Mama Yang Hero Academia-31
"Gran Torino. I wanna thank you for taking me under your wing and helping me to improve on my control of One-for-All." Ruby said, standing in front of Gran Torino and Nana Shimura, bowing a bit holding her case with her costume in it. "You to Shimura, I feel like I've gotten a bit stronger, and a better handle on it than I did before. Thanks for everything."
"I don't think there's any reason for you to thank me." Torino said, yawning a bit. "All I did was take you out on patrols and give you experience fighting villains. Shimura was the one who did all the training here at my place."
"It was no trouble at all. I was glad to help." Shimura said. "Be sure to let Toshinori know I'll be staying here at Gran Torino's from now on."
"I know, but still I'm glad I was able to be trained under both dad's instructors. An' I'll be sure to let dad know you'll be living here from now on." Ruby smiled. "Oh by the way, I've been meaning to as Gran Torino. "Even though you're really strong, and you trained my old man yourself, no one knows you. From what dad told me, you were famous among the government officials, but you're not all that commonly known among the public. You should be super famous with how much hero work you've done, but you're not."
"There's no real reason for that Ruby." Shimura chuckled.
"That's an easy one." Torino said looking bored out of his mind with answering the questioned. "I was just never that interested in working as a pro hero."
"Huh?" Ruby questioned, tilting her head to the side.
"There was a point in his past where he needed to be able to use his Quirk freely without limits." Shimura stated.
"That's the only reason I got my license. It might be better to hear this from your dad. He can explain everything better than me." Torino stated.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Ruby stated.
"That's it kid, keep working hard." Torino exclaimed.
"Yessir." Ruby said, bowing a bit. "Thank you very much again, both of you."
"Take care now. An' tell Scythe that if she wanted help with learning how to control her One-for-All, just send her our way." Shimura instructed.
"I will." Ruby said, before she turned to walk off. "Bye for now."
'So her and her family are the future huh?' Torino thought. 'She may not look or act like him, but she's got the same drive and heart as Toshinori. The man chosen by Nana Shimura, the man who inherited One-for-All, and passed it down to both his daughters, who became the very best.'
"Hey girl." Torino said in a strict voice, but changed it up as Ruby looked back to him. "Who are you?"
'Oh great, he's playing this mind game again.' Shimura gruffed. 'Perhaps it's just dementia setting in?'
"Seriously?" Ruby questioned. "Oh well, I'm uh… Ruby Rose, All Might's youngest daughter."
"That's not right." Torino said acting like an old fool.
'Yep dementia is setting in. I swear if I have to end up changing old man diapers, I'm gonna toast his ass to a crisp.' Shimura groaned, but Ruby seems to have caught onto his little mind game, in wanting her to reveal her hero name again.
"I'm the Scarlet Huntress." Ruby said, giving her answer.
'So that was his angle. Clever old coot.' Shimura shrugged.
Seeming satisfied with that answer, Torino turned away and walked back into his home, waving back at her, signaling the end of their conversation.
~U.A Same Day~
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… Holy crap, what the hell Bakugo?" Kirishima and Sero were laughing as Bakugo stood in front of them with his hair combed down like it was. Even Ruby and Weiss couldn't help but laugh a bit, though their laughs were more subtle.
"Stop laughing, my hair's gotten used to this, and I can't get it back the right way." Bakugo exclaimed, shaking in anger. "It's bad enough my mom and sister and laughing but now I gotta deal with this shit at school to? Did you not hear me, I'll kill you both."
"I'd like to see you try pretty boy." Sero said, as he and Kirishima were both still laughing their asses off.
"What did you call me?" Bakugo shouted, his voice raised a couple octaves, while his hair went back to its normal spiked looks.
"There it goes." They both said, while still laughing.
"Awesome, you got to face actual villains?" Mina questioned Jiro. "I'm super jealous."
"Well I didn't fight. All I did was help people evacuate, and provide logistical support." Jiro said, twirling her right earlobe/phone jack.
"But it still sounds like so much fun." Mina stated.
"I spent basically the whole time training and cleaning the ship deck." Tsu said, her arm wrapped in bandages, and a bandage patch on her forehead. "Though there was this one day we caught a bunch of drug smugglers. I kinda got banged up in the action, but nothing too serious." Thankfully Tsu and Sirius had been told to keep their lips sealed about Scythe's involvement in the incident.
"Okay, that's cool." Both Mina and Jiro said in unison.
"What about you Ochako? How was your week?" Tsu asked, turning to the Zero Gravity girl, as she was practicing some moves she learned from Gunhead Martial Arts Dojo.
"I'd say that it was very enlightening." Uraraka said.
"I think she found her fighting spirit." Tsu said.
"Yeah that battle hero must have been something else." Jiro stated.
"Gunhead Martial Arts tends to have that effect on people." Ruby said, joining in on the group. "Dad got me a membership for lessons at the dojo on a hero's discount, and I'm suddenly finding myself needing to use Crescent Rose's recoil in battle less and less. Even Crescent Rose isn't used that much anymore."
"After one week she's like a totally different person." Kaminari said.
