Chapter 6: First Day Jitters Part 3: Fight on! Battle Trials Part 2
The battle trials continue, as Ethan realizes that there may be more to some of his classmates, and discovers a big secret, while Morgan realizes that there may be a problem with attending UA.
Happy Pride Month, Everyone! Back again after quite a while. Honestly, I have a problem. I'll finish a rough draft of a chapter then take forever to post it. But anyways, I really liked this chapter. It was pretty fun to imagine the other fights, since canon really didn't do much with them. The battle trials, in my opinion, felt a little rushed, like the only fight that mattered was Midoriya and Bakugou, when it would have been a cool opportunity to show off what the other students could do. We could have had an extra episode similar to Battle on, Challengers! from season two. Though it would take a little bit of restructuring to fit in the bits with Bakugou and Midoriya. But other than that, I finally got a chance to write Morgan in combat, which was quite fun! It also hit me that I haven't described Morgan's costume either. I'll do some editing to the previous chapter to rectify that, so please check that out soon. To that end, please keep an eye on the previous chapters, as I will be doing small edits and changes throughout this story's run. If anything major is changed, I'll post it in one of these notes. Like the small section I added to the end of Chapter 4. Check it out, if you haven't already. That's all for now, Enjoy!
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12:25 AM, UA High, Training Ground Beta
Ethan was riding high after Team J's victory. He couldn't help the spring in his step and the giant grin on his face as both teams headed back to the observation room with All Might. Nothing more satisfying than when a plan goes off without a hitch. It seemed his enthusiasm was shared. Hagakure hadn't stopped bouncing since the victory, and he could sense Tsu's satisfaction, even as her face was as passive as ever. In fact, everyone seemed in good spirits. All Might's ever-present smile was a given, but both Kirishima and Aoyama weren't taking their loss particularly hard. That wasn't really surprising, neither boy struck Ethan as the type to hold grudges, unlike Bakugou, who seemed to still be quietly seething in the corner when they finally arrived in the Observation room, to a storm of congrats from the rest of Class 1-A when they entered. It was quite overwhelming, from Ashido nearly tackling them, to Kaminari's finger guns and "Good Job, bros!", to Shoji's quad Thumbs-Up.
Ethan had to admit, the attention was far better than the institute's cold affirmations and hollow congratulations. It was almost overwhelming, and he took up a space along the wall once things had concluded to gather himself. The battle overview was boring, and it didn't surprise him when Hagakure was named as the MVP. Without her, Kirishima and Aoyama's strategy could have run out the clock on them, no matter how fast he and Tsu were.
He saw the next two teams exit and the observation room darken as the third match was about to start, and he had no idea how this one would go. Sato struck him as a super strength type, and Ojiro had that tail, so they might make for a strong physical defense. On the other hand, he had no read on Kouda. Kid was silent as a mouse, and the weird head was his only clue, and that was not helpful at all. Todoroki's powers likely had something to do with ice, given his outfit, half his body was covered in it after all, but other than that, nothing. Could go either way.
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Match 3: Todoroki and Kouda Vs Ojiro and Sato
When All Might gave the signal, Ethan could see the difference in temperament between the hero team. I'll give Todoroki this, his costume may be impractical, but he aces the part. Dude is ice cold. Kouda just radiated nerves, but Todoroki took control, saying something to Kouda. The other boy nodded, and called…birds? The avian allies flew in, and searched through the complex in three minutes, returning to Kouda, who then appeared to be conveying the location of the bomb room, using sign language. He can talk to animals? Might come in handy, but it's situational. Might need some hand-to-hand lessons or gadgets.
As for the villain team, both boys were holed up in their bomb room, close to their load. Good strategy, for what they had. Neither seemed to have a quirk that let them create traps or block doors or any other method of defense.
