Hayze is lying in his bedroom; his clock shows it’s 7:30 A.M. he looks over at his bronze medal from the sports festival.

Hayze (Naratting): It’s been just under a month since the Sports Festival; we’ve all continued our hero training just the same as before, but with some changes in our perspective. For some, the Sports Festival is a chip on their shoulder, a marker to look back upon and know they need to do more to succeed and keep pace with the rest of us. And for others, the Sports Festival was confirmation of their power and a reward for their drive to be heroes, but they know there is still much more to do. For me, the Sports Festival was a new beginning of sorts. I’m not looked at as a weakling anymore; I’m viewed as a true rival and someone to put your trust behind. It feels good, but I can’t shake the feeling I didn’t do enough. I know it’s probably just me being hard on myself, but that feeling isn’t going away… it’s in my bones.

Silver is doing intense weight training.

Hayze (Naratting): The Sports Festival showed ways to improve ourselves and round out our fighting style and mastery of our quirks.

Aaron is practicing his sniper rifle fire on long-range targets.

Hayze (Naratting): It showed us that we can’t rely on our same old tricks over and over.

Kevin is doing endurance training.

Hayze (Naratting): It shed light on the fact that our quirks’ biggest strengths can sometimes also be weaknesses.

Tara is designing a new gadget for Wes.

Hayze (Naratting): It proved sometimes you need a little help to reach the next step.

Jake is napping.

Hayze (Naratting): It also showed that some of us have more drive than others.

Blair is in anger management class, getting pissed off at the teacher.

Hayze (Naratting): Or that some of us have too much drive sometimes…

Justus opens up a case and looks inside of it.

Hayze (Naratting): But at the end of the day.

Justus grabs out a shield and straps it to his left arm.

Hayze (Naratting): We all have one goal in mind.

Montage through the rest of the class honing their skills and training hard.

Hayze (Naratting): To be heroes.

Elsewhere in a dark control room, only illuminated by the screens of monitors. Iota and another person are looking over the files of Class 1-A.

Zaire: The time is coming soon Master, are you ready for your first strike?

Iota: This isn’t the first strike, Zaire; it’s merely gathering more pieces and striking fear into this peaceful world of ours.

Another male enters the room; both he and Zaire look the same age as Class 1-A.

Iota: Ah, Jagger, thank you for coming here.

Jagger: Anything for you, Master.

Iota: I have an important mission for you.

Jagger: What is it, sir? I’ll complete it to perfection.

Iota: You’re going to fetch some new recruits.

Jagger: Hm? Who are they?

Iota holds a piece of paper out.

Iota: These 9.

Jagger grabs the paper and examines it.

Jagger: These are those U.A. kids from the Sports Festival, right? What do you want with them? They’re just kids.

Iota: *chuckles* Jagger, you’re the same age as them.

Jagger: Maybe, but I have you giving me strength, Master. They’re still in training.

Iota: Yes, and I’d love to take over their training and make them a member of our movement. Will you help me do that?

Jagger: Of course.

Iota: Go assemble a team; I trust your judgment. Zaire knows all of the information about where they’ll be and can take you there.

Jagger: Yessir.

Jagger starts to leave.

Iota: Oh, and one more thing, Jagger.

Jagger: What is it?

Iota: Bring Ivy with you.

Jagger: I thought you wanted me to bring them back alive?

Ivy laughs and then smiles at Jagger.

Iota: Ivy will not disobey orders. Just make sure she comes back if things go south.

Jagger: You think things might go south?

Iota: They have Damien Walker and Femme Fatal as their teachers; of course, things can go wrong. That’s why you need Ivy.

Jagger: *grunts* Yessir.

Jagger exits.

Zaire: Ivy doesn’t play well with the others. Are you sure you don’t want me to tag along instead of her?

Jagger: Trust me, Zaire, Ivy is the right choice for this mission.

Zaire: Yes, Master.

Class 1-A is gathered at the front of U.A.’s main gate with packed luggage bags.