"Different? Don't be fooled Kaminari. All women are demons at heart. They just hide their true personalities behind pretty faces." Mineta stated.
"What the hell did Mt. Lady do to you?" Kaminari questioned.
"Most likely, she did as Yang told her to do." Weiss said. "Yang warned Mt. Lady about Mineta's perverted side, and the rest is history."
"Everyone at my internship loved me, it was actually kinda great. Now if you wanna talk about the one who really changed, it was Scythe." Kaminari said, directing their attention over to Scythe who popped her head up from her weapons blue prints journal at the mention of her name, and looked in his direction as a group began to gather around her.
"Oh yeah, the Hero Killers." Sero said, as both he and Kirishima were held tight in Bakugo's grip by the backs of their blazers.
"Glad you and Iida made it back alive. Seriously." Kirishima added.
"I worried about you to." Momo stated.
"What was it like, fighting against the Hero Killers?" Sato questioned. "Was it tough, did you get in trouble for using your Quirk?"
"Well, actually no. I didn't actually use my Quirk against him. I just used my martial arts and fighting skills I had learned from mom, mama, grandpa, and Gunhead. I even appealed to his human nature. Surprised he had any left in him. I also had a bit of help when fighting against Adam Taurus." Scythe exclaimed. "Though I did end up with a boatload of get well gifts and presents from the families of their victims when news of my hospitalization was made public. They just kept coming none stop for three days. It's a good thing I have the entire basement at the new house to myself now. I needed the room. Someone even sent me a punching bag, complete with a stand. Even came with a pair of MMA Gloves in just my size in my Argonaut form."
"Oh that was my parents. Last time they heard you were in the hospital was after the USJ Incident, and when they heard about this trip to the hospital, they must have stuck to their promise of sending you something to use to help increase your strength, speed, and stamina in a fight." Kirishima stated.
"Did you hear the news about the Hero Killer? Everyone's been saying he's somehow connected to the League of Villains." Ojiro stated.
"I highly doubt it." Scythe said, going back to making blueprints in the journal. "Stain's ambition was to try and make society stronger. The League of Villains only want to tear it apart and rebuild it in their own image."
"His motives might have been just, but instead of helping the world, his beliefs lead him to cold blooded murder." Iida added joining the conversation. "No matter his motives though, killing cannot be condoned."
"How's your arm doing?" Scythe inquired.
"Still feeling a bit of numbness in my left hand." Iida said. "But same as always."
"You sure you don't want Venom to repair it? She can heal any wound short of incineration." Scythe exclaimed.
"No, until I can truly call myself a hero, I won't get my arm fixed." Iida said. "Though speaking of Symbiotes, where's Wrath?"
"Oh, she's with Merlin, a family friend. She'll be living with them from now on. Honestly I love that symbiote to death, but it didn't feel right having a symbiote partner. So I let her go live with Merlin, as a family pet for her and her husband Escanor. She should make for a good guard for their home once Merlin delivers her baby."
"Speaking of which, since you're stuck as a woman what is your…"
"Lesbian." Scythe stated, not giving Mina a chance to finish that question. "I'm still into girls."
"Makes sense. I mean she did start out as a boy before that whole Ochuna incident." Uraraka stated, as Scythe noticed Tsu putting a rather thick envelope in her backpack, with only the Argonaut Hero Girl looking.
Scythe reached into her back, and took the note that was attached to the envelope, and silently read it as Iida began to go on a ramble about respecting a classmate's personal information, and not asking such crude questions as one's sexuality.
"From Captain Selkie. This is your cut from the payment that came in after taking down the drug smugglers. P.S: There's bits of my cut, the Captain's cut, and Sirius's cut in it as thanks for saving our bacon when we needed it most, as well as risking getting in trouble with Yang and the rest of your family. ~Froppy." The note read.
'Looks like I got more money to deposit into my account later today.' Scythe thought tearing the note up. 'Maybe I shouldn't deposit this into my account, mom might get suspicious about where I got it from if she decides to look into my account.'
~Training Field Gamma: Hero Training Class~
"I am here." All Might said standing in front of the students. "Hope you're ready to return to our lessons. Today it's hero basic training. Feels like I haven't seen you in a while. Welcome back." All Might smiled, looking proudly at his students. "Now then, listen carefully for what's in store. We're gonna be conducting a little race, take everything you've learned from your internships, and apply it to this rescue training."
"If it's rescue training, then shouldn't we be at the USJ instead?" Iida questioned, raising his hand for a question.
"Ah, that facility specializes in disasters. As I said earlier, this is a race." All Might clarified. "So, prepare. You're about to step into Field Gamma. Inside is an area filled with factories that form an intricate labyrinth. So good luck finding your way around. You'll be competing in two groups of five, and two groups of six due to the number of student in the class. Each person starts from a different location on the outskirts of the model city, I'll send a distress signal, and you do what you must to rescue me. Whoever, finds me first wins. But try to keep the property damage to a bare minimum please." All Might said, pointing and looking at Bakugo.
"Why are you pointing at me?" Bakugo questioned.
