Chapter 7 - Hostage Exercise
After breakfast was eaten and appetites were satisfied, Class 1-A and their new arrivals prepared for school. They went back to their dorm rooms, dressed in their school uniforms, and went out of the heights alliance building. The students and their teacher then walked to U.A, chatting along the way with each other. When they got to U.A, and to their classroom, they began the day.
The first class they had was homeroom, where Mr. Aizawa gave off several announcements concerning the school, and then gave the students a pop quiz. The new arrivals were also included in the pop quiz, which was a quiz on rescue operations and how they should be performed. Matthew ended up getting a high score on the quiz, due to his extensive knowledge of rescuing people.
After homeroom they went to language arts, where the English language was being taught at the moment. The new arrivals help out with that particular class, considering the fact that English was their first language. They helped out by saying certain phrases in English and then having the other students repeat it along with them.
After language arts was math, which was a subject all of them dreaded. After math, they all had lunch, in the 'LUNCH RUSH' cafeteria, where the food was actually delicious. It was a big comparison from Justice High, cause the food there was not that good!
After lunch, literature studies followed, where the group were reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu. After literature studies was art class, which Milo excelled in, due to being a natural artist. And then finally, after all was said and done, they came to the class that they were all looking forward to… HERO CLASS!
Class 1-A were now wearing their hero costumes, and they were boarding a bus to go to Ground Omega, a large training area that was made up to look like a wooded area with rocky hills. However, the new arrivals, considering the fact they had to head back to Heights Alliance to get their gym clothes, were taking a little bit longer to get ready.
"Where are those stupid Americans?!" Bakugo growled impatiently, now dressed in his hero costume, of which he had two gauntlets on his hands that looked like grenades. "What's taking them so long?!"
"Will you calm down, Bakugo?" Iida asked, his tone annoyed. "Mr. Aizawa explained that they don't have their hero costumes at the moment, so they're getting their gym clothes."
"I'd rather just have them fight naked than keep me waiting, four eyes!" Bakugo replied, his tone still angry.
"N-n-naked?" Mineta asked hopefully, before getting smacked over the head by Jiro.
"Sorry about the wait…" The familiar voice of Matthew Noble spoke. "But we have arrived!"
Class 1-A turned around to see the new arrivals approaching them, all wearing the U.A gym uniform: a dark blue, short sleeved shirt with white stripes, and dark blue pants with white stripes. When put on, they spelt out U.A on the front of them. The new arrivals also added their own little spin to their uniforms: Joshua wore his black stocking cap, Matthew wore a red bandanna, Murdock wore his white cowboy hat and brown cowboy boots, Sunshine wore a black headband, Milo wore a black army cap, and Annabelle just wore her glasses.
"Hey, you all look great!" Murdock spoke, as the group got there. "Man! Your costumes are something else!"
Milo approached Ashido and said, "Like your costume; looks cute on you!"
"Thank you!" Ashido replied with a smile. "You look good too, even though you're just wearing the gym uniform."
Matthew came up to Midoriya and said in a joking tone, "Hey Midoriya, your hero name wouldn't happen to be 'Green Rabbit' would it?"
"What does that supposed to mean?" Midoriya asked, before noticing Matthew's joking expression.
"I'm just kidding with you; the hood of your costume here looks like it has rabbit ears." Matthew replied, tugging playfully on Midoriya's costume hood, which was hanging loosely behind him.
Sunshine looked at Bakugo's costume and said, "Kind of overkilling it, don't you think?"
"You want to fight?!" Bakugo yelled, causing Sunshine to jump back. "I hope we're not on the same team, so I can punch your lights out, you freak!"
"Bakugo, behave yourself." Aizawa spoke sternly, causing the blonde rage machine to pull back, grumbling to himself.
"Now that everyone is here, everybody board the bus two-by-two!" Iida yelled, moving his hands like a officer directing traffic. "Let's go!"
Class 1-A, plus the American students, started boarding the bus just like Iida ordered. They went two-by-two, all chatting with each other about the 'Hostage Crisis' exercise they were going to be doing. After everybody got on the bus, Iida and Mr. Aizawa boarded. The bus doors closed, and the bus was off to Ground Omega!
After a few minutes of driving, the bus arrived at Ground Omega, which was a forested area with a large gate and wall around it. And standing in front of the large gate, was the literature teacher, Cementoss, who looked like a walking block of cement wearing oriental clothing. The bus parked, and the class came out and stood before Cementoss.
"Welcome, Class 1-A." Cementoss spoke, as Aizawa walked and stood beside him. "And a special welcome to our American exchange students. Here's how training is going to go today: In Ground Omega, I have constructed two bases, one to the east and one to the west. As there is twenty-six of you, we will divide into two teams of thirteen. One member of each team will be taken to their opponent's base, and it is up to the team to rescue and escort their hostage back to their home base. First team to do that will win the exercise. Also, there is a forty minute time limit, so no fooling around."
