[Denki's POV]
The massive dome loomed ahead as our bus rolled to a stop—UA's pride and joy, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. The moment we stepped off, a figure in a bulky white spacesuit greeted us with an enthusiastic wave.
"Hello everyone! I've been waiting for you!"
The voice was... impossible to pin down. Not deep, not high, just somewhere weirdly in between. If I didn't already know from the anime that there was a woman inside that marshmallow suit, I'd be completely stumped.
"It's the Space Hero, Thirteen!" Midoriya's eyes went full sparkle mode, practically vibrating with excitement. "The gentlemanly hero who's rescued tons of people from disasters!"
'Gentlemanly? Dude, that's a woman,' I thought while fighting back a smirk. 'But sure, let's go with that.'
"Let's head inside," Thirteen said while waving us forward with that oversized glove.
We followed through the entrance, and the second we stepped inside, I had to stop and stare... Holy shit.
The USJ was massive. Like, theme-park massive. The whole facility was divided into these crazy realistic disaster zones—each one designed to simulate a different catastrophe. There was a Flood Zone with this huge artificial lake and a half-sunken ship that looked straight out of a pirate movie. A Landslide Zone covered in rocky terrain and crumbling cliffs. A Fire Zone where actual flames were blazing away like it was hell's backyard. A Storm Zone with rain pouring down non-stop like someone pissed off a weather god. And a Ruins Zone that looked like a bombed-out city from a war movie.
Right smack in the middle of everything sat this big open plaza with a fountain.
It was like walking onto the world's most expensive movie set—except this was real, and we were actually about to train here... if the attack didn't happen in a few minutes.
"Whoa..." Uraraka squealed, looking ready to float away from pure excitement.
Bakugo and Todoroki were already scanning the place with serious expressions, probably mentally cataloging weak points and strategy options like the competitive bastards they were.
The rest of the class was chattering excitedly, pointing at different zones and geeking out.
Thirteen spread their arms wide in a dramatic gesture. "Everything from shipwrecks to fires, landslides, windstorms, and more! This is the training ground I poured my heart and soul into so future generations can learn how to handle all kinds of disasters!" They turned to face us directly. "Its name is the Unforeseen Simulation Joint—or USJ for short!"
'Real creative name there, UA,' I thought dryly. 'I'm sure nobody will make Universal Studios jokes about that one. Oh wait—'
Aizawa-sensei was looking around with his usual dead-inside expression, but something seemed... off. His eyes were scanning too carefully.
He walked over to Thirteen, "Thirteen, where's All Might? He was supposed to be here."
Thirteen leaned in close, whispering something I couldn't quite catch from this distance, then held up three fingers.
'Ah, there it is.'
Most of the class didn't catch it, but I knew exactly what that meant. Midoriya probably got it too, judging by how his face went a shade paler.
All Might had probably already burned through most of his hero time for the day—that's why he wasn't here. Three hours left, maybe less. I already knew this was coming, and it looked like nothing had changed.
'Right on schedule for disaster,' I thought grimly.
Aizawa sighed like someone had just told him he'd have to work overtime on a holiday. "Talk about the height of irrationality."
He turned back to us with a flat expression. "Can't be helped. Let's get started." He stepped aside, gesturing for Thirteen to take over.
"Let's see..." Thirteen began while raising one finger. "Before we start, let me say one thing... or two... or three... four... five... six..."
'Just say "a few things,"' I thought while resisting the urge to roll my eyes. 'You don't need to count them out loud like we're in kindergarten.'
"Everyone, I'm sure you know about my Quirk—Black Hole," Thirteen continued, their tone shifting to something more serious and then came the speech.
Thirteen explained how their Quirk could suck in and disintegrate anything, how dangerous Quirks could be if misused, how even powers meant for rescue could easily hurt or kill people if you weren't careful. They talked about responsibility, about learning to use our abilities to save people instead of destroying things.
It was a good speech. Heartfelt, even. The kind of thing that would stick with idealistic hero students.
