa said, and then he dove.
I watched him go. He was a dervish of grey fabric and precision strikes. But I wasn't looking at him. I was looking at the mist.
"Thirteen! The exit!" I shouted, my voice cracking the paralysis of the class. "We have to leave now!"
We turned to run, but the black mist was already there, blocking the massive steel doors. Two yellow, glowing eyes flickered within the darkness.
"I'm afraid I cannot allow that," the mist spoke—Kurogiri. His voice was polite, refined, which made it all the more terrifying. "We are the League of Villains. We have come to this cradle of heroes to take the life of the Symbol of Peace. However, it seems All Might is not here. A pity."
"Begone!" Thirteen shouted, raising her hand to activate Black Hole.
But Kurogiri was faster. He expanded, a tidal wave of shadow swallowing us whole.
"You shall be scattered," the mist whispered. "To be tortured and killed at our leisure."
I felt the ground vanish.
The sensation of being warped was like being pulled through a vacuum. My rubber body reacted instinctively—I didn't just fall; I stretched. My limbs elongated as they fought the spatial distortion, my internal pressure screaming as I was yanked in three different directions at once.
Then came the cold.
SPLASH.
I hit the ground hard. Not water—pavement. But it was raining. A torrential, freezing downpour that turned the world into a grey, blurred mess.
I sat up, my rubber skin instantly slick with water. I was in the Downpour Zone.
The environment was a simulated urban block under a permanent monsoon. Abandoned buildings towered over narrow, flooded streets. The rain was so thick I could barely see ten feet in front of me.
"Is... anyone else here?" I called out.
"Ribbit."
I turned. Tsuyu wasn't there—she must have been sent to the Shipwreck Zone with Midoriya. Instead, I saw Tokoyami Fumikage, his dark cloak soaked through, and the quiet, hulking figure of Koda Koji.
"Tokoyami. Koda," I said, standing up. My sneakers slipped on the wet concrete, and I had to stretch my toes slightly to find a grip. "You okay?"
"The darkness here is heavy," Tokoyami said, his voice grave. "Dark Shadow is restless. The lack of light in this storm is making him difficult to contain."
Dark Shadow emerged from Tokoyami's chest, a shadowy avian spirit that hissed at the rain. "Too wet! Too dark! I want to break things!"
"Stay calm, Tokoyami," I said. My mind was racing. Downpour Zone. Villains. Physics. "Koda, are there any animals nearby? Birds? Insects? We need eyes."
Koda looked around nervously. He cupped his hands and let out a series of low, chirping sounds. A few pigeons huddled under a nearby eave took flight, circling the block. Koda whispered to them, then looked at me with wide eyes, pointing toward the end of the street.
"They're coming," Tokoyami translated.
About a dozen figures emerged from the rain. They weren't high-tier villains, but they looked seasoned. One had arms that turned into massive, serrated blades. Another was covered in scales, and a third seemed to be made of a gelatinous, oily substance that the rain didn't wash away.
"Look at these brats," the leader—the blade-armed man—sneered. "They sent the bird, the mute, and a guy in a grey tracksuit. This'll be easy."
"Sora," Tokoyami whispered. "Strategy?"
"This is a bad matchup for me," I said, my voice low. "The rain makes my skin slippery. I can't get a proper grip for a Pistol, and the cold is going to sap my elasticity if I don't stay moving. Tokoyami, you're our heavy hitter. Use Dark Shadow for mid-range defense. Koda, keep the birds circling—tell us if anyone tries to flank us through the buildings."
"And you?" Tokoyami asked.
"I'm the stabilizer," I said. I began to bounce on my toes. Thwip-thwip-thwip. "I'll keep them busy. Don't let them cluster!"
The villains charged.
The blade-armed man reached me first. He swung a jagged arm at my neck. I didn't dodge; I leaned back, my torso stretching like a stalk of bamboo in a gale. The blade whistled inches above my chest.
"Too slow!" I shouted.
I threw a punch, but as I feared, the rain was a nightmare. My fist slipped against the air, the lack of friction making my aim wobble. Instead of a "Pistol," it was more of a "Slap." It hit the villain in the shoulder, but lacked the snapping force to do real damage.
"What was that? A tickle?" the villain laughed, swinging again.
I had to adjust. If I couldn't use tension, I'd use Viscosity.
I didn't retract my arm. Instead, I wrapped it. I let my arm stretch and coil around the villain's bladed limb. The wet, rubbery surface of my skin acted like a suction cup against his metal-like flesh.
"Tokoyami! Left side!"
"Dark Shadow!"
The shadow construct lunged out, its claws tearing into the scaly villain who was trying to sneak up on Koda. The impact sent the villain flying into a brick wall.
Meanwhile, I was in a wrestling match with the blade-man. "Let go of me, you freak!" he screamed, trying to pull his arm free.
I didn't let go. I used my other arm to grab a nearby fire hydrant. "Gommu Gommu no... TWIST!"
