Chapter VI
The second day of a new term at U.A. High School revealed Percy to be falling asleep at his desk during Mic's English class. While he was incredibly thankful for the intervention of a higher power - presumably, the Fates - that cured him of his dyslexia, he still abhorred school work. Particularly in a subject matter that he could read and write in fluently. He was no Dickens, but at least his essays made grammatical sense.
A cursory glance around the room showed several of his classmates in a similar state, particularly the less intelligent group consisting of the alien girl, (Ashido Mina), the spark plug (Kaminari Denki), and the friendliest red rock Percy had ever met (Kirishima Eijiro). Percy admittedly liked the "manly" boy immediately for his kind demeanor and optimistic outlook, but the boy was about as dense as his quirk.
Eventually, the class ended and they headed to lunch, Percy sticking by Midoriya who was accompanied by Iida and Uraraka. Percy was happy that his little brother finally had found more friends that genuinely enjoyed his company. It was a far cry from Aldera and helped boost the bush head's confidence a little more.
Percy joined in the conversation at certain moments when prompted, but he was content to enjoy being around them and just listening to their excitable chatting. It was peaceful, Percy had realized. Even since arriving in this new world, things hadn't been life or death in the slightest, but it was moments like lunch that really hit him hard.
'This is how teenagers are supposed to be. How I would've been if,' Percy mused with a small smile before he crushed the thought. That little part of him that always wondered what it would've been like to be normal surfaced briefly and made him gather his thoughts again.
'I suppose even though I'll never be normal, I can enjoy these little commercial-like moments of normality before the shit show of reality tunes back in.'
He wore a small faint smile as he took another bite of his katsudon and listened to the others chat more. Midoriya's mom had gotten him to take a liking to his little brother's favorite dish.
LINEBREAK
The rest of the academic classes had finished for the day and the class all of 1-A was waiting for had finally arrived. Heroics 101. While most of the class was chatting away about what they were going to do and who would teach, the resident demigod of the first years had set his hammock up between two poles of ice to relax.
The majority of the class sweat dropped at the action while Midoriya shook his head softly in amusement and Iida sped walked over to reprimand Percy for sleeping in class. Of course, the entirety of the class snickered when a tendril of water wrapped around the robotic boy and gently placed him back in his seat. All of that done without Percy even opening his eyes.
"Say, Midoribro," Kirishima used the nickname he came up with for the shrub child after they discussed training plans on the walk back to class from the locker room the previous day. Midoriya looked at him with a smile and nodded for the boy to continue.
"You've known Percy for a while now. What's with the hammock?" Kirishima finished his question and several others tuned in to listen to the response.
"Well you all heard about how Percy's adoptive father is Aizawa-sensei yesterday," Midoriya told them and they all nodded. They still hadn't wrapped their heads around that fact entirely.
"Percy told me that Aizawa-sensei always has his sleeping bag handy and when Percy asked him why, Aizawa-sensei told him that sleep will evade him when he becomes a pro hero. About six months ago, Percy started to have his hammock nearby at all times," Midoriya finished and they all nodded thoughtfully.
"Why a hammock though? Wouldn't it be easier to have a sleeping bag, kero?" the frog girl, Asui Tsuyu, asked with her finger on her chin and her head tilted to the side.
'Cute,' Midoriya thought absentmindedly before answering.
"Percy said sleeping bags are too warm and harder to get out of than a hammock," Midoriya replied with a shrug. The others shrugged in return before they heard loud stomping coming from down the hall.
Percy already knew who it was thanks to the man's unique blood flow and lack thereof, but before the other's could even question it, the door was launched open.
"I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" All Might exclaimed, not at all coming through the door like a normal person. The class started chatting loudly and excitedly as the number one hero himself was teaching the class.
"I can't believe it's All Might!"
"He's so much bigger in person!"
"Is that his Silver Age costume?!"
"It's so retro!"
All Might just laughed at everyone's words before he looked around the room. Upon noticing the empty desk, he paused briefly before his eyes caught the glimpse of orange suspended between two pillars of ice and he sweat dropped.
"YES! I AM HERE TO TEACH YOU IN HEROICS 101! AND FOR TODAY, IT WILL BE A TRIAL OF BATTLE!" All Might exclaimed as he turned the presentation card around.
The class's murmuring began again, but the most notable two were Bakugo and Midoriya.
"Battle," Bakugo began with a vicious smirk on his face, no doubt ready to put some "extras" in their place.
"Training," Midoriya finished with a less hostile smirk. He was excited to test his ability in actual combat against someone other than Percy.
"THAT'S RIGHT! BUT WHAT IS A HERO WITHOUT THEIR COSTUME?!" All Might exclaimed and pressed a button on a remote to reveal 21 lockers, each with a corresponding suitcase.
"A hero on their day off," Percy said loud enough for the class to hear as he yawned and stretched from his hammock. Some of the class snickered at the joke, but All Might coughed to regain focus.
"OF COURSE, YOUNG PERCY! PUT THESE ON AND MEET ME AT GROUND BETA!" All Might finished and headed out for the grounds quickly, prompting the students to get in motion.