"Because you're the one who always destroys a building or something during these training exercises." Scythe stated. "My Quirk is more destructive than yours, and I know how to rein it in better than you do yours."
"SHUT UP." Bakugo shouted.
"Alright, first group, a six person group, get to your places." All Might exclaimed. The first group consisted of Sero, Ojiro, Ashido, Iida, Scythe, and Ruby.
Standing on her pedestal, Scythe began stretching her legs, as she prepared to participate in the race.
'I didn't really get a lot of opportunities to learn that many new moves interning with Ryukyu, since I spent several days in the hospital. But let's see if I can't put to good use, what Mama taught me for jumping around with parkour. I'm back down to being able to handle only 3% of One-for-All, since I don't have Wrath with me. But that's fine, I'd rather not have to use a cheat, if I wanna level up I gotta earn it the old fashioned way.' Scythe thought. 'So far whenever I've used this power, the class has only ever seen me break my bones with it, but not this time.'
"Is everyone ready?" All Might questioned. "Begin." He called out as he pressed down on the signal.
Instantly Sero took to the skies, swinging around with his tape, reminding Ruby of how Gwen and Venom get around. Mina was using her acid secreted from her feet through her boots to slide forward like she was sliding on ice. Ojiro was using his tail to throw himself forward every so often as he ran. Iida was using the engines in his legs to get moving, as fast as he could without using Recipro Burst, Ruby was holding back a bit, deciding on not using her lightning or One-for-All to run, instead she was just using her Semblance.
Meanwhile back in the observation area, the other students were looking dumfounded and impressed.
"Look at them go. In a maze like this it makes sense to be above everything else." Kirishima stated.
"So that means Sero's at an advantage cause he can take to the sky." Shoji stated.
Back in the course, Sero was having fun crying out as he swung around with his tape.
"It's like this course was built for me in mind." Sero said, before a red and black blur came zipping past him, taking Cellophane by surprise, as Scythe came flying through the air, her power flowing through her at 3%.
"Sorry Sero." Scythe smiled, turning around and placing one foot on a pipe before jumping, performing a backflip through the air. "But I'm not gonna lose that easily." She chuckled, seeing the dumbfounded look on the tape user's face.
The acrobatics that Scythe was demonstrating with her power took everyone in the observation area by surprise, as she jumped and flipped from one surface to another, with the occasional push off of her hands when landing on them in the handstand position.
"Whoa, Xiao Long?" They all called out.
"Since when can she do that?" Kaminari questioned.
"What, no way." Sero said just as shocked.
'The way she's propelling herself through the air…' Todoroki thought, recognizing her movements.
"Crazy, those jumps, the acrobatics and parkour she's demonstrating, she looks just like Blake." Uraraka stated. "She must have been giving him extra lessons on mobility and moving through areas like Training Field Gamma. An' she's using All Might's power without breaking any bones to boot."
Jumping through the air, Scythe passed by several others.
"Scythe?" Mina questioned as she passed her. "Are you kidding me?"
"Shouldn't she be breaking a bunch of bones?" Ojiro questioned, hanging from a pipe by his tail.
'Focus Scythe. I can do this. Don't go above three percent.' Scythe thought.
"Impressive Scythe." Ruby said, catching up to her, running beside Scythe. "But you'd better watch your step."
"Huh?" Scythe questioned, one foot landing on a pipeline, before it slipped, and she fell to the ground below.
At the end of the race, Scythe was lying face down on the platform where All Might stood, with Ruby wearing a sash that said, thanks for saving me.
"An' it's over." All Might declared. "Thanks Hero and congratulations."
"I did it." Ruby cheered, while Mina was stomping her feet in frustration, Ojiro was wiping the sweat off his brow, Sero was just looking at the ground in disbelief, and Iida was on his knees, trying to make sure Scythe was responsive and alive.
"Scythe, uh you're okay right?" Iida questioned.
"I'll be fine. I just gotta do better at making sure my footing is stable in unstable terrain." Scythe groaned, raising her head with a bit of a thumbs up. "Nothing I can't fix with a little training."
"Ruby might have come in first, but compared to the start of the year, you all showed me some incredible improvements." All Might said, as Scythe picked herself up. "Keep working and preparing for your upcoming final exams."
"Sir." Five of the six students said.
'Finals. I barely made it into the top ten during midterms. I could have done better than eighth place.' Scythe groaned.
"Group one leave the field, you're up group two. Comprised of five people this time." All Might exclaimed before walking up to Scythe.
"You surprised me. That was incredible Scythe. You've mastered your safest maximum use of One-for-All in such a short amount of time. I'm impressed." All Might exclaimed before turning around, to face the incoming group, but still gave Scythe a thumbs up. "Good work. Keep working hard, and improving on your skills. I'm proud of you."
~Shie Hassaikai HQ~
"Sorry that we've had to reschedule this meeting Skewer. Things have been a little… crazy around here as of late." Chisaki said, sliding a cup of tea over to Skewer.
Sitting on the couch across from him was a man with silver hair tied in a warrior's wolf tail, wearing a light grey silver suit, with a red dress shirt, and markings around his eyes that looked like face paint or unfinished clown makeup.