Kouda made to walk in, but Todoroki held a hand out, stopping him. He then walked up and FROZE THE WHOLE DAMN BUILDING. The split-haired teen then walked into the building, followed by his teammate, who appeared to be as shocked as everyone in the observation room. Ethan even caught Psyker's whispered "Holy shit….". The entire class watched in stunned silence as Todoroki walked right past both Sato and Ojiro, who were frozen to the floor, and captured the bomb, securing a victory for the hero team. He didn't even stop to thank Kouda, who had trailed him like a nervous puppy, simply walking out after All Might's shaky confirmation of victory, though he did free his opponents. He arrived in the observation room about a minute before the others, and took up a position on the back wall, just a short distance from Ethan.
The class had shaken off their shock by the time Kouda and the others had gotten back, and began the debrief. It was boring, not much to say, so Ethan turned his attention to Todoroki. He slid up next to the other boy, hoping for his attention. He turned his head to see who was there, but didn't acknowledge Ethan in any way. So I guess I gotta bite the bullet. Not surprising.
"Not very friendly, are ya Candy Cane? You just left everyone behind."
This finally made the cold teen acknowledge him, though not the nickname he'd used, which was honestly good considering he had no good explanation for why he'd said that name out loud.
"I don't see why it matters. As Mr. Aizawa said, we aren't here to make friends. We're here to become heroes."
Ethan nodded his head slightly.
"I guess, but isn't a big part of being a hero working with other pros in the field, whether or not you're friends? Plus, you didn't even thank Kouda for locating the bomb room. And that's just basic etiquette."
Todoroki furrowed his brow, maybe in annoyance or frustration? It was hard for Ethan to read him, since his face was usually set in some expression of mild annoyance or neutrality, no matter his actual mood.
"I don't see the need. I would have found the room regardless by searching myself."
"But you didn't. Kouda did, and if you had had to search the building, the other team may have been able to free themselves, not to mention the extra time it would take. I'm not saying you need to be buddy buddy with everyone here, but it wouldn't hurt to make some friends among people you'll be stuck with for years and potential future co-workers."
Todoroki said nothing, only humming in response as he turned away, the fourth match ready to start. I guess that went as well as I could hope. I'm lucky he even listened to someone who's basically a stranger. Oh, right, next match. This ought to be good.
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Match 4: Mina and Sero Vs. Tokoyami and Shoji
Oh. This is gonna be good.
As soon as the match started, both teams seemed on their game. Shoji and Tokoyami had knocked out all the lights in the building and had hidden the bomb on the 4th floor, where both of them were. Shoji had converted all his appendages to ears, and appeared to be listening for Mina and Sero. Tokoyami had summoned some sort of shadow creature and had it patrolling the halls. Oh, I get it! Shoji listens for the other team and directs Tokoyami to take them out with his…shadow? Whatever it is, it's a near perfect defense.
Ashido and Sero, however, seemed to be moving as one, using their quirks to practically fly through the halls on the first floor, Ashido sliding on acid, and Sero swinging from his tape. The in-sync moves remind of Midoriya and Uraraka. They're communicating well. Don't know if that'll be enough to overcome that nifty defense that the villains set up though.
On crossing to the 2nd floor, the two teams had their first encounter. Tokoyami's shadow attacked and chased the two, who seemed to be in sheer terror, though Ethan really couldn't blame them. Tokoyami's quirk was a little scary. Luckily for them though, the monster wasn't that fast, though its speed wasn't anything to sneeze at either. The heroes kept ahead and were driven on a long chase through the second floor, running the time down to half, 5 minutes remaining.
It seemed the two wouldn't be breaking the defense anytime soon, though they did make it to the third floor. They seemed poised for another chase when a look of realization seemed to hit Ashido, who then looked to whisper something to Sero, who nodded at her. Ashido took off, shouting and knocking into walls as she headed in the opposite direction of her partner, who was making his way to the stairwell, likely to search the next floor as Ashido could handle this one. She's making as much noise as possible, acting as a lure for Tokoyami's shadow, while Sero searches for the bomb. Not bad for something improvised in a few seconds.
Sure enough, the shadow took the bait and started after Ashido, who made sure to keep close, but not enough to be in danger. She even pulled off some dance moves as she did so, taunting the beast, which seemed to make it even angrier. Huh. Girl has some skills.