LINEBREAK
"EXCELLENT! FROM HERE ON OUT, YOU ALL ARE HEROES!" All Might said with his iconic grin and a thumbs up as nearly the class had gathered in front of him at Ground Beta.
"Nice costume, Deku!" Uraraka exclaimed excitedly at the shrub-headed boy as she went closer to him. The use of the nickname that was used for years to demean him did nothing bother him in the slightest after she thought it sounded like "Dekiru".
Midoriya's costume turned out much better than he could've hoped. Admittedly, Percy had made several changes to it after seeing his initial design from when he was a kid. Instead of the cowl that mimicked All Might's iconic hair, he opted for a simple black hood in the event that he needed to hide his face.
The smile on the mask was tossed in the garbage and instead Midoriya chose a sleek metal look and equipped it with rebreathers to increase his oxygen intake passively, filter out any gasses, and supply 10 minutes of oxygen should he find himself underwater.
The rest of the original design and color scheme were kept, but Percy suggested more armor that was resistant to blunt force and bladed attacks. The elbow, knee, and shin guards were kept consistent as were the gloves, and Midoriya entertained the idea of adding to his boots for more power in his kicks, but it appeared they weren't ready yet.
And the entire thing was insulated and fire resistant.
"T-Thanks, Uraraka! I-I like your costume too," Midoriya stuttered slightly and blushed as Uraraka's costume hugged her feminine figure. Internally, he was cursing his teenage hormones.
Uraraka blushed slightly in return due to both embarrassment and the fact that Midoriya's costume hugged his muscular physique enough to see his hard work through them.
"T-Thanks. I wish I was more specific though. The entire thing is a little tight," she admitted as she pulled a little at the taut material.
"E-Er. At least you don't have to worry about it getting caught in anything. A-And I really like the space theme!" Midoriya added, quickly trying to try and placate her even though it was entirely unnecessary.
"IS EVERYONE HERE?" All Might asked as he looked over his students.
"Percy is probably finishing up," Midoriya added as he didn't see his older brother among the class.
"Sorry about that. Damn thing took longer to get on than I thought it would," Percy's voice sounded out from the tunnel and the class turned to see his costume.
Percy emerged slowly, his sleek black armored pants just a hair's breadth from skin tight around his groin and twin fins jutting out down on his calves. Interestingly, he was barefoot, leaving the class confused since they had no knowledge of the Blessing of Styx or "manipulating the water in his body to mimic hardening quirks".
The top portion of the costume was skin tight and looked to be made of scales like a mermaid. The entire long sleeved ensemble appeared to be black, but with every step, the sunlight glinted off of the scales to reveal the same sea-green color of his eyes. Attached to the top and currently worn down, was a hood of the same color that would easily hide the sleek black mask (unless you were looking directly at his face) that would filter out any gas attacks.
On his back, there was a slight hump that actually stored 10 gallons of water in case of emergencies and the interior of the entire costume was inlaid with a semi-permeable material. Percy could easily use his abilities to circulate the water in his pack throughout his suit to make contact with his body and provide a boost or healing should he choose to. The only other thing of note was the belt with a trident buckle that allowed him to sheath his kodachi across his lower back as he always did.
All in all, he looked every part the hero he already was and was training to be. [AN: Think Aquaman's costume from YJ with the color scheme described, and the added belt, hood, and mask.]
"Whoa! That costume is so manly!" Kirishima cried out while the other guys (minus Bakugo and Todoroki) nodded in agreement and the girls blushing slightly. Percy's physique was clear to see and he didn't disappoint, but his mind was elsewhere.
'What. The. Fuck.'
Those were Percy's thoughts as he witnessed some of his classmates' hero suits.
'Yaoyorozu might as well be naked. Invisible girl is naked. The pervert is literally wearing a diaper. And Bakugo couldn't be advertising his quirk any harder.'
Biting back a sigh, he didn't mind the rest of the costumes that he saw. A lot of them didn't have as much armor as he would've liked, but he couldn't complain.
'At least Shrub Head's turned out better than his original,' Percy thought in amusement and snickered at the image of "Small Might" that appeared in his head.
Percy tuned back in to All Might's words when Midoriya explained why the lots being drawn were random. Without further ado, Percy was about to take his place at the back of the line before the blonde buffoon spoke up.
"YOUNG PERCY! NEZU HAS INFORMED ME THAT YOU WILL NOT DRAW DUE TO THE ODD NUMBER. INSTEAD, YOU SHALL CHOOSE WHICH SLOT YOU WOULD LIKE, AND YOUR WOULD BE TEAMMATES WILL SWITCH TO THE OPPOSING TEAM," All Might informed the class and Percy groaned in annoyance at Rat Satan's schemes before he nodded in acceptance. Of course, that didn't mean that the class accepted it.
"WHY DOES THAT USELESS EXTRA GET TO HAVE A 4v1?!" Bakugo shouted and got others to agree with him other than the "useless extra" part. Percy naturally took the opportunity to tease the time bomb.
"You want to take four people at once? How bold, Pomeranian-kun," Percy said with a smirk and got full blown laughter from the ones with little to no self-preservation instincts and a few quiet snickers mixed in as the final student drew their lot.
