All Might and the rest of the class were in a secure room surrounded by screens and monitors.
"Pay attention!" The Number One Hero said to them all with his usual enthusiasm. "This is an exercise both for them and you! Young Brando and Valentine will have five minutes to prepare and get into a villainous mindset! Then Young Midoriya and Bakugo will go inside and the trial will truly begin! Observe them closely, and plan out your own strategies!"
His students all locked their eyes on the screens.
Brando looked at the weapon they were supposed to keep their enemies away from. One touch and they lost. He wouldn't allow that happen.
Valentine spoke up. "So you can change and move fast. What else?"
Brando looked at her. "Claw through muscle, and bone if I'm fast enough, and change other things too via touch, so long as they're alive. My senses, save for sight, also get an upgrade. What about you? What exactly can you do?"
"My range is limited to roughly two meters," Valentine answered. "But that won't be an issue. All I need is to put our little Heroes between two large objects, and we win."
Brando found that unlikely. "How do you figure that?"
"Because therein lies the true power of D4C. Wait here and get ready, just in case."
Brando raised an eyebrow. "You're going to go after them?"
"Of course. Narrow hallways make it easy for me to appear and disappear if need be. Your Talent will be more suited to stopping them on the off chance they get past me." Valentine walked over to the wall. "I wonder, could I borrow you for a moment?"
"To do what?"
"Just come over here."
Brando looked at her... and shrugged. He walked to her. "Now what?"
She grabbed his shoulders and guided him towards her.
Is she going to kiss me?! Brando didn't know what to do.
Then, to his shock, she began to melt into the wall.
"I'll keep you posted," she said before she left completely.
"What the hell?" His reaction was shared among his classmates.
"She just vanished!"
"Did she come out the other side?!"
"Kacchan, we really should think of a plan," Izuku said as he and his partner observed a small layout of the building the two of them were about to infiltrate, intending to memorize it.
"No shit, Deku." Bakugo growled and crumbled up his piece of paper. "Don't think you'll be of any use to me besides being a meat shield. While the blondies crush you, I'll blow both of them to hell."
The greenette didn't like the sound of that plan as they climbed through a window. "But we can't just charge in! Diego can rip us to shreds!" His habit of muttering soon took over. "Then again, so long as we don't get too close..."
Bakugo began to grind his teeth as he led them on deeper into the enemy territory. "Deku. Shut. The. Fuck. Up."
The pure contempt snapped Midoriya out of his daze and he followed in silence. Kacchan... the feeling between us is mutual. I hate you. Loathe you. But... I also have to admit I admire you too. Your ambition is limitless. I cannot help but applaud just how you never give up. And yet... a small part of me wants to see... He shook the thought from his mind. Maybe I've been spending too much time around DIO-san.
On and on they trekked, checking corners and making full turns when coming to a new hallway.
While Bakugo was as steel as ever, Midoriya began to feel dread leak into him. Diego can sniff us out like a bloodhound and bury his fangs in us before we could blink... Or maybe turn us into dinosaurs!
Soon, the unlikely duo came to a door. One of which wasn't on the blueprint they had studied. Bakugo smirked at the obvious trap and began to lift his arm up, preparing to blow it away. "Your Brit friend is just as stupid as you are, Deku."
Just as he willed his palms to ignite, the door fell down on him, making him fall to the floor. On it was not who Midoriya had been expecting.
"Dojyaaa~n!" Valentine was crouching on the door like she was a house pet with her Stand levitating above her. "All gone!"
All gone? Midoriya repeated mentally. It was then he realized the door was flat on the ground. Had she crushed Kacchan to being as thick as a sheet of paper?!
Valentine climbed off the door, and D4C brought it up to rest on its side. Midoriya saw that his bully wasn't flattened. He was completely gone.
"Wha- wha- wha-" He made his mind race, trying to figure out what had happened. Valentine would not have killed him with All Might watching, right? Her Stand must have some sort of warping power. I can't let her get close to me!
Back in the observation room, one of the smarter students began making her own mind race. Wait... she crawled under a car and vanished... and now she used the disappearing act on Bakugo by putting him between the door and floor... but she emerged out of Midoriya's arm?