Zach: Man, I’m so excited for this field trip!

Jace: It’s an excellent idea for us to do team-building exercises before going our separate ways for our internships.

Angel: Yeah, especially since we’re not too far removed from trying to beat the crap out of each other in the Sports Festival.

Gus: But why are we bringing the girls? They’ll slow us down.

Alden: Personally, I’m looking forward to showing off my skills since Silver robbed me of that chance!

Wes: Are we still doing the thing where we ignore what Gus just said?

Zach: Losing in the first round was pretty tough on me, so I’ve gotta show off what I can do again before everyone forgets that I’m just as strong as the rest of ‘em!

Jace: Same here!

Wes: Glad that answered my question…

The girls overhear the boys’ conversation.

Karma: There go the guys talking about how strong they are again.

Alexis: Well, more of them made it farther in the tournament than we did, hell Ash was the only one who made it to the second round, and then she forfeited.

Ash: Sorry…

Blair: Hey, what about me!

Alexis: You didn’t make it to the second round.

Blair: But I won a fight!

Alexis: If balling your eyes out on national TV is a win for you, then I guess you did.

Blair gets in the fetal position.

Blair: *under her breath* I forgot it was on TV…

Lilith: Don’t worry, Blair, I’m sure everyone has forgotten!

Karma: *whispers to Alexis* Should we tell her the fight has nearly 8 million views on YouTube?

Alexis: *whispers*Maybe when she’s angry so we can get her to hurt Isaiah and Demetri more.

Karma: Alright… and actually speaking of those two… where are they?

Isaiah and Demetri are hiding in the bushes near the girls’ bags.

Demetri: This is it; we’ve dreamed of this day!

Isaiah: I know, man, it’s our time to shine!

Isaiah puts on his x-ray vision and starts checking bags.

Demetri: Which one is Eve’s?

Isaiah: I don’t know, I can’t tell.

Demetri: It’s the one with the most oversized bras, dumbass!

Isaiah: I know, but I don’t see it!

Demetri: Then where could it be?

Suddenly they both notice a shadow over them.

Demetri and Isaiah: *gulp*

They both slowly look back with terrified expressions to see Eve standing above them.

Eve: Well… well… well. *cracks knuckles*

Walker, Fatal, and another hero exit the gates and join the group. A bus arrives and parks in front of them.

Jace: *whispers to Zach* It’s time for Mr. Walker to give a big speech.

Zach: *whispers* I know; he’s probably going to try and inspire us before the trip!

Walker: *clears throat* Alright, everyone, be mature on the bus. Otherwise, you’re sleeping in the woods tonight.

Walker enters the bus.

Jace and Zach: That’s it!

Fatal: We’ll uh… explain more about the trip when we arrive, okay guys? Let’s just have a smooth ride until then.

Fatal gets on the bus.

Hero: And I’m EMD, the Speed Hero! I’ll be helping out Mr. Walker and Ms. Fatal on this field trip! Let’s just say I’ll be the good cop to Mr. Walker’s bad cop.

EMD gets on the bus. Walker looks out the window.

Walker: You’ve got 2 minutes to load up your bags; we’ll leave you behind if you’re not on the bus by then.

Everyone: WHAT!

They all rush to put their bags on the bus and get inside to take their seats. Wes is last to enter the bus; he looks around confused.

Wes: Where are Isaiah and Demetri?

Eve: Somewhere.

Wes: I’m gonna take that as they’re here but not safe.

Eve: Good guess.

The bus door closes, and the vehicle drives off. Isaiah and Demetri are duct-taped to the roof of the bus with tape over their mouths.

Isaiah and Demetri: *Muffled Screams*

The bus drives down the highway.

Wes: So, where exactly are we going?

Aaron: We’re heading to a big cabin out in the woods that are privately owned by U.A.

Kevin: It’s basically an open area for us to train and experience the great outdoors!

Wes: Oh, great, the woods… I’m sure you’re gonna leave me to get eaten by a bear at some point.