"SHUT UP EXTRA! YOU BETTER PICK MY FIGHT SO I CAN EXPLODE YOUR ASS TO PIECES!" Bakugo roared with his palms popping threateningly. Percy just chuckled in response and waved his words off.
"I don't think I will. You'll have your hands full already with Shrub Head. Don't lose too badly, ne Firecracker-kun?" Percy said with another teasing smirk. Before Bakugo could literally blow up, All Might regained control of the class.
"SO WHO WILL IT BE, YOUNG PERCY?" he asked and Percy looked at the gathered lots to choose from. The trial itself wouldn't be terribly difficult since they were all rookies and only a handful of them would give a newbie demigod trouble, but he wanted it to be interesting.
There was really only one option.
"I'd like to take on Candy Cane-kun and his team," Percy told All Might and the latter grinned and wrote it down before he pulled the first two teams out of a box at random.
"TEAM A WILL BE THE HEROES AND TEAM D THE VILLAINS! VILLAINS GO GET SET UP, HEROES HAVE 5 MINUTES TO PREPARE, AND THE REST OF YOU FOLLOW ME TO THE OBSERVATION ROOM!" All Might exclaimed and the students began to move to their designated areas.
Before they could leave entirely, Percy stopped Midoriya as the others went ahead. Seeing it was a private conversation, Uraraka went ahead to study the floor plans.
"Don't hold back. Not only is it disrespectful to him and Iida, you wouldn't know your limits, and you would die in the field if you did," Percy told him and Midoriya nodded seriously before Percy held out a fist.
"Besides, a little revenge in a controlled setting like this never hurt anyone. Permanently, anyway."
At that, Midoriya smirked and bumped his older brother's fist with his own.
"Just watch me," he said and headed over to Uraraka as Percy shook his head with a fond smile and left for the observation room.
LINEBREAK
"So what's the plan?" Uraraka asked Midoriya as he looked over the floor plans, his mind racing at a thousand kilometers per hour. He finally looked up and Uraraka was a little surprised at the seriousness in his eyes.
"Bakugo will come for me and leave Iida to protect the bomb; his pride demands him to do so," Midoriya said and she nodded, slowly catching on to what would likely happen.
"We can use that moment to separate. You go for the bomb, and I'll neutralize Bakugo. Plus," Midoriya said and looked away a little sheepishly as he scratched his cheek before returning his gaze.
"I want at least a little payback for the bullying Bakugo put me through," he finished and Uraraka nodded seriously.
"A fated battle between rivals then," she said and pumped her fist, making Midoriya chuckle.
"Something like that. Try to sneak up on Iida and use your quirk. If you can't, then wait for the last second to counter his attack. We'll float up to the 3rd floor and infiltrate from there," Midoriya said and Uraraka nodded in agreement.
The buzzer sounded.
"HEROES! YOU MAY ENTER," All Might's voice rang out from the PA system.
"Let's go."
LINEBREAK
When Percy arrived in the Observation Room, he immediately went to Yaoyorozu and Hagakure, admittedly, he had to ask Kirishima for the latter girl's name. Once he got them both, he pulled them aside.
"Your costumes are horrible," he decided on the blunt approach and held up a hand before either could say anything.
"I understand they're both like that because of your quirks. That's why I have a suggestion and I want you both to come with me to the Support Studio after school," he told them and they looked less offended, but no less puzzled. Percy sighed.
"I have a friend who's a 3rd year here. His quirk is difficult to use with the standard uniform and gym outfits, but his hero suit was made from his own cells so that it works seamlessly with his quirk," Percy told them and Yaoyorozu understood what he was saying.
"So you mean if we manufacture our costumes the same way, then we can cover ourselves without sacrificing any of quirks' capabilities," Yaoyorozu clarified and Percy smiled and nodded.
"Exactly. I don't imagine that you would want to go out on patrol looking like that unless you absolutely had to and Hagakure-chan doesn't have to be naked," Percy answered and got a grateful smile and nod from Yaoyorozu. Hagakure's reaction was far more animated.
"Also Hagakure-chan? Can I just call you Invisi-chan?" Percy asked and got a happy squeal from the girl over the nickname. With nothing more to discuss, the trio joined the rest of the class as the buzzer sounded for the trial to begin.
"Yo, Percybro!" Kirishima called out, but was interrupted by the demigod in question.
"I already shortened my name to Percy, Kirishima. If you want to shorten it further, then just call me 'Perce'," Percy told the excitable kid with slight exasperation.
"Gotcha! So Perce, who do you think will win this match?" Kirishima asked.
"Midoriya and Uraraka," Percy replied immediately, to the slight surprise of the others.
"Really? Bakubro is pretty strong and tough though," the tape dispenser, Sero Hanta, chimed in to murmurs of agreement from some of the others. Percy just shook his head.
"Pomeranian-kun is admittedly strong and stronger-willed, but he's raw. He only knows how to fight with his quirk; the same quirk that Midoriya has seen since it developed. On top of that, his ego and rage will blind him," Percy said seriously and the others began to understand why he didn't hesitate in his answer.
