Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bakugo sat with his arms crossed. He couldn't believe he was stuck in this shitty situation. Him and a few of his classmates were stuck inside a train for an indefinite amount of time until they can get back home.

Why an indefinite amount of time you ask?

Because the train is in space. And they're in a different universe or galaxy or whatever. And who knows when they'll stumble back into their world.

And it's all Deku's fault for not just taking out the damn Trotter, or whatever it was called, instead of trying to be friends with it.

The blonde huffs as he surveys the parlor car. He sees Jirou sifting through some records near a weird looking phonograph they got on here. The guy with grey hair, Callum(?), is going over how to use it to her.

Tokoyami is with the security guard of the train, drinking tea quietly as the guard writes down stuff on a notebook. He narrows his eyes at the guard. Something's off about him and Katsuki's not sure what it is. But he has this itch to fight him to see how strong he is.

Hagakure went to the back of the train to try on some of that April 6's clothes. Or was it August 5? He doesn't remember but naming someone off of a specific date seems dumb.

He sees the red hair lady and old man on a different table talking about something he can't hear because he's too far from them.

"This train is so cool, Kacchan!" He feels the sofa dip as Izuku takes the spot next to him. "Pom-Pom showed me the rest of the train and it has everything! They'll be preparing our rooms as soon as possible while we're here with the Astral Express."

"Tsk. I really fucking wish we were back home right now. I can't be the number 1 hero if I'm stuck in another damn universe."

Izuku placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know. I'm worried about everyone in UA... I know they must be terrified when we got sucked in to that warp hole. But Murata-san and Yang-san are gonna do what they can to try and get us back."

He gives Izuku a side glance. "Who knows how long that's gonna take. We'll die of old age in here for all we know."

Izuku pouts. "Don't say that, Kacchan. We'll get home before that. I just know it. Besides, think of it this way. We can be heroes of this galaxy! We'll be stopping these Stellarons from causing trouble across worlds."

"Hmph. As long as I'm not cooped up in this damn train and I can kick some asses."

"Guys!" Hagakure rushed over to them with new clothes. "This outfit is so cute! March-san said I can have it! Does it look good on me?"

"I dunno, See-Through. We need to actually see your face to determine that." Katsuki smirked.

Izuku elbowed him. "Kacchan..."

"Ehhh you're so mean Bakugo-kun!" Toru flailed the sleeves.

"It's the damn truth! Whaddya want from me!?" He raised his voice.

Just then, Jirou came over with a big smile on her. "The records they have here is an awesome selection. I'm really digging these two." She holds up a vinyl titled 'Take The Journey' and 'Wildfire'. "Caelus-san is really helpful too. He showed me how to operate the phonograph and the omni-synthesizer."

They looked over to see Caelus pressing buttons on the machine. Not long after, the machine produce what looked like fried rice. Caelus took a spoonful and ate happily.

"Ayo, friends!" Tokoyami walked over with Dark Shadow hovering over him.

"You're pretty brave for sitting with the guy who held a spear at us when we dropped in here." Kyoka said.

"He didn't mind our presence." Fumikage crossed his arms. "The silence between us was a comfortable one." He looks over his shoulder to look at Dan Heng before turning back to his friends in a hushed voice. "Though I sense that he seems to have his own dark shadow looming over him."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Toru asked.

"He probably has his own skeletons in his closet." Jirou shrugs.

"He's very handsome though!" Toru gushed.

Caelus and March also joined in on them. "Hey you five. So, how are you liking the Express so far?" The latter smiled.

"It's amazing!" Izuku's eyes lit up. "I've never seen anything like it!"

Katsuki looked away with a pout. "It's whatever." He won't admit it, but it is pretty badass that a train is traveling across space. And that Izuku's compliment isn't directed at him.

"But where exactly are we going right now?" Kyoka asked.

March tilted her head in thought. "Well, we were originally heading for Penacony. But I think Himeko wants to go back to the space station. Maybe Madam Herta can figure something out about your situation."

Caelus shrugged. "Or she might make test subjects out of you guys like she does with me."

"T-Test subjects?" Izuku said.

"It's not as bad as you think it is. She'll probably have you guys do the simulated universe too. It'll make sense when we get there." Caelus took a spoonful of rice and ate.

Dan Heng went up to the big group. "I'll be heading back to my room. There's still some information I have to add in the data bank." He looks over the newcomers. "If any of you have any questions or wish to gleam some knowledge, drop by the archive room. I'll see what I can do to help."

"W-We appreciate it very much!" Izuku smiled.

Bakugo narrowed his eyes on Dan Heng. He gave off IcyHot vibes and he was not having it.

Dan Heng felt his stare and looked at him. "Is there something on my face, Mr. Bakugo?"

"Tsk. No " He looked away.

Caelus brightened for a second, talking with food in his mouth. "Mm! Oh right! I gotta show you something later, Dern Herng."

March backed away slightly. "Ugh, Caelus! Don't talk with your mouth full."

Dan Heng sighed. He reached up to pluck a piece of rice that was stuck on the grey-head's face. "That's fine. Drop by later."

Caelus smiled with his cheeks full of rice. Dan Heng couldn't help the small smile that formed on his face before he left.

Kyoka and Toru shared a knowing look. Well, as much as they could without seeing Toru's face. They had seen something like that before when it comes to Katsuki and Izuku.

"Oh my. It's getting lively over here." Himeko and Welt walked over to them.

"Murata-san! Yang-san!" Izuku got up.

Himeko waved a hand to him. "Please, there's no need to be so formal. Himeko is just fine with me."

"Please call me Welt as well." He adjusted his glasses.

"Here in the Astral Express, we are family. And since you five will be with us for the time being, you are now considered a part of this family too." Himeko smiled.

"You all can call me March."

"And you can call me the Intergalactic Baseballer." Caelus puffed out his chest.

March rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him. Just call him Caelus. Anyway, I can't wait to set out on our next trailblazing adventure to see how you guys use your... uh, what did you call it again? Quarks?"

"Quirks!" Toru lifted her sleeve. Most likely raising a fist of excitement.

Just then, the intercoms sounded off. "Ahem! Attention all passengers of the Astral Express. This is your conductor, Pom-Pom. We will soon be warping to Herta Space Station in about 5 minutes. Please take your seats to avoid falling over and hurting yourselves."

As the UA kids and Caelus sat together on the sofa, Himeko and Welt sat on the wooden chairs.

"Pff. I don't need to sit down. I've already proven that I'm not gonna fall whenever the express makes jumps." March stood with confidence.

"Really? That's amazing!" Izuku said.

Katsuki has had it. He was gonna get Izuku to sing his praises on this ridiculous adventure they were on, one way or another.

"Tch. I can do that too." Katsuki got up and stood next to March.

"Eh? You're gonna do it too, Kacchan?"

"What, you don't think I can do it, nerd?" He crosses his arms.

"Oh! I wanna try too! Fumi, stand up!" Dark Shadow poked Tokoyami's head.

"That is foolish behaviour, Dark Shadow..."

Caelus shrugged. "I've never actually tried, but I'll join you. Just for the heck of it."

The intercoms sounded to life again. "March! Caelus! Mr. Bakugo! Please take your seats this instant!" Pom-Pom sounded annoyed.

"HAH!? You can't tell me what to do!" Katsuki shouted back. "And that's Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight to you, shortstack!"

"Kacchan! Don't insult the conductor!"

"Shut it, Izuku!"

Himeko giggled as she and Welt watched the youngsters banter amongst themselves.

"Are you sure sending them out with March, Caelus, and Dan Heng is a good idea, Himeko?" Welt studied the scar on the right side of Katsuki's face. "These kids look like they've been through a lot..."

"I understand your concern, Welt. But if these kids say that they're becoming heroes in their universe, then I think they should test their abilities by going on trailblazing expeditions." Himeko nods to him. "I'll always be watching over them even if I'm not going on an adventure with them. You know that."

"Yes that's true..."

"They seem like capable kids. I have faith in them. And we're gonna do our best to get them home."

Jirou didn't intend to eavesdrop on their conversation. But her quirk allows her to hear even the faintest sound like a pin dropping. She smiled to herself. They'll be fine. They'll get back home.

Eventually.

Chapter Text

Flashback

It was a normal day for Class - 2A. Aizawa had the class do an exercise today of 'Villain Catching' in Ground Beta. Half the class would be heroes, the captures, and the other half would be villains, the targets.

The goal is for the heroes to round up the villains before the time limit. The villains must avoid capture until the time limit. But there also has to be more villains than heroes if the villains wish to attain victory. So they can choose to flee or help incapacitate some of their hero classmates. The heroes have to avoid collateral damage in Ground Beta as well, as their points will be deducted. Villains won't receive extra points for destroying property, but can help aid in their escape.

As of right now, it's down to the wire:
3 heroes: Katsuki, Kyoka, Fumikage
2 villains: Izuku, Toru

Kyoka has been a great asset with her quirk. Her earphone jacks allow her to hear sounds around her at an amplified state, allowing her to hear if any of her villain classmates are nearby.

Fumikage works best in the dark due to his Dark Shadow quirk. So he has taken to hide among alleyways to catch his classmates by surprise.

Toru's permanent invisibility quirk allows her to slip by unnoticed throughout the exercise. Yaoyaorozu almost captured her when she created thermal goggles to specifically capture her early on in the exercise. Luckily, Shinsou tricked her with his voice changer support item, hypnotizing her and destroying the goggles in the process.

Katsuki and Izuku took it upon themselves to be the leader/strategist of their respective teams. Both made power plays in aid of their classmates and for themselves.

Bakugo stood at the top of the roof, trying to locate his nerd of a classmate. He left Ears and Bird Brain to capture See-Through.

Besides, if anyone was gonna capture Izuku, it was gonna be him. Plus, he just has this feeling that... they're always bound to find their way back to each other.

Suddenly, he feels a shift in the air. Turning his eyes to the right, he quickly dodged Blackwhip and a series of Air Shots.

He lands in the middle of an empty street, Izuku following suit.

"Hmph. So you ain't gonna chicken out of this huh?" The blonde smirked.

"Of course not." Izuku gave him a determined smile. "When it comes to you Kacchan, I'm not backing out of a 1 on 1." He slams his fist into his palm. "Even if I were to just run from you, I know you'd catch up to me."

Izuku knows his team is at a disadvantage. He'd lose the exercise of he just kept hiding from Katsuki. He trusts Hagakure to try and avoid capture from Jirou and Tokoyami. He has to take down Katsuki if he has a shot to make this a draw.

Ruby eyes locked in with emerald eyes. This was just like their fight in Ground Beta in their first year. But this time is different. There's an understanding between the two of them now. Especially after the war.

"Don't you dare go easy on me, nerd. Or else I'll kill you." Katsuki grinned ferally as he widened his stance.

Izuku raised his arms. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Toru quickly but quietly tiptoed her way through the streets. Izuku placed her in an area where there were plenty of electronics that created sound that can distract Kyoka from trying to locate Toru's footsteps. The heroes would have to destroy the electronics if they want a faster search of Toru. Out in the open where there's light, Fumikage would have a bit of a disadvantage. As well as she can refract sunlight to stun and blind him and Jirou.

"I can't let Midoriya-kun down." She thought to herself. Her gloves and shoes abandoned early on in the exercise.

As she took another step, she felt something prick her bare foot.

"Ouch!" She immediately clamped her mouth shut.

Just then, she caught a quick glimmer on the dark alleyway. Immediately, she jumped out of the way. "WAAHHH!"

Dark energy bursted through from the alleyway, signalling Dark Shadow and Fumikage was nearby. Quick thinking, she twisted her hands to reflect light down the alleyway. For a split second, she saw Fumikage at the end of the alleyway, squinting at the light.

She didn't have time to rest as she jumped to the left to avoid a soundwave from behind her. Kyoka was here too.

"Aww, this isn't fair at all!" Toru got up ready to fight. She sees Kyoka has a pair of thermal goggles too. Damnit, Momo.

"Sorry, Toru. Don't take it personally." Kyoka smiled, ready to send a blast her way.

"Surrender now to avoid further conflict." Fumikage walked out of the shadows with a visor this time. Most likely to avoid getting blinded. His cloak surrounded him and Dark Shadow to avoid the sunlight. Most likely courtesy of Momo again.