Aaron: N- yes.

Angel: So, are you guys looking forward to your internships?

Gus: Not really; Only the best people in our class will get any offers. Most of us will be working with heroes who are willing to take anyone.

Jace: That’s true, but working with a real live hero is still gonna be cool!

Gus: That’s true, I guess.

Lilith: Two weeks is a long time; I wonder how much work we’re going to do.

Karma: It all depends on who you choose to intern with and their approach to teaching you. Remember that to take us on as interns, the heroes have to possess teaching licenses, so they’ll all be teachers to us.

Fatal and Walker are sitting at the front of the bus.

Fatal: You really should lighten up; this won’t be so bad.

Walker: I hated that they scheduled this trip. It’s a waste of time, everything we’re going to teach them, they could learn just as well at school.

Fatal: Oh, come on, even if that’s true, look at how happy they all are. It’s good for them to enjoy their hero training and each other’s company. Plus, just because we have solid vision technology doesn’t mean we have to use it for everything.

Walker: *sighs* Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Fatal: You just don’t want to have to deal with supervising them for the next 4 days.

Walkers: *grunts*

EMD: They seem like lovely kids, at least.

Fatal: Oh, EMD, I didn’t realize you were listening.

EMD: Sorry… I have no one else to talk to. Anyway, why did you need me on this trip?

Walker: When taking students off school grounds, we have to have at least three teachers. It’s school policy.

Fatal: Well, yes, but we also chose you because we thought your speed quirk would be helpful for some of the exercises we have in mind.

EMD: Makes sense, you know I saw the Sports Festival, these kids pack quite the punch, maybe you should have brought another teacher.

Walker: The fewer people I have to keep track of, the better.

Fatal rubs her temples in annoyance.

EMD: *nervous grunt* So… what do you have in mind for these kids? This is supposed to be centered around team building, right?

Walker: I have my requisite 2 things planned, then they go play in the woods for the next two days.

Fatal: You’re really giving this your best shot, aren’t you…

Walker: Yup.

EMD: (If Walker’s going to let his hatred of this trip derail it, I’ll have to put my thinking cap on.)

Later the bus arrives at the massive cabin. The group enters to see a well-decorated and comfortable-looking interior.

Walker: Two to a room, no coed, or I’ll hurt you.

Walker leaves.

Silver: (He’s in a pretty lousy mood…)

EMD stands in front of the students.

EMD: Alright, everyone, get yourselves situated, get in your gym uniforms, and meet me outside for our first activity!

Zach: *whispers* I feel like it’s a bad thing that a random teacher is taking more initiative than Mr. Walker.

Jace: *whispers* Hey, look at the bright side, at least someone is.

Everyone does as EMD instructed, and they gather outside. The cabin is located in the center of a flat plane with forest surrounding it on all sides.

EMD: Being that I’m temporarily your teacher for these next couple of days, I wanna size you guys up and see if everything I’ve heard about you is accurate.

Hayze: (Did this guy not see the Sports Festival?)

Silver: (That’s a strange line…)

EMD takes out a box with a hole in the top and places it in front of the students.

EMD: One at a time, come up and take a ball. If it’s red, go to the left, and if it’s blue, stand to the right.

The students take turns grabbing balls out of the box and from these two teams:

Demetri, Lilith, Justus, Alexis, Ash, Alden, Zach, Eve, Angel, Jake

Kevin, Blair, Gus, Aaron, Hayze, Wes, Jace, Isaiah, Silver, Karma

Karma: (Well, this doesn’t seem fair if we’re going against each other.)

Aaron: (We scored big!)

EMD Looks back and forth at the two teams.

EMD: (It’s incredible how quickly the hierarchy can form in these classes, the confidence of the blue

group is almost palpable.)

EMD pulls out a black ball that’s the same size as the other balls.

EMD: Alright, everyone, it’s time for your exercise to begin. You have one single task: take this ball from me.

Aaron: That- That’s it?

