CHAPTER 4: LET'S GAME! I'M A HERO STUDENT
"You are much tougher than I give you credit for, hero! May I at least get your name so that I have some way to remember you after I win?" Iida said, smirking under his helmet. "Yeah…the name is Deku! Deku the Hero!" Midoriya said, clenching his fist. Bakugo's eyes widened hearing those words, before he began shaking and clenched his fist. "Deku…" he growled, unsure of his emotions.
*cue My Hero Academia opening 1 – The Day*
"Deku, eh? I'll be sure to remember that. Now HAVE AT YOU!" shouted Iida, rushing the greenette again, trading blows with the boy who was still not using his Quirk. Concrete dust billowed as walls crumbled, bones creaked and metal armor crumpled during the duo's battle.
Uraraka raced along the hallways of the second floor, using her Quirk to float above the mines planted on the floor in inconspicuous locations. Bouncing off a wall, she floated up the stairwell to the third floor, and tried the door to the large room on one side of the floor. When she pushed on the door and it refused to budge, she knew she had found her target. Another door refused to budge, but the last door to the room was wide open…meaning it was likely a trap.
The brunette removed gravity's hold on her again and floated up to a ventilation grate, opening it and moving through the ductwork towards the bomb. Sure enough, Yaoyorozu was guarding the bomb and had what appeared to be a net gun trained on the doorway. The bomb itself was surrounded by a makeshift fence of iron girders, some of which had also been used to block the doors. The windows were all rigged with traps that appeared to contain…glue? The pots contained some beige-colored liquid and were attached to tripwires threaded across the windows. It looked like some serious planning had been done to make sure nobody could get to the bomb. There weren't even small objects for the round-faced girl to weaponize anywhere in the room.
Uraraka reached a ventilation grate nearby the bomb and silently opened it, ready to drop and win the match for her team. Yaoyorozu was still looking towards the door; apparently Uraraka's years of hide-and-seek experience alongside her friends back home would help her after all. She released her Quirk's effects from her body and got ready to drop, the other girl seemingly none the wiser as she stared at some sort of device in her hand…and then it all went wrong.
The second Uraraka dropped from the ceiling, Yaoyorozu wheeled around and fired her net gun with a confidence that seemed to suggest that this was fully expected. "Waaaugh!" yelped the round-faced girl, barely dodging the net, but activating a tripwire and causing hidden paintball launchers to start firing on her. She ducked and weaved as Yaoyorozu smirked, conjuring another paintball gun and firing at her. "Give up, hero! I knew you were there thanks to my laser tripwires and silent alarm, and now that you've revealed yourself, you're doomed! Anything you try, I can create a counter to! Such a failure was inevitable from the moment you decided to face Creati, the Most Versatile of Villains! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the wealthy girl gloated uncharacteristically. Uraraka could no longer keep a straight face. "She's doing it too!" the girl laughed.
Momo Yaoyorozu. Her Quirk: Creation! She can create any nonliving item she knows the molecular composition and structure of from the fat cells in her body!
Yaoyorozu dropped her paintball gun. "Are you…laughing at me?" the villainess sputtered in surprise. "How can I not laugh at you and Iida hamming it up like that" Uraraka giggled madly. The other girl exploded in mock outrage. "How dare you make fun of the dreaded Creati?! Have at you!" she shouted, creating a carbon-fiber staff and swinging it at the laughing girl, narrowly missing as Uraraka activated her Quirk. "Too slow, Creati! Infinity Girl clearly has the upper hand here!" she shouted.
Back in the battle center, everyone sweatdropped. "Deku? Infinity Girl? Creati? Engine Master? They're getting WAY too into this" was the collective thought in the minds of the hero trainees – and All Might too, for that matter.
Meanwhile, Midoriya and Iida – excuse me, Engine Master, were engaged in an all-out war of wits and physical skill. Iida had a massive speed advantage, but Midoriya was quite probably stronger and was dodging most of his strikes, tanking any that he couldn't without too much difficulty. Due to the boy's decision not to risk damaging himself with his Quirk, he wasn't harming Iida too much, even if his hits were hard enough to be felt through the tall boy's armor. "You are truly impressive, hero! But how long can you keep up with me without using your Quirk?" the villainous boy gloated, unleashing a powerful kick and demolishing another wall. "Hopefully none of these are load-bearing" thought Midoriya, getting up and surveying the carnage before unleashing a brutal right hook to his opponent's helmet, denting it slightly.
