The bus lurched over forest service roads, tires spitting gravel. Izuku's forehead rested against the cool window, but sleep had fled the moment the quest window ignited across his vision.
It was not a phone screen. Not a Sacred Gear interface. It was reality rewritten into floating gold script, visible only to him, hovering three inches from his retinas:
[QUEST SYSTEM AWAKENED]
No XP. No Levels. Only Contracts.
You are the Player. The Universe is the Game Master.
QUEST: OCCUPIED HANDS, BOUND CLAWS
OBJECTIVE A: Resurrect Yuga Aoyama & Denki Kaminari (ghost → flesh).
• They remain your Necromantic Servants.
• Public cover: "Returned early from family emergencies."
OBJECTIVE B: Keep Mina Ashido & Momo Yaoyorozu occupied (minimum 5 minutes).
OBJECTIVE C: Capture Pro Hero Midnight (Nemuri Kayama) with 1 Master Ball.
• Current Status: 2nd & 3rd Traitors - Mind Altered by Mina Ashido.
• Capture ensures instant, unbreakable obedience.
REWARD: 100 Senzu Beans
FAILURE: Legendary Super Saiyan transformation sealed permanently.
TIME LIMIT: Until the training camp's first nightfall
Accept? [Y/N]
Izuku's finger twitched. The [Y] pulsed once, then vanished. The quest locked in with a sound like a gavel in a vacuum.
He exhaled slowly. No one on the bus noticed; Ochaco was humming beside him, Iida lecturing about seatbelt safety two rows ahead.
Mina and Momo sat in the back, heads bent over Momo's phone-probably finalizing security maps. Midnight lounged across the rear bench, cat mask tilted like a visor, one long leg draped over the armrest. Her perfume-jasmine and something sharper-drifted forward on the AC.
Izuku's hand slipped into his jacket. Five Master Balls. One would be gone in hours. He needed the other four for bigger threats, but the quest was absolute.
First: Resurrection.
He closed his eyes and sank into the tide of Ocean. At eighty percent, the Sacred Gear was no longer just blood sense; it was a living ocean inside his veins, mapping every capillary in the bus.
He found the dimensional storage pocket-cool, dark, patient-and reached for the two ghosts.
Denki's soul crackled like a live wire, eager. Aoyama's shimmered with theatrical impatience. Izuku whispered the necromantic clause: Flesh for service. Lies for loyalty.
The Resurrection Sacred Gear-still on cooldown from Tensei Iida-flared in protest, but the quest overrode it. Cosmic authority trumped cooldowns.
Green-black energy spiraled from Izuku's heart, threading through the bus floorboards unseen. It pooled beneath two empty seats near the front-seats that had been vacant since "family emergencies" were announced last week.
Bones knitted. Muscle wove. Skin bloomed. Uniforms materialized, crisp and new.
Yuga Aoyama blinked into existence first, navel laser sparkling like a disco ball. "Mon dieu, the accommodations were dreadful," he announced to no one, flipping his cape.
Denki Kaminari popped in beside him, hair staticky, grinning like he'd never died.
"Yo, Midoriya! Missed me?"
The bus exploded with noise.
Ochaco shrieked, hands over her mouth. Iida's glasses fogged. Bakugou twisted in his seat, palms sparking. "The hell-Spark Plug? Sparkles? You were gone for weeks!"
Aizawa's scarf snapped like a whip, wrapping both returnees before they could blink. "Explain. Now."
Izuku stood, voice calm. "They're back early. Family stuff got resolved faster than expected. I got the texts last night."
He held up his phone-fake messages already planted by quest authority, timestamps perfect.
Aizawa's eyes narrowed, but the messages checked out. Midnight sat up in the back, mask slipping. Mina's smile froze. Momo's fingers tightened on her phone.
Perfect.
Objective A: Complete.
______________________
The buses unloaded at the Pussycats' base camp-dense pine forest, mountain air sharp with resin. The class stretched, groaning.
Pixie-Bob bounded forward with her usual manic energy; Mandalay explained the week's schedule. Izuku tuned it out. The quest timer ticked in the corner of his vision: 17 hours, 11 minutes remaining.
He needed five minutes of distraction.
Denki and Aoyama-now flesh, now servants-understood without words. Necromantic bonds hummed between master and thralls.
Denki clapped his hands. "Hey, Mina, Momo! You owe us a catch-up. Like, full debrief. Family drama's wild." He looped an arm around Mina's shoulders, steering her toward the gear tents.
Aoyama took Momo's elbow with gallant flair. "Ma chère, your creations are legendary. Show me the new utility belts?"
Mina's eyes flicked to Izuku-suspicion, calculation-but Denki's chatter was relentless. Momo hesitated, then followed, ever polite.
Five minutes. Maybe six.
Objective B: Engaged.
Izuku slipped away.
____________________
Midnight lingered by the supply crates, signing clipboards with a lazy flourish. Her scent was stronger here-jasmine, leather, and the faint metallic tang of Somnambulist gas ready in hidden canisters.
Mind Alter had turned her from ally to saboteur; the quest HUD painted her outline in hostile red.
Izuku approached from downwind, footsteps muffled by pine needles. Ocean mapped her pulse: 78 bpm, steady. No alarm.
"Midnight-sensei," he called softly.
She turned, mask fully down now, violet eyes curious. "Midoriya. You look like you fought a war and lost."
"Something like that." He stopped three meters away-close enough for the Master Ball, far enough to dodge the whip if she snapped.
Her head tilted. "You're staring. Rude."
Izuku's hand was already in his pocket. The Master Ball was ice against his fingers. "I need your help with something. Private."
One eyebrow arched. "Scandalous. Lead the way, problem child."
He led her behind the equipment shed, out of sight. The forest pressed close, shadows thick. Midnight followed, hips swaying, utterly relaxed.
The moment they rounded the corner, Izuku spun.
The Master Ball left his hand in a blur-no wind-up, no tell. It was not thrown; it teleported.
Midnight's eyes widened a fraction as the sphere expanded mid-air, engulfing her in a sphere of absolute black. Her whip cracked once, slicing empty space. Then silence.
The ball snapped shut. Fell. Rolled to a stop against Izuku's shoe.
He picked it up. It was warm now, pulsing like a heartbeat. Inside, Midnight's silhouette knelt, eyes closed, cat mask cracked down the middle. The HUD flashed:
TARGET ACQUIRED: NEMURI KAYAMA (MIDNIGHT)
STATUS: 100% OBEDIENT
RELEASE PHRASE: "Cat's out of the bag."
Objective C: Complete.
____________________
The quest window dissolved in golden shards. A new one materialized:
QUEST COMPLETE
REWARD: 100 SENZU BEANS
A burlap sack thumped into existence at Izuku's feet-exactly one hundred beans, glowing faintly.
He slung it over his shoulder; it weighed nothing, dimensional compression courtesy of the Game Master.
Four Master Balls remained.
He released Midnight with the phrase. She materialized kneeling, mask repaired, eyes clear but empty of treason. "Master," she murmured, voice velvet and absolute. "Your orders?"
"Act normal. Sabotage nothing. Protect the class. Report to me if Mina or Momo move against us."
"Understood."
She stood, stretched like a cat, and sauntered back to the crates as if nothing had happened. Izuku followed a minute later.
Denki and Aoyama had stretched the distraction to seven minutes-Momo was demonstrating a new grappling hook, Mina laughing too loudly. They caught Izuku's eye. Subtle nods.
The first nightfall was hours away. The quest was done.
But the war was just beginning.