Five Minutes Earlier ... Wind howled across the cliffside, carrying with it the scent of damp earth.
Several of class 1A's members looked over the edge. Down below, the only thing that could be seen was a small clearing leading into a dense forest.
Far unto the distance was a large stretch of land.
"…Um," Kaminari began. "so … where exactly are we?"
He leaned slightly out of the bus doorway, squinting at the endless stretch of trees and uneven terrain.
"Because this doesn't look like a rest stop."
"It could be," Sero said, stepping down behind him and stretching his arms overhead. "I mean, it's empty but it looks like the kind of place a few people can have a picnic at, you know?"
"That sounds like a very depressing rest stop."
Shoji followed after them, quiet as always, his gaze sweeping the surroundings with a level of awareness most of his classmates clearly lacked. "… It's too isolated."
"Thank you," Kaminari pointed at him. "Exactly. That's what I'm saying. Where are the vending machines? The snacks? Hell, there should be some random old guy selling meat skewers."
"I'll say. There isn't even a bathroom. Hey Yuta! What do you make of this?"
'Huh?' Yuta who had just stepped out of the bus with headphones on looked up slightly confused.
Heading the question again, his eyes scanned the vicinity. Yeah, this wasn't a rest stop.
"If this is a rest stop, then whoever designed it hates people."
Kaminari snorted. "See? That's what I'm saying!"
"Also," Yuta added, "there's no signal."
Kaminari froze. "…Don't joke about that."
"I'm not." Kaminari immediately pulled out his phone. Stared at it. Turned it sideways. Raised it higher.
"…No bars." Yuta watched as the boy slumped to his knees and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. How did these people have so much drama?
"You do remember that we're supposed to be out here for further training right?" Jiro uttered from the side, adjusting her earphones jacks as she looked around. "Also, where's class 1B?"
"Please refrain from leaning over the edge!" Iida snapped, already chopping the air. "This is clearly a hazardous environment!"
"Man, you say that like we didn't just notice," Sero muttered, taking a small step back anyway.
"Hazardous is an understatement," Jiro added, glancing toward the tree line. "This place feels… off. Don't you think Yaomomo?"
"Well ..."
"Alright, that's enough." The voice cut cleanly through the chatter. Aizawa stepped into view, hands in his pockets, expression as tired as ever.
The class straightened almost immediately.
"You're not here to sightsee," Aizawa said flatly. "You're here to train." A few people exchanged looks.
"So it wasn't a rest stop…" Sero muttered under his breath.
"No kidding,"
Aizawa gestured lazily behind him. "You'll be working with a pro hero team for this camp."
Right on cue—
"Ta-da!" A voice burst in from behind. Everyone turned to see several figures emerge from a black car that had been parked there by who knows who for how long. "Yoo-hoo!" Two put on a full dance display.
"The Wild, Wild Pussycats have arrived!" the energetic one announced with a grin. Leaving everyone more or less stunned. Midoriya's eyes lit up immediately. "Wait—seriously?!"
"Of course seriously!" she placed her hands on her hips proudly. "Name's Pixie-Bob! Terrain specialist, earth manipulation, chaos enthusiast ..."
".... and noise complaint," the other added dryly.
Pixie-Bob gasped. "Mandaaalay, you wound me."
Mandala ignored her, stepping forward with a polite nod. "We'll be assisting with your training during this camp. Please follow instructions carefully."
The third was a kid who stood to the side and said nothing.
"These are pro heroes who will be working with us for the duration of this training camp." Aizawa added will bowing slightly. "Nice to see you again."
"Hey Eraser. Long time."
"Indeed." He raised his head and returned to addressing the class. "This training camp is taking place on their private property. As you all know, the country is in a precarious state right now, hence there are few safe places for you outside of U.A. This is one of them."
Uraraka looked surprised. "Hold on, ... They own the land we will be training on?"
"Yep." Mandalay replied with a smile and pointed outward. "The entire stretch of land this way is our property. You guys will be staying at the foot of the mountain down that way."
"So far?" The entire class exclaimed.
"Hold on ... If we need to get down there then ... Why are we over here?" Kirishima asked.
"Ribbit. You don't mean .."
"Yep." On the side, pixie bob clapped her hands once. "Your goal is to get from here—" she stomped the ground "—all the way down to base camp!" She paused for a moment, then she added, with a grin. "At the foot of the mountain!"
Silence.
"…Foot?" Kaminari repeated slowly.
"…Of the mountain?" Sero echoed. A few heads turned very slowly back to the edge. Yuta followed their gaze.
Looked down. Then down some more. Kirishima leaned forward, face changing. "Yo… that's actually really far."
"This has to be a joke right?"
"Sure it is. Why don't we just get back on the bus already?"
"Yeah yeah. Let's do that ... Like right now."
Just as they turned around, the door of the bus shut with a heavy thunk behind them.
"Huh?" Then the engine roared to life.
"…Wait ..." Kaminari turned. "Wait, wait, WAIT ..."
The bus began to move. "HEY!" Sero bolted forward, slapping a hand against the side of it. "YOU CAN'T JUST ..."
The vehicle didn't even slow down. It pulled away cleanly, disappearing down the narrow road it had come from, leaving nothing but dust… and twenty one stunned first-years standing on the edge of a mountain. Dust lingered in the air where the bus had disappeared.
