The hallway smelled like burnt plastic and regret. The walls were painted a deep shade of "Threatening Gray," a color so dull it seemed capable of absorbing hope with every brushstroke. The flickering fluorescent lights overhead buzzed like a swarm of irritated wasps. This was Villain VA—the most notorious underground academy in Japan, dedicated not to saving lives, but training future criminals, masterminds, and living embodiments of chaos.
Today was orientation day.
In the center of the crumbling auditorium stood Rei Kurogane, a teen permanently wearing a scowl that might have been carved right into his face. Rei's quirk, Void Grip, allowed him to absorb anything he touched into a mysterious black void—a power that made him both intriguing and a little terrifying (especially since no one had ever dared test it on anything living). Rei wasn't even sure if he was signing up for school or for an experimental government project gone wrong.
Around him, the various future villains were already stirring up trouble. Blitz, a lightning-infused girl whose neon energy seemed permanently charged, was busy short-circuiting the microphone purely out of boredom. Omen, a quiet guy gifted with the ability to steal luck from anyone nearby, had already orchestrated a series of unfortunate events: several students tripped over absolutely nothing, and at least one student discovered his wallet had mysteriously vanished. Grudge, whose curse-strength directly correlated with his personal resentments, had already cursed a few bystanders; the grimmer his mood, the nastier the curse became.
At the front of the stage—under a blinking neon sign declaring "Crime Pays (Sometimes)"—stood the headmaster, Mr. Compress. He looked every bit the part of a devious ringmaster, complete with a signature mask that caught the meager light and a flowing cape that billowed dramatically, as if defying gravity with its own rebellious attitude. Rei couldn't help but be skeptical. A cape? Even if you were a villain, that was a bit over the top. But in Villain VA, over-the-top was the standard.
Mr. Compress swept his hand theatrically. "Welcome, young villains! You stand at the threshold of greatness! Of trickery! Of deception! Here at Villain VA, we do not teach you nobility. We do not prepare you to 'save lives.' No, no! We mold artists—masterminds in the grand spectacle of villainy!"
A hesitant hand emerged from the back of the room. "Uh… do we get a syllabus?" the student asked, almost as if half expecting a textbook to float down from the ceiling.
With a snap of his fingers, Mr. Compress made the student's notebook vanish into thin air. "A syllabus?" he scoffed. "A great villain does not need a syllabus. A great villain adapts! Improvises! Thinks on their feet! And, occasionally, disappears into a cloud of smoke when things go terribly wrong!"
An awkward silence fell over the auditorium, briefly interrupted by nervous chuckles from those who weren't entirely sure if they were meant to laugh. Mr. Compress continued without missing a beat. "Lesson one! A villain must always be prepared to react! And today, your first exercise: cause one act of villainy before sundown. If you fail, well… let's just say disappearing may be your only option."
Rei clenched his fist. One act of villainy? He wasn't entirely sure where to begin. Should he trip a teacher? Steal a candy bar from the snack machine? Or maybe he could send an entire hero billboard hurtling into his void? He pondered these options as he eyed the room's chaotic energy.
Meanwhile, Dabi—already a well-known name in the villain community—leaned casually against a wall, blue flames flickering around his fingertips. "Pathetic," he muttered, his tone dripping with disdain as he observed the nervous new recruits. "If you need instructions on how to be a villain, maybe you're not meant for this."
Rei ignored the snide comment. Then his gaze fixed upon a bright hero recruitment poster pinned to the wall. That was it—the inspiration he needed. With a mischievous grin, he strode over, placed his hand upon it, and erased it from existence. Simple, clean, and unexpected.
Mr. Compress snapped his fingers again, clearly entertained. "Oh! Subtle. Clean. Mysterious! A trick of the void! You pass."