While she was being deductive, her peers were awestruck.
"She just took one of our class' heavy hitters out in under a second!"
"But where did he go?!"
"Did she... kill him?"
"Well now, that wasn't flashy at all."
Yaoyorozu spoke up. "I think I might have an idea on what her and D4C's power is. She can make things vanish by placing them between two objects."
All Might nodded approvingly. "Correct, Young Yaoyorozu! But that's only part of it!"
"Is that why you aren't stopping this?' Joestar asked. "Because you know he isn't dead?"
"Also correct, Young Joestar!"
Back with the action, Valentine gave a smile that in no way made Izuku feel at ease. "Just hold still, and I'll make this quick. No need for pain." She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a rolled-up American flag.
Is she going to strangle me with that?! Midoriya made his mind calm down and wracked for an idea. Okay, getting close is a bad idea, she'll just make me disappear too. I have to take her out quickly! If she goes down, her Stand goes with her!
Her Stand closed the gap between him and its User. He tried to dodge but D4C proved to be fast. The long-eared manifestation landed a punch to his head with such force his hood ripped and his cranium collided with the metal wall. The jingoist laughed. "This is too easy!"
Midoriya saw his surroundings twirl and lose their sharpness, but he forced his thoughts to remain focused. I can't rely on speed to deal with her. I'll break my legs! There has to be something I can do without making my body useless! Wait... the Sludge Villain! All Might's punch left a shockwave after he made the blow!
Valentine raised an eyebrow as her opponent pressed the nail of his right index finger into the thumb of the same hand. "Snapping your-" The next thing she knew was a force of wind comparable to a hurricane. It quickly had her airborne, and she collided into the wall far behind her at such velocity that it left an imprint of her body. Seemingly knocked out, or at least dazed, she went limp and fell out of her indent to the floor.
"Sorry," Midoriya said as he picked himself up. His mother had raised him right, and hitting a woman was never okay unless she was a Villain. Realizing just what Valentine was supposed to be, he mentally reprimanded himself. He then felt the wave of pain as a result of breaking his finger. A necessary sacrifice to take out such a dangerous opponent. As he forced the ache out of his thoughts, he carried on alone.
After he had made it to the next floor, Valentine began to stir. She felt an intense soreness over her entire body. She spotted her flag on the ground in front of her. With a sense of determination on par with her presidential ancestor, she undid her jacket and adjusted it so that the cloth was sprawled out on top of her. And then she was gone, like a magic trick. Her jacket fell to the ground.
Izuku tried using the wireless communicator currently in his ear to contact his teammate. "Kacchan? Kacchan, can you hear me?" Only static greeted him. Taking in a deep breath, he continued on alone.
A few levels up and several minutes of sheer paranoia later, Midoriya was being even more cautious than before. There's no way Diego didn't hear that scuffle earlier. And since All Might hasn't declared a winner, it's obvious the trial is still on.
Coming to another doorway, out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of green. He pressed himself into the wall next to the entrance of where Brando had to be. Now what do I do?! I just have to touch the missile to win, but as soon as I set foot in his line of sight, I'm done for!
As he wracked his mind for ideas, a noise emitted from a room. "Wryyy..." It was like a whisper. The softness was instantly replaced by something far worse. A sort of screeching came from the other side of the wall. Izuku remembered how Diego had first demonstrated Scary Monsters. The newest holder of One For All realized that Brando was dragging his claws along the metal wall to intimidate him.
He knows I'm here... so why isn't he- Midoriya could not even finish his thought. Out of the doorway came Diego's tail, whipping him like a circus animal. The impact knocked him along the wall.
"Well well well. If it isn't the Hero," Diego said as his foe shook his head fervently. He stepped through the doorway. Clearly, he was enjoying the role of the villain. He noticed the dark, bruised finger on his friend. Perhaps Valentine got a hit on him.
Not allowing his foe to get a hit off, he used his tail again. It wrapped Deku's right leg and lifted him up, only to slam him into the floor before letting go.
"Get up, Hero! I want to see your eyes get taken over by despair!"