"It's no big deal Overhaul sir. What's the job you're needing me to do?" Skewer questioned, accepting the tea.
"I have an important asset that was taken from me, an' is now in the hands of All Might's daughter." Chisaki stated showing him a picture recently taken of Eri, along with a picture of Scythe not in her Argonaut form. "Her looks have changed a little, but that's her. We're needing you get her back for us, as well as making it look like the Shie Hassaikai had no involvement whatsoever."
"You're asking me to kidnap a little girl from her family?" Skewer questioned.
"We know you don't usually deal in human trafficking, it's not something you're particularly fond of doing. But you're the only one I know, who can pull off a job like this." Chisaki said, hearing the hesitation in his voice. "Which is why we're willing to pay you double your usual hourly rate for a job, on top of forgiving your debt."
Skewer looked at the picture of Eri and sighed, putting the tea cup down, before picking up the second picture of Scythe.
"What about this girl? You do realize she won't be an easy target to capture. She's the one who took down the Hero Killers for crying out loud. What do you even need her for?" Skewer questioned, holding the picture up for Chisaki to see. "She's All Might's Granddaughter to boot. You really think it'll be that easy for me to get my hands on both girls for you, while making it look like the Shie Hassaikai had no involvement whatsoever?"
"We're hoping to use her as leverage against All Might and his family. We have a way of controlling her that would ensure she behaves for us." Chisaki said.
"Chisaki, you do realize pulling off this job is gonna cost you more than just double my rates, right?" Skewer questioned.
"We're fully prepared to pay you whatever sum of cash this job is needing to take for it to get done." Chisaki stated.
"Good, because this job is gonna cost you four times my normal rates. I'll need half of it in advance and I'll take the other half when the job is complete." Skewer said, putting the picture down.
"I can assure you, this job will be worth it. So long as you get it done, and keep our involvement out of it." Chisaki said as Mimic came with a briefcase and handed it to Skewer after showing him the contents.
"I'll have to do some recon and Intel gathering before I can pull the job off." Skewer stated standing up. "So be patient with me alright? Thieving is hard enough, but kidnapping takes a certain patients I can sometimes lack. I might end up having to grab both targets at separate locations and times."
"We're counting on you to get this job done Skewer." Chisaki stated.
"Yeah-yeah." Skewer said walking away waving back to them with a briefcase in hand.
~U.A Women's Locker Room~
"Hey Scythe, how you feeling?" Uraraka questioned in the locker room with Scythe, preparing to shower and clean off the sweat and grime.
"I'm doing okay, kinda wish I hadn't fallen on my face like I had during the race." Scythe sighed grabbing a towel from her locker.
"Your mobility had gotten a lot better." Uraraka stated, as she and the others were taking off their hero costumes.
"Hey guys I found a hole in the wall." Jiro said grabbing their attention.
Scythe came over and saw the hole, before putting her ear to the wall, hearing the voice of a perverted grape head just on the other side in the men's locker room.
"Then you'll have to throw me into solitary confinement, 'cause you can't stop me." Mineta's voice echoed from the wall, causing Scythe to look annoyed as she crouched to be eye level with the hole and poking a finger into it.
"This should teach you a lesson, you peeping tom." Scythe snickered.
"I wanna see Yaoyorozu's curves, Ashido's slender waist, Hagakure's floating underwear, Uraraka's super fine body, Xiao Long's cavernous cleavage, Rose's curvaceous and thicc ass an' thighs, Weiss's sexy figure, Asui's unexpectedly soft boobies." Mineta's voice echoed through the hole in the wall.
"Gross dude, I was a guy before you know." Scythe said shooting a thin laser through the hole. "Light Goddess Thread."
The sound of Mineta screaming coming from the other side of the wall was like music to Scythe, Ruby, and Weiss's ears.
"That should do it." Scythe smiled. "Hey Kirishima." Scythe called through the hole.
"Yeah, what's up?" Kirishima questioned, sounding like he came closer to the hole when called.
"Harding one of your hands, and put it up against the hole in the wall, I'm gonna seal it up with some of my Godslayer metal, but I don't know the exact size it'll need to be. When I feel the resistance of your hand, I'll know when to stop producing the metal."
"Alright." Kirishima said. "All set on my end."
"No Kirishima don't, sealing up that hole would be sacrilege, a dishonor to the previous generation who left it for us." Mineta shouted from the other side of the wall. "Also thanks a lot for blinding me in one eye Xiao Long."
"You deserve worse you little perv. Your eye is fine, your sight will return in about an hour, it'll be a bit fuzzy for the rest of the day but you should be able to see out of it just fine." Scythe said, sticking her finger back in and covering it in metal, before extending the metal through the hole until she felt the resistance on Kirishima's stone hand, and pushed a bit more, before it was just poking out of the hole. "Alright Kirishima, this might get a bit hot in a second so bear with me all right? If you get a burn from this I'll, heal it for you."
"I can take it." Kirishima smiled.
Scythe began channeling her flames on the inside of the metal, making it malleable, and breaking part of it off her finger.
