Time seemed to slow.
Fern's mind processed the situation in the span of a heartbeat; old instincts from decades of combat snapping into focus like a blade being drawn.
Villains. Thirty-seven visible. More emerging from the portal. Armed; blades, quirks, intent to kill. Students; untrained, panicking. Aizawa; one teacher against dozens. Thirteen; rescue hero, not combat-focused.
We're outnumbered and outpositioned.
The man covered in hands—their leader, clearly—continued scratching his neck with disturbing intensity. "The Symbol of Peace isn't here? That's... disappointing."
Beside him stood a massive creature. Humanoid, but with exposed brain, bird-like head, and dead eyes. The air around it felt heavy.
That thing is dangerous. More dangerous than the rest combined.
"Thirteen! Get the students out!" Aizawa's voice cut through the rising panic. His capture weapon was already unwinding from his neck. "I'll hold them off!"
"But there's too many—" Kirishima started.
"GO!" Aizawa leaped down into the plaza.
Fern watched him engage. His quirk activated; eyes glowing red as he looked at villains, erasing their quirks.
His capture weapon lashed out, binding three villains simultaneously. He moved efficiently, targeting the most dangerous quirk users first.
He's good. Better than I expected. But he can't maintain that against this many. His quirk requires line of sight and has a time limit before he needs to blink.
The class started retreating toward the entrance. Then the portal villain materialized in front of them; a mass of dark mist with glowing yellow eyes.
"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave." The voice was refined, polite. Completely at odds with the situation. "We are the League of Villains. Forgive our audacity, but today... we've come to kill All Might."
"Like hell you will!" Bakugo launched himself forward, explosions igniting.
"Wait!" Kirishima followed, hardening his skin.
The portal villain expanded, swallowing them both.
"KACCHAN! KIRISHIMA!" Midoriya shouted.
The mist spread, engulfing the entire class.
Fern felt the spatial distortion; a warp quirk, scattering them throughout the facility. She could resist it, anchor herself with magic, but that would reveal too much.
Let it take you. Assess the situation once you land. Don't reveal capabilities until necessary.
The world twisted. Darkness. Disorientation.
Then solid ground.
***
Fern materialized in the landslide zone.
Rock and rubble everywhere, unstable terrain designed to simulate earthquake damage. And surrounding her; six villains.
"Oh, look," one sneered. "We got a little girl."
"Her hero costume looks expensive," another added. "Rich kid playing hero."
They spread out, surrounding her. Professional formation. These weren't random thugs. They had training.
Fern stood still, hands at her sides, with expression still neutral. She was assessing.
Villain One: Mutation quirk, enlarged arms. Close combat specialist. Villain Two: Emitter type, hands glowing, acid or corrosion, maybe?. Villain Three: Looks normal, hidden quirk or weapon user. Villain Four: Rock-like skin, earth manipulation likely. Villain Five: Enhanced speed, twitchy movements. Villain Six: Ranged quirk, keeping distance.
"Not gonna run?" the speed villain asked. "Smart. You wouldn't get far."
"Are you going to attack," Fern asked calmly, "or just talk?"
The mutation villain laughed. "Oh, she's got attitude! Let's see if she keeps it after—"
He charged.
Fern didn't move. She extended her magic sense, reading his trajectory, muscle tension, center of gravity. When he swung his enlarged fist, she sidestepped with minimal movement and maximum efficiency.
His fist cratered the ground where she'd stood.
"Fast!" he grunted. "But not fast enough!"
He swung again. Again Fern dodged, this time creating a small suppression field around his knee joint, not enough to completely stop him, just enough to disrupt his balance.
He stumbled. She struck his solar plexus with an open palm.
He collapsed, gasping.
One down.
"You little—" The acid villain launched glowing projectiles.
Fern created a barrier. The acid hit and dissolved harmlessly against the invisible shield. She made sure to emit electrical signals for the bracelet.
Keep up appearances. Make it look like quirk usage.
But maintaining false signals while fighting was harder than training. She had to split her focus; one part fighting, one part faking quirk activation, one part appearing appropriately stressed.
The rock villain manipulated the ground beneath her feet. Rubble shot upward, trying to entrap her.
Fern jumped—body enhancement magic making her leap far higher than should be possible—and landed on a boulder. Too late, she realized the mistake.
That was too high. Normal humans can't jump three meters vertically.
"What the hell?" The speed villain stared. "What kind of quirk—"
She needed to end this quickly before they reported unusual abilities.