"I doubt Bush Head will make it out unscathed, but it'll be his victory," Percy finished before they all turned to the screen to witness first contact.
LINEBREAK
Midoriya and Uraraka infiltrated the building on the third floor successfully and quickly began to make their way throughout it checking rooms before they moved up. They weren't the stealthiest duo, but they were doing an admirable job with no training.
Just as they were rounding the last corner to get to the stairwell and up to the next floor, the telltale sounds of popping could be heard and without thinking, Midoriya grabbed Uraraka, who squeaked and blushed in both surprise and embarrassment, and leapt away. A moment later, Bakugo came flying around the corner with an explosion firing, but Midoriya's quick thinking allowed them to avoid damage.
"DEKUUUU!" Bakugo roared and Midoriya almost rolled his eyes in exasperation but held it in.
"Uraraka, just like we planned. Go," he said before activating his quirk at around 8%. She acknowledged his order, but Midoriya paid her no mind as he focused solely on his old tormentor.
"You think it was fun lying to me about a quirk?! You think you're better than me?!" Bakugo roared, but the sound died in his throat at Midoriya's next words.
"Are you an idiot? I didn't lie; I was a late bloomer. Besides, I already told you back in junior high; me being a hero has nothing to do with you," Midoriya said and got into his stance to fight.
"Don't think you're better than me, Deku! I'll show you where you belong; beneath my boots!" Bakugo roared and charged at the bush child with his explosions amplifying his speed. He wound up and threw his trademarked right hook.
Only for Midoriya to easily dodge it and use Bakugo's momentum to slam him into the ground.
'Did he fucking read me?!' Bakugo screamed internally, but those thoughts were cut off by Midoriya utilizing his advantage to deliver an axe kick directly to Bakugo's sternum winding him further.
As Midoriya leapt back to let the explosive boy recover, he began to talk again. "I've seen that right hook so many times that I could counter it with my eyes closed, Bakugo. You'll need to do better than that."
Bakugo nearly went ballistic as he got to his feet slower than he would've liked. He wasn't facing the same Deku he tormented for most of his life.
LINEBREAK
"Damn! He's like a martial artist!" Kirishima said in the observation room as the rest of the class watched the first exchange. It really put things back into perspective for Percy in regards to the difference in skill level.
'That was probably the most telegraphed punch I've ever seen and a simple toss impressed them all that much? *Sigh* Maybe the fighting today will be even less entertaining than I thought,' Percy mused as some of his other classmates commented on the exchange.
"Midoriya hardly used his quirk too!" Ashido added and Percy nodded in approval, unable to keep his mouth from moving.
"He doesn't need it," he said and everyone turned to him in slight surprise.
"That is to say, he's not reliant on it. With an opponent like Bakugo, one that Shrub Head knows inside and out, and all the training he's done, his quirk just tips the odds further in his favor," he elaborated and most of the others nodded in understanding. Percy even noticed All Might pretending to be busy at the monitor.
"Do you think people can be heroes without quirks?" Yaoyorozu asked, seemingly for the benefit of others in the room and Percy suppressed a sigh.
"Of course, quirks are tools; they're no different than the kodachi I carry. It'd be a hell of a lot harder to do it, but it's possible," Percy said as he looked over his class.
"Respectfully, Ojiro and Invisi-chan don't have quirks that make them any physically stronger or faster than a quirkless person and they're earned their way into the hero course. Why couldn't a quirkless person do it," Percy finished and the others nodded. They couldn't deny that point.
With nothing more to be said, Percy focused on the screens and tuned out whatever other comments were made.
Bush Head was holding up well. He could tell that his little brother was still holding back somewhat for the time being, but the fight was in his favor. Bakugo managed to get some hits in and Percy was rather impressed with his creative maneuverability with his quirk and the smokescreen was certainly a nice touch.
Ultimately though, Midoriya was going to win. Percy determined that he was likely waiting for Uraraka to radio in where the bomb was before he ended it and headed up. Almost as if he spoke it into existence, he saw Midoriya speak into his communicator.
Of course, things never go as planned.
"Um, monsieur All Might," the weird dazzling kid that Percy swore knew something as he always looked off into the distance with a knowing smile, called for All Might's attention.
"Monsieur Bakugo is…" the kid trailed off and the others looked at the screen to see Bakugo with his hands on the pin of one of his gauntlets and an evil smirk on his face.
LINEBREAK
Midoriya was feeling really good about the trial. He was winning his fight with Bakugo, not exactly handily, but it was perfectly clear that he had done more damage to Bakugo than Bakugo had done to him. At least, if the several forming bruises, small cuts on Bakugo's body and costume, and his rising anger were anything to go by.
Uraraka had even found the bomb, although Iida's over the top acting made her lose her composure and laugh thus giving away her position, but at least he was ready to end the fight. Until Bakugo's gauntlets glowed.
"They're ready," he said with the same smirk that used to give Midoriya nightmares plastered on his face. Midoriya just narrowed his eyes and charged OFA up to 10% to be sure.