She is so screwed.

But she stood her ground. If there's anything she learned from watching her classmates, especially Bakugo and Midoriya, is to never give up. There's always a way to turn things around.

"Come and get me then!" She smiled at them. Not that they could see it.

Izuku and Katsuki traded hit after hit against one another. Adrenaline and excitement pumping through them as they clash.

Only a minute left on the clock. If Izuku can't take down Katsuki, the heroes take the win. 

What can he do to immobilize Kacchan? Perhaps surprise him with a Smokescreen and Blackwhip combo? Gear Shift? Fa Jin? Fake out with Air Shot then Blackwhip?

"I ain't gonna give you a second to strategize nerd!" Katsuki blasted forward at blinding speed.

Izuku was tackled to the ground, face down. Katsuki held Izuku's arms behind his back. The blonde fished out the handcuffs, ready to take in his victory.

"Looks like it's my win, Deku. Now quit squirmin' and hold still."

Izuku did his best to wriggle out from under him. But Katsuki was just heavy with the amount of muscle he's gained.

The greenette expected to feel the cuffs on his wrists. Instead, he felt Katsuki's entire body collapse on him.

"Ack! K-Kacchan...?"

"Mmph!" Katsuki mumbled something incoherently. He felt something heavy land on his head as he was about to put the cuffs on Izuku. He flailed his arms for a second before throwing off whatever fell on him. "GRAAGHH!"

Both boys looked up to see a strange looking... thing? Creature? It was some sort of quadrupedal animal with a black lower body and white upper half. It had a snout that stuck out, some kind of small wings on the side, and pure silvery eyes that on the snout.

"E-Eh?! What is that!?" Izuku said. Both boys got up ready to fight.

"What the hell? Is that a damn Nomu!?" Katsuki grinded his teeth.

There was no way. They had already stopped Shigaraki and All for One during the war. Was there still Nomu hiding around who knows where? Is someone creating new Nomu? This one looks different though. Nomus usually have their brains out in the open. But this one doesn't seem to have a visible brain.

"Squee!?" The... creature was startled by the two boys and began to shake with nervousness.

Just then, the speakers came to life. It was Aizawa. "Bakugo! Midoriya! Don't do anythi-"

"DIE YOU FUCKER!" Katsuki raised his arms and fired a blast at it.

The creature jumped and began running away from them with surprising speed

"OI! GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

"Kacchan! Wait up!"

Toru was butting heads with Dark Shadow as Fumikage ordered the dark entity. Kyoka was a bit ruffled up from a surprise attack from Toru, but she's getting her bearings back. Standing on shaky legs, she can see that Toru and Fumikage are starting to get tired. She's impressed Toru has been able to hold the both of them off.

The timer is counting down. The villains are going to lose at this rate. But Kyoka knows how tenacious Midoriya is and how he can turn the tide to his favor against Bakugo, which can result in a draw. They have to secure the win by beating Toru.

Kyoka got ready to send out another soundwave when the speakers came to life.

"Hagakure! Tokoyami! Jirou!"

The three of them stopped what they were doing and heard the urgency in Aizawa's voice.

"Sensei?" Toru said as she let go of Dark Shadow.

"I'm cancelling the exercise. As of right now, an unidentified creature has appeared in Ground Beta and is currently being tracked down by Bakugo and Midoriya."

"What?! Is it Nomu?" Kyoka said.

"I'm not sure. But stay on guard. I'll be on the way there. If you see Bakugo or Midoriya, assist them in restraining the creature."

"Understood." Tokoyami said.

"Wait. I hear something." Jirou listened for a moment. "I hear Bakugo's explosions. They're coming in fast."

Kyoka turned around and before she knew what was happening, something big and heavy leapt at her obscuring her vision. 

"Ah!" A second after, the something leapt off of her and continued running away. Kyoka nearly fell over until Fumikage maintained her balance.

"Are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah... What was that?"

"GET BACK HERE!" Katsuki soared over the three of them. Izuku leaping great distances to catch up.

"Kacchan wait! Oh!" Izuku stopped and landed by his three classmates.

"Midoriya-kun, what's going on?" Toru asked.

"That strange looking creature... was it a Nomu?" Fumikage asked.

"I'm not sure. Kacchan was about to handcuff me when that... thing landed on top of him. Kacchan became agitated and scared off that creature. So now we're trying to catch it before it can do anything potentially dangerous." He turned his back to them. "I'm sorry but I have to catch up before something happens!"

With that, Izuku leapt off.

"We should hurry too." Kyoka said.

Toru and Fumikage nodded in unison and the three of them were off as well.

Izuku had lost sight of Katsuki and the strange creature. He tried listening for familiar explosions but no avail. The blonde must be searching by foot instead.

"Just what was that thing..." Izuku muttered as he entered an alleyway. If he had to guess, it could be hiding in alleyways since being out in the open would be too exposing.

He hopes Katsuki is okay and not in any danger from that thing. Hopefully the others are okay too.

Izuku was coming to an intersection when he sees the creature come into view. Both of them stood still for a moment, looking at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.

A drop of sweat rolled down Izuku's temple. Should Danger Sense activate, he can dodge right away. But it hasn't gone off yet ever since this thing dropped in on them.

He shouldn't let his guard down though. With that, he makes the first move by raising his arm and launching Blackwhip at it.

"Oink!" The creature reacted just as fast, dodging and running deeper into the alleyways.

"You're not escaping!" Izuku shouted as he made a pursuit for it.

As he continued chasing, the creature kept dodging Blackwhip with ease. He even tried launching a trash can at it to block it's way but to no avail.

Finally, the creature reached a dead end. It scratched the walls trying to find a way out. Hearing Izuku'd footsteps, it turned around and cowered in fear.

"Squee! Oink, oink..." It backed up until it was against the wall.

Izuku slowly and methodically closed the distance, taking quiet and slow steps.

The creature trembled even more and covered it's snout with its arms. Izuku kind of feels sorry for it, but he still shouldn't fall victim to whatever this thing is planning.

"Hey little one..." Izuku called out. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you." He stepped closer and closer then crouched down. "Everything is okay."

It was still cowering. Perhaps this thing is lost. How did it get here is the question. Did it belong to someone?

'How should I approach this?' He thought. The greenette remembered how pet owners would call their cats. He's not sure if would work since it doesn't look remotely like a cat, but it's worth a shot.

"Pspspspsps." Izuku tapped his fingers in the ground to get it's attention.

That seemed to have caught it's attention. "Oink..." It stopped shaking and removed it's arms from it's snout.

Izuku opened his hand to the creature, hoping to show he means no harm (unless he has to). The creature carefully walked forward and sniffed Izuku's gloved hands.

"Squee?" It tilted its head in confusion.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you." Carefully, Izuku petted the creature's side. It stiffened for a moment but it seems to not mind. "See? Everything is okay."

"Oink, oink~" It nuzzled against Izuku's hand.

Izuku smiled. 'Maybe it's not dangerous after all.' He thought.

The creature walked forward and got on Izuku's lap. It seems to have taken a liking to him.

"Haha, you're adorable!" He petted the top of its body.

"Oink, oink!" It flapped it's wings(?) in excitement.

Izuku took it in its arms and stood up. "Okay. Let's try to figure out where you came from and how you got here."

"Deku!"

"WAH-cchan!" Izuku turned to see Katsuki standing at the intersection of the alleyway. Behind him were Hagakure, Jirou, and Tokoyami.

"Omigosh, it looks so cute!" Toru gushed.

"I've never seen an animal like that before..." Kyoka said.

"Perhaps it is a creature made from the depths of darkness and light." Fumikage surmised.

"Doesn't fucking matter. Give it here, Deku." Katsuki began stomping towards him.

"Ah, Kacchan, maybe you shouldn't-"

"SQUEEEE!!!"

The creature freaked out as Katsuki got closer. It leapt out of Izuku's arms and ran towards the dead end. Somehow, the creature summoned some kind of portal on the wall and was heading straight for it.

"A p-portal?!" Izuku said with wide eyes.

"OI! Don't let it escape, Deku!

"R-Right!" He unleashed Blackwhip once more.

As the creature jumped into the portal, Blackwhip followed suit and Izuku can feel that he caught it. But just as he was about to pull the creature back to them, he was pulled forward towards the portal with surprising force.

"AHHH!"

"IZUKU!" Katsuki blasted forward and made a dive, catching Izuku's ankle.

"DARK SHADOW! CATCH THEM!" Fumikage ordered.

"AYO!" Dark Shadow leapt out from the cloak and grasped Katsuki's ankle as well.

Izuku and Katsuki was already pulled into the portal while Katsuki's ankle still stuck out. The force of suction was getting stronger, pulling Fumikage in as well.

"Grk! The void is pulling me in as well!" Gradually, his feet began sliding across the ground.

"Tokoyami!" Jirou grabbed hold of his hand.

"Hang on!" Hagakure did the same.

"HEY! THEY'RE OVER HERE!"

The girls turned to see Kirishima and Kaminari on the far side of the alleyway.

"GUYS, HELP US!" Kyoka shouted.

"WE CAN'T HOLD ON FOREVER!" Toru added.

Aizawa rounded the corner with wide eyes. "Shit!" He cursed and ran forward, launching his capture scarf. Before it can even get close to Jirou and Hagakure, the portal's suction intensified and pulled the five students in.

"NO!" Aizawa yelled.

Collective screams echoed until the portal closed. It was like nothing had happened in this alleyway. The rest of Class - 2A showed up but didn't see what had happened. Kirishima and Kaminari had horrified looks on them as Aizawa fell to his knees, failing to save his students.

With the crisis solved in the Xianzhou Luofu, the Astral Express were on their way to their next destination, Penacony. The trailblazing trio had just finished eating breakfast served by Pom-Pom.

Caelus stretched his arms. "Man, I'm stuffed. Pom-Pom sure knows how to make a filling breakfast."

March rolled her eyes. "You are most of the pancakes. There was barely enough for the rest of us."

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself." Caelus smiled sheepishly.

Dan Heng let out a small smile, feeling the familiarity of his teammates comraderie. He's glad that everyone is able to accept who he is and not what he did in his past life. It will still take some time for him to come to terms with some things but as long as his family won't leave him, he'll be just fine.

The trio opened the door to the parlor car and were ready to sit on the couches. Just then, a portal opened up and a Warp Trotter fell out of it.

"EEK!" March shrieked.

"Whoa! A Warp Trotter dropped in?" Caelus said as he materialized his baseball bat. "Let's crack it open!"

"Squee!? Oink, oink!" The Trotter opened up another portal and escaped quickly. But the portal it came out of was still present.

"Um, did it forget to close that one?" March questioned.

Just then, they could hear screaming echoing in the portal. It was getting closer and the trio got ready for what was about to come out.

"OOF!" A boy with green hair fell face first onto the pristine floor. Then, a blonde haired boy fell on top of him, followed by a crow the size of a human, a girl with purple hair, and a pair of gloves and boots.

"W-What the?!" March said.

Dan Heng was quick to draw out Cloudpiercer. Whoever these people are, they are intruding and could be a danger to his family. Caelus pointed the bat at them as well while March got her bow ready.

"Itai, itai..." The boy with green hair looked up at them. "Ah! C-Chottomattekudasai!"

Dan Heng raised a brow. "Who are you people? And why are you here?"

Soon, the other kids quickly got off the green haired boy and looked like they were going to fight especially the blonde boy with the scar on his face.

"Wait?! Is that a ghost?!" March pointed her bow at the floating gloves and moving shoes. The gloves were raised into fists.

"Is that... a human sized crow?" Caelus pointed his bat at it. The bird glared back at him.

"Omae wa ittai dareda?" The blonde snarled, flexing his fingers.

"Matte Bakugo." The girl with purple hair placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. Getting a closer look, her earlobes extended down to... some sort of earphone jacks? "Kore wa gokai kamo shiremasen."

"Tsk." The blonde locked eyes with Dan Heng.

The language they're using... Dan Heng feels like he heard it before. He thinks he's heard Himeko speak it a couple of times.

Caelus leans into him. "Um, I don't understand what they're saying." He whispered.