Fern extended her suppression field outward. This is a proper combat spell. She suppressed the kinetic energy in the air itself, creating a zone where movement became difficult.
All five remaining villains suddenly felt like they were moving through mud.
"Can't... move...!" one gasped.
Fern walked forward calmly. She suppressed the acid villain's quirk directly; his hands stopped glowing. Then the rock villain's connection to the earth. Then the speed villain's enhanced metabolism.
In my old life, I called this 'Stillness.' A spell that stops everything in a radius. Here, they think it's just energy manipulation.
She approached each villain systematically and struck pressure points, not to kill, but to incapacitate. Neck, temple, solar plexus. Precise strikes to nerves that would knock them unconscious without permanent damage.
Just like fighting bandits on the road. Different world, same principle.
When all six villains lay unconscious, she released the suppression field and checked the bracelet's readings.
The device was going haywire, showing energy output far beyond what she'd previously demonstrated.
Damn it. I used too much power.
She needed to move. Other students were in danger. Aizawa was fighting alone against dozens.
Fern ran toward the central plaza, using body enhancement to increase her speed. She leaped between rubble, her movements efficient and practiced.
This is just like the war. Scattered allies. Overwhelming enemies. Commanders making stupid decisions.
Except this time, I'm strong enough to do something about it.
***
The central plaza was chaos.
Aizawa was still fighting, but he was slowing. Blood ran down his face from a cut above his eye. His capture weapon was frayed. He'd taken down at least twenty villains, but more kept coming.
And standing at the center, watching with those dead eyes, was the massive creature.
"Eraserhead," the hand-covered leader—Shigaraki—said. "You're pretty good. But you can't erase what you can't see."
He gestured, and the creature moved.
It was fast. Impossibly fast for something that size. One moment it was standing still, the next it had crossed twenty meters and slammed a fist into Aizawa's gut.
Aizawa flew backward, crashing into the ground. He tried to stand, but the creature was already on him.
That's not a normal quirk. That thing is bioengineered. Enhanced strength, speed, regeneration probably. Built specifically to kill.
Fern was still fifty meters away. Too far.
But she saw what was about to happen, the creature raising its fist, Aizawa unable to dodge, and yeah his death incoming.
I can't reach him in time. Not without revealing—
No. No more hiding.
Fern extended her magic fully.
She created a barrier between Aizawa and the creature. It was a proper defensive spell, the kind she'd used against demons. Layered, reinforced, anchored to her will rather than physical space.
The creature's fist hit the barrier.
The impact was enormous. The ground cracked. A shockwave rippled outward, knocking nearby villains off their feet.
But the barrier held.
And everyone saw it; a shimmering wall of force, visible now from the sheer amount of power, completely stopping the creature's attack.
Shigaraki's head snapped toward her. "What?"
Aizawa looked up, blood running down his face and confusion in his eyes.
The creature hit the barrier again. Again it held.
Fern walked forward, maintaining the barrier. Her heart rate was steady. Her breathing calm. This was familiar territory.
This is what I am. Not a quirk user. Not a hero student. I am mage who's fought wars.
"Hayashi?" Aizawa's voice was rough. "What are you—"
"Stay behind the barrier, sensei." Her voice was flat, emotionless. "I'll handle this."
"Handle—" He tried to stand, stumbled. "You can't fight that thing! It's—"
The creature hit the barrier a third time. This time Fern let it crack to sell the idea that she was straining.
But she wasn't. This was nothing compared to holding barriers against siege magic.
"Interesting," Shigaraki muttered. "A barrier quirk? No... that's not in your file. You're supposed to be suppression-type."
"Files are incomplete," Fern said simply.
She released the barrier and immediately created a suppression field around the creature; targeting its muscular system, trying to slow it down.
The creature pushed through it. Barely slowed.
Its body is resistant to energy manipulation. Not immune, but resistant. I'll need more power.
The creature charged. Fern dodged, moving faster than any fifteen-year-old should be able to move.
Shigaraki's eyes tracked her movement. "Fast too. And that dodge… that's not a quirk. Who are you?"
Fern didn't answer. She was analyzing the creature.
Exposed brain, likely a weak point but probably protected. Regeneration, I can see damaged tissue repairing in real-time. Strength, easily ten times human normal. Speed, comparable to mine with enhancement.
I could kill it. Target the brain directly, suppress neural activity. Or destroy its heart. Or collapse its entire nervous system.
