It started slowly—just flickers at first.

A silhouette on the rooftop, unmoving against the moonlight. A dark blur in the reflection of a glass panel, gone when turned toward. Security footage sometimes scrambled for a frame, picking up the corner of a coat, a shimmer of static, or a faint glowing line where no source of light should exist.

They called it a glitch. A rumor. Even a prank by Hitoshi or a malfunction in Denki’s own quirk.

But he knew. Denki Kaminari saw it most often. In the dead of night, walking to the kitchen for snacks—something would vanish just past the corridor. Sometimes during training, he’d swear a figure stood far off beyond the U.A. gates, perfectly still, watching through the haze of distance.

He tried to tell Kirishima once. Got laughed off. “Bro, you’re just jumpy. Or overcharging your brain again.”

But he saw it again the next night. Closer. And in that brief second, the figure’s head tilted—acknowledging him. You were that figure.

It gave no name. No sound. No presence beyond the creeping feeling that something powerful was keeping watch.

And not just any something. Something not from this world. It was supposed to be a routine combat assessment—Class 1-A versus Class 1-B. Friendly sparring. Normal. Safe. But safety is fragile in the world of quirks.

The second the match began, a blast tore through the training arena—not from a student, but from above. An explosion of compressed shadows ruptured the walls as Kurogiri’s warp gate spiraled open, vomiting League foot soldiers across the courtyard.

“INCOMING!” shouted Iida, already shielding some of the Class B students. Dabi stepped through fire, fingers already glowing blue-hot. Toga leapt past security, giggling wildly, her blades catching glints of sunlight.

At the heart of it: Shigaraki. He didn’t speak much—just cracked his neck and muttered, “Get the electric one.” Denki was mid-sentence when a cloaked villain tackled him from behind, knocking him into the dirt. A suppression collar glinted in the attacker’s hand.

“Get off me!” he shouted, sparking wildly—until another struck his ribs, knocking the breath from him. Kirishima rushed in, blocking a hit with his body, his arms cracked and bleeding. Bakugou detonated the ground beneath three villains but got caught by Compress’s marbles—stumbling as Toga danced forward, slicing across his cheek.

“D-Don’t let them take Kaminari!” Sero shouted, webbing a few to walls before being knocked down by a pulse blast from Spinner’s modified gear. They were losing. Fast.