Dan Heng holds Cloudpiercer firmer. "I'll ask again. Who are you people and why are you here?"

The green haired boy met his gaze. "Um, we are..." He seems to be thinking hard about what he wants to say. "We are... students at UA."

There's a bit of an accent but he seems to understand English. Students at UA? Doesn't ring any bells on where that is. Dan Heng continued. "What planet are you from?"

That seemed to have annoyed the blonde. "HAH?! What kind of question is that?! Isn't it damn obvious?!" Surprisingly, he can understand and speak English.

"Kacchan, yamete!" The green haired boy tried to calm him down.

"Hold it!"

All heads turn to see the one and only Himeko behind the trio. Welt and Pom-Pom had shown up as well.

"Himeko! Mr. Yang!" March said.

"I heard screaming and yelling so I had to see what the commotion was about." She stepped forward in front of the three to see the five new faces. They stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before getting their guard back up. She then turned to her crew. "March, Dan Heng, Caelus, put your weapons away. There's no need to fight inside here."

The three of them were hesitant at first but followed her instructions. The boy with green hair seems to have perked up when they saw that their weapons dissipated.

Himeko took a good look at the young ones. They all wore such an interesting wardrobe. The floating gloves, girl with long earlobes, and one with the bird head are quite interesting. Though the green haired boy and blonde boy interest her the most. These two had the most visible scars on, especially the blonde boy. Just what in the Aeons happened to these kids.

She felt a cold chill down her spine. Had these kids been... experimented on? Is that why they look the way they do?

Himeko cleared her voice. "I heard a bit of your conversation as I entered. Moshikashite minasan nihonjindesu ka?"

"H-Hai..." The green haired boy answered. Everyone else nodded.

Himeko had asked the kids what happened and how they got here in Japanese. Apparently, a Warp Trotter had dropped in on their world, most likely by accident, and they were unfortunately pulled into it's warp hole. She had also asked where they are from and why three of their companions look... different. Apparently, it is their 'Quirks', as they call it. Their world is some sort of hero society that uses these quirks to stop villains and to save others.

Quirks doesn't sound familiar from the Earth Himeko was from. 'Oh dear... getting these kids home is going to be tricky.' She thought.

"Um, Himeko?" March walked up to her. "What's going on? Who are they?"

She nodded to her then looked back at the kids. "Do you understand English?"

"A bit... We're still learning." The green haired boy said.

"That's good." She then turned to her Astral crew members. "They mean no harm. They were just unfortunately caught in a Warp Trotter's portal that dropped in on their world."

"Oh. So that's why we saw a Warp Trotter drop in here." Caelus scratched his head.

"Hm. This is troublesome now. The Warp Trotter escaped as soon as it saw us." Dan Heng said.

"HAH?! It's not here anymore?!" The blonde raised his voice.

Caelus shrugged. "Sorry. We didn't expect you to drop in here."

"Oh! How rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Murata Himeko. Who might you five be?" Himeko gave them a warm smile to make them feel comfortable.

"Erm..." The green haired boy started. "I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you." He bowed politely.

"I'm Jirou Kyoka." The earlobe girl bowed.

"Tokoyami Fumikage." The boy with a bird head bowed as well.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Hagakure Toru!" The invisible girl waved her gloves.

The blonde boy looked away with a huff. "Tsk. Bakugo Katsuki."

"Um, Murata-san. Where... are we?" Izuku asked.

"Right now, you are on board the Astral Express."

"Astral... Express?"

"That's right. We're traversing the galaxy right now."

"G-Galaxy?!" Toru said in surprise.

"Oh. Have you not looked out the window yet?" She pointed to the giant widows behind them.

The five of them turned around and seem to have froze in place. All they could see was a vast sea of stars in the dark blanket of space.

"EHHHHH?!" They all said in unison and got closer to the window to get a better look.

Welt walked up to Himeko. "I'm guessing there's more to their story, isn't there, Himeko?"

She nodded. "Right. I'll tell you all what they told me. Pom-Pom, do you mind sending them to the dining room and preparing more food for them?"

"Of course! Pom-Pom would be most happy to serve our new passengers!"

Chapter Text

As the express was preparing to dock at the space station, there was a giant blue planet off into the distance that caught the students eyes.

"Amazing... I've never seen a planet like that before." Izuku said.

"That planet is called The Blue." Himeko chimed in from behind them.

"The Blue? That's very... direct." Kyoka said.

"It's a lame ass name." Katsuki huffed.

"This most certainly isn't located in our galaxy." Fumikage said.

"What kind of planet is it, Himeko-san?" Toru asked.

"The Blue is an oceanic planet. Water that represents life and particles that represent energy can be found there. The express has visited there before. Quite beautiful scenery all around. We'll visit it another time though."

The intercom came to life. "Attention all passengers! This is your conductor Pom-Pom speaking. We have officially arrived at Herta Space Station."

"All right. Asta should be waiting for us just right outside. Follow me." Himeko motioned for them to do so.

The five looked at each other for a second before following suit. As they stepped down the ramp, they were met with a young woman with pink hair and a young man with white hair.

"It's good to see the Astral Express again. Miss Himeko, a pleasure as always." She smiled.

"Likewise, Asta. And you too Arlan."

The white haired boy bowed. "It's nice to see you again Miss Himeko."

"I take it these are the newest members of the Astral Express?" Asta regarded the five students.

"That's right. They're the ones I mentioned. I'll leave them to your capable hands for a while, Asta."

She nodded and turned to the students. "Welcome! My name is Asta. I'm the head reasearcher of the space station." The pink haired lady, Asta, bowed to the students.

"Oh, and this is Arlan. He's the head of the security department of the space station." Asta gestures to a tanned skin boy with a scar on his face.

"Hello. Pleasure to meet you." He bows curtly.

Katsuki wonders for a moment how he got a scar on his face. Not to mention being head of the security department looking his age.

"Very nice to meet you!" Izuku smiled and bowed. He was starry eyed that such a place existed in the middle of space

"Himeko has told me about your situation. At the moment, Madam Herta is currently in a meeting, so for the time being, I will gladly be your tour guide of the space station! By the time we are done, Madam Herta will come by and take you in. If you have any questions while we're on the tour, feel free to ask them."

The five students nodded.

"Great! Now, please follow me. While we're walking to our first stop, I'll tell you some things about myself. I was born to a rich family, but taking over the family business didn't really interest me-"

Asta and Arlan lead the way for the students. Himeko watched them with a smile. Caelus hopped off the express and watched them as well.

"You've got an appointment with Herta too?" Himeko turns to him.

"Yeah. Something about a newly added feature in her simulated universe that she wants me to try out." Caelus shrugs. "You think she's gonna have those five do the same thing as me?"

Himeko shrugs. "It's possible. Knowing her and how something new will pique her interest until she grows bored with it. Considering these kids were born with powers called 'quirks', I have no doubt in my mind she's got some plans in stored for them."

"All right, if no one else has any questions, then that concludes the tour of the space station." Asta smiled. "Oh! I almost forgot. Here, these are for each of you."

Asta began handing out what looked like blue cards.

"Um, Asta-san, what is this?" Izuku asked.

"I've given each of you credit cards."

"C-Credit cards?!"

"Well since you've stumbled into our universe, it only makes sense that you have some money in your pocket that is of our currency in this world."

Jirou twirled her earlobe. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Of course! Please don't worry about the details and logistics of it. And if you run into money troubles, come find me. Each of you has 200,000 credits filled in those cards, so don't lose it."

"I-Is this really okay...?" Izuku muttered as he started fretting over the amount in his card..

"Tch. Whatever." Katsuki pocketed the card as he glared at multiple researchers that stared at him and the group. Some looked away quickly when they met his piercing eyes.

"Fumi! Buy me apples with the fancy card!" Dark Shadow waves the card in the air.

"Behave, Dark Shadow..."

"Um, this outfit doesn't have pockets..." Toru felt around the outfit March had given her and couldn't find a single pocket.

"Here, I'll hold on to your card, Toru." Kyoka offered.

"So, these are the new members of the Astral Express that needs my help?"

The students turn to see a rather young woman with long brunette hair, wearing a black attire with a black bonnet. Almost immediately, they noticed how strange her hands and knees looked. It looked very similar to a marionette.

"Ah! Perfect timing!" Asta clapped her hands. "We just finished the tour as well. Allow me to introduce to you Madam Herta, Genius Society member number 83."

"Ugh. Is that the best introduction you can give me?" Herta put her hand on her hips and narrowed her eyes at Asta. "Out of all my accomplishments, that's what you want to mention? What about me owning this space station?"

Asta sheepishly scratches the back of her head. "Hehe, apologies Madam Herta."

Katsuki crossed his arms, unimpressed. "I don't like her already. I hate people who think they're hot shit." He mumbled.

Jirou rolled her eyes and whispered to Toru. "Yet he'll show off just about anything to Midoriya just to sing his praise." Toru giggled in response.

Immediately, Katsuki's face flushed. "SHUT IT, EARS! I WOULDN'T DO THAT!"

"Can the peanut gallery please pipe down? We're having a conversation here." Herta rolled her eyes.

"HAH?! We're the damn guests in this place! This how you treat them?! You're supposed to help us!" Katsuki aggressive pointed at her.

"Kacchan, calm down!" Izuku glanced at some researchers nearby who were staring at the screaming blonde.

Herta waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, we can talk more in my office. Just head down over. I'll meet you there." She pointed vaguely down a direction behind her before turning back to Asta. "Now, about the reports of-"

"OI! DON'T IGNORE US!" Katsuki grinded his teeth as Izuku held him back from doing something violent.

"Does she mean that door over there? At the very back?" Toru pointed to a faraway door.

"Perhaps we can ask the researcher that's over there." Fumikage said.

There is a woman standing by the door. She doesn't seem to be doing anything in particular as she's standing with her hands together. As if she was waiting for... something.

As they made their way over, the students still received stares and looks from other researchers. Mostly at Tokoyami and Hagakure's appearance, or lack there of for the latter. Katsuki sent the researchers withering glares, as if to say 'You got something to say? Say it to our faces.'

"Um, excuse me." Izuku spoke up to the woman.

She turned to them. "Hello, I am Sheila Nova, the guide from the Herta Department of Galactic Geopolitics."

"Nice to meet you." Izuku smiled and bowed. "We are looking for Madam Herta's office. Do you know where it might be?"

"Yes, Madam Herta's office is just straight ahead."

"Thank you! Let's go guys." Izuku lead the way.

Katsuki side glanced back at Sheila. He found it strange that she moved somewhat stiffly. Almost... robotically.

The greenette opened the door and his eyes widened. There were rows of people's faces on holograms that gave a description of them and their placement in the Genius Socoety. Everything was very high tech.

"Oh, here's Madam Herta's hologram." Kyoka touched the panel and Herta's voice started voicing the description on the hologram.

"This is Madam Herta, or better known as member 83 of the Genius Society. In her childhood, she solved the solitary waves theory and the Spark model hypothesis. In her adolescence she found the Sigma Baryons conversion method. In middle-age, she proposed the Herta sequence and published a paper on de-aging."

"In her senior years, she managed to reverse her own age via de-aging, and went on to solve the mystery of the imaginary leakage phenomenon, and even captured and sealed a stellaron. Herta has saved the planet she was on from destruction 19 times and has met the Aeons twice. This space station is her property."

"These achievements that are mentioned seem foreign. Otherworldly knowledge that is unknown to us, aside of de-aging." Fumikage crossed his arms.

"She de-aged herself? Can puppets age?" Kyoka said.

"Hmm... Aeon. I think March-chan mentioned something about that when she was looking for an outfit for me." Toru said.

"Tsk. This all sounds like bullshit." Katsuki said.

"It's not 'bullshit'."

The teens turned to see Herta walking over to them. "Hm, then again I don't expect outworlders such as yourselves to comprehend an intellectual such as myself."

Izuku grabbed Katsuki's arm, signalling him to stop before he regrets doing something. The blonde just gritted his teeth out of annoyance.

"M-Madam Herta, how did you get here so quickly? We didn't see you go through the door." The greenette asked.

"I have multiple copies of these puppets of myself. Six of them to be exact. They're roaming around the space station ensuring operations are running smoothly. By the way, what do you make of them? It's about seventy percent similar to how I looked as a child."