"Alright, now push gently on it, so the part sticking out is plastered to the wall like puddy." Scythe said, covering her hand in metal and doing the same thing.
After that was done, Kirishima gave two knocks on the wall signalling that it was a success.
"Glad that's over with." Scythe smiled, standing back up and heading for the showers.
"Whoa, who knew you could be so handy with repairs." Uraraka said in awe.
But none of them noticed how depressed Jiro seemed.
'Why am I the only one he didn't say anything about?' She questioned.
~New Xiao Long/Belladonna residence~
"Hey Yang, where'd you put that one box with Scythe's new clothes?" Blake called out from the living room.
"I took them to the basement and put them away in her dresser." Yang called back, putting her hand on the speaker of her Scroll before returning to the call and putting it on speaker. "Sorry about that Pixie-Bob, my girlfriend and I are just unpacking. We just moved into our new house since our last one was destroyed in an attack from a villain, and we're still settling in."
"No worries Huntress, I understand." A woman's voice said, coming out of the scroll. "So I'm calling about the training camp that's coming up during summer break for the Hero Course Students at U.A. I understand you're a teacher there."
"I was only subbing for Eraserhead while he was recovering from the injuries he got from the USJ Incident." Yang said, putting away several dishes. "So what about the camp did you wanna talk about?"
"Well, I was hoping that you, Sombra and the kids could come out with the classes, to see just how we train them. I know you graduated as a first year from U.A, so you didn't get to experience our training camp, but we thought that maybe during the training camp with your old classmates, you could be a temporary instructor while Sombra and the kids enjoy a bit of camping." Pixie-Bob said. "I've already cleared it with Mandalay and the others, and they're in full agreement on letting it happen."
"I appreciate the offer, but there's something you should know. My oldest daughter is gonna be part of the training camp, so she'll be taking part in the training you'll put all the students through." Yang said putting away some dish towels.
"Well that's perfect." Pixie-Bob said. "So, will you accept the offer?"
"Yeah, I'll accept the offer." Yang smiled, picking her Scroll back up. "I'll be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen and bug spray for my girls."
"Oh one more thing, Mandalay's second cousin, is a bit of a grouch. He's kinda hating on modern society since his parents were taken from him. I think he's around the same age as your daughter, Eri was it?" Pixie-Bob said.
"What hero names did his parents go by?" Yang inquired, grabbing a notepad and pen.
"They were the Water Hose Heroes. They shared the name." Pixie-Bob said. "If you know of anything that could help him accept society it'd be really appreciated. The boy just hasn't been the same since he lost his parents a couple years ago."
"I'll see what I can do. But I might not be the right person for the job of healing his heart. I'll give you a call later to work out the finer details of my temporary employment there." Yang stated.
"Alright. Talk to you later." Pixie-Bob said, before hanging up the call.
After putting her Scroll away, Yang grabbed her computer, and accessed the Hero Network to get a look at the file involving the Water Hose Heroes. It took a bit of searching, but she found it and accessed it, finding the contents were a lot more gruesome than she thought it'd be. But her look of disgust turned into a glare when she caught sight of the picture of the man who killed the married Hero Couple, before accessing the villain's records and files.
'This is bad. Given his history, and state of mind, he's exactly the type of person the League of Villains would want on their team, and the type of person who'd want to be in a group with the same goals and morally twisted ideals, as the League of Villains.' Yang thought.
"We're back." Toshinori called out from the front door.
"In the dining room." Yang responded, not taking her eyes off the computer screen as she looked up a few other files of villains the League might try and recruit.
"Hey Yang. What you up to?" Toshinori asked as Scythe and Ruby pulled out their homework, sitting at the table with her.
"I'm looking up possible allies the League of Villains might try to recruit, especially after this latest incident with the Hero Killers." Yang exclaimed.
"That's what they're calling both Stain and Taurus. Funny how it changed from copycat, to plural Hero Killers." Ruby said, reading through her textbook. "Hey pops, mind proof reading this paper I did during lunch break?"
"So what have you found so far?" Toshinori questioned, taking the paper Ruby held out to him.
"I found one villain who's wanted for mass murder. He had sustained a major injury to his left eye when fighting the Water Hose Heroes, before they were… cut down." Yang stated.
"I remember that incident. That happened at the time I still had a limit on how many hours a day I could do hero work. I had already reached my limit at the time, so I wasn't able to do anything to help, I felt so angry at myself for not managing my time limit better. The villain has a power up Quirk doesn't he?" Toshinori questioned marking what Ruby needed to fix on the paper with a red pen.
"He does. But enough about him. Let's focus on helping these knuckleheads study for finals." Yang said closing her laptop and getting up to go prepare some tea.
"So what brought up the Water Hose Heroes all of a sudden Yang?" Ruby questioned.
"I've accepted an offer from Pixie-Bob of the Wild-Wild-Pussycats. I'll be an instructor there during the week long training camp." Yang stated. "Blake and Eri will be tagging along to enjoy some camping."
"Huh, sounds like you've been getting a lot of teaching offers lately." Toshinori said, as Ruby handed him the rewritten work. "That was fast, even for you Ruby."