"You know so much about my quirk that you can probably guess what my gauntlets do," Bakugo began and Midoriya's mind raced at the implications, quickly coming to a conclusion as his eyes widened slightly before narrowing again.
"That's right! They've been storing up my sweat this whole time, and now they're ready!" Bakugo roared as he grabbed the pin. In response, Midoriya upped his output to 12% to be careful.
"YOUNG BAKUGO! DON'T! IF YOU PULL THAT PIN HE COULD DIE!" All Might's voice rang out over the PA system, but both parties ignored the cries.
"HE WON'T DIE IF HE DODGES!" Bakugo roared back and pulled the pin.
Immediately, Midoriya bolted down the hallway and used the walls to bounce around like a madman trying to avoid the impending explosion that was chasing him.
'Shit shit shit!' he thought as he made one final leap off the wall and dove to the side milliseconds before the blast could engulf him. That wasn't to say he was entirely unharmed however. His body was sweating from the heat, small cuts and bruises formed from some of the debris that was launched as well, and the hair of the back of his neck was singed off.
The class in the observation room looked at the destruction in wide-eyed panic as there was no sign of Midoriya. Percy, not so much. He saw how Midoriya escaped, albeit barely, and directed everyone's attention to a separate monitor that showed Midoriya leaning heavily against the wall to calm his breathing.
There was a collective sigh of relief from the observers before Kirishima spoke.
"I-I can't believe he'd really go that far," he said as the others murmured in agreement.
"It's not over yet," was Percy's reply as they tuned back in to see Midoriya's eyes harden and his jaw clench.
The smoke finally cleared to reveal Midoriya at the end of the hallway with minimal, but noticeable damage, and Bakugo's feral smirk turned into a vicious scowl.
"So you dodg-," he started to say, but was caught off guard by the livid expression on Midoriya's face as the latter slowly began walking toward him.
"You'd actually go so far to soothe your own ego in a trial," Midoriya spoke at Bakugo in a terse tone. Each step Midoriya took, the green discharge around his body became more and more erratic.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY DEK-," Bakugo shouted in fury and raised up his other gauntlet, but before he could pull the pin or All Might could warn him of the impending failure if he used it again, Midoriya's OFA output hit 17% due to his emotional compromise.
Midoriya almost seemed to disappear and reappear next to Bakugo to most (Percy and All Might tracked his movement easily) and threw a powerful elbow right at the gauntlet. There was a moment of pause before the gauntlet shattered and a crack followed. The crack being the result of Midoriya breaking Bakugo's arm.
Just as Bakugo screamed in pain from the broken arm, a snap kick to the temple erased the sounds in his throat and his body indented the neighboring wall before slumping to the floor unconscious. Midroiya's rage quelled as he took in what he did and he grimaced. The broken arm wasn't what he wanted to do, but he really couldn't bring himself to feel sorry.
Midoriya quickly tied Bakugo up in capture tape and charged up to 8% knowing he was low on time and looked back at Bakugo one last time before heading up to support his partner.
"YOUNG BAKUGO HAS BEEN ELIMINATED! TWO MINUTES REMAINING!" All Might announced with slight pride and joy leaking into his tone at his successor's victory and Percy himself had a faint smile.
"That was so MANLY!" Kirishima shouted with a fist pump and most of the other students joined in and started to compliment the fight.
Percy chose to remain silent with the faint smile on his face as he watched Midoriya charge into the room with the bomb and occupy Iida long enough for Uraraka to handle the bomb.
Medic bots were sent to bring Bakugo to the infirmary and Midoriya followed behind them under his own power to get a quick kiss from Recovery Girl before they would discuss the fight in its entirety.
As soon as he came back, Midoriya was bombarded with questions and compliments that resulted in him becoming a blushing and stuttering mess before All Might reigned them in.
The MVP was discussed and given to Iida after some debate over Midoriya's actions. Yaoyorozu pointed out that he could've ended the fight sooner and assisted his partner to which he nodded in agreement, but fist bumped Percy afterward knowing that the actions he took were better for him in the long run. Bakugo was an obstacle he needed to get over and while he had gotten over the taunts and insults, it was vital to his growth as a hero to obtain his first physical victory over the former bully.
The fights following Midoriya's weren't nearly as impressive or exciting, but they did their job in revealing everyone's weak points and some of their strengths. Midoriya pulled one of his notebooks seemingly out of thin air and began scribbling madly about each classmates' quirk as their fights happened. His muttering was present in full force and actually frightened a lot of his classmates, but he was too involved in it to pay any attention.
Percy himself was impressed with Yaoyorozu even if he could tell she wasn't quite as sure of herself as she appeared, and Jiro. The latter girl had sensitive hearing and could propagate her heartbeat for sonic attacks, something that Percy didn't have much experience facing so it piqued his curiosity.
The only other two he noticed were the frog girl, Asui Tsuyu, and the brooding birdman, Tokoyami Fumikage. Their performances aside, Tsu (as she all but demanded everyone call her) was level headed and sure of her capabilities as they were, and Tokoyami's sentient quirk was simply intriguing.
Before long, it was Percy's turn and a hush seemed to fall over the observation room.