But I was barely paying attention because my electrical senses were going crazy.
I can lightly sense a weird electromagnetic pulse that felt wrong. Like static building before a lightning strike. 'Any second now...'
Aizawa turned toward us, ready to officially kick off the training session. "Well, if that's the case, then—"
The lights flickered and then they died completely, plunging us into darkness for a single heartbeat before buzzing back on with an electric hum.
Both Aizawa and Thirteen immediately tensed, their heads whipping toward the central plaza in perfect sync.
Near the fountain, reality seemed to tear open. A swirling black portal materialized out of thin air, expanding rapidly like a wound in space itself.
A pale hand emerged first—thin, sickly and wrong. Then the rest of the person stepped through. He was covered in severed hands. Literally. They were stuck all over his body like some kind of horrific accessories, with one plastered directly over his face like a grotesque mask. Only his eyes were visible through the gaps.
Behind him, more figures poured out of the portal. Dozens of them. Scores of them. A whole mob of rough-looking criminals and freaks.
"Everyone, get together and don't move!" Aizawa's voice cut through the air like a whip, all traces of his usual bored tone completely gone. His expression had shifted to something deadly serious.
"Wait, is this part of the training?!" Eijiro asked, grinning wide as his fists started hardening into solid rock. "I didn't think we'd get to fight this early!"
A bunch of other students murmured in agreement, looking excited rather than scared.
'Oh, you sweet summer children,' I thought.
"Don't move!" Aizawa shouted again, yanking his goggles down over his eyes. "This isn't training. Those are real villains!"
"Villains?!"
The word hit the class like a physical blow. All the excitement evaporated instantly. Some faces went pale and eyes went wide. A few students actually stepped back instinctively.
'Of course they're freaking out,' I thought, watching the panic ripple through my classmates. 'None of them have ever fought a real villain before. Sparring with each other in class is completely different from facing someone who actually wants to hurt you.'
Suddenly, someone grabbed my hand. I blinked and looked down to see Momo standing close—way closer than usual—her fingers wrapped tightly around mine. Her face was pale, but she was clearly trying to stay calm.
'She's scared.'
I squeezed her hand gently, giving her what I hoped was a reassuring look.
She glanced up at me, her dark eyes wide and uncertain. I gave her a small nod. 'Don't worry. It'll be fine.'
On my other side, Emma Akane had moved in closer too, though her expression was different—sharp, focused, her eyes locked on the villains below like a predator sizing up prey.
'Interesting,' I filed that away for later analysis.
I turned my attention back to the plaza. By now, nearly seventy figures had spilled out of that black portal—a chaotic flood of criminals crashing into our reality. Most of them were trash-tier thugs with faces I'd never seen and would never need to remember. Weak and disposable. Very much cannon fodder types.
But three of them stood out.
First, the guy covered in hands—Shigaraki Tomura. The man-child himself. The walking temper tantrum with a god complex and daddy issues.
Second, the living black mist—Kurogiri. The warp-gate villain. Sad backstory or not, the guy was legitimately dangerous.
And third... a massive humanoid creature with exposed purple skin, a brain visible through its skull, and a bird-like beak. It is Nomu. The anti-All Might bioweapon. By far the strongest thing in this building.
"B-but how?!" Eijiro stammered as his usual confidence shaken. "There's no way they could break into a hero school!"
I kept my voice calm and steady, making sure everyone could hear me. "There's always a way to get past security, Eijiro. Remember what I taught you—nothing's unbreakable." I nodded toward Kurogiri. "That smoke guy down there. Pretty sure he's a teleporter. This is either an ambush targeting all of us, or they're after someone specific."
'Technically they want All Might,' I thought. 'But good luck with that, idiots. He's not even here.'
Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes flicked to me, then back to the villains. When he spoke, his voice was cold and analytical. "If that's true, then this situation is worse than it looks. The facility's sensors didn't detect them, which means someone's jamming the signal or they bypassed security entirely. They attacked precisely when our class was scheduled to be here—and this facility isn't used often, which means they had access to our class schedule. They planned this." His gaze hardened. "They cut off our communications and trapped us here on purpose."