"Gee, I wonder who could have had some influence as to people wanting me to be an instructor for them." Yang chuckled, turning to look at Toshinori, as he whistled innocently while revising Ruby's second paper.
"I don't know how you messed this up, but there are even more mistakes then before." Toshinori stated handing the marked paper back to the reaper girl.
"Damn it." Ruby groaned.
"Hey Yang, Toshinori, can I get a hand moving this dresser into Eri's room?" Blake called from upstairs.
"Coming." Yang said, as she and Toshinori went to give her a hand.
"An' now that the cats are away, the mice shall play." Ruby cackled. "Meaning I'm gonna eat so many cookies from the cookie jar."
With that Ruby went to where Yang had 'hidden' the cookie jar, to keep the young reaper out of the sweets, but it was easy for her to find them.
With no one watching her, Scythe moved to Yang's laptop, and opened it back up. Going back to the file of the villain that had killed the Water Hose Heroes.
"Nothing on his actual name. He just goes by the allies Muscular. Power up Quirk, Muscle Augmentation. Unstable mentality, and he lost his left eye before killing the Water Hose Heroes, leaving their son orphaned an' living with his second cousin, the hero known as Mandalay, a member of the Wild-Wild-Pussycats." Scythe read seeing the picture of the boy orphaned by Muscular's deeds.
~U.A One week before Finals~
"Alright, that's it for class today." Aizawa said, finishing up his lecture. "There's only one week left before your final exams begin. I'm sure you're all studying constantly right?" Aizawa questioned. "Don't forget to keep training. The written exam is only one element. There's also the practical portion to worry about. Good Luck." Aizawa said, walking out of the classroom, and closing the door behind him.
"I've barely even taken notes this semester." Kaminari and Ashido said at the same time, both of them having very different reactions to the pressure. Ashido got 21st/22 place in the exams, while Kaminari got dead last in 22nd/22 during Midterms.
"An' with the Sports Festival and Internship I didn't have time to read the textbook." Kaminari stated.
"It's true we didn't get a lot of free time lately." Tokoyami said, as he was equally nervous, but just hid it.
"We barely learned anything when we took our Midterms, they didn't seem all that hard, but I'm kinda worried about these." Sato said, as he had gotten 12th/22 in the midterms. Koda who got 11th/22 in Midterm ranking nodded in agreement. "We've been through a lot, an' they probably won't pull any punches when it comes to testing us."
"As someone ranked in the top ten, I'm not that concerned." Mineta stated.
"You weren't ranked in the top ten dumbass." Ruby said. "You got ranked as 15th/22. Even my niece did better than you. So quit being in denial and just accept it already." Ruby glared before she turned to the two panicking. "Ashido, Kaminari, we've still got time to study, that way if we all get decent grades we'll all get to go together."
"Says the woman who ranked 4th/22 in the Midterms." Weiss said.
"Oh please Weiss you still made it into the top ten." Bakugo groaned.
"Yeah, barely 9th/22, I made it by the skin of my teeth in Midterms Mr. 3rd/22." Weiss countered.
"As class rep, I have high hopes that we'll make U.A Proud." Iida said raising his hand like he normally does. He got ranked 2nd/22 in Midterms.
"It's pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention in class isn't it?" Todoroki questioned, even though he got ranked 5th/22.
"Why you gotta cut me down like that?" Kaminari questioned, feeling mortally wounded.
"Hey don't worry about it you two, I can catch you up to speed on the important topics if you want." Momo said. She got ranked 1st/22 in Midterms.
"You're the best Yaomomo." Kaminari and Mina said together.
"I'm afraid I won't be any help when it comes to the practical though." Momo stated.
"Hey cheer up. I'm sure you'll do great in the practical." Scythe said, though still a little upset she got ranked 8th/22, though she only had herself to blame.
"I've been studying Momo, but, could you help me out to?" Jiro questioned. "I'm having some trouble understanding quadratic functions." She got ranked 7th/22 in the Midterms.
"Really?" Momo questioned.
"Tutor me please. Classical Japanese is killing me." Sero said, clasping his hands together. He got ranked 17th/22 in Midterms.
"Is there room for one more?" Ojiro questioned. "I'm afraid I'm falling behind a little." He got ranked 19th in the Midterms.
"Pretty please?" They all asked together.
"This is wonderful." Momo said, shocked and overjoyed.
"Oh boy, here we go." Ruby said, walking away with her hands behind her head.
"Yes, let's do it." Momo cheered.
"Alright." They all agreed.
"Okay then, we can hold a study session at my residence over the weekend." Momo said.
"Seriously? I can't wait to see your fancy digs." Ashido smirked.
As Momo began rambling on about what they should prepare, Scythe was getting ready to head out for lunch.
"What about you Scythe, you all good on studying?" Ruby asked as she and Weiss joined her.
"Yeah, I'm doing pretty good in the studying department. When I was in the hospital I didn't have much to do, so Rei brought me my textbooks I left at her place the last time we visited on the Saturday before our Internships started." Scythe exclaimed. "I've pretty much got all textbooks memorized at this point."