"Well, it's um, very... well made?" Izuku scratched his head. "It looks very life like, aside from the, um, ball-jointed segments."

"Hmph. So in reality, you're just an old hag hiding behind some monitors." Katsuki huffed.

Herta narrowed her eyes at him. "I'd watch that mouth of yours if I were you. Then again, it would be ashame to dispose of you when you can provide so much research potential."

"HAH?! Dispose?! Just try me!"

"Bakugo, stop." Kyoka elbowed him. "Madam Herta, is there anyway you can help us get back to our planet, Earth?"

Toru clasped her gloves together. "We could use the help we can get. We miss our friends and family. We don't want them to worry about us."

"Hmm..." Herta tilted her head in consideration. She then moved towards Toru and took her gloved hand and inspected it. "Very interesting."

"E-Eh?!"

Herta began feeling up where her arm should be, adding pressure to feel muscle underneath her puppet fingers. "You're completely invisible, huh?" She crouched down and pokes where her legs should be.

"W-What are you doing, Madam Herta!?" Toru takes a step back.

Herta gets up and inspects Kyoka's earlobes. She takes them in her fingers and taps the earphone jack.

"H-Hey..." Kyoka winces.

She moves on to Fumikage. He takes a step back as she reaches to tap his beak. Herta then takes his cloak and opens it up, revealing his human body. "So only your head is bird-like..."

"Madam Herta, what is the meaning of this?" He said furrowing his brow.

Dark Shadow peeks out of his torso. "What's going on, Fumi?"

"Who's this?" Herta immediately takes Dark Shadow's head and inspects it.

"Eep! Who are you?!"

"That is... Dark Shadow. My quirk."

"Hm..." She lets go for the shadow entity and moves on to Izuku. She reaches and ruffles Izuku's hair.

"Um, Madam Hert- Ow, ow, ow!" Herta began pinching his cheeks and stretching them in her fingers.

Katsuki leers at her. Who does she think she is touching Izuku like that? She moves on to the blonde and they just stare at each other. He crosses his arms. "What? You gonna do creepy shit to me too?"

She hums before turning away to them. Ahead of her is some kind of computer panel and she starts typing away.

Katsuki grinded his teeth. "Oi! Did you even hear us?! We need help, damnit!"

With one last push of a button, she turns to them. "Of course I did. I just finished doing as you asked."

"Y-You can help us get back?!" Izuku said with anticipation.

She shrugs. "Who knows. All I did was send a signal across the galaxy to see if this planet Earth of yours can receive it. All I did was type in a description for each of you to see if they'll recognize your features."

"Um, is there more you can do?" Kyoka said.

"Not really." She turned back to her monitor and began typing.

"HAH?! That's all you can do?!" Katsuki stomped forward.

"Don't act so special about it. I did the same thing for that gentleman on the Astral Express. What was his name again? Waltz? Walter? Wally?"

"You mean Mr. Yang?" Fumikage said.

"Probably. I haven't gotten a response for his signal yet." She turns to them again. "Besides, from what Himeko told me about your situation, you come from the planet Earth, right?"

"Y-Yes, that's right..." Izuku nodded.

"She also said that your planet is inhabited by people with superpowers called 'quirks'. Is that right?" They nodded to her question. "Well, I've never heard of a planet like that before. So, the logical explanation is that you came from a different universe."

"Different universe..." Izuku muttered.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Ask that Mr. Yang at the express. He says he's from Earth as well. But the Earth he described didn't mention any quirks or things like that. Now..." She walks back to them. "In exchange for my help, with your permission, I would like to ask you to help me in my research."

"Research?" Toru said.

"My research is to understand the Aeons more. At the same time, I would like to understand these 'quirks' that you have. Judging from the scars I can see, especially you and you..." She points to Izuku and Katsuki. "That tells me you've fought tooth and nail with these super powers at such a young age. Not too recently at that."

"Well, yes... You can say that." Izuku rubs his arm, flashbacks of the war came to mind.

The blonde crossed his arms. "So what? You gonna cut us open and dissect us? I don't think so."

"No. I'm going to have you five do the something similar as to what I have Caelus do from the express."

"What's that extra got to do with this?" Katsuki raised a brow.

"Caelus is helping you with research?" Izuku asked.

"Yup. I'm not sure if you already know or not, but he has a Stellaron inside of him. And that intrigues me quite a lot."

"S-Stellaron?!" Izuku's eyes widened.

"Mr. Yang had mentioned that these 'Stellaron' are the Cancer of All World's." Fumikage said.

"Why does Caelus have one inside of him?" Kyoka asked.

"Is he going to become possessed by it?!" Toru waved her arms.

"Right now, it seems to be dormant for the most part. I'm keeping an eye on it while trying to gain answers by having Caelus help me with my research of the Aeons." Herta explained. "So, my offer still stands. I help you with the training of your so called 'quirks' at the same time understanding of how they work, and at the same time you don't get rusty not using your powers."

"How the hell can you possibly help us with our quirks?" Katsuki huffed.

"Easy. I just make an update on the Simulated Universe." She shrugs.

"Simulated Universe?" Kyoka raised a brow.

Herta put her hand on her hip. "Himeko told me that your world is filled with these 'heroes' and 'villains' that use quirks. As the name says, all of you will be placed inside a world simulation where you'll be tasked to do hero things. Such as saving a civilian, stop some bad guys, and all that other things heroes do. With this, you won't have to worry about collateral damage. At least until I add an objective where you have to have minimal destruction of the surrounding area."

Katsuki snorted, knowing his explosion quirk would be terrible in such a situation.

"Let's face it. You guys aren't getting back to your world anytime soon. Might as well take what you can get until the time finally comes for you to return home. By helping my research, you'll be mastering and honing your quirks. Then when you get back to your world, it'll be like you never left." Herta continues typing away.

The students looked among themselves. There was uncertainty between them. Even though it was a tempting offer, can they really trust Madam Herta?

"If we accept, how the hell are you going to contact us? We don't have any way to communicate." Katsuki said.

"Ugh, you haven't gotten your phones yet?" Herta shakes her head. "Whatever. I'll just contact Himeko and let her know."

"Hm? We're getting phones?" Toru looked to Kyoka who shrugged at her.

"Um, can we see what this simulated universe looks like first?" Izuku asked.

"Sure. I can give you a demonstration." Just then, someone was knocking at the door. "Perfect timing. Come in."

A familiar grey head opened the door. "Oh... Is this a bad time?"

"Caelus-san?" Izuku's eyes widened.

"Nope. Just get in here and I'll tell you what to do."

Caelus shrugs and walks towards the giant device in the room.

"Um, what exactly is going on?" Izuku asked.

"Didn't I just say what was happening?" Herta rolled her eyes. "You're going to watch him do a run of the simulated universe. Like I said, it's not going to be similar to what he does. But you'll have an idea what to expect."

A screen appeared before then that showed Caelus inside the simulated world, while his real self is standing with his eyes closed.

"Pressure is on Caelus. You've got an audience watching you."

He smirked. "No sweat."

After showing off what to do in the simulated universe, Caelus left to do some errands for Asta. In the end, the students agreed to Herta's research project as it would prove to be beneficial to them, as Herta explained. It would take some time to create a subsection in the simulated universe to cater to the five students, so the students headed back to the express.

Himeko was waiting for them at the entrance of  the train. "Welcome back. Did everything go smoothly?"

"Well, for the most part, yes." Izuku nodded.

"Tch. That walking puppet did the bare minimum to help us." Katsuki crossed his arms.

"But at least it's better than no help! Plus, the simulated universe is so cool!" Toru raised a fist.

"She said she would keep in touch, but how would she do that? Our phones weren't on us when we got pulled in." Kyoka said.

"The puppet master said she shall contact you, Himeko-san?" Tokoyami asked.

Himeko smiled. "That won't be necessary. I have something for you five. That's why I was waiting for you all. Here you go." She folded out 5 black phones, one for each of them.

"E-Eh!? H-Himeko-san, this must have cost a lot!" Izuku's eyes bulged out.

She giggled. "Don't worry too much about it. I informed the International Peace Corporation of your stay with the Astral Express and relayed your situation to them. They always give these out to people from other worlds. Oh and if you need phone cases, you can send a request to make a custom made one for yourself in the IPC app. As well as stickers and graffiti to decorate your phone."

"T-This is too much... First we get credit cards and now cellphones..." Izuku muttered.

"Ooh! This looks so sleek and modern." Toru started swiping through her screen.

"Is there a Night Mode available?" Fumikage squinted as he searched the Settings app.

"Whoa... there's a large selection of music to stream." Kyoka said.

Katsuki browsed through the contact lists and sees there's a proximity feature that you can add people who are nearby. On the top of the list is Izuku, which he instantly added. Then did the same for everyone else.

"Excellent. Now I can add you all to our group chat." Himeko pressed a few buttons on her phone before the students received a notification.

'You have been added to the group chat: Astral Express Crew'

March 7th:
Woohoo! New members!

Dan Heng:
Welcome

Caelus:
Welcome aboard!

Welt:
:PomPom_Thumbs_Up:

Pom-Pom:
Your conductor welcomes new passengers!

"Omigosh! That sticker is so cute!" Toru gushed.

"You can make customized stickers of yourself by using the IPC app. You can even share them to other people so they can use it. Now, Pom-Pom should be done soon setting up your rooms. You can stay in the express or choose to explore the space station a bit more if you like. We won't be disembarking for a bit as Caelus told me that he's doing some errands for Asta."

Katsuki crossed his arms. "Just so you know, we don't plan on staying with you permanently. We're trying to get back home to our planet. I'm not going to be called a 'Nameless'. I'm going to be the number 1 hero."

Himeko nodded. "Of course, Bakugo. Me and everyone in the express knows that. But while you stay with us for the mean time, we will do our best to make you feel accommodated and that you're part of our family."

"We really appreciate it, Himeko-san." Izuku smiled gratefully with tears threatening to spill.

She giggled. "So polite. No need for the honorifics. Like I said, just Himeko is fine. All right, I'm going to make myself some coffee. If you need me or have any questions, I'll just be in the parlor car."

The five students sat in one of the luxurious comfy sofas while Himeko, Welt, March, and Dan Heng were in there respective rooms. There was a weird silence between the students. Izuku fidgeted in his spot, Kyoka mostly listened to what was playing on her phone, Fumikage had his arms crossed and his eyes closed, Toru hemmed the skirt on her (March's) outfit, and Katsuki stared out of the window watching the stars go by.

"So... this is going to be our life from now." Izuku muttered. "It's so strange how things can change so quickly."

"At least we were transported here and not somewhere bad. Like..." Toru looked out the window. "In actual space... where there's no air..." She mumbled the last part.

"Or a world shrouded in eternal darkness." Fumikage said.

Kyoka snorted. "You'd probably thrive there."

Katsuki couldn't help but feel responsible for the situation they're in. Had they just let the thing escape, they might still be in UA. But no one anticipated that Trotter to create a warp hole that would suck them all in.

When he saw Izuku get pulled into the warp hole, he had flashback to the war where Izuku was taken away from the fight. His body moved on it's own once again this time, his instinct to protect Izuku kicked in. He wouldn't let Izuku out of his sight this time.

They're situation could have been much worse, he realizes. If he didn't act fast enough, Izuku might have been stuck here by himself with these people. Or maybe even with less accommodating ones. And he would have been worried sick, not knowing what was happening to the greenette. Just like the time Izuku left UA.

He lost sleep because of the damn nerd. Not to mention not being there for his birthday. It felt... wrong. It was unsettlingly quiet without Izuku's constant motor mouth.

"Let's just make the most of this." Kyoka spoke up. "Like, a once in a lifetime experience, you know? And when we get back, we can tell everyone what happened."

"I guess so... I mean, it's not everyday we encounter a train exploring the galaxy." Izuku said.

"I'm so curious about what they do!" Toru raised a finger. "They mentioned they do trailblazing expeditions. What do you think that means?"

"Whatever it is, I plan on going. I ain't sticking around on this train the whole time." Katsuki huffed.

"Ah! There you are." The students turned to see Pom-Pom walking up to them. "I have good news! Pom-Pom has finished setting up your respective rooms. You may decorate them however you wish."