'Damn,' I thought with genuine respect. 'Todoroki just took the words right out of my mouth. Be proud, Half-and-Half. You just beat a speedster to the analysis.'
Aizawa pulled out a small communicator and frowned hard when nothing but static came through. "No signal. You're right, Todoroki. This was planned."
Todoroki gave a curt nod. "And if it was planned, they have a specific goal and probably a way to achieve it."
Down in the plaza, Shigaraki was scratching frantically at his neck, his fingers digging into the dry skin with disturbing intensity. "Where is he...? I was told he'd be here... where's All Might...?"
Aizawa stepped forward, his capture weapon unfurling slightly. "Thirteen, start evacuating the students. We can't reach the school from here, so get them out of the facility—now."
Midoriya's eyes went wide with panic as his voice cracking. "Sensei! You're not gonna fight them alone, are you?! Even with your Quirk, there's too many of them! Your whole fighting style is built around one-on-one combat—erasing Quirks and capturing individuals. You won't make it in a straight brawl against this many!"
Aizawa's expression didn't change. "Pro heroes aren't one-trick ponies, Midoriya." He glanced back at Thirteen. "They're yours. Protect them."
And then he just launched himself down the stairs with his capture weapon streaming behind him like white ribbons.
I let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "For a guy who's always going on about being rational, that was pretty damn irrational."
'Well,' I thought, feeling the electricity already crackling beneath my skin, 'guess it's my turn.'
I activated Raijin Drive and immediately yellow electricity exploded around me in a brilliant aura, crackling and snapping across my entire body. Energy surged through every cell, every muscle, every nerve. The world around me immediately shifted, sounds stretching out into low, distorted hums.
Everything slowed down. Not stopped—just slowed to an absolute crawl.
I called this perception shift Flash Time—a little homage to the OG Flash. When I moved at super speed, the world appeared to move in slow motion relative to me. Time didn't actually stop, but from my perspective, it might as well have.
Aizawa was frozen mid-leap, his body suspended in the air, his capture weapon trailing behind him in elegant arcs that moved like molasses.
The villains below were moving at a snail's pace, their faces twisted with bloodlust and malice, their weapons raised, their Quirks activating in extreme slow motion.
Kurogiri's black mist was swirling like thick syrup being poured. Nomu stood there like a grotesque statue, waiting for orders that would take several seconds to reach its brain.
My classmates behind me were still processing what was happening, their expressions just beginning to shift from confusion to alarm.
'Alright,' I thought while rolling my shoulders and cracking my knuckles. 'Time to wrap this whole arc up in one chapter. Sorry, canon, but I don't have the patience for a multi-episode battle.'
I gently pulled my hand free from Momo's grip—she wouldn't even notice until I was done—and did a few quick stretches.
Then I moved and blurred past everyone in a streak of yellow lightning, past Aizawa's suspended form, and shot down the stairs like a bolt from the heavens.
My first target is Kurogiri. He was their escape route, their safety net, their exit strategy. Take him out, and they were trapped like rats.
I rushed toward him, electricity crackling at my fingertips. His neck—the one physical part of his body that couldn't turn into mist—was wide open. A clear weak spot and practically gift-wrapped for me.
I slammed a lightning-charged fist directly into the metal brace around his neck.
CRACK!
Electricity surged through the metal collar and into whatever kept him conscious. I watched in slow motion as the current fried the delicate machinery, saw his eyes widen behind that yellow glow, saw his misty form destabilize and collapse inward.
'One down. Exit sealed.'
I ignored Shigaraki and Nomu for now—they could wait their turn.
Instead, I turned to the horde. Seventy-five villains, all frozen in slow motion, completely unaware that death—or at least unconsciousness—was about to rain down on them.
I grinned like an absolute maniac. 'You idiots thought you were trapping us in here. Nope. You're trapped in here with me.'