"So basically, it's like a mix of a 'capture the flag' and an 'escort' mission from a video game?" asked Matthew.
"If it gives you an idea of what the exercise is, then yes." Cementoss replied, his tone calm and efficient. "All of you understand?"
"Yes sir!" Came the reply from Class 1-A and the exchange students.
"Good. Now then, let's choose our team captains. Who would like to volunteer for this battle?"
"I would be glad to volunteer as team captain!" Iida announced, raising his hand.
"That's one." said Aizawa, stepping forward. "Anyone else?"
"I guess I'll be team captain…" Yaoyaorozu replied, raising her hand.
"Okay then, the two of you come forth." Aizawa spoke. "Iida is captain of East Team, and Yaoyaorozu is captain of West Team."
Iida and Yaoyaorozu came forth and turned around to face Class 1-A, each standing beside Aizawa. Aizawa then said, "Alright, now we choose teams. Anybody have a coin or something to flip?"
Yaoyaorozu moved her left hand for a few seconds, and soon produced a metal coin. The coin had an 'X' on one side, and an 'O' on the other. She then held it out for Aizawa to take.
"Thank you." Aizawa replied, taking the coin. "The 'X' side is East Team, the 'O' is West Team."
Aizawa then put the coin on his thumb and flicked it into the air. The coin spun rapidly before landing on the ground, to which Aizawa bent down to look at. He then stood up and said, "It's 'O'. Yaoyaorozu, you get first pick of who you want on the team."
"Todoroki." Yaoyaorozu spoke, causing Todoroki to stand by her.
"Iida?" Aizawa asked, looking over at Iida.
"I will choose Asui to be on my team!" Iida replied, his tone as informative as ever.
"You can call me Tsuyu, you know…" Tsuyu piped up, before walking over to stand by Iida.
The choosing of team members then went for a couple of minutes, with each member of Class 1-A being picked. Pretty soon, everyone had been chosen except for the Americans, with Bakugo being the last of Class 1-A to be picked, not surprisingly.
"Now we go to the special classes of the game…" Aizawa muttered, his tone as dull as usual. "Yaoyaorozu, who do you choose out of these six?"
"Mur-deck." Yaoyaorozu replied, pointing at Murdock.
"It's actually 'Mur-dock', but you're good." Murdock corrected, before joining Yaoyaorozu's team.
Next up was Iida, who said, "I choose Milo!"
"Yes!" Milo said silently; he wanted to join Iida's team, as Ashido was with them. "There is a god and he loves me!"
Milo joined Iida's team, as Yaoyaorozu picked Annabelle as the next member of her team. Iida then picked Sunshine, and then Yaoyaorozu picked Joshua. Finally, as Matthew was the last of the people to get picked, he ended up joining Iida's team.
Now that teams were all together, this is the list of who was on who's team:
Iida's Team
Tenya Iida (Captain)
Tsuyu Asui
Izuku Midoriya
Ochaco Uraraka
Mezo Shoji
Fumikage Tokoyami
Mashirao Ojiro
Mina Ashido
Koji Koda
Minoru Mineta
Milo Shiloh
Sunshine DeMorris
Matthew Noble
Yaoyaorozu's Team
Momo Yaoyaorozu (Captain)
Shoto Todoroki
Eijiro Kirishima
Denki Kaminari
Kyoka Jiro
Rikido Sato
Yuga Aoyama
Toru Hagakure
Hanta Sero
Katsuki Bakugo
Murdock Jenkins
Annabelle Walters
Joshua Graham
"Now that all team members are picked out, I need a hostage from each team to save." Aizawa spoke up. "Hostages cannot use their powers until they've been 'freed' by their team. In order to be freed, the hostage needs to be tapped on the shoulder by their teammate. Choose wisely who you want your hostage to be."
It was easy for hostages to be picked; Mineta was going to be the hostage for East Team, while Aoyama was the hostage for West Team. They were given grey armbands to wear as a sign that they were hostages. As for their teams, they also had to wear armbands to signify what team they were on; East Team received red armbands, while West Team received blue armbands.
Cementoss then said, "Alright, everybody get to their bases. When you hear the siren go off, that means that the exercise has begun."
The gates to Ground Omega opened, and the two teams went in, going their respective ways. As for Cementoss and Aizawa, they went into an observation tower beside Ground Omega to watch the exercise. The gates then closed behind the teams, and the whole battle was going to start soon.
After walking east for some time, East Team came to their home base. It was a large, temple-like structure made out of concrete. They went into the main area, and found a chair made of concrete blocks in the middle of the room. They then had Aoyama sit in the chair, and then planned out their strategy. Iida then decided to have six people stay behind and guard Aoyama, while six others were to go to the West Team's base and get Mineta back. So Iida, Matthew, Milo, Ashido, Midoryia, and Uraraka were the ones who were going to get Mineta back, while Asui, Sunshine, Shoji, Ojiro, Tokoyami, and Koda were assigned to guard Aoyama.