Meanwhile, Sero was searching the fourth floor quietly, staying off the ground as much as he could in order to not alert the other team. He found the bomb room with 2 minutes left, and flew through the door toward the bomb. It took even Shoji by surprise, though he seemed to hear Sero just before he got in, converting his limbs back to fists. Unfortunately for him, the ceiling of the room was just high enough for the black-haired teen to stay out of the other's reach. Tokoyami had noticed and appeared to be visibly struggling to pull his quirk away from Ashido. He doesn't have full control? That could be dangerous. Sero easily dodged the slower Shoji, and secured the bomb with a quick shoot and tug, winning the match for the heroes with only 2 minutes left.
Ethan was honestly pretty impressed. he hadn't talked to either Ashido or Sero much, which he made note of to rectify, since Ashido seemed like his type of person, but neither struck him as the planning type. Which was still true, but they had communicated well, and Ashido had shown that she was agile and could think well on her feet, as well as perceptive, if she noticed how Tokoyami's quirk was being lead.
That was not to say that the other side had not been good. Shoji and Tokoyami's plan had been genius, and it would have been a near perfect defense had they been matched against anyone else. Shoji had also reacted to Sero's ambush with speed surprising for his size, and had the ceiling been lower, he probably could have blocked his opponent and run out the clock.
This was probably his favorite match so far, both sides had been awesome. He said as much when they arrived back.
"Oh my god, that was so awesome. You guys were all amazing, that match was soooooo cool!"
Ashido grinned widely at that, and Sero accepted his high-five, the two boys giving each other finger guns. Tokoyami nodded at him, and Shoji gave a quick thank you before the briefing began. There was a lot to look at this time, though Psyker had words of praise for all involved.
All in all, a good time. But now, Ethan was looking forward to the last match. Akio Atsushi was a mystery to him, mostly because he could read Todoroki better than he could read Atsushi, and that was saying something. Though his partner was no slouch either. Yaoyorozu seemed like the model student type, so seeing her in action was sure to be interesting. Time to see what Mr. Mysterious and Mrs. Straight-A's could do.
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1:16, UA High, Training Ground Beta, Building 6
Morgan was in quite the predicament. The planning phase was a minute in, they had the bomb set up on the third floor, and Morgan had yet to say a word to his partner. Yaoyorozu was trying, but she was losing steam as he still was not responding. He was trying, he really was, but when he did, he was seized by the feeling he still could not name. Yaoyorozu still kept on, beginning to lay traps in the room, indicating that she would be trapping as much of the building as she could.
He needed to focus, and work with his partner. Treat it like a mission, that might help. He had never faltered on a mission, even when he was working with someone he had never met.
Morgan closed his eyes, and tried to slip into his mission mindset. Objective: Protect the bomb, and capture or incapacitate the attackers.
Opponent's quirks: Electrification, allows large amount of electricity, but can short out user's brain. One unknown.
Partner's quirk: Creation, allows user to create objects out of their own body fat.
Partner's traps would only be partial due to time, and would make it obvious where the bomb room was.
"Wait."
Yaoyorozu jumped at his voice.
"Yes?"
"Stop laying traps."
Yaoyorozu looked confused.
"Why? Our objective is to defend the bomb."
Morgan grimaced.
"You will not have time to trap everywhere. A partial trail will lead them right to the bomb room. We need to obfuscate the bomb's position. I have an idea."
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Morgan leaned against the metal slab that had been secured to the second-floor doorway. The match had started about two minutes ago, and he could hear Denki and Jirou's approaching footsteps. His hearing had been fine tuned over his years of training, and he guessed he had about twenty seconds before they approached his hallway. Denki was as expected, not great at stealth, with Jirou shushing him as they rounded the corner.
Morgan pretended not to notice them, casually leaning on the wall with his staff on hand and looking the other way.