Midoriya did indeed begin the struggle of returning to his feet. Maybe I could run away, come up with a plan? No, the timer has to be nearly up, and he would just see me coming... I have to finish this here and now!
In his pocket, he felt the capture tape that had been provided to him before the match. He slowly moved his arm towards it.
"You think I can't see you right now, because of Scary Monsters?" Brando cackled. "There's this thing called 'object permanence.'" He grabbed Deku by the shoulder and lifted him up. His free hand's fingers spread out. "The winner is me!"
Midoriya chose to capitalize on the moment of his boasting. With Brando's guard down, Izuku quickly turned on his heels and wrapped some of the capture tape around the wrist that had been on his shoulder. Before Brando could comprehend what just happened, his opponent ducked under his arm, bringing his ensnared hand with him, forcing it onto Diego's side. Finally, Brando caught on to what Izuku's intentions were, and his free hand clawed at the tape, cutting it to ribbons. His efforts were in vain, as Midoriya was already behind him.
If it worked on Valentine... he mentally reasoned, pressing his ring finger under his thumb. I can't openly fight him, his reflexes are too fast.
Brando's rows of fangs were bared as he turned around, only to be met with the sight of Izuku looking like he was about to flick his finger at him. Then came the attack.
Midoriya's arm began to shoot off green sparks and glow like a miniature sun. The two fingers separated, unleashing a shockwave that hit the Brit like a train. He went flying. His airborne experience was cut off after he collided with a far wall, leaving an indent shaped like him.
He groaned and began to dislodge himself. He had a livid expression.
Midoriya's gaze turned to the now unguarded missile. The sooner he touched it, the sooner the trial would end. He sprinted towards it and reached out. Just as he was about to win, he felt a strange sensation on his back. Within an instant, he felt like he had stacked a full suit of armor on his shoulders. He had felt this sensation before on his arm. She must be coming out of my back!
Before he could react, D4C appeared before him and slugged him in the jaw. The impact felt like a car had rammed him. Soon, Valentine had indeed reentered the fray via his costume, albeit without her coat. In her hand was a flag. Sure, it was from another universe, but she did not recall there being any rules against using such things. Her vicious Stand forced her foe down with another blow and she attempted to drape the fabric over him. Seeing the red, white, and blue close in on him, Midoriya recalled what had happened to Kacchan, and quickly rolled away, escaping Valentine's true ability.
So, he's a quick learner, Valentine mused. He adapts from mistakes. But so do I.
"Why don't you just give up," she suggested with an affable tone.
Midoriya gave no verbal answer. What do I do?! I could use another full power punch, but she could just vanish again and get me from behind! I have to end this quickly... Diego is still lying on the floor... He thought back to how he had dealt with the Zero-pointer during the exam... and then how Iida used his Quirk to move like a small bullet train. Valentine was not sending out her Stand to pummel him, so her range was not as good as Diego's... Maybe he could use her own magic trick against her.
Once more, he pressed a finger under his thumb and aimed at his foe. Seeing just what he was doing, and know that D4C couldn't reach him in time to stop him, Valentine wrapped her flag around herself like a patriotic shroud. It fell to the ground right after it's host disappeared. Valentine's attention had been on Izuku's fingers, thus making her miss the detail of his legs bending slightly. Diego finally got himself out of the wall and charged, claws at the ready.
Seeing her gone and knowing she would certainly return at any moment, as well as Brando was about to slice him like meat, Midoriya let the energy in his lower half burst out, launching himself at the target. In midair, he could feel the weight again on his back, but it was too late. He collided with the missile with such force, it tilted.
He spoke weakly. "Weapon... secure."
Down in the observation room, everyone gaped at the screen, even All Might. The sight of his successor so banged up was not a welcome one... and yet the lad had won. He kept his shock hidden and spoke into a microphone. "The... Hero team wins!"
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Closing Notes: While it is true that D4C requires two objects to send something away, I find that Funny Valentine coming out of Diego Brando's back in Steel Ball Run canon makes it evident that only one object is needed for Valentine to return to the base dimension.