As Rei's heart raced with a mix of relief and exhilaration, another group ambled into the auditorium. These were individuals who would soon become VA legends in their own right. DoomJazz, a man whose voice could shift from smooth jazz to a destructive sonic boom, raised a finger and whispered coolly, "Bebop disaster incoming." Moments later, a ceiling light burst dramatically, sending shards of metal and laughter through the room.
Neon Hex, whose peculiar talent let her inscribe luminous curses in the air, casually waved her hand and inscribed "Restroom Out of Order" in glowing red across the nearest door—effectively sealing off the facility's only unoccupied bathroom for the foreseeable future.
BrickHead, living proof that sometimes a name really is literal, attempted to headbutt a vending machine for a snack fix. Instead, he ended up demolishing half of the wall. Even in failure, his effort was epic in scale and utterly ridiculous.
Then there was Silent Stalker. The rumors about him were legendary: some said he once "borrowed" an entire bank vault (and then returned it with interest), while others swore he once replaced All Might's shampoo with glue (causing hours of sticky heroics). No one had seen him, but his myth loomed large over the proceedings.
Orientation was officially over. The real training, however, was only just beginning. And UA—with all its self-righteous heroism—was watching. They wouldn't let a school for villains rise without a fight.
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The following morning, disaster struck again. Rei had slept fitfully—if one could call a night spent with Shigaraki's unblinking stare "sleep"—since Shigaraki had spent the entire night watching him like an insect trapped in a jar. "You lasted the first day," Shigaraki muttered as he crossed his arms. "Maybe you won't be useless after all."
In the main hall, Mr. Compress commandeered a desk, balancing on it dramatically as his cape fluttered like it had a mind of its own—complete with sound effects courtesy of what might have been a hidden wind machine. "Lesson two!" he bellowed. "A villain never fights fair!"
At that precise moment, the floor gave way in a grand display of neglect—and by "gave way," we mean it collapsed, sending every student plunging into a dark, sprawling underground chamber. Rei barely managed to brace himself before hitting the dirt, groaning as dust swirled in the dim light.
Mr. Compress's voice came booming from hidden speakers: "Your first exercise: escape before sunrise. Oh, and there are some… obstacles waiting for you down here. Good luck!"
A low, menacing growl echoed from the shadows. Something sinister and decidedly uninvited was down there with them.
Rei scrambled to his feet, tightly gripping his void-infused hand. At his side, Shigaraki, unflappable as ever, dusted off his coat and squinted into the darkness like he had already seen the worst horrors this academy could muster. "Don't die," Shigaraki muttered, stepping forward with the calm determination of someone who'd faced far worse.
Rei wasn't sure if "Don't die" was advice or an ominous threat, but he had little choice but to follow shrewdly. The group advanced through the winding corridors of the underground labyrinth—a maze of twisting tunnels, shifting walls, and dead ends that seemed to laugh at their hopelessness.
The atmosphere was surreal; shadows lengthened in impossible ways and every echo felt like it carried a hidden menace. Blitz grumbled, "This is messed up," her eyes flickering with an electric intensity that made even the darkness twitch in fear. Rei just replied under his breath, "Welcome to VA," as if resigning himself to a life of absurd dangers.
"You think this thing is a quirk experiment?" Omen asked, shoving his hands into his pockets in a show of false bravado as he attempted to mask his alarm.
"Of course it is," Shigaraki replied simply, as if it were the most natural explanation in the world. For a long moment, silence reigned until Shigaraki's expression suddenly sharpened. Rei nearly collided with him, ready to protest, but stopped short when he realized that Shigaraki was listening intently to something—a faint sound otherwise drowned out by ominous echoes.
Then came a barely audible whisper: "Run."
Without warning, the wall exploded outward. In an eruption of dust, rubble, and chaos, a massive creature lunged through the shattered barrier. Its body was distorted by thick, glistening scales; its limbs stretched impossibly long; and its mouth, a terrifying row of jagged, twisting teeth, opened wide in a roar that vibrated the very air. And the worst part? It moved with blinding speed.