For a few long seconds, no one spoke.
"…We've been abandoned," Kaminari said faintly.
Pixie-Bob clapped her hands together again, far too cheerful for the situation. "Alright! Let's not start crying now. There are no take-backs and no refunds!"
Aizawa didn't even look remotely sympathetic. "You have three hours."
That got everyone's attention. "Your objective is simple. Reach the base camp at the foot of the mountain." His gaze swept across them. "This is not a straight path. The terrain is unstable, visibility is poor, and you will encounter resistance along the way."
"Resistance?" Midoriya echoed.
Pixie-Bob's grin widened.
"Oh, you'll see."
"You are allowed to use your quirks freely." Aizawa added. That turned the atmosphere around. For a second, no one reacted.
"WAIT, REALLY?!" Kaminari shouted.
"In this environment?" Yaoyorozu added, surprised.
"This is private property," Mandalay explained calmly. "In that case, you're free to go all out as much as you wish without any worries."
A few faces lit up. With their quirks, going down the mountain shouldn't be as strenuous as they thought.
"Focus on survival, coordination, and adaptability," Aizawa continued. "If you take this lightly, you won't make it down in time."
Kirishima cracked his knuckles. "Manly."
"This is going to suck," Sero muttered. Yuta, standing slightly behind them, exhaled. Three hours. Terrain-based combat. 'This is the Forest Training Camp repurposed isn't it?'
He had long since realised what was happening the moment they stopped in this place. Well, he could add another event moved forward up the timeline of MHA to the list.
Just then, Aizawa's phone buzzed. Frowning, his hand moved to his pocket, pulling it out. His eyes flicked across the screen ... And narrowed the next moment. The shift was subtle.
But Yuta saw it.
"…Something wrong?" he asked. Aizawa didn't answer immediately.
He stared at the screen for a second longer… then slid the phone back into his pocket.
"Pixie-Bob."
She tilted her head. "Hm?"
"Now."
That was all the cue she needed. Her grin returned instantly, looking at the students with teasing eyes.
"Oh, I've been waiting for that." She lifted her foot, and slammed it down. The mountain side shook in response.
The ground beneath Class 1-A cracked violently, the earth splitting apart as the surface gave way.
"…Huh ...?"
"Oh no .."
"WAIT ...!"
The cliffside collapsed. A large wave of soil, rock, and uprooted trees surged forward like a living avalanche, swallowing the entire class in an instant.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!" Kaminari flailed wildly as he vanished into the landslide. "THIS ISN'T TRAINING ...!"
"IIDA, DO SOMETHING ...!"
"I AM TRYING ...!"
"RIBBIT ...!"
Within seconds, they were gone. Dragged screaming into the forest below as the landslide carved a path down the mountainside.
Pixie-Bob dusted her hands, satisfied. "And they're off~!"
Mandalay sighed. "You enjoy that too much."
"Of course I do." A pause followed.
Then ...
"…Huh?"
Pixie-Bob turned. Yuta was still standing there, exactly where he had been. Practically untouched.
The ground beneath him hadn't even cracked.
"…Oh," she said, eyes lighting up with interest. "So you're the special case."
Yuta glanced down the mountain where the faint complaints of his classmates were echoing.
"…Um," he said, raising a hand slightly. "Sensei, aren't I supposed to be down there with them?"
Aizawa shook his head.
"No."
Yuta blinked.
"This exercise is designed to test their limits," Aizawa continued. "Terrain navigation. Endurance. Adaptability under pressure."
His gaze shifted to Yuta briefly. "You'd just fly to the bottom and be done in under a minute."
"…That's fair." He said, then stopped finding Pixie-Bob circling him slightly like she'd just found a new toy. "You're the one I saw on TV, huh? The special one that fought with All Might."
"Um .. hello."
"Mm-hmm."
Aizawa turned away from the cliff. "For now, you're with me."
Yuta's brow lifted slightly. "…Doing what?"
Aizawa slid a hand into his pocket. "Something came up."
Yuta's eyes narrowed. "…What kind of something?"
Aizawa didn't look back.
"Intruders."
_
Elsewhere — Far from the mountain.
The street was already half-destroyed. Concrete lay shattered across the road. Storefronts had been torn open like paper. Smoke curled into the sky as civilians fled in scattered groups, guided away by lower-ranking heroes trying to contain the chaos.
At the center of it. ... A blur cut through the air.
SHNK—! A slicing sound echoed as something long and white whipped through a concrete pillar, carving it clean in half.
"Dammit—he's too fast!" a hero shouted, cold sweat forming at the sight of the pillar cleaved in half.
"Keep your distance!" another yelled, eyes fixed on the enemy. At the front line, a woman with fiery green hair skidded back, flames running along her arms.
"Don't let him close in! If those blades hit you, you're done!"
Her eyes locked onto the target. It had started over twenty minutes ago as calls came in of villains attacking midday in the city. Many were already dead.
When the heroes arrived, all they had seen was a man in a strait jacket hunched over a civilian corpse on the street. Teeth sunk into it. It had been twenty minutes since then, and six more heroes had joined the fray.
And yet ... 'What the hell ... Are things really this bad?'