"Just be glad you're not studying with Bakugo. Kirishima learned the hard way by getting 14th/22 that he's a terrible study partner." Weiss stated.
"Didn't Shoji get ranked in 10th/22 or something like that?" Ruby questioned.
"Yeah, but he's doing a lot better compared to Aoyama." Scythe stated. "He got 18th/22, and he thinks he did just fine."
"Didn't Yang have to skype his parents for a Parent Teacher Conference?" Ruby asked.
"Seriously, if that guy focused half the energy he uses pampering himself in class, into studying, he'd have Iida's place in the rankings." Weiss stated. "I mean I'm all for looking good, but he takes it way too far."
"I know. He's so self centered, he didn't even actually care when mom told him about the Ochuna incident. He was too busy looking at himself in a mirror." Scythe exclaimed as they got in line to get their food. Scythe got a bowl of katsudon, Ruby got ramen, and Weiss got pork and veggie soup. They went to go sit with Uraraka, Tsu, and Toru, with Iida and Todoroki joining them with Soba and curry.
"I'm kinda scarred about the practical. I have no idea what it's gonna be." Scythe said, as they began to eat.
"Hard to believe they'd give us anything too crazy." Iida said.
"The written exam questions will all be stuff from class, so I'm not too worried about the written portion of finals." Scythe said.
"Do you really think it's going to be that simple?" Uraraka questioned. She got ranked 13th/22 in the Midterms.
"Sometimes it is." Weiss said dipping some bread into her soup. "I think that it is gonna be just that simple with the finals."
"It's driving me nuts, I just wanna know what they'll have us be doing. Grandpa Might isn't saying a word about it." Scythe sighed.
"It's a comprehensive test of everything we've learned this year." Toru said. She got ranked 16th/22 in Midterms.
"Yep an' that's about all we can get Mr. Aizawa to tell us." Tsu said, munching on some bread. She ranked 6th/22 in the Midterms.
"Okay, so then it will cover combat training and rescue training, oh an' basic training." Uraraka said thinking it over.
"We can't just study we have to stay physically fit to." Scythe said, before someone's elbow hit her in her in the head.
"Oops, sorry Scythe." Pyrrha said apologetically putting her tray down. "I slipped on some spilt juice. Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'll be fine." Scythe said, rubbing her head a bit. "How you doing? Nervous about finals?"
"A bit." Pyrrha said. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking. I might have some news that might interest you a bit with the practical exam."
"Oh really?"
"According to an upperclassman friend of Kendo's, Hero Course first years will be fighting the robots just like in the entrance exams." Pyrrha said.
"Huh, well that's good to know." Scythe said. "At least Ashido and Kaminari will feel better about the practical exam as well."
"Well, I'll let you get back to enjoying your lunch." Pyrrha stated before leaving.
~Day of the practical exam~
"Man am I finally glad to be done with the written exams. Three days of doing written exams is absolute torture." Scythe groaned, as all of Class 1-A marched to the Center Plaza of the Practical Exam area, everyone dressed in their hero costumes. "My brain felt like it was gonna melt from overheating."
"Those are high school exams for you." Ruby said with a bit of a nervous smile.
As they reached the front doors to the center plaza, they were surprised to find all the teachers standing there to greet them.
"Now then, let's begin the last test." Aizawa stated. "Remember it's possible to fail this final. If you wanna go to camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes."
"Uh, why are all the teachers here?" Jiro questioned.
"I expect some of you gathered information and have some idea on what you'll be faced with today." Aizawa exclaimed.
"We're fighting those big old metal robots." Kaminari cheered.
"Fireworks, smores, here we come camp." Mina cheered pumping one of her fists.
"Actually, this year's tests, will be completely different for various reasons." Principal Nezu said popping out of Aizawa's capture scarf.
"Principal Nezu." The class said in unison shock.
"You're changing things?" Momo questioned.
"The tests now have a new focus. There will be hero work of course, but also teamwork and combat between actual people." Nezu said, scaling down Aizawa's arm with his scarf. "So what does that mean for you? You students will be working together in pairs, and your opponents will be one of our esteemed U.A teachers, isn't that fabulous?"
"We're fighting the teachers?" Uraraka questioned, all of the class's eyes wide with shock.
"Additionally, your partners and your opponents have already been chosen." Aizawa stated. "They were determined at my discretion, based on various factors including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships. First, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki are a team, against me." Aizawa said with a smirk. "Then we have Rose paired with Bakugo." Aizawa added. "An' their opponent is…"
On cue, All Might came down and landed on the pavement in front of his opponents, with Yang sitting on his right shoulder, one leg over the other, and a hand propping her up on his other shoulder.
"I am here. To fight." All Might declared as Yang jumped down from his shoulder.
"We're up against All Might/dad?" Bakugo and Ruby questioned in unison.
"You're gonna have to work together kids. If you want to win." All Might exclaimed.
Bakugo and Ruby just looked at each other nervously, as Yang chuckled.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Scythe questioned.