"Really?! Thank you so much!" Toru swayed with excitement.

"What shall be the next destination we will venture to?" Fumikage said.

"The next destination is Jarilo-VI. From what Pom-Pom understood, the express crew would like to take you shopping for new clothes for you all to wear."

"Makes sense. I wouldn't want to wear my hero costume all the time." Kyoka said.

"Mhmm. Now if you would, please follow me. I can show you all the locations of your rooms." Pom-Pom jumped with vigor.

Chapter Text

The rooms Pom-Pom showed to the heroes in training were all rather the same blank slate. No decorations or anything. A desk and chair, closet, bed, and a large window to gaze out at the stars in space. Izuku felt a bit homesick without any All Might merch occupying every space in his room. But since this will be his new home for an indefinite amount of time, he'll do his what he can to make it feel welcoming.

Caelus eventually returned to the express after finishing up some requests from Herta and other researchers in the space station. The Nameless once again set off into the galaxies, making another return to Jarilo-VI.

After making the jump, Jarilo-VI was in view once more. The UA kids entered the parlor car with Himeko and saw the white planet with curiosity.

"Whoa... is that snow on the planet?" Kyoka asked.

"That's right." Himeko nods. "That's Jarilo-VI. Although, it wasn't always a frozen planet."

"What do you mean, Himeko?" Izuku looked at her.

"You see, there recently was a Stellaron that had caused this endless snowstorm. As I said before, Stellarons can cause massive changes to civilizations and ecosystems. They also generate distortions in space such as Fragmentums. The people of Belobog, the city located in the planet, had to endure harsh cold climate for over a several millenias. None of the citizens knew what had caused this. So they adapted and did what they could to stay warm."

"That's awful..." Toru said.

"Don't worry. We, the Astral Express, have already dealt with the Stellaron crisis in Jarilo-VI not too long ago. It will take some time for all that ice and snow to melt though."

"Tch. I hate the cold." Katsuki crossed his arms.

Himeko giggles. "You won't have to worry about the cold affecting you all. The Will of Trailblazing protects you from harsh environments. When you step out of the train and into Jarilo-VI, you won't feel the cold at all."

"Hah?! What does that even mean?" The blonde knits his brows together.

"You'll soon find out." March walked up to them with Caelus and Dan Heng behind her. "C'mon! We have to get going! That new sweet shop isn't going to taste itself, you know!"

"We'll still need to traverse through the outlying snow plains to get to Belobog." Dan Heng said.

"Which is why we need to go now!"

"Wait, Himeko, couldn't we just transport directly to Belobog?" Caelus tilted his head.

"That might cause a bit of a stir with the citizens. We can't just drop in at the middle of the city anytime we wanted. It's good to follow each city and planet's entry protocol. It's like entering someone's room: you should knock first before entering. It's rude to just barge in."

Caelus nods. "I guess so."

"Well, you should get going. Don't forget to bring something back for Pom-Pom. They'd really appreciate a gift since they're always taking care of the express."

"Let's go, let's go! Then we can go shopping for new clothes for our new members!" March laughed as she hurried over.

Dan Heng sighs and shakes his head. "I'll never understand where she gets her energy from." He and Caelus followed suit.

"Are you going with us Himeko-san?" Toru asked.

"No, Welt and I will be helping Pom-Pom in maintaining the engine room. You go and have fun. I'm sure you all will get along with those three."

The UA kids nodded and followed the trailblazing trio. They all walked a few cars down until they reached a platform with a device on the ground. "Here we are!" March said. "This is basically another way to enter and exit the express when we can't use the main door."

"Do we just step on it?" Kyoka asked.

"Yup! Once we're all on it, I'll press that green button."

One by one they all stepped on the device. When they were ready, March pressed the button. The device whirred to life and almost instantaneously, a flash of light made the group disappear.

Next thing they knew, they were greeted with a snowy landscape. For the trailblaze trio, not much has changed since the Stellaron incident. The UA kids however, they were surprised at how everything had frozen over.

"Hmm... I don't feel the winter chill." Fumikage said.

"So it's just as Himeko said..." Izuku muttered, flexing his fingers.

"Yup! That's what happens when you follow the path of the trailblaze." March nodded.

"We should be careful as we progress. There could still be signs of Fragmentum monsters nearby." Dan Heng said. "Even though we've taken care of the Stellaron, it will take some time for the Fragmentum to dissipate."

"What do these Fragmentum monsters look like?" Toru asked.

"Well, they come in all shapes and sizes. But the most common ones we've seen are ones that look like bats. There's also ones where... fallen soldiers of Belobog have become infected by the Fragmentum. It's... not a pretty sight." Caelus rubs the back of his head.

"No way..." Izuku said.

"Hmph. Then we just send them back to their graves. I'm itching for a fight." Katsuki rolls his shoulder.

"I hope we don't run into any right now. I've got some desserts to taste! So come on!" March turned and began leading the way.

The group of 8 walked together in the crunchy snow. It was rather peaceful as March made conversation to the UA kids to make them feel invited in the group.

As they conversed, Izuku couldn't help but notice that most of the trees in the area have a lot of large icicles hanging from the branches. Not only that, but some humanoid figure kneeling on the snow has been frozen solid with a spear driven through the chest. Is this how bad a Stellaron can affect the environment?

They continued walking for a bit when Kyoka stopped. "Wait..."

The group turned to her with curiosity. "Jirou-san, is something wrong?" Izuku asked.

"I hear... something." She placed her earphone jacks to the ground. "Underneath the snow. There's something-"

Just then, an arm pops out of the snow, making the group turn around. The arm was covered in a light blue ice as it moves, lifting someone, or something out of the snow. Soon enough, more hands pop out of the snow, lifting out frozen humanoid soldiers in armor.

"A-Are those...?!" Toru said.

"Fragmentums." Dan Heng said as he brandished Cloud Piercer. "Be ready to fight. It seems we won't be able avoid stoking conflict."

March readied her bow as Caelus twirled his bat. Izuku marveled at how they all made weapons appear out of thin air for a moment before turning to the situation at hand. There were a decent amount of them of these soldiers. They all grunted and made rumbling noises as they readied their axes.

"It seems the undead are restless." Fumikage said as he widened his stance.

Katsuki smirks. "I'll send them all back to where they came from."

Caelus turns his head back to the UA kids. "Guess this'll be your test run for fighting monsters. Let's make this quick. I'll make the first move."

"Caelus, don't do anything reckless-" Before Dan Heng could finish, Caelus was on the move.

"Rules are made to be broken, Dan Heng!" The grey haired boy ran into the fray swinging his bat on a monster before it could react. Caelus continued his assault by whacking Fragmentum enemies over their heads.

"March, be ready to support." Dan Heng sighs as he runs ahead to help his companion. 

"Already ahead of you!" March takes some of her six phased ice and throws it to Caelus to protect him from an oncoming frigid axe coming down on him. The ice shields Caelus in time, blocking the axe from connecting. "I don't think so!" March quickly fires an ice arrow to create space between it and Caelus.

Caelus follows up with a swing of his bat, knocking it out instantly. He turns to smile at March. "Thanks March!" He focuses on the next one and goes for them.

"Stop leaving yourself wide open!" March calls out as she shoots another arrow at one monster diving for Dan Heng. It might not do much since they resist the cold arrow, but it interrupts their movement even for just a moment to create an opening for Dan Heng to pierce through the chest cavity.

"Amazing..." Izuku mutters. "Their teamwork is so coordinated."

"Tch. They're taking all the fun!" Katsuki grumbled.

"Wait... There's more behind us!" Kyoka turned to see more hands rise up from the snow. This time, there were a mix of ice and fire Fragmentum soldiers.

The UA kids turned to take care of this wave of monsters. Katsuki grinned devilishly, small explosions popping from his palms.

"That's more like it! This will be like taking care of IcyHot if he was split in two."

"Kacchan, I don't want Todoroki-kun to be split in half!" Izuku looked at him concernedly.

All at once, the Fragmentum rushed at them with fire and ice axes ready to be swung at them.

"Look out!" Toru rushed up and conjured a blast of light from her body.

This stunned some of the monsters at the front for a moment. Katsuki takes the opportunity to blast himself up to the sky and let out a series of explosions.

"DIE!"

March couldn't help but take a quick look at what was happening behind her. "Whoa...!"

"March, behind you!" Dan Heng calls out.

She turns to see the ice soldier jump to swing it's axe down on her. There wasn't enough time to put up a shield so she was ready to parry with her bow. As she was about to raise her bow to block, the world around her turned dark.

"Wha-!" She then felt a tug and was pulled backwards. Almost instantly, light was back and she was back in the battlefield. Losing her footing, Izuku caught her to stabilize her.

"March! Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... What happened just now?" She notices a black and green tendrill coming out of Izuku's gloves and that it's wrapped around her. "Wait, is that your 'quirk'?"

Katsuki watched from above the way Izuku reacted fast enough to use Blackwhip as a barrier to protect March and pull her away. Even if Izuku only has a few embers left of One For All, he's capable of thinking of new moves on the spot with what's left of his quirk.

"Hmph. No way I'm falling behind!" Katsuki dives towards the crowd of monsters. Controlling his explosions, he weaves through each monster leaving behind smoke to blur their vision. Propelling himself upwards out of the smokescreen he created, he sees Tokoyami already draped in his cloak with Dark Shadow merging into his body.

"Birdbrain!" Katsuki calls out.

"Right!" Fumikage dashes into the smokescreen. Dark Shadow created sharp claws around Fumikage's hands as he begins slashing the area around him.

With each swipe of the shadowy claws, the smoke starts to dissipate, revealing dark claw marks on the torso of the monsters. Some had collapsed to their knees while some are still dazed from the smokescreen.

"Ears!" Katsuki called out.

"On it!" Kyoka's earphone jack connected to the amplifiers on her forearms, attached on her hero costume. "Heartbeat Surround!"

A blast of sound targets all of the Fragmentum, pushing them back. Some even have disintegrated due to how weak they have become. Only a few of them left incapacitated.

Katsuki goes for another dive. Heating up his palms, he sets of a large explosion as he lands, sending the remaining Fragmentum flying and disintegrating.

"Kacchan, that was amazing!" Izuku said with starry eyes.

Katsuki turns with a fond smirk. "They were nothing."

Izuku was about to gush even more until Danger Sense activated. He turned and sent out Blackwhip. A lone Fragmentum soldier had snuck up and was about to bring it's axe down on Izuku.

Blackwhip wrapped around the monster's waist and Izuku pulled it towards him. Charging up One For All, he clenched his fist. "SMASH!"

The monster was sent flying into a snowbank and disintegrated.

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Caelus said as he and the trailblaze trio walked up to them. They seem to have taken care of the first wave of Fragmentum with ease.

"Totally! All of your quirks were so cool to watch!" March cheered.

"Your abilities are great too!" Izuku complimented back. Katsuki huffed in annoyance.

"Those Fragmentum monsters were so creepy." Toru said. "Will we see even worse ones?"

"Yes." Dan Heng said bluntly. "At least we cleared out the Fragmentum here. If a civilian or Belobog soldier were to have walked through here, it might not have ended well for them."

"Your quirk came in handy there, Jirou. We would have been ambushed if you didn't notice they were coming out of the ground." March nodded to her.

"Oh, it's... nothing really." She shrugged.

"Let's keep going. Let us know if you hear any monsters nearby Jirou." Dan Heng said.

"Yeah, of course." She nodded.

The group continued their way to Belobog. For the rest of their walk through the outlying snow plains, it was relatively normal as they continued conversing to one another.

Now that the young heroes got a small taste of what they can expect, they'll have to be ready for bigger challenges up ahead, whenever that may be.

"Here we are! Belobog!" March exclaimed.

"Wow..." Izuku said with amazement.

Belobog looks quite like a modern city as small train cars pass by, tall buildings stretch to the sky, regular citizens stride through the sidewalks, even statues and fountains where people hang around at.

He notices that there's some sort of device all around the corners of the city. There's even one nearby them and they emit some kind of heat.

"Are those heaters?" Izuku points.

"That's right. During the Stellaron crisis, it became so cold that the people of Belobog designed and put out these heaters to stay warm." March nods. "Pretty smart, honestly."