"YOUNG PERCY! IT IS TIME FOR YOUR MATCH! WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE THE HERO OR THE VILLAIN?" All Might asked the demigod who shrugged and gestures to Todoroki.
"I got to pick who I'm facing; they can pick which side," Percy said casually as he picked at his ear with his pinky.
"We'll be the heroes," Todoroki answered immediately and without consulting his group. His eyes never left Percy's nonchalant demeanor.
"EXCELLENT! YOU FIVE MAY HEAD OUT AND PREPARE!" All Might told them, receiving four nods before they left and Percy followed a few minutes after them to the building to prepare.
After he left, the student immediately began discussing the upcoming fight.
"Midoribro! Who do you got in this?!" Kirishima asked, but Midoriya paused as a bandaged Bakugo entered the observation room just in time to watch the final match. The two made eye contact, but Midoriya just nodded at Bakugo to try and relate that there were no hard feelings. Bakugo clicked his teeth and looked away to the screen.
"Percy. Even though he's outnumbered, he's a lot more skilled than he lets on," Midoriya answered, but there was less surprise among the students that time.
"What site did he take the exam in?" Tokoyami asked, but Midoriya shook his head.
"He got in through recommendations," he answered, but Yaoyorozu frowned instead.
"He couldn't have. He wasn't there when we took the recommendation exam," she revealed and the others were completely puzzled before All Night's laughter sounded.
"HAHAHA! THAT IS BECAUSE YOUNG PERCY WAS RECOMMENDED BY BOTH AIZAWA AND PRINCIPAL NEZU! HIS PAST WAS ALSO A DECIDING FACTOR!" All Might said and both surprised and confused the students.
"His past, kero?" Tsu asked with a head tilt and a finger on her chin.
"Err. Yeah. Percy never knew his father and lost his mom in a villain attack when he was 11," Midoriya began slowly. Luckily, he knew Percy didn't care if people knew about it. Of course, Midoriya didn't even know it was a fabricated backstory, so why would Percy care?
"He was left out on the streets before he was captured by the villain and assassin, Kage," Midoriya told them and the class's looks of sadness for the demigod morphed into surprise and horror.
"The madman that had over 30 confirmed kills?" Yaoyorozu asked in shock. Midoriya just nodded.
"He was held there for nearly two years where Kage trained him to eventually be an assassin like he was. Of course, Percy would have never done it, but he told me despite what the training was for, he was thankful that he came away from it stronger," Midoriya told them and that left them all in thought.
For Percy to lose his mother and then be held for two years and forced to train. Forced to train to ultimately kill; they didn't even know where to start with digesting that information.
"I knew I sensed a great deal of darkness within him," Tokoyami muttered solemnly, but just about everyone chose to ignore the comment.
"How did he escape?" Ochako asked softly, but Midoriya gave her a reassuring smile.
"Aizawa-sensei and a few other heroes managed to find Kage and got him out. Aizawa adopted him shortly after and then he transferred to our junior high," Midoriya finished and they all smiled in relief that it turned out okay.
"That's why he has those scars," Bakugo stated in a shockingly reserved tone that made the others double take and Midoriya nodded at him grimly. They had all seen them the day prior when they changed in and out of the gym kits, but nobody had the time to ask Percy due to how fast he changed. Midoriya himself simply offered not to comment.
"RIGHT! WE CAN DISCUSS YOUNG PERCY LATER. FOR NOW, HEROES MAY ENTER THE BUILDING!" All Might announced on the speakers before turning back to the class.
"THAT IS THE REASON YOUNG PERCY HAS BEEN TESTED DIFFERENTLY. DESPITE BEING SO YOUNG, HE HAS ALREADY DISPLAYED U.A. HERO MENTALITY. SAY IT WITH ME NOW!" All Might told them to lighten the mood. The effect was instant.
"Plus Ultra!/PLUS ULTRA!"
LINEBREAK
Percy set up the fake bomb on the fourth floor away from the windows and doors. He considered trying to manipulate the water vapor around it to refract the light and make the bomb appear invisible, but he figured that would be overkill for the exercise. He stationed himself in the middle of the room and sat down in a meditative pose as he pushed his senses outward before All Might called the beginning of the match.
He mapped out the building in its entirety through the plumbing and water vapor and immediately turned his attention to the four bodies that had just entered.
"Can you find him?" Todoroki asked the multi-armed student next to him, Shoji, who nodded and turned one of his arms into a mouth.
"4th floor. Biggest room. He doesn't appear to be moving," Shoji answered and Todoroki, who covered half of his body in ice, nodded before taking two steps forward.
"You'll want to leave the building," was all he said and Shoji and the others complied after seeing his ability in the assessment test.
With one last step, ice expanded outward and began to cover the entire building. Percy sensed this immediately, and raised an amused eyebrow at the arrogance of the candy cane teen without ever moving from his spot of opening his eyes.
Just as the ice was about to reach him and the bomb, it stopped.
"Quite arrogant, Candy Cane-kun," Percy said before he lifted his left hand and waved it from one corner of the room to the opposite, effectively unfreezing the entire building in a moment.