Before anyone could react, Blitz hurled a crackling lightning strike at the beast. The attack, however, barely registered—like a spark against a raging inferno. Omen stumbled backward, nearly colliding with Neon Hex, who was frantically scribbling counter-curses in the air to try and subdue the beast. In the ensuing panic, Rei seized Blitz's arm to pull her out of harm's way when the creature slammed its claws where she had just been standing.
"That thing is BUILT DIFFERENT," Blitz wheezed, partly in pain, partly in awe.
Meanwhile, Shigaraki remained unnervingly calm, his eyes cold and calculating. "Rei," he said in a low tone.
"WHAT?" Rei snapped, barely dodging another swipe from the creature's lethal claws.
"You want to survive?" Shigaraki continued, his voice as even as ever. "Use the void. Eat it."
Rei hesitated wildly. Void Grip on a living, rampaging monster? That was insane—even by Villain VA's twisted standards. "That's insane!" he hissed, heart pounding. Shigaraki merely tilted his head slightly, his expression a mix of amusement and challenge. "It's Villain VA. We're all insane here." With no better option, Rei lunged forward and clutched the creature's twisting, sharp limb. His void surged to life, crackling with dark energy. With a heart-stopping moment, a fractured scream erupted from the monster as part of its limb vanished into oblivion.
The creature reeled back, stunned into an unsteady halt. Then, as if the situation wasn't absurd enough, Mr. Compress's booming laughter filled the chamber. "Oh, magnificent! A villain must be clever! A villain must think beyond mere brute force!"
At that moment, the labyrinth seemed to shift of its own accord. The walls reconfigured, revealing an exit door right behind the beleaguered group. "Lesson three!" Mr. Compress declared. "Know when to make an exit—before it's made for you!"
Without further hesitation, the group bolted for the newfound escape route. Shigaraki paused only long enough to glance back at the frustrated creature, now struggling with its missing limb, and then followed without delay.
Back in the main hall, gasping for breath and covered in dirt and sweat, the students gathered again. "That was HORRIBLE!" Blitz yelled, half-exasperated, half-adrenaline high.
"Agreed," Rei muttered, still trying to catch his breath and process everything that had happened.
Mr. Compress clapped in a theatrically overdone manner. "Splendid! You live to villain another day!" he exclaimed, clearly delighted by the chaos.
Before anyone could relax, Shigaraki walked past Rei with barely a glance. "That wasn't terrible," he muttered under his breath—and Rei wasn't sure if that was meant as a compliment or a sinister promise of more challenges to come.
Just when the situation seemed to settle, the underground chamber erupted once more. This time, the drama took an unexpected twist. Rei barely had a moment to register what was happening before BrickHead, ever the enthusiastic idiot, screamed and charged blindly into the darkness with wild abandon. "I GOT THIS!" BrickHead bellowed. There was a loud THUNK, followed by an equally comical "I DO NOT GOT THIS." Rei groaned inwardly; whoever—or whatever—BrickHead had just awakened was going to bring even more calamity to their already chaotic day.
As if that weren't enough, a deep snarl emerged from the far recesses of the labyrinth. Neon Hex, still composing her curses with a determined glint in her eyes, murmured, "That sounded...hostile." At that moment, another voice cut through the chaos—a loud, angry voice echoing as if it had been bottled up for too long.
"WHO THE HELL PUT ME DOWN HERE?!"
The wall didn't just explode—it ERUPTED. Through clouds of dust, flickering flames, and a shower of debris, an imposing figure stomped into view. Teeth bared and sparks dancing off his palms, the unmistakable presence of Bakugo filled the chamber.
Silence fell, thick and heavy, until Blitz whispered, "…We're dead." Omen spun around, eyes wide, and addressed Rei in a tone that managed to be both exasperated and incredulous. "Bro. What did you do?" Rei could only shout back, "I DID NOTHING!" as Bakugo's fury intensified. The explosive teen glared at the group with raw, seething anger—entirely justified, if you considered him freshly dropped into a villain school trial by force.