"Ohhh... So that's why some people are wearing lighter clothing outside." Toru said.

Dan Heng looks around for a moment. "Wait... Where is Caelus?"

The group looked at one another and sure enough, they are missing a grey haired individual.

"Weird. He was just with us a second ago." March scratches her head.

"Where did he go...?" Izuku looks around worriedly. He wonders if something happened to him. How they didn't notice him disappear until now, he wasn't sure.

"Mommy, what's that man doing?"

"Shh, don't look at him sweetie."

Izuku heard a mother and son nearby. He followed their voices and saw something he couldn't believe. "C-Caelus?"

Caelus was sat down, hugging a trash can with a smile on his face. There were a handful of people looking at him with a mix of concern and disgust.

"Ohhh, I missed you so much~." Caelus patted the garbage can. "It's been too long."

"Oh no, not this again." March shook her head.

"Why the hell is he doing that?!" Katsuki said.

Dan Heng sighed. "We're... not sure ourselves. He's had this strange fixation on garbage and trash cans ever since we visited Belobog for the first time."

"He's digging through the garbage can now!" Toru pointed.

Just as Toru said, Caelus removed the lid of the can and began rummaging through the contents. His lower half was hanging off the rim of the can as he was halfway in the container.

"WAHH!! CAELUS WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!" Izuku wailed.

Dan Heng sighed again and walked over to the grey haired boy. Without hesitation he lifted him up by the waist and over his shoulder. "Honestly Caelus, what are we going to do with you?"

"Wait! There's some good stuff in here!" Caelus said as he pulled out the trash bag from the bin as he was being carried away.

"C'mon! We gotta meet Serval so she can tell us where the sweets shop is!" March said as she lead the way.

"You're going to have to let that garbage bag go before we go in Serval's shop, Caelus." Dan Heng said as he walked, still carrying him.

Caelus's eyes brightened at some of the stuff in the garbage bag. But he had both of his hands holding it open. He looks up to see the UA kids following them. "Hey Midoriya, I see something shiny in here. Do you mind reaching in there for me?"

"E-Eh?! You want me to-"

Katsuki scowled and put his arm in front of Izuku. "Don't even think about putting your hand in there, Izuku!"

"He is an interesting individual. " Fumikage said. He, along with Toru and Kyoka, followed the rest from the back.

"What do you mean, Tokoyami?" Kyoka asked.

"From witnessing his prowess of wielding a baseball bat and taking down monsters to seeing him rummage through garbage is somewhat of a whiplash."

Toru giggles. "He kind of reminds me of a cute raccoon."

Eventually Caelus reluctantly relented and let go of the garbage bag, which Izuku had to quickly put back in the trash can while using Blackwhip to hold it (Katsuki's idea). Dan Heng made sure to clean Caelus's paws with some sanitation spray that he brings with him for occasions like this.

They had arrived at Serval's workshop called Neverwinter. Stepping inside, it looked quite a small, dainty, and cozy place. Molly, who usually works behind the front desk, doesn't seem to be anywhere nearby. Instead, Serval herself was behind it.

"Whoa, we got quite the group here." Serval smiles at them.

"Serval! It's good to see you again!" March cheered.

"It's good to see you all again too." She nods as she looks to the UA kids. She paused for a second, seeing some of the scars on the green haired boy and blonde boy, before continuing. "Who are these new faces? Don't think I've seen them around from here."

"It's... a long story. But to put it simply, they are our newest members of the Astral Express." Dan Heng said.

"Dang, that's awesome! You got new crewmates. Time sure flies, huh? When you first arrived, it was just you three. And boy, did you get yourselves into a lot of trouble the first time you were here." She chuckles.

Caelus smiles sheepishly as he scratches the back of his head. "To be fair, it wasn't really our fault the way things happened."

Serval shakes her head fondly. "Certainly not. And now you're back with five new members." She turns her attention to the UA kids. "I'm Serval Landau, the owner of this workshop. Nice to meet you."

Izuku straightens. "N-Nice to meet you too! My name is Midoriya Izuku!"

"I'm Hagakure Toru! I love your hair with the blue tips!" She waved her gloves around.

"Thanks! I just got it redone yesterday." She looks over to Katsuki. "Hey, your outfit is pretty awesome. What's your name?"

Katsuki crosses his arms. "Bakugo Katsuki. And... yours too, or whatever."

"And you? I'm liking your 'dark' style." She looks over to Fumikage.

He nods. "Tokoyami Fumikage. And thank you." He bows slightly.

"Er... I'm Jirou Kyoka. It's nice to meet you. You have so many gadgets here." Kyoka has been eyeing the various mechanical items and other knick knacks in the store.

"Yup. I do a lot of repairs of machinery, household items, instruments, and other kinds of gadgets people bring in here for repair. So, I take it you're all here for that new sweets shop that opened up?"

"That's right! Do you know where it is, Serval?" March asked.

"Sure do. It's actually just close to the museum." She brings out her phone. "I'll mark it on the map for you."

"Aren't you going to come with us, Serval?Where's Molly, by the way." Caelus asked.

"She's just in the back organizing and rearranging some things. And I already went to there yesterday. Plus, I've got a few things Gepard wants me to fix due to some mishap during they're training."

"Aw, that's too bad." March sulked.

"You guys go on ahead and enjoy yourselves. Oh and welcome to Belobog." She beams and smiles at the UA kids.

"Thank you very much!" Izuku smiles.

March take out her phone and checks the location Serval marked. "Okay, we should go. Now that we know where it is, there's no time to lose!"

As they begin filing out of the workshop, Kyoka noticed the guitar Serval was setting aside. It had some kind of electrical current running through it.

"Whoa... That's a cool guitar."

Serval turns to her and smiles. "Thanks! I made it myself. It gets the crowd going when I can make a sparks show any time I want."

"You're a singer?"

She nods. "I play in a band too. Mainly rock genre."

Kyoka smiles. "That's awesome. I created a band for my school festival. I was lead singer and guitarist too. But I can play other instruments."

"That's pretty rockin'! If you're interested, I can have you join my band. I'm always open to adding more members."

"O-Oh! Well..."

Just then the door to the shop opened slightly. "Jirou-chan! Come on, we have to go or we'll get left behind!" Toru said.

"Ah, sorry! I'll be out in a sec!"

Serval giggled. "You're name is Jirou? Here, I'll add you so we can message each other any time. I'm always down to chat about music."

Kyoka gets a notification sound from her phone and sees Serval's friend request. Smiling, she accepted. "Thank you, Miss Serval!"

The blonde waves it off. "No need to be formal. Just Serval is fine. Also, those earphone jacks on your earlobes are so cute!"

"Oh, thank you." She blushed. "I wish I could chat more but I have to go."

"For sure. Just send me a message any time. Take care now!" She waves her goodbye as Kyoka bows and leaves.

Exiting the shop, Toru was waiting for her. "Everything okay, Jirou-chan?"

"Mm, yeah. Just had a small talk with Serval. So where are the others?""

"Come on! We have to catch up!" Toru ran ahead with Kyoka following her.

Kyoka looked at her phone again. She had just made her first acquaintance from another world, aside from the Astral Express crew. She has a good feeling about Serval. A common interest in music and instruments. She wonders what kind of music she can listen and learn about in this universe.

Once the group arrived and were seated with their orders, March had already begun taking pictures of her slice of cake. Most of them started eating and drinking what they got.

"I'm gonna take a group picture of all of us, if that's okay with you guys."

"Sure." Caelus nods. Dan Heng merely nods.

"Yay! Picture!" Toru gave two thumbs up.

"I'm not opposed to it." Fumikage said.

"Ayo! I want to be part of it!" Dark Shadow popped out and rested on Fumikage's head.

"You should take a page out of Midoriya's book and smile more, Bakugo." Kyoka snickered.

"Shut it, Ears!"

Izuku nods. "Kacchan has the best smile!"

The blonde huffs and looks away. "Hmph. I'm not smiling for you, Izuku."

"Are we ready?" March held up her camera. "Say cheese!"

A click and flash was all it took. The camera printed out the picture and March giggled at it. "It looks so good! I'll send it in the group chat for everyone to see." She brought out her phone and hovered the camera lens of the phone over the picture to scan it.

With nimble fingers, she sent the picture in the Express's group chat. Everyone at the table checked their phones to see the result.

At the round table, March at the bottom center was winking while sticking her tongue out. Caelus to her left smiled showing his teeth but with a spoon in his mouth. Izuku smiled widely, imitating All Might's signature smile. Katsuki wasn't even looking at the camera but at least he wasn't scowling. Toru held up two peace signs with her gloves. Kyoka smiled with a heart sign using her pointer and thumb. Fumikage used his right hand and Dark Shadow's left claw to make a full heart, though the former didn't seem to have enjoyed doing it. And finally, Dan Heng had his classic peace sign with a neutral face.

Welt
Looks like you're all getting along nicely

Himeko
What a lovely group picture

Pom-Pom
Pom-Pom agrees!

:pom-pom_heart_sticker:

Toru couldn't help but notice the way Katsuki looked in the picture. He wasn't looking at the camera, but rather he was looking at... Izuku? His face is neutral but it almost looks like he's smiling at him.

Opening up a private message to Kyoka, she began messaging her.

Toru
Jirou-chan!
Do you see the way Bakugo-kun looks in the photo?

Kyoka
Hm?
Yeah, he's not looking at the camera. But that's usually normal when pictures are involved with him.

Toru
But it kind of looks like he's looking at Midoriya-kun!
And doesn't it look like he's smiling at him too?

From the corner of her vision, Toru sees Kyoka analyzing the picture again before typing quickly.

Kyoka
I kind of see it
What did Mina say it was?

Toru
Pining
Or was it longing?

The two of them kept messaging each other and giggled to each other every so often. As March, Dan Heng, Caelus, Izuku, and Fumikage engaged in a different discussion, Katsuki got annoyed at the two girls giggling.

"Oi! The hell are you two constantly laughing about?"

Kyoka shook her head. "It's nothing, Bakugo."

"We're just showing our stickers to each other." Toru said.

"Tch. So annoying." Katsuki looks at the picture one more time and saves it to his gallery unbeknownst to anyione else.

"I think after we go clothes shopping for them, we should go say hi to Bronya and the others we know. Oh and visit the Underground." Caelus suggested.

March nods. "You're right. It'd be kinda rude to not say hi to the people we know if we're visiting."

"Who is Bronya?" Izuku asked.

"Lady Bronya is the current reigning Supreme Guardian of Belobog." Dan Heng answers. "She is the protector and ruler, as well as she oversees everything. Only recently did she become the Supreme Guardian after the Stellaron Crisis we thwarted."

"Recently? What happened to the previous Supreme Guardian?" Kyoka asked.

The trio looked at each other for a moment before March answered. "She, um, went into battle to face the Stellaron. But..."

"She didn't make it..." Caelus can feel a faint phantom pain of the ice lance that pierced him on that battle. "She... died protecting Belobog."

"O-Oh... That's terrible." Kyoka looked down.

"She knew what she was getting into. To protect her people until her last breath." Dan Heng concluded. "But, we believe Bronya is just as capable in leading Belobog's future."

"Bronya was with us in the fight against the Stellaron. She's got a really good aim with her rifle." Caelus says.

"Will it be okay to visit her? Sounds like she's super busy with that title." Toru says.

"I'll ask her right now." Caelus grabs his phone and starts texting.

"E-Eh?! You have the Supreme Guardian's phone number?!" Izuku's eyes widened.

"She considers us a friend after we resolved the Stellaron crisis. I'm sure she wouldn't mind us dropping by. Plus, it's helpful for us in the Astral Express to network and get to know people." Dan Heng says.

"I guess the same could be applied to hero work..." Izuku mumbled.

Caelus brightened as he got a reply back. "She says we can visit. And she'd loved to meet our newest members."

"That's settled then! We have our day planned out. But first, I gotta finish this cake." March happily started eating.

The group continued eating for a bit before setting off to get new clothes. Even Caelus, Dan Heng, and March found new outfits for themselves. Once the UA kids found suitable outfits for themselves, they had their purchases sent off to the express for Pom-Pom to receive.

Then, it was up the grand staircase to meet Bronya.