"Come on, hero! Do you want to win or not?" the tall boy asked in mock frustration, performing a high kick and narrowly missing Midoriya's face. "OF COURSE I DO! But I can't use this power without destroying myself!" his opponent responded, responding with a kick of his own, throwing him back. "Then your loss is assured! You'll lose and thousands will die because our bomb will detonate unimpeded! Is that what you really want?" asked Iida, staring the greenette down.
"He's right…I can't afford to fight like this forever and only use One For All when I'm given no other choices. But Iida can dodge most of my attacks and I can only attack so many times before I'm out." Midoriya thought, staring at the silver-armored problem in question. "Wait! Maybe, if I think like Iida, I can beat Iida…" And suddenly, Izuku got an idea that might just work. Tapping his communicator, he contacted his partner. "Uraraka, stand over by the third column on the west side of the building. I should be able to give you a good opportunity against Yaoyorozu." "Oh? Looks like you're finally putting that noggin of yours to good use, big boy" the voice in his head snarked. "Thanks, I guess."
*cue My Hero Academia OST - You Say Run*
With that, Midoriya raised his hand and channeled One For All into his middle finger, holding it back, tensed and ready to fire. "Oho! You're using your power after all? I won't let you hit me!" Iida boasted, before rocketing forward. Midoriya kept his building attack trained on Iida, the boy dashing forward towards him, before spinning around ready to land a powerful kick.
At the last possible moment before Iida's kick connected, Midoriya shouted "NOW!" into his communicator, and jumped backwards, falling back-first towards the ground. As Iida's momentum carried him forward, the greenette smirked. "You fell for it, Iida" he thought, before releasing his attack. "DELAWAAARE…SMAAAAASH!" Midoriya roared, shooting the blast of wind towards the ceiling, blowing a massive hole through all the floors of the building, the pressure shattering all the windows. Iida was thrown back by the force of the attack, giving Midoriya the opportunity to fight through the pain of a broken finger and wrap the capture tape around the tall boy. "TENYA IIDA HAS BEEN CAPTURED!" announced All Might.
On the top floor, Uraraka had been cornered on the west side of the building, looking backwards at a three-story drop and forwards towards an armed-to-the-teeth Yaoyorozu. When Midoriya's instructions came through, she let the ghost of a smile cross her face, before continuing to act helpless. "Give up yet, hero?" asked Yaoyorozu as she advanced on the round-faced girl. "No…not yet!" Uraraka shouted.
Just then, the floor exploded a few feet in front of her…giving her all the opportunity she needed. Grabbing a dislodged iron girder and rendering it weightless, she swung the makeshift weapon. "Improvised Move: Zero G Homerun Smash!" she shouted, directing a storm of loose concrete at the other girl, who created a riot shield and crouched behind it, shouting "In the name of villainy, I demand you cease!" Uraraka floated across the gap while Yaoyorozu was hunkered down, before releasing her own cancellation of gravity. "I've got the weapon!" she shouted. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yaoyorozu dramatically shouted at the sky, as All Might called the match. "THE WEAPON HAS BEEN SECURED. HERO TEAM WINS!"
"I…lost" said Yaoyorozu, staring intently at the ground in front of her. Uraraka came up and patted her on the back. "You did great. If it wasn't for Deku's improvised plan…you'd have easily won." The ponytailed brunette looked up at the other girl, who was giving her a smile as bright as the sun itself. "Come on, let's head back. Want to join Iida-kun, Deku, Kujo-san and Hojo-san in walking down to the station later?" asked Uraraka. "That would be…really nice" Yaoyorozu smiled back. "Great! Come on, Yaomomo, we've got another fight to watch!" "Yao…momo?" the rich girl asked curiously. "We're friends, aren't we? Friends give each other nicknames!" the round-faced girl gushed. "I…have friends?" Yaoyorozu looked like she was about to cry tears of joy as her new friend escorted her back to the battle center.