But that would reveal too much.
The creature attacked again. Fern created a smaller barrier, just enough to deflect the blow, not stop it entirely. She was pushed backward, feet skidding across concrete.
Make it look like I'm struggling. Like I'm at my limit.
"Nomu," Shigaraki said. "Kill her quickly. We need to—"
BOOM!!!
An explosion interrupted him.
Bakugo burst from the water zone, propelling himself with blasts. "YOU THINK YOU CAN WARP ME AWAY AND I WON'T FIGHT BACK?!"
Behind him, Kirishima emerged, clothes torn but uninjured thanks to his hardening.
"Bakugo, wait!" Kirishima shouted. "We need a plan—"
"SHUT UP! I'M GONNA BLAST THESE VILLAINS TO HELL!"
Bakugo launched himself at Shigaraki. The hand-covered villain reached out; five fingers spread.
Decay quirk. If he touches Bakugo with all five fingers, Bakugo dies.
Fern moved.
She crossed the distance in a second and grabbed Bakugo's collar, yanking him back just as Shigaraki's hand closed on empty air.
"What the—" Bakugo started.
"Don't let him touch you with all five fingers," Fern said. "He's a decay-type quirk user."
"How do you know that?!" Bakugo demanded.
Because I've fought similar abilities. Death magic that disintegrates on contact.
"Observation," Fern lied. "Look at the ground where he's walked."
It was true. Shigaraki's path showed patches of decayed concrete where he'd placed his hands.
"Tch." Bakugo's eyes narrowed. "Fine. I'll just blast him from range."
"Perceptive," Shigaraki said, scratching his neck harder. "But it won't matter. Nomu, kill them all."
The creature moved toward them.
Fern positioned herself between the Nomu and the other students. "Bakugo, Kirishima, find the others. Regroup at the entrance."
"Like hell I'm running!" Bakugo shouted.
"I'm not asking you to run. I'm telling you to be smart." She didn't take her eyes off the Nomu. "This thing is designed to kill All Might. You can't fight it."
"And you can?!" Bakugo's voice was incredulous.
Probably. But I can't let you know that.
"I can hold it off. That's all we need."
The Nomu attacked. Fern created multiple suppression fields in sequence. First targeting its legs to slow it, then its arms to weaken strikes, then the air around it to reduce speed.
It pushed through all of them. But it was slower. Marginally.
Marginal is enough.
She dodged its fist by centimeters, feeling the wind pressure. She created a barrier to deflect the follow-up, but the force still sent her sliding backward.
Behind her, she heard Bakugo and Kirishima retreating, finally showing sense.
Good. Fewer variables to manage.
Aizawa was trying to stand, using his capture weapon to pull himself up. "Hayashi... fall back... you can't—"
"With respect, sensei, I'm the only one who can slow this thing down right now."
The Nomu charged again. This time Fern didn't dodge. She planted her feet and created a proper barrier; three layers, anchored to the ground, reinforced with everything she'd learned about defensive magic.
The Nomu hit it like a freight train.
The impact was devastating. The ground beneath Fern's feet cracked. The barrier shimmered, held, then cracked.
But it held long enough for her to redirect the force, not blocking it directly, but channeling it around her like water around a stone.
Demon combat. Block what you can't dodge. Redirect what you can't block.
"Impossible," Shigaraki muttered. "Nomu has strength comparable to All Might. How is a student—"
The portal villain—Kurogiri—materialized beside him. "Shigaraki, we should retreat. All Might may arrive soon, and this student is more capable than anticipated."
"No!" Shigaraki scratched harder, flakes of skin falling. "We came to kill All Might! We can't leave until—"
A massive BOOM echoed through the facility.
The entrance doors burst open.
And All Might was there. His face was serious, like he was angry.
Terrifying.
"I AM HERE!" His voice was thunder.
He moved.
One moment he was at the entrance. The next he was in the plaza, having crossed the distance so fast Fern barely tracked the movement.
He grabbed villains—two, three, five at a time—and threw them into a pile. Unconscious before they hit the ground.
That's true speed. Biological enhancement far beyond quirk norms. He's not just strong, he's operating at a completely different level.
In seconds, All Might had cleared a path to the Nomu.
"Shigaraki," he said, voice cold. "Attacking my students was a mistake."
"Was it?" Shigaraki smiled behind his hand-mask. "Nomu. Kill him."
The Nomu turned from Fern and launched itself at All Might.
They collided.