The foursome trekked to the stairwell of the building before all of the ice immediately melted, shocking them greatly.
"What?!" the normally stoic Todoroki cried out in shock and disbelief. His teammates were rather thankful that he didn't have to deal with the freezing temperature any longer.
"Thanks for the ammo, Candy Cane-kun," Percy's voice rang out from the top of the stairs before he ran toward the second floor.
LINEBREAK
The students were in shock at the sight of Todoroki freezing an entire building. They had seen a glimpse of his power in the assessment test, but none of them had expected him to freeze an entire building.
"Such power," Kaminari whispered in awe, seemingly to the others' benefit. All but two were baffled. Bakugo clenched his fast tightly and ground his teeth in annoyance. He had always believed he was the strongest. Then, not only did he lose to Deku of all people, the half and half bastard froze an entire building.
'God dammit.'
Midoriya was surprised, but excited. After training with Percy for so long and the entrance exam robots, he developed a habit of being excited to test himself against a strong opponent that he had a chance of beating. He realized it was a dangerous habit to have and could lead to a lot of issues, but his saving grace was that it was solely for training purposes.
Of course, all of that was a moot point when the ice stopped before reaching Percy and the bomb.
"W-What?!" Bakugo, of all people, cried out in shock. Midoriya just smiled fondly and shook his head with a chuckle, turning all of the attention to him.
"Percy's quirk let's him control water at the molecular level," he stated and the smarter ones of the class caught on immediately.
"That means he can control it in all its forms," Yaoyorozu said as he was now awed by the demigod.
"That's seriously broken," Sero groaned to the others' agreement, but Midoriya chuckled again.
"Not exactly. Percy's been training his quirk since it developed. It's taken him a long time to get to the level he's at now," Midoriya told them, but whatever words they had next died in their throats when all of the ice melted immediately.
"Geez. He just defrosted that entire building with a wave of his hand!" Ashido exclaimed in amazement.
"Todoroki just made this match infinitely harder than it was?" Midoriya commented as his thoughts began flowing through his brain quickly.
"What do you mean, Deku-kun?" Ochako asked immediately as the others turned to him as well.
"The way Percy described it to me is like sonar. He can passively sense the water vapor in the air to map out areas. With all of Todoroki's ice effectively turned to water," he started to say, but Bakugo was the one to finish the thought.
"He can know where they're located throughout the building."
Midoriya just nodded before the last question was asked.
"What will he do now?" Iida asked and Midoriya was quiet for a moment as he gathered his thoughts about his experiences with Percy's training.
"Percy takes training with absolute seriousness as if this were truly a villain attack. He'll pick them apart one by one, starting with their eyes and ears," Midoriya told them before the action happened.
LINEBREAK
The four heroes immediately moved up to the second floor, but Percy was nowhere in sight. Todoroki had wanted to refreeze the building, but his teammates told him that it would be pointless if he could manipulate ice.
Instead, they stayed as a group as they moved room to room, utilizing Shoji's quirk to identify where Percy might be.
"Wait. Last room on the left," Shoji called out and the group slowed. Deciding that Todoroki and Ojiro were the offensive duo of the group, the two moved to breach the room. With a silent nod, Todoroki unleashed a flow of ice throughout the room before he and Ojiro charged in.
Unfortunately, that was what Percy wanted.
Just as they did that, two walls of water rose from the flooded building and blocked the two in the room and Hagakure from Shoji. Shoji immediately went on the defensive, but before he could even blink, his arms and mouths were restricted in tendrils of water.
"To disable a hero team, first you must take away their eyes and ears," a voice whispered in his ear before he succumbed to the darkness. Percy had easily separated them and bound Shoji before manipulating the blood flow to his brain to render him unconscious. Quickly wrapping him in the capture tape, Percy erased his presence once more and vanished to the stairwell and third floor.
"YOUNG SHOJI HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!" All Might's voice rang out to the heroes who blinked in shock and whipped around to find the large team unconscious and in capture tape.
"How in the hell," Ojiro muttered, but quickly came to his senses when he didn't see the telltale signs of Hagakure.
"Hagakure? Where are you?" Ojiro whispered as he and Todoroki propped Shoji against the wall and moved toward the stairwell.
"I used that moment to sneak ahead so I could find the bomb and win. With the wall there I couldn't do much," she whispered and the others pondered about her decision before they nodded.
"Alright. Just be careful-," Ojiro started to say before he heard a teasing voice over the comms.
"Invisi-chan~," Percy practically purred into her ear and the microphone. "You didn't think I wouldn't be able to notice you with all this water around, did you?" Percy finished and the only other thing they heard was a shriek before the communicator went silent.
"YOUNG HAGAKURE HAS BEEN ELIMINATED! THREE MINUTES REMAIN!" All Might announced as the two rushed up the stairs to find a similarly unconscious Hagakure bound in capture tape with an emergency medical blanket draped over her. While Percy had no issues fighting a naked person, or fighting naked himself, he was still a gentleman and covered her up.
"This is putting me on edge," Ojiro muttered and Todoroki slightly agreed, but didn't voice it.