A floor down, Iida helped Midoriya to his feet. "You should probably go visit Recovery Girl for that" he said, looking at Midoriya's broken finger. "I'll be back soon. It shouldn't take too long to fix" the other boy responded, before following a hallway towards Recovery Girl. All Might stopped along the way to give him a hall pass. "Well done, Young Midoriya" he said, ruffling the boy's hair. Uraraka was named the match's MVP for successfully navigating past all the traps and holding Yaoyorozu off long enough for Midoriya to give her an opening to get the win.
The next match, decided at random, was Team I as the heroes vs Team K as the villains. It wasn't a very long fight; Todoroki froze the building, leaving Ojiro stuck. Sato broke free long enough to track down the hero team, but was swiftly incapacitated by Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. The hero team won in 1 minute and 32 seconds, and Todoroki was named MVP. As the bichromatic boy defrosted the building to give Ojiro the option of escape, he bowed his head almost apologetically. "I'm sorry…we're just not on the same playing field after all…" he muttered, walking away.
Shoto Todoroki. His Quirk: Half-Cold Half-Hot. He can produce immense amounts of ice or fire, although the capabilities of the latter have not been seen. His limits are unknown.
"What a mad banquet of darkness" the raven-headed boy muttered.
Fumikage Tokoyami. His Quirk: Dark Shadow! Inside his body lives a powerful spirit; a physical manifestation of his very soul!
In the battle center, the entire audience watched in stunned silence as Todoroki froze the building. "Holy crap" Kaminari finally broke the silence. "Just how strong is he? Does he even have any limits?" Yaoyorozu wondered. "Damn Icyhot…how much stronger do I have to get to be at the top again?" Bakugo raged at himself.
Then it was Team B as the heroes vs Team E as the villains. This one took significantly longer, as nobody involved had Todoroki's raw power. Ultimately, the villain team put up a good fight and briefly snagged Hojo on a sticky trap made by Mineta, but ultimately the heroes got to the bomb and Asui outmaneuvered Shoji and Mineta to capture the bomb. Hojo got MVP for creatively escaping his trap and providing enough of a distraction for Asui to get the win for their team; Midoriya returned around this time.
Team J as the heroes vs Team L as the villains was an interesting match, to say the least. Sero managed to create a multi-layered floor-to-ceiling tape defense, which helped win him MVP, while Koda used rats to learn where the enemy was coming from. Kirishima was instrumental in breaching the door to the bomb room, and the hero team would have won…but then Aoyama fired a laser blast through the curtains of tape, and destroyed the bomb. The entire room sat in stunned silence before All Might declared the villain team the winners. "Well…that happened" Midoriya thought. "Seriously?! Nobody back in my day was that stupid about using their power!" the voice ranted in the back of his mind. "Back in your day?" he asked. "Oh! Uhhhhh, forget I said anything!"
Then another match, this time Team B (going for a second time) as villains vs Team H as heroes. Hagakure and Jiro made a very effective combination, with the punk girl able to tell the invisible one exactly where their opponents were. Hagakure managed to capture Hojo, but Asui showed that she was more than skilled enough to win the match for the villains by capturing both Hagakure and Jiro a little more than halfway to the end of the match.
Finally, it was time for Team C as the villains vs Team F as the heroes. Bakugo and Ashido went in five minutes early, all of which Ashido spent melting traps in the different floors while Bakugo seethed in anger about his day, much to the pink girl's chagrin. Outside, Kujo and Kaminari readied for their incursion. "So…you go to find the bomb and Pink Lady; I'll keep Explosion-Brain busy" Kujo said, before patting Kaminari on the shoulder. "We're gonna win this, my dude!" Kaminari looked scared. "But…Bakugo is really strong! He'll slaughter you!" he said, clearly worried. "Don't worry, I'll be fine…" Kujo said, his face darkening. "I've dealt with his type before."
As the sirens sounded again, the team of two made their way in. Bakugo rushed out of the room on the top floor where the bomb was hidden, leaving an irritated Ashido to guard the bomb. Kaminari and Kujo advanced in silence until they reached the third floor…at which point Bakugo rushed around a corner, shouted "DIE!" and shot an explosion at the duo, who both rolled out of the way.