Zach: There’s gotta be something else, right?

Wes: I don’t know guys, last time we had a simple task against a teacher, we all ended up with concussions or worse in Alden’s case.

Alden: Yeah! Wait…

Silver: What’s the catch, Mr. EMD? We all know one exists.

EMD: There is none. Just get this black ball from me. You each have your colored ball; if I take it from you, you’re out.

Gus: Seems fair enough.

Jace: This guy can’t really think he can take all 20 of us on, right? Even Mr. Walker said he couldn’t do that.

Hayze: (What’s this guy hiding? This challenge doesn’t make any sense.)

Walker watches from the window of the cabin.

Walker: (Very clever EMD, none of them have even asked the one question that matters most.)

EMD starts stretching, the two teams huddle up with their respective groups.

Silver: Kevin, if you charge him, I can work on restraining him.

Aaron: Hey! Who said you get to be the one in charge? I say we all charge him at once! There’s no way he can take down all of us!

Karma: We have to worry about the other team though, what if they try the same thing? If Silver restrains him, what stops them from getting the ball first?

Silver: Yeah, It’s probably for the best to send the fastest among us at him first. Karma, Aaron, Kevin, and Jace can lead the forward assault, and the rest of us can protect the flank.

Hayze: That makes sense, but you guys need to be careful. He called himself “The Speed Hero,” so Kevin should still be the first man in.

Kevin: Yeah, I took down Killian with his speed, so I’ll stop EMD if he tries anything!

The other group huddles as well.

Justus: Angel and Lilith, you take flight with Jake; the rest of us, minus Alden, will try to distract him until Jake gets an opening to teleport in and grab the ball.

Alden: Wait… then what am I gonna do?

Justus: Uh… cheerlead?

Alden: What, but I’m the strongest person here! You can’t leave me on the sidelines!

The entire red team stares at Alden.

Alexis: Out of curiosity, who were your teammates in the entrance exam?

Alden: Why?

Alexis: Just answer the question.

Alden: Silver and Kevin…

The Red Team: Ohhhhhhhh.

EMD finishes stretching and walks about 50 yards away from the teams.

EMD: Alright, everyone, let’s begin!

Angel and Lilith each grab one of Jake’s arms and take flight. Kevin, Jace, Karma, and Aaron all start running towards EMD. The rest of the red team stands back to see what happens. Silver readies his silver dust around himself.

EMD: Interesting strategies, but unfortunately for you guys…

Time seemingly and suddenly slows down, but EMD is able to move at a regular pace.

EMD: You really should have done your research before charging at an opponent like me.

Time returns to normal as EMD seemingly disappears out of thin air; the four members of the blue team that charged at him stop and start looking around, confused.

Jace: Where did he go?

Silver: *yelling* Behind you!

Jace turns around and is sucker-punched by EMD; his ball drops out of his hand and into EMD’s. Jace falls to the ground holding his stomach.

EMD: One down, 19 to go.

The flying team sees that EMD has his back turned to them.

Angel: Jake, now!

Jake: What?

Lilith: Teleport behind him and grab the ball!

Jake: Oh, okay.

Jake teleports behind EMD, but suddenly EMD disappears and reappears behind Jake.

Jake: What?

EMD: Clever plan, but I saw all of your quirks during the Sports Festival, so this was pretty predictable.

EMD punches Jake in the back and takes his ball.

EMD: 18!

Aaron: Kev, you got a plan here? He just took Jake and Jace out without breaking a sweat!

Kevin: No… I thought his speed boost would be like Killian’s, but it looks like it’s out of this world. (I don’t get it, based on that display, he probably could have taken all of us out, but he chose to go for Jace first instead.) Alright, mind if we get a question or two?

EMD: Go right ahead.

Kevin: What exactly is your quirk?

EMD: I thought you’d never ask! My name is EMD, the Speed Hero! My quirk lets me move at superhuman rates, and my name is an acronym!

Aaron: Oh yeah? And what does it stand for?