First up is a big dude with stone skin and a mohawk that screamed "discount anime villain." He was mid-step, one massive fist raised, probably planning to smash someone's skull in.
I drove a supersonic punch into his gut. Physics is beautiful. Speed equals force. My fist, moving at these speeds, carried kinetic energy that would make a freight train jealous. His stone skin cracked from the impact, spiderweb fractures spreading across his abs.
In real-time, he'd be flying backward. In Flash Time, he just started to slowly crumple, his face beginning its long journey toward an expression of absolute agony.
Next is some wannabe speedster wearing rocket boots, flames just starting to ignite from the jets at his heels. He was grinning, probably thought he was hot shit.
I swept his legs mid-"sprint"—which from my perspective looked more like a pathetic crawl.
His face met the ground in extreme slow motion. I could actually see the exact moment his expression changed from smug confidence to "oh shit." His rocket boots sputtered pathetically, smoke beginning to pour out as the impact damaged the mechanisms.
'Not fast enough, buddy. Not even close.'
Then an edgelord with a fire Quirk—flames already sprouting from his hands, his mouth open mid-shout in what would probably be some cringey villain catchphrase like "Burn in hell, hero scum!"
I jabbed him in the solar plexus with a lightning-charged strike.
I watched the electricity slowly spread through his nervous system in beautiful branching patterns, short-circuiting every nerve cluster it touched. His eyes started rolling back into his skull. 'Lights out, edge lord.'
A woman with blade arms was mid-swing at empty air—probably planning to charge forward and slice up some students. Her bladed limbs gleamed wickedly in the overhead lights.
I was already behind her before her swing even completed its arc.
One precise tap to the back of her head—I added a little spark of electricity for good measure—and watched her eyes glaze over in slow motion. 'Night night, lady.'
Then a muscular bastard with four arms was reaching out, all of his limbs extended like he was planning to grab multiple students at once. Creepy as hell.
I ducked under all four arms—felt like playing the world's slowest game of limbo—swept his tree-trunk legs out from under him, and hit him with a solid taser-level shock to the chest. All four arms started spasming.
One guy—a particularly creepy-looking bastard with a disgusting leer on his face—was eyeing Ashido and Hagakure with intent that made my blood boil.
'Oh, hell no.'
I pivoted mid-run and delivered a full-force kick straight to his family jewels and put some extra electricity into that one. 'Say goodbye to future generations, you perverted piece of shit.'
A guy with a gun was raising it with his finger already on the trigger, aiming toward where my classmates stood.
I disarmed him before the barrel even finished rising, bent the gun into a pretzel shape, and left him unconscious with a light shock to the temple.
Then I started getting creative. One guy got his shoelaces tied together in an elaborate knot before being knocked out—he'd trip the moment time resumed.
Another got his pants pulled down to his ankles before receiving unconsciousness via forehead flick. A third got hit so fast he'd spin like a top when time went back to normal before collapsing in a dizzy heap.
A fourth took a lightning-charged flick directly to the forehead—cartoon style. I was pretty sure I saw a little spark jump between my finger and his skull.
'This is actually kind of fun,' I admitted to myself. 'Is that bad? That's probably bad. Oh well.'
I repeated the process. Punches, Kicks, Shocks, Takedowns and disarms. Some villains got hit in pressure points that would leave them paralyzed for hours. Others got their weapons shattered or bent into useless scrap. A few got their egos shattered along with their consciousness.
One by one, they fell. All seventy-five villains were completely down within two seconds.
I zipped back up the stairs to where Aizawa was still frozen mid-leap and deactivated Flash Time.
The world lurched back to normal speed with an almost physical sensation.
Aizawa twisted in mid-air with perfect form, landed in a ready crouch, his capture weapon already unfurling and immediately froze.
Every single villain—except Shigaraki and Nomu—was sprawled across the plaza floor. Some groaning and twitching. Some were still crackling with residual electricity. Others were clutching various injured body parts and whimpering. A few were unconscious with their pants around their ankles.
Kurogiri was face-down near the fountain with smoke rising from his damaged collar, completely unconscious.