"Jesus man, you trying to kill us?!" yelled Kaminari. The blonde smirked. "And what if I am?" he said, stalking towards the duo. "I have a bit of steam I need to let off. Icyhot, Rich Bitch, Round Face, and ESPECIALLY Deku have all pissed me off today, and I'm going to take it out on you two losers. Don't worry, I won't beat you up badly enough to stop the match…I'll just get close to it!" he roared, lighting another blast off, accelerating towards Kaminari…only to receive a massive roundhouse to the stomach from Kujo. "Get out of here!" the casual boy yelled, sending the electric blonde running towards the bomb.
"You…I'm going to beat you up good for that, you shitty extra" Bakugo said, glowering at Kujo. "Oh, I think I'm going to enjoy this just as much as you" the other boy responded, stretching his legs. "You see, I can tell when someone has been bullied – I spent enough time around Emu as a kid to know that – and I know how to tell when someone has been a bully to someone. Spent enough time defending him from bullies way back when, yo" Kujo said. "What about it?" Bakugo demanded. "He's gotta be bluffing. There's no way this shitty extra can contend with ME."
"You and Midoriya have a history, don't you?" Kujo continued, cracking his knuckles. "Yeah, shitty Deku's always been a pain in my ass! Why do you care?" the blonde spat back. "Midoriya may be desensitized to your bullshit by now, Explosion-Brain…but I'm not. And since he's my friend and I care about him, I intend to beat an apology out of you" the brunette boy concluded, a dark look crossing his face. "Like hell you are!" roared Bakugo, lunging. From the other end of the hallway, Kujo took off running towards his explosive foe.
*cue Kamen Rider W OST – Leave All Behind*
The two met halfway down the hall. Bakugo let loose with a powerful blast, knocking the other boy back a few feet, but Kujo came back and hit a massive right into Bakugo's hastily-erected guard, pushing him back and cracking one of his bracers. Not giving the temperamental boy time to recover, Kujo shot a left jab, then a quick side kick, forcing his opponent on the defensive. Bakugo used his Blast Rush Turbo to retreat to the other end of the hallway, then raise one of his hands and fire a fairly large blast, engulfing the hallway in a momentary flash of fire, briefly stunning Kujo and putting him on the defensive. "RRRRAGH! DIE!"
Back in the battle center, the other students watched this intense battle in awe. Bakugo had already proven himself to be a powerful and skilled individual, and Kujo wasn't exactly someone you'd think was strong enough to contend with him. Midoriya in particular was surprised. "I've never seen anybody keep Kacchan on the ropes like this before." The boy in question dashed down the hall again and delivered a brutal side kick to the blonde's stomach, throwing him further down the hall.
"AARGH!" Bakugo roared, sending explosion after explosion down the hall. "WHY! WON'T! YOU! JUST! DIE?!" Kujo rushed forward. "I don't intend to lose…not to an arrogant prick like you!" he shouted, bringing a speed-enhanced fist up with enough force to knock the explosive blonde through a wall. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" Bakugo shouted, raising a gauntlet. "I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE ONE FUCKING DAY AND I'M ALREADY DONE WITH SHITTY EXTRAS LIKE YOU THINKING YOU'RE ON MY LEVEL! I'M GOING TO BE NUMBER ONE, AND I'LL DESTROY ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY WAY IS GONNA DIE!" he ranted, notching a finger through the gauntlet's pin. His foe raised an eyebrow at that action and his tirade.
"My Quirk works by igniting explosive sweat that I secrete from special sweat glands in my hands. If the support company designed these like I wanted, then they've been storing excess sweat since I put them on over an hour ago." Kiriya's raised eyebrow was replaced by anger towards Bakugo for getting ready to use such a weapon on another student, determination to beat the blonde's ass even harder for it, and relief that he, and not anyone in the class, was going to face this attack. "YOUNG BAKUGO, DON'T DO IT" warned All Might. "He'll be fine if he dodges!" responded the blonde, before pulling the pin. "No! Kujo, get out of there! He'll kill you!" Midoriya shouted in his mind.