"Shoji found him and the bomb on the next floor at the beginning of the match. We should rush there and secure it before we're out of time," Todoroki said, but Ojiro frowned.
"It could be a trap," the tailed boy said, but Todoroki turned his emotionless gaze directly at him.
"We're running out of time. Do you have a better idea?" he asked and when he didn't get an answer, he took off to the stairwell and began to climb them two at a time. With no choice but to follow, Ojiro hurried after him, only for a tendril of water to wrap around his torso as he reached the top and yank him back down.
"GAH!" Ojiro grunted in surprise and pain as he was yanked back, making Todoroki spin around faster than he thought possible and see his last teammate disappear into the darkness of the stairwell.
Todoroki paused for a moment to consider going after him, but with the time limit steadily decreasing in the exercise, he chose to continue forward.
"YOUNG OJIRO HAS BEEN ELIMINATED! 1 MINUTE AND 30 SECONDS REMAINING!" came the announcement from All Might as Todoroki hurried to where he remembered the biggest room on the fourth was from the floor plans.
"Leaving your teammate to his demise. How cold, Candy Cane-kun," Percy spoke from his spot in the middle of the room.
Todoroki glared at the demigod, who was unimpressed and launched his ice at Percy, seemingly forgetting about how ineffective it is.
Percy lazily raised his hand and stopped the ice.
"That clearly isn't going to cut it. I heard that you have a fire part of your quirk too. It would be much more effective," Percy said with a smirk as Todoroki showed real emotion on his face for the first time.
Anger. White-hot, all encompassing rage.
"I will never use that bastard's power," Todoroki hissed with an impressive amount of venom in his voice. Percy just steeled his features and raised an eyebrow.
"Not even to keep yourself from freezing?" Percy asked and before Todoroki could question it, the water and ice surrounding them came to life and wrapped him up with only his head clenched his fist and the water immediately froze and tightened. It wasn't fatal, at least unless he really did refuse to use his fire, but there was some slight pain and discomfort.
Todoroki grunted in pain and discomfort as he thrashed and tried to use his ice to break out of his imprisonment by sheer force. Except the ice he created only made his would-be cell colder and harder to break out of.
"You're going to hurt yourself or worse. Use your fire," Percy told him in a dead even tone. Todoroki stopped struggling and glared at the demigod in hatred.
Percy sighed heavily. "So be it," he said as he walked over to Todoroki, who was unable to stop the chattering in his teeth. In a swift motion, Percy drew his kodachi and struck Todoroki with it on the temple, sending him into unconsciousness.
Ignoring All Might's announcement of victory, Percy immediately defrosted Todoroki and simultaneously healed and warmed him up with water to get his temperature back to equilibrium.
"Troublesome," Percy muttered under his breath and threw Todoroki over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before leaving the building to deliver him to the medic bots.
LINEBREAK
"Holy," Kaminari breathed out.
"Shit," Sero finished as they watched Percy do exactly what Midoriya had said he would and strategically pick apart the hero team.
"How did he knock Shoji out by just touching him?" Tokoyami asked in bewilderment. His large friend wasn't an easy victory, nor was he easily snuck up on, yet Percy did both flawlessly.
"Did you see how easily he redirected Todoroki's ice?!" Mineta shouted in both awe and fear as the rest of the class continued murmuring.
Bakugo just stared at the screen with wide, unblinking eyes. He thought he was at the top. He thought he would surpass All Might and become the most famous hero in history. Then, he lost to Midoriya. After that, he witnessed the power Todoroki's ice half held.
Percy felt so far beyond both of them that it was crushing. If All Might was a mountain in his path to the top, Percy seemed to be a goddamn planet.
"Yo," Percy greeted casually as he stepped into the observation room to finish up the last lesson. Immediately, he was bombarded with questions from his classmates and overwhelmed, but before he could even answer one of them, All Might took control.
"WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE, YOUNG PERCY! I BELIEVE IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT YOUNG PERCY IS THE MVP OF THAT MATCH!" All Might boomed and the others collectively nodded in agreement.
"HAHAHA! WELL DONE EVERYONE! THINK BACK ON YOUR PERFORMANCES AND CONTINUE TO GROW AS HEROES! UNTIL NEXT TIME!" All Might gave a final smile and a thumbs up before he blurred out of the room.
"Kero, compared to yesterday, today was rather anticlimactic," Tsu croaked from her spot next to Ochako, others agreeing as they walked back to the locker rooms.
Percy fielded some questions with general answers that his classmates asked without giving away the full extent of his abilities before the day was over. After bidding Midoriya goodbye, he took the two girls to the support studio and introduced them to Power Loader (Dino Head-sensei) and left them to discuss their costumes while he looked for a spot to set up his hammock.
The second day of classes and things were already just about as lively as all of his previous school experiences. Hero training was more or less the same as flaming dodgeballs and vampire cheerleaders in the band room after all. While the threat of a painful death and being eaten wasn't present, fighting against others that had abilities certainly added a new dimension to it.
Percy truly had no idea how hectic his life at a hero school was going to get.
Chapter VI End
Sorry for the single chapter. I'm so hungover right now it's ridiculous, but anyways. U.S.J. will come soon.