The siren then went off, and the six left the base. They began making their way through the forest, splitting up to gain more ground. Matthew, Milo, and Ashido went in one group, while Midoryia, Iida, and Uraraka were in the other. The first group were now making their way through the forest, with Ashido surfing on her acid, and Milo swinging through the trees with his slime as ropes. As for Matthew, he was running along behind them.
"How long till we get to the Western Base?" asked Ashido, as she glided along gracefully on her acid.
"It took us five minutes for us to get to our base, so it'll probably take us ten minutes to get to the West." Milo replied, lowering himself so he could swing alongside her. He then looked back and called out, "Hey Matthew, you keeping up?"
"You know me!" Matthew called back, his voice showing no signs of being tired. "I've got the stamina of a thousand people drinking five hundred cups of coffee!"
"So, his quirk is that he has endless stamina?" asked Ashido, no longer surfing on acid, but now running.
"Not exactly." Milo replied, dropping from swinging in order to run alongside his two friends. "You'd be surprised at what quirk he has…"
"Aw, guessing's no fun!" Ashido pouted playfully, which caused Milo and Matthew to laugh.
Suddenly, Bakugo came flying out from behind a tree, winding back his arm for an explosive right hook! Luckily, Matthew saw him coming and shoved Milo and Ashido out of the way! However, Bakugo hit Matthew, causing him to be sent flying back from the explosion!
"Matthew!" Milo yelled, as he and Ashido recovered from being shoved.
Bakugo turned to face Milo and Ashido, who readied themselves to fire their slime and acid. A rather sadistic grin was spread over his face, as he took a battle stance and readied himself to attack!
"Hey, blondie!" Matthew yelled, causing Bakugo to turn around with an angry look on his face.
Due to being hit by Bakugo's blast, Matthew's shirt was now missing its right sleeve and shoulder, exposing most of his arm. His shoulder and the right part of his neck also had mild burns on it, but the look on his face showed that he didn't care about the pain.
"I'm not dead yet…" Matthew growled, taking a battle stance.
Bakugo's sadistic smile returned to his face, and he said, "The loser who won't show his quirk! You better show me what kind of lame quirk you have, or I'm gonna break your jaw!"
Matthew then looked over at Milo and Ashido and yelled, "Get moving! I'll take care of 'grenade-for-brains' here!"
"Alright! Take care!" said Milo, as he ran off with Ashido following him. He then asked, "You wanted to know what Matthew's quirk is?"
"If he's facing Bakugo, it better be a good quirk." Ashido replied. "What is it?"
"He doesn't have a quirk; He was born quirkless."
"What?! You're kidding, right?!"
"No, I'm not kidding." Milo replied. "All he has to face against Bakugo is just his physical and mental skills."
"But he has to run!" Ashido spoke worriedly. "Without a quirk, Bakugo will kill him!"
"Oh, don't worry about him. If there's one thing I know about Matthew Noble, it's that he blows the stereotype of a quirkless away! Bakugo won't know what he's facing! Anyway, we have to rendezvous with Midoriya and his group!"
"Is there anyway to go faster?" Ashido asked.
"There is, if you don't mind me carrying you." Milo replied.
Ashido smiled back and said, "I don't mind!"
"Okay, grab onto me!"
Ashido obeyed, and put her arm around Milo's waist. Milo put his arm around Ashido's shoulders, and then activated his slime quirk with his free hand, turning it into a rope and pulling the two of them up to swing among the trees!
Meanwhile, Matthew and Bakugo stood there staring at each other, like two gunfighters about to face off. Then, while keeping an eye on Bakugo, Matthew picked up a small rock from the ground.
"I saw you and your idiot friends fighting back when you first came here." Bakugo sneered. "While they were fighting and showing their quirks, all you did was cower like a child! Whatever your quirk is, it must really be weak! Or, maybe you even don't have a quirk!"
"How did you guess?" Matthew asked, cleaning the dirt of the rock he was carrying.
Bakugo's sneering face changed to one of shock, and he asked in a shocked tone, "What?"
"You figured it out; congratulations!" Matthew replied, his tone unusually cheerful. "You guessed my quirk; I don't have one…"
"You lie!" Bakugo roared, his face contorting in anger. "U.A wouldn't let some weak, quirkless nothing join with the best! You cheated in order to get here, didn't you?!"
Matthew threw the rock into the air and caught it in a hard grip, the look on his face now one of determination. He then said in a ferocious tone, "I didn't cheat to get here. I lived my whole life being surrounded by people who had powers, none of which I had. I didn't have a cool quirk to show off like yours, and I spent my life thinking I would never amount to anything. But with help from my father, my mother, and an insane amount of perseverance and determination… I stand here before you, a quirkless hero! And how dare you accuse me of cheating! Right here, right now, I'm going to beat you, and show you just what a 'quirkless nothing' can do against somebody like you! What do you say to that, jerk?!"
Bakugo's sadistic grin returned, and he said in a villainous tone, "I'm going to kill you… DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"