The plaza looked like a disaster area—which, technically, it was designed to be. But now it was filled with people instead of training dummies. Villainous people, sure, but still.
Aizawa's head slowly turned toward me, his eyes wide behind his goggles. If he couldn't figure out that I was the one responsible for taking down seventy-five villains in two seconds flat, he didn't deserve to be a teacher—or even be considered sane, honestly.
I shrugged with hands casually in my pockets. "What? You wanted me to wait ten chapters for this fight to finish? Sorry, Sensei, but I don't have that kind of patience." I flashed him a cheeky grin. "It's the downside of being a speedster—everything else moves so slow."
"Kaminari—"
"Also," I cut in while holding up one finger with my most innocent expression, "you didn't actually order me not to attack them. You just told Thirteen to evacuate everyone. Technically speaking, I didn't disobey any direct commands." I paused. "Just remember that detail when you're writing your incident report."
His eye twitched.
Behind me, the class had been completely silent. Then—
"KAMINARI, YOU BASTARD!" Bakugo exploded, trying to shove past Eijiro with murder in his eyes. "YOU TOOK THEM ALL OUT BEFORE I COULD EVEN FIGHT?! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
"Calm down, man!" Eijiro held him back, though he was grinning like crazy. "That was so manly! Did you see how fast he moved?!"
"DENKI, THAT WAS AWESOME!" Mina was literally jumping up and down with her eyes sparkling. "You were like whoosh and they were all just boom and—oh my god, that was so cool!"
Todoroki was staring at me with this look of genuine respect—and maybe a hint of competitive fire starting to burn in those heterochromatic eyes.
Momo's mouth was hanging open, her hand still hovering in the air where mine had been moments ago. Her face was turning progressively redder as the realization of what she'd just witnessed sank in.
Emma Akane's eyes were wide, her expression unreadable but definitely intense.
Midoriya had descended into full mumble mode, his mouth moving a mile a minute as he frantically scribbled in that notebook of his.
Wait—did he seriously pull out a damn notebook and start writing in just two seconds? Damn… I underestimated him.
Thirteen just stood there, completely stunned, her helmet tilted at an angle that somehow conveyed utter shock.
Down in the plaza, Shigaraki's eyes—visible through the gaps in the hand covering his face—went wide.
He looked at Kurogiri's smoking, unconscious body, then at the seventy-five groaning villains scattered everywhere like discarded trash and then back at me.
He started scratching his neck frantically, his fingernails digging into the dry, cracked skin. "What... what the hell..." His voice was rising. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
I disappeared in a flash of yellow lightning. Before he could even process my movement, I was standing directly in front of him, so close I could count the cracks in the dried skin on his neck from all that nervous scratching.
"Sorry, man-child," I said, "But game over."
His eyes widened behind the hand mask, genuine fear flashing across what little I could see of his face. Then I unleashed a concentrated bolt of electricity straight into his chest.
BZZZZT!
The current surged through his body. Every muscle locked up simultaneously. His nervous system overloaded completely, synapses firing randomly as the electricity scrambled his brain's signals. His eyes rolled back until only the whites were visible.
'Night night, Shigaraki. Dream about your daddy issues.'
He started falling, his body going completely limp. But even as he collapsed, his mouth moved, barely forming words through paralyzed lips. "Nomu..." he rasped, "Kill... everyone..."
Then he hit the ground with a dull thud, his body twitching slightly as residual electricity sparked across his skin.
I stood over his unconscious form with electricity still crackling around my fists but behind me, I heard it.
A low, guttural growl that made the air itself vibrate.
The massive, brain-exposed monstrosity that was Nomu slowly turned its head toward me with mechanical precision.
Its eyes—completely blank, utterly empty, like staring into the void where a soul should be—locked directly onto me.
And then it moved. The ground cracked under its feet as it launched forward, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
'Well,' I thought, watching several tons of bioengineered murder beast charging at me like a freight train, 'this is gonna suck...'
I grinned. '...for Nomu, of course.'