Chapter Text

"Wow... that's a huge building." Izuku said.

"That is Qlipoth Fort. It was built by the first Supreme Guardian, Alisa Rand, to honor and praise the eminence and miracles of Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation." Dan Heng said.

'I'll have to learn more about the Aeons when we get back to the express...' Izuku thought.

As the group neared the staircase to the fort, the guards at the front saluted to them. "Astral Express, welcome back "

"Whoa, that's a formal greeting if I've seen one." March said.

Izuku looked at the guards for a moment. 'These soldiers... look just like the Fragmentum monsters we fought. They carry axes and have the same armor placements...' He decided to not delve any deeper into that thought.

"Thank you. We are here to pay a visit to Lady Bronya. We would like to introduce our newest members to her." Dan Heng answers as he gestures behind him.

"Of course. Please go on through." Both guards flourish as they motion for them to continue on.

As the group walks by, Kyoka overheard the two guard's whispering to each other.

"Were those kids the newest member of the Astral Express? They looked a little... rough and beat up. Those scars were nasty, especially on that blonde and green kid."

"I don't know. Three of them looked strange though. A bird for a head? Long earlobes? And an invisible person?"

"Hopefully they won't cause any trouble."

Kyoka became sullen at what she heard. It's bad enough that the researchers of the space station were eyeing them warily. But she guesses this is what happens when you get transported to a universe or planet that make you standout if you don't look like most people. 'I'm starting to understand how Shoji and Koda feel...'

"Is something troubling you, Jirou?" Fumikage whispered to her.

She looks up to see her classmate slightly looking at her. "It's nothing. Just... missing home, I guess." She shakes her head and leaves it at that.

He thinks there's more to it than that but Fumikage doesn't press further. "I understand."

After passing through more guards, they enter the fort and into the main foyer. There's a few executives walking around and greeting the express crew as they pass by. Bronya's office is just down the hall, straight on.

The UA kids marvel at the inside of the building. They see portraits of the previous Supreme Guardians from Alisa Rand to Cocolia Rand, guards walking with their captains, and a petite woman with blue hair walking slowly while carrying a stack of books.

Caelus smiles as he recognizes the woman. "Miss Pela!" He shouts.

"AHH!!!" The girl jumped from surprise and tripped.

Books fly into the air as she was about to fall to the ground. With quick reflexes, Izuku unleashes multiple tendrils of Blackwhip to catch the falling girl and the books.

"I got you!" Izuku calls out.

Other administrative workers stopped to see the commotion. To a third party, it looks like a horror movie with the way Blackwhip moves and how it's wrapped around Pela's waist, about to drag her to her doom.

"Whoa, nice catch Midoriya-kun." Toru said.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't hurt nor were the books thrown around. He straightens the young woman and holds on to the books for now, reeling Blackwhip back in.

She turns with an annoyed expression for a moment, but relaxes when she sees the Astral Express. "Oh, the Astral Express." She walks over and takes note of the 5 students behind them. "When did you arrive back in Belobog?"

"Just today. We wanted to check out the new sweets shop that opened and it was so good!" March said.

Pela adjusts her glasses. "Ah, yes. I plan to go there with Lynx when she comes back later today." She turns to the UA kids. "And who might these people be?"

"Our newest members of the Astral Express." Caelus smiles with pride.

"Is that so? Then please allow me to introduce myself. I am Pelageya Sergeyevna, the Intelligence Officer for the Silvermane Guards. But you may call me Pela for short."

"It's nice to meet you!" They all bowed, only Katsuki doing it halfway.

Pela turns to Izuku who was holding her books. "Ah, thank you for catching those. Your powers are quite interesting, Mister...?"

"Midoriya Izuku." He smiled.

"Whoa! Who are these boys?" Toru asked.

They turn to see her (as best as they can) oggling what seems to be a phone that Izuku caught with Blackwhip. On the backside of the phone, there was a cover that featured four good looking men.

"T-That's my phone! Return that at once!" Pela said with a flustered face.

"O-Oh! O-Of course!" Izuku immediately hands it over and Pela snatches it, hiding it away in her pocket.

Pela sighs in relief. "Thank you for catching the books, Mr. Midoriya. I can take them back from you, if you don't mind."

Izuku carefully hands the huge stack of books back to her. Pela staggers a bit at the weight but she balances out. "Please be careful Pela-san. Do you need help to lighten the load?"

"N-No, that won't be necessary. The documents room is only a few steps from where we are. I'll be fine, at least if SOMEONE doesn't jumpscare me again." She gives Caelus a nasty side-eye.

He sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

With that, Pela hobbles off to another hallway and into a room with large double doors.

"She looks so young! She must be super important if she has that title of Intelligence Officer!" Toru said.

"I think she's the same age as you guys. She's super smart, for sure." Caelus said. "She said something about graduating from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science from the Belobog Cadet School, with a double honorary degree in Military Studies and Cryptography. Plus she knows a lot of the stuff I found for the Belobog Museum. And sometimes you'll see her giving kids some kind of history lesson out and about."

"That sounds amazing! I'd like to know more about this place if we have time." Izuku beamed.

"You can check the Data Bank in the express to learn more about Belobog and it's history. Let's keep going for now. We wouldn't want to keep Lady Bronya waiting." Dan Heng turned and began leading the way.

After knocking and hearing a voice to come in, the group entered through the large double doors to a large office room. A chair and desk sit across from them in the middle of the room with bookshelves lining the left and right walls.

A woman with long grey hair that curls at the bottom turns to them and smiles. "Welcome, Astral Express."

"Bronya!" March said with glee as the group walked in further.

"Whoa... she's so pretty!" Toru whispered to Kyoka, who nodded with agreement.

"It's been a while since I last saw you in the Aetherium Wars tournament. And you've brought new company as well." Bronya took note of their interesting outfits as well as the visible scars that matted their faces. And the... floating clothes and bird shaped head and long earlobes.

"They're new members of the crew. We wanted to introduce them to you." March nods.

"I see." She nods. "I am pleased to meet the newest members. My name is Bronya Rand, Supreme Guardian of Belobog."

"H-Hello! I am Midoriya Izuku!" Izuku stood straight stiffly. "It is an honour to be in your presence!"

"Damn nerd needs to relax." Katsuki muttered. "Bakugo Katsuki."

"Tokoyami Fumikage." He bows respectfully.

"I'm Jirou Kyoka." She smiles and bows.

"I'm Hagakure Toru! You're so beautiful, Lady Bronya!"

"O-Oh! Why, thank you..." She blushed lightly before clearing her throat. "Ahem, so what brings you back to Belobog?"

"We wanted to try out the new sweets shop that opened up near the museum and it was so good! The cheesecake I had was fluffy and just the right amount of sweetness to it." March bounced on her heels with excitement.

"Ah yes. I've heard of that shop opening recently. I've been busy lately that I haven't had the time to stop by myself."

"How are things going with you Bronya?" Caelus asked.

"I'm keeping up with my duties as Supreme Guardian. Although..."

"Is something wrong?" Izuku asked.

"Well... Lately there has been sightings of Fragmentum monsters that are easily aggravated. Seele has notified me that Natasha has been taking in patients that say they were attacked by Fragmentum monsters in the underground. Not only that, but some Silvermane Guards also had to fend off Fragmentum monsters in the snow plains."

She continued. "They say that the Fragmentum weren't so difficult to deal with. But if a large wave of them appeared, it would pose a problem. Seele and other Wildfire members can attest to that as they've had similar experiences lately."

"We had the same encounter on the way here! There were two large groups of them that surrounded us!" March said.

Dan Heng nodded. "Thanks to Jirou's hearing capabilities, we were able to anticipate the surprise attack and defeat them."

"I expected a challenge. Those chumps were nothing. They went down like flies." Katsuki huffed.

"This is so strange." Bronya thought for a moment. "With the Stellaron crisis averted, why are the Fragmentum monsters causing a stir?"

"Maybe the Fragmentum are riled up because they don't sense the Stellaron anymore?" Caelus suggested. "It could be why they're kind of weak when we took them down so easily."

"Hmm... Like their source of power is gone?" Izuku asked.

Caelus nods. "Yeah, something like that."

"It's a possibility." Bronya considers for a moment. "Astral Express, may I ask a favor of you all?"

"If we are paid a hefty amount, then yes!" Caelus puffs out his chest and stands proudly.

March shakes her head. "This guy .."

Bronya chuckles. "Of course I will personally reward your efforts. I wish to ask of you all if you may assist Seele in the Underworld to clear out some of the remaining Fragmentum roaming about. You see, I've already dispatched Silvermane Guards in and out of the city to fend off any aggravated Fragmentum that are close by. I've sent the remaining to the Underworld, but Seele told me that there were sightings of Fragmentum hordes in different areas of the Great Mine. They would need some extra hands in dealing with that."

Dan Heng crossed his arms in thought. "Hordes of Fragmentum... They seem to exhibit strange behaviours now that the Stellaron is gone."

"We did fight off two different hordes of them when we were in the snow plains." Kyoka added.

"I'd like to help, if we can." Izuku said as he feels his passion of being a hero shining through.

"Of course we will." Caelus nods to the young boy. "We'd be happy to help, Bronya."

"You have my gratitude." She smiles. "If I remember correctly, Seele should be in Boulder Town with Oleg preparing for the task tomorrow. You still might be able to catch her if you head on over right now. Unless, of course, you have other matters to attend to."

"We can head over right now. We've finished all that we can do up here." March said.

"Wait, we're going to a place called the 'Underworld'?" Kyoka asked.

"Are we really delving into the pits of hell?" Fumikage said with interest.

"It's not the actual 'Underworld' that you think it is." Dan Heng said. "It is essentially what Belobog used to be in previous times. The 'Old World' as they say. Relics and architecture from the Old World are buried in between the towering rocky walls of the Underworld."

"How the hell are we gonna get there then?" Katsuki says.

"We take the cable car. It's not far from here." Caelus shrugs.

"We should go. We don't have much daylight left." Dan Heng said as he noticed the sun slowly reaching dusk through the window. "Staying at the Goethe Grand Hotel would be our best option for staying the night."

"Sounds like a plan! I'll let Himeko know about the current situation as well." March took out her phone and started texting.

Bronya nods. "Please stay safe, Astral Express."

The group said their goodbyes to Bronya and headed off for the Underworld.

Chapter Text

The ride down to the Underworld via cable car was uneventful. Though Fumikage felt very comfortable at the growing darkness as they descended further.

"It's a little creepy down here..." Toru said as she stuck close to Kyoka.

"Boulder Town is just up ahead. We just have to keep following the lights." March said.

"A town? Are there people living down here?" Izuku asked.

"That's right. The people seeked refuge down here when the Stellaron caused the Eternal Freeze." Caelus said.

"Why are there people still living here if the damn Stellaron is already gone?" Katsuki huffed.

"The people here created a close knit community. It's kind of hard to break up that kind of closeness with one another."

Katsuki feels like there's more to it than just that but he didn't push for more answers. Seeing as how run down and barely kept this place is, he doesn't know why people would want to continue living here once everything has been settled.

"Besides, it's not all bad, besides the leftover Fragmentum." March reassured.

The group continued walking until they could see the entrance of Boulder Town. There they see some civilians wandering and making conversation to one another. Another civilian is tending some kind of shop with kids looking at the items. Some kids run around having fun like the dreary environment was no problem to them.

With barely any source of natural light, the only light sources are street lamps and other electrical outlets. This place would look like a ghost town if there weren't any inhabitants in this area.

"This almost feels like a night market." Toru said.

March pointed to a building. "Over there is the Goethe Grand Hotel. Let's go book our rooms."

As they were going to make their way over, someone stopped them.

"Well, well, if it isn't my old friends and loyal customers, the Astral Express!"

A tall man with dark blue hair wearing a red jacket strides up to the group. "It's been some time since I've last seen you. And it looks like you brought new faces too!"

"Ugh, not this guy..." March frowned.

"They're our new crewmates, Sampo. Don't try any funny business with them. Or us for that matter." Caelus crosses his arms.

"I'm not sure what you mean, friend! But I'm glad to see your family is growing!"

"Who is that?" Izuku asked.