They were predictable, Denki trying, badly, to sneak up on him, with Jirou trying to sneak by. Just as the two were getting close, Morgan turned and fixed them with a cold glare. He had perfected this technique, the "Reaper Glare" as fear had called it, saying it was the second most terrifying look he had seen, second only to Mom's disappointed grimace. As expected, both teens froze, their bodies locking up in instinctive terror, which was of course the aim.
Morgan took the opportunity to begin his own plan. He detached a flashbang from his belt and tossed it at the two, who were beginning to move after he stopped glaring. The flashbang stunned them for real, and Morgan readied his staff, before charging. Time for his own offensive.
Denki was the main priority, as he seemed to be the most offensively capable. Plan: Take out target yellow, then focus down target purple. A swift boot to the torso sent yellow tumbling and landing on the ground on his back, groaning. That should keep yellow down for now, if not for the rest of the time Morgan needed. He could finish them off after purple was eliminated.
Target Purple was shaking off the flashbang, so he needed to move now. He went for a leg sweep, best to knock them down then finish them. But the target proved agile, jumping away from his sweep, and then lashing out at him with appendages attached to their ears. Those likely had something to do with their quirk. He dodged the attack, and followed up his first attack with a brutal downward swing. The target dodged that too.
Reaper kept up the offensive, and the target still kept dodging. This one was…mildly frustrating due to their speed, but no matter. They had to back up to evade his wide swipes, and this hallway backed up to a sharp turn. They were being backed into a wall, and they did not know it. Once that happened, he could back them to the corner, then eliminate them.
Soon enough, the target's back hit the wall, and one more swipe forced them to back further into a corner. Nowhere to run. Reaper charged his staff with a necrotic veil, and readied it. One more swipe would end this, then he could finish the other target. His earpiece crackled.
"Atsushi, are you okay? I hear fighting, do you need assistance? have you encountered Kaminari and Jirou yet?"
Yaoyorozu's voice violently snapped Morgan back to reality. What was he doing? The veil on his staff dropped, and he froze. Was he about to kill Jirou!? This was what he should have seen happening! Stupid, stupid, stupid! What would you have done if you had killed her? Killed Kaminari? Killed the heroes who came to arrest you for murdering an innocent teen? Morgan felt…. something. It felt like a weight on his back, one that was oppressive and all consuming. His thoughts began to spiral, but he was pulled out of them as a massive shock went through his body.
Pain. Massive amounts of pain coursed through his veins like wires. Denki had been given time to sneak up on Morgan due to his freeze, and now he was paying for it. The pain left him on one knee, using his staff to support himself. He felt Jirou secure something on his wrist, and saw capture tape. He was out of the match.
Jirou looked to Denki, who seemed shocked that he had been able to pull his sneak attack off.
"Pretty good attack. Clever, for an idiot."
Denki's initial smile at the compliment gave way to offense.
"Thanks, I really- Wait a minute, hey!"
Jirou ignored him, and turned to the doorway he had been guarding. It was blocked over with a plate of steel, and seemed secure. Denki sidled up next to her, staring at it.
"Think this is the bomb room? I mean, why else would he be guarding it?"
Jirou walked up to the door, and her ear jacks clanged as they tried to plug in to the steel. Jirou backed up, her face turning an embarrassed pink before she moved over to the wall. This time, her jacks plugged in, and she appeared to listen for a few seconds.
"Pretty quiet. Yaoyorozu might be trying to stay silent, either that or this room is empty, but we can't be sure."
Denki smirked.
"So let's charge in!"
His smile fell.
"But, uh, how do we get past this big steel plate?"
Jirou smirked.
"Leave that to me."
She walked up to the sheet, and her jacks plugged into sections on her boots. Almost immediately, waves of sound burst out from the front, blowing the plate back and opening up the door. Denki charged in, his hands sparking, but his sparks died as he saw the inside.
"It's empty!"
Morgan smirked despite his muscles still being locked up due to Denki's shock. The plan worked. Jirou called out to Denki, her tone seeming rushed.
"We have to leave, and find the real bomb room. If we hurry-"
She was cut off as All Might's voice boomed over their earpieces.