I began to rotate my body, using the hydrant as an anchor. Because I was rubber, I could spin my torso like a top. The villain was lifted off his feet, his bladed arm trapped in the spiral of my limb. I spun faster and faster, the rain being flung off my suit in a glittering spray.
"Gommu Gommu no... SPIRAL THROW!"
I released the grip. The villain was launched like a disc, screaming as he collided with two of his comrades who were charging toward Tokoyami. They went down in a messy heap of limbs and blades.
"Impressive," Tokoyami noted, Dark Shadow pulling back to form a shield. "But more are emerging from the buildings."
I panted, the "Heat" in my chest finally starting to stir. The cold rain was a constant drain. If I stayed in this zone too long, my molecules would reach the glass transition point. I'd become brittle. I'd snap.
"We need to end this fast," I said. "Koda! Are there any larger animals? Stray dogs? Cats? Anything?"
Koda nodded frantically. He pointed toward a dark alleyway. He let out a loud, rhythmic call. From the shadows, a pack of large, feral-looking Dobermans—part of the simulation's urban fauna—emerged, their eyes glowing with a sudden, directed intelligence.
"Tokoyami, cover the dogs! I'm going for the cluster!"
I didn't use a Rocket. Instead, I used my legs to compress, lower and lower, until my thighs were bulging.
"OVERDRIVE: CALF PUMP!"
I forced the friction. My legs turned a bright, glowing pink. The rain hitting my shins immediately turned into steam, creating a localized fog.
BOOM.
I launched. I was a pink blur in the grey rain. I flew into the center of the remaining villains.
"Gommu Gommu no... GATLING!"
This time, I didn't care about the slip. I used the "Heat" from the Overdrive to dry my skin instantly. The punches were fast, hot, and violent.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The oily villain tried to absorb the hits, but the thermal energy in my fists made his gelatinous body sizzle and pop. He shrieked as the impacts sent shockwaves through his core.
Within seconds, the street was clear of standing villains.
I landed on my hands and knees, steam pouring off my suit. My heart was thudding so hard I could hear it in my teeth. My legs felt like they were made of lead. The "Overdrive" had only lasted ten seconds, but in the rain, the energy cost was tripled.
"Sora! Are you well?" Tokoyami ran over, Dark Shadow hovering protectively.
"Fine," I wheezed. "Just... give me a second. Koda, tell the dogs to guard the perimeter."
As I sat there, the adrenaline began to fade, replaced by a cold, sinking realization. We had won our skirmish. But the USJ was silent. Too silent.
"Tokoyami," I said, looking toward the center of the dome. "The others. Aizawa-sensei. We have to move."
"We cannot leave the zone without a plan," Tokoyami warned. "The mist villain is still at the exit."
"The mist villain is a warp-gate," I said, standing up. My rubber body was still slightly "slack" from the cold, but I forced the tension. "He's the heart of their logistics. If we can't get out, we have to go to the center. We have to help Aizawa."
Suddenly, a massive boom shook the entire facility. The glass of the dome rattled. A sound of a primeval, guttural roar echoed through the rain.
The Nomu.
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the weather. In the anime, Aizawa was nearly killed by that thing. His arms were snapped, his face crushed into the pavement. All Might would arrive, but would he be in time?
"Tokoyami, Koda, listen to me," I said, my voice dead serious. "The thing in the plaza... it's not a villain. It's a monster. It's built to kill All Might."
"How can you know this?" Tokoyami asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I'm the Tactical Liaison," I lied, the words tasting like ash. "I saw the way it was standing. It's a bio-engineered weapon. If we don't get there, Aizawa is a dead man."
"Then we go," Tokoyami said. Dark Shadow let out a defiant shriek.
We began to move through the Downpour Zone, but as we reached the edge of the simulated city, a new figure stepped out from behind a flooded bus.
He was tall, thin, and his skin had the texture of burnt paper. His eyes were cold, calculating. He wasn't one of the fodder villains we'd just beaten. He was a specialist.
"The rubber boy," the man said. His voice was like sandpaper. "The boss said to watch out for you. He says you're an 'anomaly.' Something that doesn't belong in the save-file."
My heart stopped. An anomaly? Shigaraki knew? Or was he talking about my performance at the exam?
The man raised his hand. "My name is Drizzle. And in this zone, I am God."
The rain didn't just fall anymore. It sharpened. Every droplet of water in the air suddenly turned into a needle of solid ice, suspended in mid-air.
I looked at Tokoyami. I looked at Koda. We were surrounded by a million frozen daggers.
"One move," Drizzle said, "and you're a pincushion."
I looked at my wet, pink skin. I felt the "Heat" flickering in my chest.
Chapter 9, I thought. The USJ just got a lot harder.
"Tokoyami," I whispered. "Get ready to fly."
"Sora—"
"I'm going to turn this rain into a sauna."