"Ah, allow me to introduce myself. The name is Sampo Koski. You could say I'm a salesman of some sort. Any new member of the Astral Express is a friend of mine! If there's anything you need, your good ol' friend Sampo is here to help!" The man rubbed his hands together with a smile.

"Erm, nice to meet you..." Izuku said with a wobbly smile.

"I don't like him already." Katsuki said bluntly.

"I sense a chaotic aura within him." Fumikage said.

March places her hands on her hips. "A 'salesman'? More like 'shady scammer'! Don't listen to what he says. He's gonna take advantage of you and take your money."

"Oh you hurt me, Miss March! I would never do such a thing. After all I've done for you all and you put in a bad word to your new members about me. But that's all right, it's normal to relay bad experiences about a business. I'll just have to win their trust the good ol' fashioned way!" Sampo winks.

"What does that mean?" Kyoka asked.

Dan Heng shakes his head. "Don't bother. Ignore him."

"So, what brings the legendary Nameless back to the Underworld?"

"If you must know, we're here to help Seele with some Fragmentum hordes." Caelus said.

"Ah yes, I've had some unfortunate encounters with those pesky monsters during a business deal. It would be most appreciated if they can be dealt with."

"Do you know where Seele is?"

"Miss Seele is in Miss Natasha's clinic at the moment if you would like to speak with her about the mission." He nods.

"In that case, you all should go to the clinic. I'll catch up after I've booked our rooms at the hotel." Dan Heng suggested.

"Sounds good. We can relay you the information you missed after. Let's go team." Caelus lead the way as Dan Heng separated from the group.

"Best of luck friends!" Sampo waves them off. He watched the group leave and sees Izuku walk past him. "Psst! Hey, buddy."

"Hm?" Izuku turns to him. "Me?"

"That's right! You look like a promising young man. How about I give you something worth your while?"

"Eh...?" Izuku blinks confusedly.

"Here, you can take these." Sampo takes something out of his pocket. He hands over a folded piece of paper and something that looks like a button. "This is a map that leads to a treasure hidden somewhere in Rivet Town, not too far from here. When you're on the spot where the treasure should be, you press this button and it will help you locate it."

"O-Oh..." Izuku hesitantly takes it from Sampo. "A treasure..."

"That's right. If you want, you can bring a friend or two with you to help you find it. Or just go on your own and keep the treasure for yourself."

"Um... thank you?"

"It's no trouble my friend! Well, I should get going then. See you later!" Sampo bows and strides off.

Izuku looks at the items he was given. He's not sure about this whole treasure thing but it has piqued his curiosity. But March said not to trust him.

"Rivet Town..." he muttered. It was northeast of Boulder Town. The location of the treasure is circled on the map, somewhere near an orphanage.

"Hey, Midoriya-kun?" Kyoka called out. Izuku turned to see her looking at him strangely as she was holding the door to the clinic. "Something wrong?"

Pocketing the items Sampo gave him, he shakes his head. "Ah, no, nothing at all! Sorry!" He rushes towards her and enters the clinic.

With one last look back at Sampo's retreating figure, Kyoka couldn't help but raise a brow before heading in.

A bell chimes as the door opens. Seele turns to see two familiar figures walk in. "Caelus? And March?"

"Seele! It's good to see you again." March said cheerfully.

"My goodness. There's a lot of you here." Natasha comes out of a backroom to see who had entered.

"Good to see you again, Seele. And you too, Natasha." Caelus nodded and smile.

She smiled back. "Caelus, March, great to have you back." Noticing the younger people behind them, Natasha couldn't help but notice the scars on them, especially the spikey blonde boy with a nasty scar peeking out from his chest and right shoulder.

"Sorry for being late!" A curly green haired boy comes in with a scar on his right cheek, followed by a short purple haired girl with a long earlobe.

"And... who might they be?" Seele pointed.

"They're our newest members of the Astral Express! I'll introduce you to them. This is Hagakure Toru. She's completely invisible."

Toru waves her gloves. "Hello, hello!"

"This is Tokoyami Fumikage. He's got a dark and mysterious personality with cool bird-like features for a head."

Fumikage looked away, unsure if that was a compliment or not. "Pleased to meet you."

"That's Bakugo Katsuki. He's got a short temper and a real bad potty mouth."

"HAH?! I FUCKING DO NOT!" He scowled and gritted his teeth at his introduction.

A nurse nearby shushed the group with an annoyed expression as a patient was sleeping.

Katsuki crossed his arms. "Tch. Fucking PinkIce..." he muttered.

"That's Midoriya Izuku and Jirou Kyoka." March concluded.

"H-Hello!" Izuku bowed stiffly.

"Hi." Kyoka smiled and bowed lightly.

"I see... interesting." Seele scratches the back of her neck.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Natasha - an Underworld doctor." She looks to Izuku. "Feeling sick?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm feeling fine, thank you." Izuku says. Katsuki side-eyes him skeptically.

"I'm Seele. I'm a member of Wildfire down here in the Underworld." She turns to March and Caelus. "Wait... Didn't you have one other guy with you before?"

"Oh, Dan Heng just went to the Grand Goethe Hotel to book our rooms. He'll be back shortly." March answers.

"Is something wrong? What brings you guys back?"

"We originally wanted to try out the sweets shop that opened up on the surface, as well as go clothes shopping for them." He motions to the UA kids.  "Then we went to see Bronya to see how she's been doing, and she mentioned that some Fragmentum monsters have been causing some trouble down in the mines for you guys. So she asked us to help you clear them out and we accepted." Caelus explained.

"Ugh, Bronya..." Seele facepalmed. "I already told her we've got it covered and didn't need more people."

"But think of it this way, Seele. We can help get the job done faster." Caelus stands proud.

Natasha giggles. "You certainly are a capable group."

"We would like to help if we can!" Izuku said with vigor.

Seele can see the determination burning through the green boy. Taking note of the scar on his face, she couldn't help but wonder what caused that. Especially the scars on the blonde one. 'They must have been through some kind of struggle. Fighting looks like something they're used to. But they're so young though... What the hell did these kids go through?' She thought.

Seele sighed. "Okay, fine, you guys can help with the mission for tomorrow. Trying to talk you guys out of it will just be a waste of time."

"Awesome! That way the five of them can get some experience of the way of trailblazing." March said.

Seele turns to them. "You kids know how to fight?"

"Tch. We're not kids, damnit." Katsuki huffed.

"We have some experience, yeah. We were training to be heroes back in our home planet." Kyoka said.

"We fought off some Fragmentum monsters in the snow plains earlier when we arrived here." Izuku said.

Seele nodded. "I see. So there's still some Fragmentum activity in the outside of the surface."

The bell chimes as someone walks in to the clinic. "Apologies for the wait." Dan Heng steps in.

"There he is." Caelus smiles at him as Dan Heng stands next to him.

"Have I missed anything important? Miss Seele, Miss Natasha, pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise, Dan Heng." Seele said as Natasha simply nods with a smile. "And no, you didn't miss anything. I was just about to go over what the plan is for the mission tomorrow now that you're all joining in. Follow me to the back room."

Once Seele explained how the mission was going to play out, the express crew had an understanding of how it will go.

Oleg, Seele, and Luka will be captains of three different groups to take on three different Fragmentum hordes. Natasha will be on standby at a medic camp set up near the entrance to the mine.

Katsuki forcefully suggested that the express get partnered up with one of the UA students just so everyone can get a feel of how each other operates and synergizes on the battlefield.

No one seemed to have any objections to that. What he says was true anyway. In the off chance they get split up, it's important to coordinate with the teammates you're with.

March and Fumikage will go with Oleg. Dan Heng, Kyoka, and Toru will go with Luka. Caelus, Izuku, and Katsuki will go with Seele.

The group walked out of the clinic once everything was settled. March stretched her arms. "Mm, welp, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"There's still time to do something before we head to bed." Caelus checked the time on his phone, reading 7:30pm.

"Hmph. All of you can do whatever you want. I'm heading to bed. I'll need all the energy I can get to wipe out some weaklings. Oi! Spear Boy! What's my room number at the hotel?"

Dan Heng knitted his brows. "I have a name, Bakugo."

"You'll get used to it eventually, Dan Heng." Kyoka shrugged. "He always gives people nicknames. I'm called Ears, Hagakure is See-Through, Tokoyami is Birdbrain, and Midoriya is Deku."

"Those don't sound like nice nicknames to give to your friends at all..." March raised a brow.

"Be glad that I'm calling you PinkIce." Katsuki huffed, which made March pout.

"I don't need a nickname. I'm already called Galactic Baseballer." Caelus smiled.

"I'm not calling you that! You go through garbage cans, so you're Space Raccoon!"

Caelus mulled it over. "That doesn't sound so bad..."

Dan Heng sighed. "It might be best to get an early rest, as Bakugo stated. I'll hand out your room keys."

As he did so, everyone headed in to the hotel and up to their respective rooms. Surprisingly, they were all on the same floor.

Izuku entered his room and it was small and cozy. It's kept up nicely despite the decor looking like it has seen better days. His window provides a view down below where he can see other civilians walking around.

He sighs. 'I wonder how everyone back home is doing... I hope mom isn't worrying so much about me...'

Turning back, he lays down on his bed and stares at the ceiling. His mind wanders off  from everything that has happened to his loved ones back home. How are his classmates doing? Are they out there looking for him and the others? If only there was a way to let them know that they're doing fine and that they were just caught in an unfortunate accident.

He wonders how far away they are from Earth? How many galaxies do they have to traverse to get to where they need to be? Will they be able to get back? No, he shouldn't think that. Of course they'll get back. Himeko-san is already willing to help get them home.

There's still so much to know and learn about. Maybe he should take time to get to know about the current people in the express. How and why they joined and all.

Before he knew it, Izuku fell asleep.

...

...

*THUD*

"OW! Ow, ow, ow!"

Izuku woke up drastically as he found himself on the floor. Not only that, but he landed on something as he fell. He rubbed the sore spot on his hip, then reached in his pocket to see what had hurt him.

It's the button that Sampo had given him. "Oh... this thing." He rubbed his eye to look at the clock.

9:27pm

Izuku doesn't remember falling asleep. He must have been tired if he slept for two hours. He probably shouldn't make too much noise as the others might be asleep at this point. Especially Kacchan. He gets extra grouchy when his sleep schedule gets interrupted.

He reaches and grabs the map Sampo gave him too. Treasure in Rivet Town...

Now, Izuku isn't the kind of person that would be excited over treasure. Unless it was a limited edition All Might Bronze Age figurine.

...But it wouldn't hurt to check, right?

Izuku gulped as he quietly got up and made his bed before stepping out of his room. He smiled and nodded to the owner as he passed by the main lobby and out the door.

There's still a few people walking and shopping about at this time. Maybe one of them knows the way towards Rivet Town. He spots the man tending to a stand and walks over.

"Hello! You're not around from here, are you?." The man smiles at him.

"Ah, no, I'm a new member of the Astral Express."

"Oh yeah! I think I saw them pass by earlier. Hmm... Now that I think about it, I think I did see you with them."

"Yes, me and my other friends are a part of the express now."

"Sounds exciting for you all! I hope the path of trailblazing is to your liking. So, what can I get for you today? Just to let you know, I only accept Shield currency, no Credits."

"O-Oh, no, I just wanted to ask if you know where Rivet Town is."

"Sure. Rivet Town is in the northeast from here. Just follow that path and take a left from there." He points to where Izuku needs to go.

"Thank you so much!" Izuku smiles and scurried away. In the back of his mind, he wondered what Shield currency was.

He passed by other residential homes and small shops. It amazed him that there's a small community living down here. There were less people on the pathway to Rivet Town, considering it was starting to get late.

Up ahead he sees a small child walking away from what he assumes to be the entryway to Rivet Town. The child brightens when they spot him.

"Hey mister!" They wave to him.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" Izuku walks up to them.

"No, nothing is wrong. I was wondering if you can do me a favor."

Izuku knelt down to be on their level. "A favor? What is it?"

"I was wondering if you can take a picture of me! But not here though. It has to be at the orphanage in Rivet Town."

"A picture?" Seems harmless enough. "Okay. I can do that." Izuku gives them his heroic smile.

"Yay! Okay, just follow me!" The child turns back and runs ahead of him.

"Ah, wait for me!"