The resulting blast burnt a huge hole in the side of the building. Three floors up, Kaminari and Ashido were both rocked by the force of the attack. "I got him…" Bakugo said, smirking in victory. Then suddenly, from out of the cloud of smoke and dust created by the blast, Kujo jumped out from above Bakugo's range of vision, coming down with a clearly forceful side kick. "BAKUSOU…KICK!" Bakugo had just enough time to bring his grenade bracers up to guard, but the force of the kick shattered the one on his left arm. "That was expensive, you asshole!" Bakugo roared. "I'm not sorry!" came the response.
The yellow-clad boy followed up with a massive knee to the blonde's gut, then a left jab, setting Bakugo on the defensive again. On the top floor, Kaminari decided to end he and Ashido's stalemate. "INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK….1.3 MILLION VOLTS!" he shouted, electrifying the room. The pink girl's acid barely protected her from the worst of the attack, but by the time she could counterattack, the electric blonde had secured the bomb, flashing a dorky brain-fried thumbs up.
"THE BOMB IS SECURED. HERO TEAM…WIIIIIINS!" All Might declared. Bakugo's eyes widened in horror at his loss, while Kujo turned and walked off. "You didn't lose because you didn't have power…you lost because your convictions and heart were weak" the speedster said as he rounded a corner, leaving the explosive blonde in stunned silence. All Might eventually had to come snap him out of it, as the blonde's mind began to send him spiraling into a loss-induced panic attack. "YOUNG BAKUGO, YOU DID VERY WELL. NOW LET'S GO HOME."
"I can't believe it" Midoriya thought, stunned at the outcome. "Kacchan…lost?" The voice in his head giggled. "Not everyone can keep winning forever, you know. Every hero loses at least once" the voice said, almost…sadly? "Still…it doesn't feel right. I know he'll motivate himself more like this, but he'll be beating himself up for losing" Midoriya thought in concern. "Then he needs to grow up, and understand that the real world won't be kind enough to roll over and kowtow to him. He's not strong enough to win every single battle; he needs to realize that he can't do everything himself" the voice admonished, before Midoriya felt her (?) presence disappear.
"AAAAAAAND THAT'S ALL, KIDS! VERY WELL DONE TODAY! WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY MAJOR INJURIES AND YOU ALL DEMONSTRATED A COMPETENCY BEYOND YOUR YEARS!" All Might said to the students gathered at the exit of Training Ground Beta. Asui raised her hand. "It's really nice to hear some words of encouragement after yesterday's homeroom class. Aizawa-sensei was a bit discouraging" the frog girl said, the rest of the class nodding in agreement. "I'M ALWAYS HAPPY TO BRING SUCH POSITIVITY TO MY OLD SCHOOL. NOW, I'M OUTTA HERE. WATCH HOW A PRO EXITS: LIKE HE'S GOT SOMEWHERE TO BE!"
With that, All Might turned and zoomed off towards the main campus at ridiculous speeds, trailing steam behind him; his time limit for the day almost up. "Okay…that was cool!" Kaminari said. "Man, I know I'll never run that fast…" Ojiro lamented. Bakugo just scowled.
The blonde pro ducked inside a "faculty only" service entrance and powered down just in time. "God dammit, I'm pathetic. I can't even teach a class nowadays" he scowled, angry and frustrated with himself.
That evening, having been introduced to the other students of his class, Midoriya walked back home in peace. Uraraka needed to buy groceries, Kiriya and Emu had vanished again, Iida was on a mission to get to the station, and Yaoyorozu (who had joined them for the walk to the station) had been picked up halfway down the hill by her limo driver. As the green-haired boy walked along, he thought about just how eventful a day he'd had as the sun set behind him.
Suddenly, sounds of battle rang through the air. "Wait, a villain fight? This is perfect! I'll have new notes to add to my Hero Notebook number 15!" he thought, dashing down a side street and into a park. Hiding in some bushes, he looked out…and saw something he didn't at all expect.
*cue "Excite" - Daichi Miura – Kamen Rider Ex-Aid OST*
Two very…unique armored figures were battling some kind of…motorcycle man? One of the fighters had black and white armor with pink 'hair' styled on top. The other had similar armor, but with yellow highlights and pink spikes on its' head. Their opponent was a blue and gold figure with exhaust pipes sticking out of its' shoulders and a very square head.