EMD: Eat. My. Dust!

EMD appears behind Aaron and attempts to kick him, but a powered-up Kevin grabs his leg, midair.

EMD: (Ah, enhanced reflexes, I almost forgot. I would be impressed if I wasn’t using a lower speed right now.)

EMD starts vibrating his leg at an extreme rate burning Kevin’s hand and forcing him to release his grip. EMD then uppercuts Kevin and takes his ball.

EMD: 17!

Aaron: (This guy is moving so fast I can’t even see him; how am I supposed to counter that!)

Aaron transforms his left arm into a machine gun and attempts to fire at EMD, but the speedster punches him in the chest and takes his ball.

Aaron: *pained grunt*

EMD: 16!

The red team watches from afar.

Eve: He just took Aaron and Kevin out in like 2 seconds…

Zach: Oh boy…

Alden: Alright, well, I quit.

EMD appears in front of Alden.

EMD: “Quit,” you say?

Alden: Fuck.

EMD punches Alden and grabs his ball.

EMD: 15!

Justus: Get him now!

The red team tries to dogpile on EMD, but he disappears. Karma examines her downed classmates.

Karma: I don’t understand… if the strongest among us can’t stop him. What are we gonna do?

EMD: What are you going to do?

EMD has appeared behind Karma, startling her.

Karma: I’m tired of not living up to my potential! I’m going to get that ball from you!

EMD: Sure, you can, just ask nicely.

Karma: Don’t toy with me!

Karma accelerates toward EMD, but he slows down his perception of time to the point where it looks as though Karma is moving at a normal speed.

Karma: What the hell?

EMD: High speed is a crazy thing, ain’t it?

EMD grabs the ball out of Karma’s hands and turns his perception of time to normal as Karma is shocked at what just happened.

Karma: You- y- you-

EMD: Amazing, right? 14!

EMD leaves Karma as she falls to the ground in defeat. The blue team stands ready.

Silver: Hayze, you got any ideas here?

Hayze: He just out sped a girl who literally was accelerating herself 3 seconds into the future; I’m not sure how you plan around that.

Silver: Fair point. Wes can’t do shit for us against this guy, and we have Isaiah, so we’re basically at 4 people.

Wes: What the fuck, man?

Isaiah: Yeah, what he said!

Gus: Where even is he? Everyone left is standing either here or with the other team.

Blair: I think you’re forgetting two people.

Angel and Lilith try surveying the area for EMD.

Angel: Do you see him?

Lilith: No, do you?

Angel: No, he has to have run into the forest.

EMD: *from a distance* You sure?

EMD runs across the roof of the building, leaps off, and grabs Angel’s wings.

Angel: Oh crap!

EMD: It’s fun up here! I wish I could fly more often!

Angel: Get off!

EMD: Fine!

EMD grabs the ball out of Angel’s hand.

EMD: 13!

EMD then uses Angel as a springboard and grabs Lilith’s ball.

Lilith: What!

Angel: Huh?

EMD: 12!

EMD lands in between the two teams.

EMD: Well, you’re down 8 members. What’s your next step?

Zach: We’re gonna take you down in a second flat!

EMD: Do you realize how fast that is?

Demetri: Zach, why would you mention time frames against a guy who moves faster than we perceive?

Zach: I don’t know. I’m trying to get better at trash talking.

Demetri: Try harder…

EMD points towards the remaining members of the Red Team: Justus, Zach, Demetri, Eve, Alexis, and Ash.

EMD: Let me show you what it means to take someone down in a second flat.

Zach: Ah crud…

Demetri: This is gonna sting…

Justus: Hold your ground, guys!

EMD disappears, and the group feels a swoosh of air.

EMD: Hey! Look, you’re all taken down in a second!

The look to see EMD has all 6 of their red balls in his hand.

EMD: 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6!

Everyone looks disappointed and frustrated.

Alexis: Well, that went well…

Ash: Dang…

Eve wrings Zach’s neck.