The shockwave knocked Fern backward. She maintained her footing through sheer force of will and magic reinforcement.
All Might and the Nomu traded blows, each impact like explosions, each movement faster than normal eyes could follow.
They're equal. The Nomu was built to match him specifically.
Fern assessed the situation. The students were regrouping at the entrance. She could see Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, and others gathered there. Safe, for now.
Aizawa was down but conscious. Thirteen was helping him.
All Might was fighting the Nomu to a standstill.
But Shigaraki and Kurogiri were still active. They could escape or redirect the Nomu or use their quirks on the students—
I need to eliminate them as threats.
Fern moved before she consciously decided to.
She crossed the plaza in bounds; body enhancement pushed to limits she hadn't used in years. She created suppression fields as she moved, targeting every villain between her and Shigaraki.
One by one, they collapsed; quirks suppressed, bodies unable to move through the resistant energy she left in her wake.
"What—" Kurogiri started to form a portal.
Fern suppressed it. Space manipulation was just energy in a different form. She disrupted the dimensional connection, forcing the portal closed.
Kurogiri staggered. "Impossible! My quirk—"
She swept his legs and struck a pressure point on his neck. He collapsed.
That left Shigaraki.
He turned to face her, his hands spread. "Fast. And dangerous. But if I touch you—"
Fern created a barrier between them. "You won't."
"Confident." He scratched his neck, studying her. "You're not a normal student. That power, that movement. You've killed someone before."
She didn't answer. But something in her expression must have confirmed it.
Shigaraki laughed. "Interesting! A killer playing hero! Does All Might know? Does your school know what you really are?"
"What I am," Fern said quietly, "is someone who protects people."
"By killing?"
"If necessary."
She meant it. If Shigaraki made a move toward the students, she would kill him. Suppress his heart, his brain, his entire nervous system. She'd done it before to demons, to dark mages, to enemies in war.
She could do it again.
Shigaraki must have seen it in her eyes. He stepped back. "Nomu! Retreat mode!"
The Nomu disengaged from All Might, taking a massive punch that would have killed a normal human, but it regenerated instantly. It bounded toward Shigaraki.
"We're leaving," Shigaraki said. "But we'll be back. And next time—"
His eyes locked on Fern. "—I'll figure out what you really are."
Kurogiri recovered enough to create a portal. The Nomu grabbed Shigaraki and they disappeared into the darkness.
The remaining conscious villains scattered or surrendered.
It was over.
Silence fell across the USJ.
All Might stood in the plaza, steam rising from his body. He was breathing hard, unusual for him.
Aizawa was being helped by Thirteen, blood running down his face.
The students at the entrance were staring.
And Fern stood in the center of it all, her hands still crackling with residual magic that she hadn't bothered to hide.
All Might looked at her. His expression was complicated; pride, concern, confusion.
"Young Hayashi," he said quietly. "We need to talk."
Before she could respond, her legs gave out.
I revealed too much. Way too much. They all saw.
Todoroki was suddenly there, catching her before she hit the ground. "You overdid it."
"I'm fine," she said automatically.
"You're not." He helped her sit. "Whatever you just did, that wasn't a normal quirk."
Other students were approaching now. Midoriya, his notebook already out. Bakugo, scowling but looking at her differently. Iida, ready to lecture about proper protocol.
Aizawa limped over, Thirteen supporting him. His face was a mess of blood and bruises, but his eyes were sharp.
"Hayashi," he said. "That barrier—"
"Was my quirk," Fern interrupted. "Psychokinetic energy manipulation. Like Principal Nezu theorized."
"That was more than psychokinetic," Aizawa said flatly. "You moved faster than should be possible. You suppressed Kurogiri's warp quirk, which shouldn't be possible. You fought like someone with years of combat experience."
"Adrenaline," Fern said. "And instinct."
"Don't lie to me." Aizawa's voice was hard. "Not after you just saved my life."
She met his eyes. "I'm not lying. I don't fully understand my quirk either. Sometimes it does things I don't expect."
It was technically true. Magic did things quirks couldn't. She just didn't mention that magic wasn't a quirk.
Before Aizawa could press further, All Might intervened. "Questions later. Right now, everyone needs medical attention. The authorities are on their way."
He was right. Sirens wailed in the distance.
But as they waited for help to arrive, Fern felt the weight of dozens of eyes on her.
Her classmates. Her teachers. All wondering the same thing:
What are you?
And for the first time since arriving in this world, Fern didn't have a good answer.