The two were keeping the other one on the ropes without much difficulty, but after a few moments, the pink one grabbed the lever on his ornate belt. "Dai-Henshin!" the figure said in an oddly familiar voice. "GACHAN! LEVEL UP!" the belt announced. "MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION – X!" And with that, the pink one's armor came off and out popped a much slimmer version with predominately pink armor and undersuit, black and green highlights and a chest piece like a video game health bar. The head had pink hair styled into wavy points. Midoriya could swear he'd seen that design somewhere.
"I'll clear this with no continues!" the pink one said, before turning to his partner. "Hey Kiriya, why don't you go Level 2?" If the yellow one could roll his eyes, he would. "Emu, in case you forgot, I literally turn into a bike at Level 2. Not to mention, I'm too worn out from fighting Explosion-Brain earlier to do the world's most awkward yoga for that transformation."
"Kujo? Hojo? THAT's who these guys are? Is that why they keep vanishing?" Midoriya wondered, eyes wide. "Whatever. Let's do this! Time to test out my support gear!" Hojo said, tapping a button on his chest. "GASHACON BREAKER!" the belt announced, summoning a pink and green hammer with two buttons on it. The two wove in and out, attacking the gold figure with precise strikes. "Ready to call it a day, Emu?" asked Kujo. "Yeah. Let's finish it!" came the response. The two fighters each lifted a small cartridge out of their belts. Hojo 'blew' on his, before they each stuck them into slots on the side of their belts.
"KIMEWAZA!" their belts announced in unison. "MIGHTY BAKUSOU CRITICAL STRIKE!" Hojo jumped into the air, his foot glowing with prismatic energy, while the wheel on Kujo's right arm began spinning and glowing yellow. The two attacks landed at the same time, with their opponent sailing backwards into a tree from the force of the attacks, before being engulfed in a fiery explosion, yelling "I lost this race after all!". A cartoonish icon appeared over the fading flames from the explosion, with both belts announcing "GAME CLEAR!"
The two closed up their belts and pulled the cartridges out of their slots, and in a burst of pixels both suits vanished, revealing Kujo and Hojo in their UA uniforms. "A job well done, eh, Emu?" the shorter of the two boys said, patting his partner on the back. "I'd say so. Let's get back to CR so that we can discharge our patient" Hojo responded, before pulling out his phone and dialing a number. "Director? Yeah, it's us. We've just finished up here. I'll send you our location and you can bring us back to CR."
The two walked over to a parked car on the nearby street, unaware of Midoriya's presence. Suddenly, one of the windows seemed to ripple, then showed the inside of a hospital. The two stepped through one at a time. "This is my chance! I can't let them get away without me finding out what's going on!" Midoriya thought, as he dashed out of the bushed and rushed through the mirror portal. A few moments afterwards, the window rippled again and went back to reflecting the sunset.
Midoriya sat up, realizing he wasn't on that street anymore. Instead he was inside some sort of room full of computer monitors, with all the walls painted white. A gaming booth for the popular rhythm game DoReMiFa Beat sat in one corner, looking very out of place. Behind him was a window looking out over a room with a large hospital bed in the center, connected to sophisticated equipment, with a stairwell connecting the two rooms.
But most importantly were the room's other occupants, all of whom were staring at him in surprise. Kujo and Hojo were over by one of the monitors with a middle-aged man in a hospital uniform. Meanwhile, a girl with orange hair in a ponytail in a UA uniform stood over by a dark-haired nurse near the game booth. He was clearly an unexpected guest here.
"Kujo? Hojo? Where am I?"
NEXT TIME ON GAME START! HERO ACADEMIA:
Midoriya has stumbled upon an operation most secret? How will the dynamic duo react? Also, 1-A is going on a field trip for rescue training! You have three guesses as to what happens, and the first two don't count. See you next time!
NOTES:
I told you that the Rider plot was about to be introduced, and here we are! In the next chapter, I'll explain more in regards to how CR works in this fic and how it's tied to UA.
As of the rewrite, there's more important foreshadowing and dialogue in this chapter, and it's almost 600 words longer as a result. Whoop whoop!
Thanks for reading!