Eve: YOU JUST HAD TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH!

Zach: *choking* I’m sorry…

EMD turns and faces the final six members of the Blue Team: Hayze, Silver, Wes, Blair, Isaiah, and Gus.

Wes: So… how fucked are we?

Blair: On a scale of 1 to 10, the number of our classmates knocked out of the task.

Wes: Oh… so really fucked?

EMD appears in front of them.

EMD: Any last ideas, guys?

Isaiah clenches his fist.

Isaiah: That’s it! I’m tired of being walked all over!

Isaiah gets up in EMD’s face.

Isaiah: I’m gonna be the one to take you down!

EMD: What can you do?

Isaiah: This!

Isaiah’s eyes heat up, and he fires a set of heat beams that nearly take off EMD’s head, but the speed hero evades them.

EMD: Woah, tiger! Now that was fierce!

Isaiah: Goddammit…

Wes: YOU HAD THAT THIS WHOLE TIME!

Isaiah: Yeah… you guys never gave me a chance to use them.

Wes: WHAT?

EMD punches Isaiah and takes his ball.

EMD: 5! Anything else you guys-

EMD gets hit by one of the balls in the face.

Gus: Take that!

EMD: 4!

Gus: Well, it was worth a shot.

Wes: Why? I- I don’t- what? No, it wasn’t!

Blair: I’m with Gus on this one; this feels kind of impossible… with just 3 of us left.

Wes: Oh, fuck you.

Blair: What did you just say?

Wes: Uh… Hayze said your boobs are small.

Blair: HE SAID WHAT? Calm down, calm down. People are entitled to their opinions.

Wes: But that’s a fact.

Blair starts beating the shit out of Wes. Hayze, EMD, and Silver just watch.

EMD: I’m not even gonna take their balls, 2.

Wes: *off-screen* worth it!

EMD: Well, do you two have any ideas left?

Silver turns to Hayze.

Silver: I’ve got nothing, you?

Hayze: Well… he did tell Karma to ask nicely…

Silver looks at EMD then back at Hayze.

Silver: I- *looks at EMD* May we have the ball?

EMD: Sure.

EMD gives Silver the ball.

EMD: Congratulations, students! You win!

Everyone: WHAT!

EMD: The challenge's goal was to GET the ball, not take it.

Aaron: *under his breath* God, I hate wordplay…

Gus: Wait, why does everyone win? Our team got the ball back.

EMD: When did I say you were working in teams? All I did was tell you to stand to the left or right based on the color of the ball you pulled.

Everyone: WHAT!

All of the students gather around EMD.

EMD: I divided you to make you think you were working against each other, but there were never any rules specifically stating you were working as teams or that one team could win over the other. Your task was simple, but you all overcomplicated it. You just had to get the ball from me. Observational skills and analysis of conditions are part of being heroes. Furthermore, the construct of being on teams held you back, had you listened closely, you all could have formulated a plan as a cohesive unit instead of forming plans in your groups and sending individualized efforts to take the ball. I hope you carry this lesson with you for a long time. That’ll be it for today; Mr. Walker has something planned for you all tomorrow, good luck.

EMD walks inside the cabin.

Alexis: That guy played us like fiddles. I guess we have more to work on than just strategy and strength.

Hayze: (I guess it makes sense now why he made us do that exercise with him out matching us so heavily. We were never supposed to beat him. Clever lesson, EMD…)

Later that night, on a cliff far away but still within viewing distance of the cabin, a warp gate opens. Jagger and Zaire exit from it.

Zaire: There’s the cabin. U.A. Class 1-A is there for the next 3 days; when will you be attacking?

Jagger: We’ll strike tomorrow night; Master Iota’s orders will be fulfilled.

Zaire: Remember to capture as many as possible, but prioritize those on the list. Master wants them the most.

Jagger: I know, I’ve already got a plan in the works, giving me Ivy will make this a cinch.

Zaire: Well, good luck.

Jagger: Oh trust me, Zaire… we won’t need it.