"TIME HAS RUN OUT! VILLAINS WIN!"
Morgan was taken by surprise as well. Ten minutes had passed already. His perception of time must have been warped due to his mental state.
Yaoyorozu reached them a minute later, and helped Morgan to his feet. She was smiling slightly. Her eyes widened as she surveyed the scene.
"Did you fight them both?"
Morgan nodded despite the soreness of his muscles.
"You secured our victory. I feel as if I did nothing in comparison."
Morgan grimaced. Self-doubt was not healthy.
"You were incredibly helpful. The diversion would not have worked without you, as the only reason they did not catch on early was because the room was hidden. As well, your sheet would have slowed them and run out the clock if they had gotten past me."
He offered Yaoyorozu a slight smile.
"Thank you."
She seemed taken a back, but she smiled back.
"Thank you, but it really was nothing."
Morgan was about to reply when Denki ran up to the two, Jirou close behind. The four teens began a walk back to the observation room, Denki striking up a conversation.
"Dude, where'd you learn to fight like that?"
Morgan mulled over how to respond in his head. A half-truth would work best.
"My mom."
"Well remind me never to make her mad. Yeesh"
Morgan smirked.
"Noted."
The rest of the trip was a comfortable chatter, and it helped to distract him from the weight on his chest that still had not left.
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4:10 PM, UA High, Classroom 1-A
That was definitely an…Interesting first hero class. Once the battle trials had finished, they had been shooed out the door and back to the changing rooms to finish out the day. Psyker and All Might said they would review the footage with Aizawa and come back with critiques.
The rest of the day had been pretty boring, though notable that poor Midoriya missed all of it. Atsushi hah had to miss a period due to electrical burns, but he was back after that.
Midoriya came in soon after school had finished, and many of Class 1-A were still chatting in the classroom. Everyone gathered around the embarrassed greenette, buzzing about his win, since no one was able to talk to him about it at the time. Ethan did too, slapping him on the back and exclaiming,
"Didn't know you had it in ya! Good job man!"
Midoriya had blushed and muttered a thanks before turning back to the crowd, who were now introducing themselves, since the boy hadn't spent a day introducing himself like Ethan, though he really didn't blame him.
Bored, Ethan turned toward Iida's admonishing of Tokoyami using his desk as a seat, something about 'respecting school property'. He smirked. Target acquired.
Ethan put on a smile as he walked past to his seat.
"Yeah Tokoyami, you should really show these desks the proper respect, you know?"
He then proceeded to sit down and put his feet up on the desk.
'Honestly, the nerve!"
Iida chopped his hand wildly at him.
"Miscreants, both of you!"
Ethan chuckled, but tuned Iida out as he spotted Uraraka, Kaminari, and Atsushi come in through the door, each carrying a small stack of textbooks. Kaminari appeared to be trying to flirt with the pink cheeked girl, but was shut down as Uraraka spotted Midoriya. The blonde slumped in defeat, Atsushi awkwardly putting a hand on his shoulder in an attempt at comfort. Poor guy, he has absolutely no chance. That girl got it bad for our resident green-haired nerd.
Ethan stood out of his seat and moved closer now that the crowd around Midoriya had thinned. The other boy was asking about Bakugou, looking concerned. Okay, now I know there's something between them. Why is he worried about that guy? The spiky blonde had left as soon as possible, and had seemed more agitated than usual.
Once he heard that, Midoriya had rushed out the door after gathering his things. Ethan quirked his eyebrow before heading to his desk and grabbing his things. No way am I missing a chance to unravel a mystery like Midoriya and Bakugou's relationship. He walked to the door, before he turned his head to address the class with a wide smile.
"Gotta go, guys! Tsu, Hagakure, we good to sit at lunch tomorrow?"
"Fine with me, Kero."
"Sure!"
"Alright, Bye!"