WHAT IS THIS DUMBASS PLACE?!" Bakugo roared, his voice echoing like an explosion throughout the chamber. Shigaraki's lip curled smugly, "Looks like we have company," he remarked coolly. Bakugo's eyes locked onto Rei, the intensity of his glare burning like incendiary rounds. "YOU! WHERE AM I AND WHO AM I SUPPOSED TO BE BLOWING UP?!" he demanded. For once, Rei was at a loss for words.
Just then, Mr. Compress's voice boomed over the speakers again, oozing with amusement. "Your mission," he announced, "is simple. Escape before sunrise. And, well—" He paused dramatically. "Try not to get blown up by our special guest."
Rei groaned audibly. "You've got to be kidding me."
Thus began a day that would redefine what it meant to be a villain in training. Between navigating the labyrinthine corridors (filled with unexpected traps like self-playing evil laugh machines, booby-trapped whoopee cushions, and corridors that insisted on looping back to check your resolve) and dodging Bakugo's explosive tantrums, the students soon discovered that Villain VA was as much a lesson in absurdity as it was in villainy.
During a brief respite, as the motley crew huddled in a corner of a dimly lit passageway, Blitz attempted to lighten the mood by joking, "Well, at least if we get caught, we can blame it on low attendance!" Even Omen, normally the quiet cynic, managed a sardonic quip: "I guess misery does love company." Even Shigaraki allowed a thin smile—a rarity that said, without words, that deep down, surviving Villain VA was shockingly funny.
Bakugo, meanwhile, roamed the corridors like a walking firecracker, throwing explosive comments and accidentally demolishing part of a crumbling wall that, ironically, spelled "Welcome Heroes" before it fell apart. "This place is trash," he snarled, though underneath the gruff tone was an odd sense of amusement at the sheer unpredictability of villain school.
As the hours passed and the escape challenge wore on, Rei found himself unexpectedly enjoying these absurd moments. First, he'd been terrified of his own Void Grip; now, he was using it to clear obstacles in completely unconventional ways—even if that meant accidentally absorbing a misbehaving ceiling tile (which, when spat back out, landed perfectly in BrickHead's confused arms). Mr. Compress's periodic interludes over the speaker were pure theatrical genius, offering applause, sarcastic awards ("Most Creative Use of a Doomed Quirk"), and even sporadic trivia about the history of infamous villains, all delivered with the dramatic flair of a seasoned showman.
By the time the first hint of sunrise filtered through a hidden vent in the labyrinth, the motley crew had forged an odd camaraderie. They regrouped back in the main hall, breathless and bruised but, in their own twisted way, feeling victorious. "That was HORRIBLE!" Blitz declared with a laugh that echoed through the hall. Rei could only nod, silently thankful to still be standing. Mr. Compress clapped—this time less theatrically and more like a parent proud of a rambunctious child. "Splendid! You live to villain another day!" he pronounced. Shigaraki, ever the enigma, simply muttered as he passed by, "That wasn't terrible," leaving Rei wondering if it was praise or a promise of even more chaos.
And as for Bakugo? Still fuming, he glowered at the departing group with a mix of rage and reluctant admiration, muttering, "I'm gonna blow something up… eventually." The sound of laughter and groans filled the hall as stories of the day's disasters began to circulate—a day so absurd that even if the heroes were watching, they'd probably be too busy laughing to intervene.
Thus, the legend of Villain VA continued to grow—a school where every day was a blend of peril, mayhem, and humor. A place where the rules of normal villainy were thrown out the window, replaced instead by wild, unpredictable creativity. And if today was any indication, tomorrow would be even more ridiculous.
Rei slumped into his bed, ignoring Shigariki who was staring at him! And slowly fell asleep.