Dante was extremely late for school.
He wasn't just snooze button late. He was sprinting at full speed down the sidewalk, slipping past early morning crowds, weaving between students and workers with a half eaten energy bar hanging between his teeth and his school blazer flapping behind him like some flag.
He hated being late.
The sky was overcast, the kinda grey that just ruined someone's day. And well, everything felt tense. It wasn't the weather. It was something else. Something was crawling beneath the surface.
He rounded the corner near U.A. high, and stopped dead in his tracks.
"The hell?"
Cameras, reporters, boom mics, flashing lights, people yelling questions and trying to push through the crowd.
Dante could see that the schools security measures were active and one of the barricades were completely turned into dust.
His eyes narrowed and his antennae slowly extended. The large metal barricades were fully deployed, they were huge.
"Something must've happened…"
Something was definitely off.
Then Dante glanced to the far end of the gate, his senses warning him of intense danger.
He saw a figure walking away with his hands in his pockets.
He slipped past the edge of the crowd and into some nearby alley. He was wearing a black shirt and pants, he seemed normal. but there was something off about the way he moved, slow, twitchy and deliberate.
Dante moved fast, following behind.
He didn't know why he decided to follow, but everything screamed at him to follow that man.
He pushed through the edge of the gathered crowd and crossed the sidewalk, ignoring the noise behind him.
Dante turned into the alleyway just seconds behind the man, as quiet as he could be.
The sounds of the crowd faded behind him.
The alley stank, wet stone, old grease, something metallic and bitter. It was just like any other alley.
But there was something different, that man. He was about ten feet ahead now. Dante slowed his steps, barely breathing, letting his quirk slowly augment his muscles, ready to move at any second.
He watched.
The man didn't rush. He simply walked, head tilted, shoulders slouched forward like some puppet.
Then—
The figure paused.
He didn't turn around.
He just stopped.
A hand slowly rose, one covered by what looked like another hand, stretched tightly over his face like some grotesque mask.
Then he turned his head, as if he could feel Dante watching.
"…Someone curious is following me," the man said with a croaky voice.
Dante still didn't move.
Not yet.
He would move at the perfect moment.
The man took a slow breath, visible in the cold air. Then, he chuckled. Just once. A brittle sound.
"You're a sharp one. That's good," He whispered. "It'll make breaking all of you that much more entertaining."
And with that, he was enveloped in a dark purple mist.
Dante moved quickly, his arm transformed into a spear and stretched forward, just barely managing to scratch the man before he vanished.
He retracted his arm.
"Who the fuck was that…"
He didn't know who that was, but something inside him twisted.
That man wasn't just dangerous, that man was rotten. He was wrong. Like a virus in human skin, he could tell.
And Dante could also tell they would meet again.
…
…
Dante leapt over the barricade and sprinted into the school, he didn't bother coming up with an excuse for being late. If Aizawa said anything, he'd just brush it off.
When he finally got to the class, the lights were already dimmed. Aizawa stood at the front, half buried in his sleeping bag, eyes visible through his mess of hair.
"…So, to repeat for the latecomer," Aizawa drawled without looking, "We're heading off campus today. Rescue training at a special facility meet outside in costume in ten."
Dante gave a lazy salute, debating wether or not to tell Aizawa about the suspicious man, but in the end he decided to keep it to himself. He got to his seat and sat down, then he leaned back as if he'd been there the whole time. A few students glanced at him, Some even looked annoyed for some reason.
Izuku turned slightly in his seat and gave him a quick thumbs up, saying, "You got here eventually!"
Dante nodded back. "Yeah, I got held up with some weird stuff…"
…
Ten minutes went by and the class gathered outside. Dante was wearing just a pair of red shorts, that's it. He wasn't particularly cold, he was used to dealing with temperature problems by now.
They all boarded the bus together. It was one of those open lane layouts with seats along the sides. The second Dante entered, the noise dropped a bit.
He ignored it.
"Hey, Todoroki right?" He said, spotting the split hair coloured hair edgy kid half asleep against the window. "This seat taken?"
Todoroki cracked one eye open. "Not really."
Dante dropped into the seat next to him, it was pretty far away from the noise and the only seat he'd be able to sleep peacefully in.
Izuku was rambling the whole time, talking excitedly about the lesson, referencing specific missions like some nerd. People chimed in and Dante learnt about the day.
Iida became class rep.
There was a huge commotion with news reporters.
A pretty interesting day, that Dante had missed…
He didn't say anything though. He just fell asleep.
But he was still alert, he knew something was up.
…
…
After a while, the bus came to a stop infront of some huge dome like building. Even Dante, who had been asleep for most of the ride, raised an eyebrow as he got off.
"…So this is the training facility?" He muttered, kinda impressed by the view.
Iida stood next to him, trying to analyse the situation. "It seems to be a state of the art facility meant to simulate all kinds of disaster zones!"
"Right," Dante said dryly.
As they approached, a tall woman in a large space themed hero suit stood near the entrance, waving.
"Hello class!" She greeted, her voice was very light and enthusiastic. "I am Thirteen! And I will be your guide today."
Dante blinked. "Oh? Thirteen? Like the thirteen? Black hole fingers?"
Thirteen had been one of the many heroes that Dante had studied, she was one of his favourites because of her very powerful quirk. But Aizawa was still his No.1
"Yep, that's me!" She said cheerfully, clearly used to the reaction.
Thirteen then lead the class inside while explaining the purpose of the U.S.J. facility. Zones modeled after many natural disasters, or just disasters in general like shipwrecks, floods, earthquakes, fires, pretty much every kinda disaster a hero might face.
"Being a hero," She continued, "Isn't always about defeating villains. Sometimes, it's about protecting people when everything else is falling apart."
Dante folded his arms as they walked into the massive interior. His eyes scanned every inch of the sprawling simulation zones. It was massive. A whole world inside this dome.
"This is actually kinda cool," he admitted beneath his breath.
Aizawa finally stepped forward. "Okay, everyone, listen up. This is training, but please treat it seriously. You'll be broken up into pairs and assigned zones to practice rescue scenarios. It's not a competition."
As he spoke, a strange flicker of energy sparked at the centre of the dome—Dark purple mist in the shape of a warp gate.
Dante noticed it first, "The hell is that?" He asked, his posture straightening.
The flickering grew into a swirling vortex. From it stepped a man dressed in black, hands trembling, face covered with a mask in the shape of a hand. Beside him appeared a huge beast of muscle and beak, and many others in strange outfits followed them out.
The room tensed.
"Has it already started?" Someone asked.
"Villains?!" Someone else gasped.
"They're not supposed to be here…" Thirteen said, her usual cheery voice gone, replaced with a sharp tone.
Aizawa didn't hesitate. His scarf started to flow and he spread his arms wide.
"Everyone get back," he ordered as he put his goggles on. "All of you stay behind thirteen. Thirteen can you evacuate them?"
Dante's fists clenched and his eyes began glowing. That was the man from the alley.
That was definitely him.