The bus ride to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint (USJ) was surprisingly peaceful, considering it was about to be the site of a massacre.
I was slumped in my seat, head leaning against the window, watching the scenery of Musutafu blur by. Ochaco was chatting animatedly with Deku and Iida about rescue maneuvers. To my left, Momo was reviewing her notes on chemical structures.
"Uraraka-kun," Asui said, her big eyes blinking at me. "I usually say whatever is on my mind. Your Quirk... it's very different from your sister's, isn't it?"
I opened one eye. "She's 'Zero Gravity.' I'm 'Anti-Gravity.' She removes the weight; I remove the law. Why? You think I'm more of a villain type?"
"No," Tsu croaked thoughtfully. "But yours feels... heavier. Even when you're making things float. It feels like you're forcing the world to listen to you."
"That's a deep take for a Tuesday, Tsu," I chuckled, though her words hit a bit closer to home than I liked. Cursed Energy was, by definition, an imposition of one's will on reality. It wasn't "natural" like a Quirk.
"Quiet down," Aizawa's tired voice cut through the bus. "We're here."
The USJ was a masterpiece of engineering—a massive dome containing shipwrecks, landslides, and fire zones. The Space Hero, No. 13, stood at the entrance, giving us a speech about the "dangerous" nature of our powers.
"Powers can easily kill," No. 13 said.
'No kidding,' I thought, looking at my hands. 'I've spent ten years making sure I don't accidentally turn someone into a meat-paste.'
Just as we were about to start the training, the central fountain in the plaza began to sputter. A void of purple-black mist opened up, swirling like a drain in reality.
Aizawa froze. "Gather together and don't move! No. 13, protect the students!"
"Is this part of the training?" Kirishima asked, leaning forward.
"No," I said, my voice dropping an octave as the hair on my neck stood up. "That's not training. That's the real thing."
My Cursed Energy reacted instinctively. It didn't just hum; it growled. I could feel the malice pouring out of that mist. Scores of villains stepped through, led by a man covered in severed hands and a towering, bird-headed nightmare with its brain exposed.
"Eraserhead and No. 13," a raspy voice drifted up from the plaza. "The schedule said All Might would be here. Why isn't he here?"
"They're Villains," Aizawa hissed, pulling his goggles over his eyes. "Actual Villains."
Before we could retreat, the mist villain—Kurogiri—appeared in front of us, blocking the exit. "I am afraid we cannot allow you to leave. We are the League of Villains, and we have come to snuff out the Symbol of Peace."
Bakugo and Kirishima lunged forward, trying to blast the mist, but it was a trap.
"Begone," Kurogiri whispered.
The purple mist exploded outward, swallowing the entire class. I felt the familiar sensation of a warp—a sickening pull on my internal organs. I reached out, trying to grab Ochaco's hand, but the space between us warped.
"Kanata!" she screamed.
"Stay calm, Ochaco!" I yelled back, just as the floor disappeared.
I fell through a void and slammed onto something hard and cold. I rolled, immediately coming to my feet and flaring my Anti-Gravity System in a three-meter shell around me.
I looked around. I wasn't at the entrance anymore. I was in the Downpour Zone, surrounded by half-submerged buildings and heavy rain. And I wasn't alone.
"Well, well," a villain with a mutation quirk—some kind of jagged rock-man—sneered, stepping out of the shadows. "Look what the mist brought us. A little brat in a fancy suit."
He was followed by six others. They were low-level thugs, the kind of "Negative Energy" bottom-feeders that usually didn't bother me. But there were six of them, and I was in a flooded zone where my footing was slippery.
I sighed, wiping rain from my eyes. "Look, guys. It's been a long day, and I haven't had lunch. Can we just skip the part where you monologue and I embarrass you?"
"Kill him!" the rock-man roared.
I didn't smile. I didn't laugh. For the first time, I let the "simple kid" persona drop. I tapped into the cold reservoir in my gut, letting the Cursed Energy flow until the air around me began to distort.
"Fine," I whispered. "Let's see how you handle 'Weightless' in a flood."