Ethan took off like a rocket. Midoriya had a head start, but he could flatten that pretty quick. Once he caught up, he made sure to keep Midoriya in his sight, while remaining quiet. Don't want him to realize I'm spying. Looks like all those stealth missions did have a purpose, Epsilon. As luck would have it, Midoriya was also distracted as he raced ahead. It was child's play to stay hidden and follow.
Midoriya caught up to Bakugou just in front of the school gate, and Ethan just managed to hide himself behind one of the closer pillars lining UA's front walkway as the two began to talk.
Bakugou had stopped once Midoriya called out, irritation obvious from his movements.
"I have to tell you something."
A secret? This should be interesting.
"I wasn't hiding my quirk from you. It was given to me by someone else, recently."
What. Am I short-circuiting? I have to be, one of the implants in my head has to be blown, because I swear he just said that someone GAVE him a quirk. All sounds faded out as Ethan's thoughts went into overdrive. I mean, the institute has sort of done that, but who could be doing that on earth? They don't have any of the technology for it. Maybe it was someone's quirk that let them pass it on? Not impossible, but then who?
Wait. Midoriya's quirk gives him incredible strength, and I saw All Might spying on him during the Quirk Apprehension test. Oh my god Midoriya is All Might's apprentice! Could it be All Might's quirk can be passed between people? But then, how did All Might get it? If he were born with it, how did he figure out it could be passed on? And if he was given it, who gave it to him, and how far back would this line go? And if All Might gave Midoriya his quirk, then how is he still-
"Ahem."
Ethan's though train suddenly derailed as someone cleared their throat quietly behind him. He turned, only to see All Might standing behind him, looking less than pleased he was spying on other students, who appeared to have finished their conversation, Bakugou walking away angrily. The Symbol of Peace walked past Ethan, and approached Bakugou, grabbing him by the shoulders, and shouting something about heroism. The teen shrugged him off and continued his walk. Looking a bit wilted, All Might turned to Midoriya.
"So, young Midoriya, what were you saying before I got here?"
Midoriya tried to evade the question, but All Might persisted. Eventually, the beans were spilled, and the truth came out. At that, the Symbol of Peace's ever-present smile vanished.
"You told young Bakugou what!?"
Ethan paled a little at that reaction. If Bakugou wasn't supposed to hear that, no way would I be fit to. I'm in danger. From what Midoriya was saying, it seemed like he and Bakugou used to be close friends, so there was his initial curiosity sated. Small victories. Midoriya appeared to have realized revealing a secret like this had been stupid, and his face dropped.
"Oh don't look so sad. He didn't take you seriously, so I don't think He'll say anything. This time I'll let it slide. Just make sure this doesn't happen again. You need to think carefully about the responsibility that comes with this power."
The weight he uses those words…Is this some big deal power?"
"If word got out that One For All could be passed on,"
What the hell is One For All? Is that his quirk? Sounds a little grandiose.
"Villains across the globe would come for you trying to take it."
Must be valuable. But I gotta get out of here. Now, how can I get past them?
"You must keep this secret to ensure your own wellbeing true, but also for the safety of the world, understand?"
Maybe there's a back entrance?
"Yes All Might!"
Alright, just gotta sneak back to the front doors and-
"Good, but we have one other thing to deal with."
Oh no.
Before Ethan could react, All Might had made his way over, grabbed him by the back of his uniform, and then raced back, hoisting Ethan up in front of a shocked Midoriya.
"It seems you had an eavesdropper."
Dangling about 6 feet above the ground Ethan grinned nervously and waved awkwardly, before he said the only thing he could think of.
"I'm In trouble, aren't I?"
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Yeah, I really enjoyed writing the last part of this one. Ethan is a bit too nosy for his own good, and that is going to have some major consequences going forward. I already have the opening part of Chapter 7 written, so hopefully I won't be so slow to post next time, though we'll see, as I can be a master procrastinator. Chapter 7 is when shit really hits the fan, and we see some major changes to canon, though that will be happening more and more we progress, especially when we get to the internship and training camp arcs. Oh boy do I have plans for those. Anyways, see you guys next time, reviews are welcome, and I hope you have a great week! Bye!