"School was shorthanded on faculty for giving Class 1-A their practical exam, so they called me in." Yang stated. "Since there are twenty two of you students, they needed eleven heroes to fight, and since the rest of the faculty are off giving the other hero course students their exams, I was called in to help."
"Now, the pair ups and battles go as follows." Aizawa stated. "First match is Cementous versus Kirishima and Sato. Second match is Ectoplasm versus Asui and Tokoyami. Third match is Power Loader versus Iida and Ojiro. Fourth match is myself, Eraserhead versus Yaoyorozu and Todoroki. Fifth match is Thirteen versus Aoyama and Uraraka. Sixth match is Principle Nezu versus Ashido and Kaminari. Seventh match is Present Mic versus Koda and Jiro. Eight match is Snipe versus Hagakure and Shoji. Ninth match is Midnight versus Sero and Mineta. Tenth match is All Might versus Rose and Katsuki Bakugo."
"Wait, hold on then that means…" Scythe said as realization hit her like a freight train.
"Final match will be Huntress versus Xiao Long and Weiss Bakugo." Aizawa finished.
"Crap, this is not looking good." Scythe exclaimed.
"What's the matter? You can beat her in a practical exam can't you?" Uraraka questioned.
"I can't even beat her in a sparring match. Not once have I been able to do so." Scythe exclaimed.
"It's true, we're screwed." Weiss groaned.
"To complete the exam, you'll have thirty minutes. In order to win, your objective is to put these handcuffs on your teacher. Or you can win if one of you manages to escape from the combat stage." Nezu exclaimed.
"So we've either got to capture the teacher, or run away." Kaminari said. "It's basically like the combat training."
"Yeah but is it really okay to just jet?" Ashido asked.
"Well think about it." Scythe began. "Every day, there are pros who have to make a strategic retreat because they either come across a villain way stronger than them, or they hold a strategic advantage over them, like hostages or a weapon on a dead man's trigger."
"Precisely." Nezu said.
"It's gonna be much different than that combat training you all went through earlier." Present Mic exclaimed. "After all, you're up against people way better than you."
"Better, really? Wait aren't you just the announcer?" Jiro questioned.
"Hey, watch your mouth girl, have some respect." Present Mic stated in frustration.
"This time your exam will be very similar to a real battle." Thirteen stated. "As strange as it is, please think of us as villains."
"Assuming you come across your enemy, if you think you can win against them, then fight." Snipe exclaimed. "However…"
"In instances where you're outmatched, it would be smarter to run away and find help." Aizawa finished. "Iida, Xiao Long, I'm sure the two of you understand."
"I won't make that mistake again." Iida said. "I will pass this test, and prove that I'm a hero."
"So we fight to win, or run to win." Ruby stated.
"That's right. It's a test of your decision making skills." All Might exclaimed. "But with these rules, you're probably thinking that your only real choice is to flee. That's why the support course, made these super cool accessories for us." All Might said, pulling what looked like a weighted bracelet out of his pocket.
"Behold, ultra-compressed weights." Present Mic exclaimed.
"These babies will add about half our body weight to our physiques. It's not much, but they will eat up our stamina, and make it harder for us to move around." All Might said, having to put two on each limb. "Oh, shoot these are heavier than I thought."
"Of course wearing these I'm unable to use Ember Celica, which gives the two of you an advantage." Yang said looking to Weiss and Scythe.
"We had a contest to come up with these designs, and young Hatsume ended up winning it." All Might said.
"Wow, good for her." Ruby said, sounding impressed.
"You think we need a handicap to win against you?" Bakugo questioned. "Well think again."
"Bah-ha-ha-ha-ha." All Might laughed. "This'll be fun."
"Bakugo, listen to me." Ruby said, gaining his attention. "Trust the words of one of his daughters. All Might doesn't just have power, he's the physical incarnation of the word. He could flatten a whole city with just one punch if he wanted to."
"She's not exaggerating." Yang stated. "You're gonna need all the handicaps you can get."
"Let's begin, the teams will take the practical exam in the order you were called." Aizawa stated. "We have a stage prepared for you. Sato, Kirishima, you're up."
"Yessir." The two muscle heads said in unison.
"Those waiting for their turn to fight can either watch the exams, or try to strategize together as a team. It's your choice." Aizawa stated. "That's all."
"What do you say Weiss, strategize or watch the fights?" Scythe questioned.
"Let's watch the fights, we can strategize while we observe how the others handle their fights." Weiss stated.
"Let's go." Scythe smiled.
"Uraraka, a word?" Ruby asked.
"Hmm, what's up?" Uraraka questioned.
"Well, it's about how you can win against Thirteen. Use their Quirk against them." Ruby stated.
"What do you mean use it against them? How am I supposed to use Blackhole against Thirteen?" Uraraka questioned.
"You'll figure it out when your fight comes." Ruby chuckled walking to her partner. "Alright Ground Zero. I know you don't like it, but we are going to have a sit down and strategize a way to get passed my dad in our fight. Got it?" Ruby questioned, grabbed Bakugo by the back of the collar of his costume and dragging him off.
"I feel like these fights are going to be very interesting." Yang chuckled, marching into the building with the other teachers.