Not much was accomplished in terms of actual academia following Percy's breakdown. He had been to worn down emotionally to even begin thinking about trying to learn anything, and thankfully his instructors understood that. Instead, the five had spent the better part of their time, simply getting to know one another. They had an in-class lunch, courtesy of Lunch Rush, and simply got a better handle on each other's personalities. Percy had enjoyed it more than he was expecting, he had nearly forgotten what it was like to feel like he was a part of something. To feel like he belonged somewhere, but watching the byplay between the four Cats, reminded him, in the best of ways, of his life beforehand. It was an odd sensation; since his arrival, any thoughts of his time before often left him feeling hallow. Empty. But after his breakdown, any thoughts he had about his former life simply left him feeling pleasantly nostalgic, rather than bitter and heartbroken.

It wasn't much, but it was a step in the right direction.

He opened the door to his homeroom, it was the classroom used for all hero-training, and was met with the excited chatter of his fellow classmates. Nobody seemed to pay him much mind, for which he was thankful for, as he made his way to his seat. He was exhausted, and not particularly in the mood for talking at the moment, he'd had more than his fill for the day. Setting down his bag, he placed his gallon carton of water on his desk and shrugged off his coat. Taking a seat, he brought the full carton to his lips, and greedily down half the carton in a few hefty gulps.

He had forgone going to recovery girl following the ambush that morning, and the small bottle he had downed courtesy of Mandalay had not been enough to satiate him, or relieve some of his sorer muscles.

Tiger hit fucking hard.

He recapped the carton and placed it back on the desk, only to meet the inquisitive eyes of Yaoyorozu, who was looking at him speculatively.

"What's up?" he asked,

She started a bit, as though she hadn't been aware she was staring, and flushed in embarrassment, "Sorry, it's just, I was curious where you were this morning. You weren't in our classes, and it appears as though you were injured," she gestured to her own cheek, and Percy remembered that Pixie-Bob had caught him in the face with her claws. The wound had healed, and it was no longer bleeding, but a mark was still there.

"Oh, that," Percy said, shrugging, "I was in college when I was taken, so I was tested differently, and Nezu decided I didn't need to take some of the gen ed courses. I'm getting private instruction in things like general world history, quirks, Japanese customs and other stuff to catch me up instead."

Yaoyorozu nodded in understanding, "That makes sense." Then her eyes narrowed in thought, "Have things not changed that much that you were able to bypass the general education courses?" She asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.

Percy snorted, "Apparently not. Gotta say, I feel like I was kind of cheated. When I was kid, I always thought that the future meant flying cars, lightsabers, and epic space battles." He then flashed her a smirk, "But I guess if the trade-off is real-life superheroes, I'll take it."

Yaoyorozu smiled back at him, then frowned as something he said occurred to her, "Wait, I thought you said you were American," he nodded, "So how is it that you can speak perfect Japanese, but don't know, erm," she shifted uncomfortably as her cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment, "Basic customs and etiquette?"

Percy nodded, he had expected the question at some point, and the answer had been in the briefing packet Midnight had prepared for him. "When I was seventeen there was an incident back in the States. My mom, girlfriend and I moved over here to get away from some of the heat, people over there knew what I could do and were causing too many problems. Well, my dad had been in the Marines, and had some pull at the US bases in Yokosuka, we got moved into a house on site there. I got tutored in Japanese and there was a college on base I attended."

"America had a military presence in Japan?" Tokoyami asked, speaking for a rare time as he turned in his seat to look at Percy. And even the silent Todoroki was watching him, the barest glimpses of interest flittering over his stoic features.

Percy looked at him confused, "Do they not anymore?" then he paused, "Well I guess World War Two is kind of ancient history by this point." He muttered, "But yeah, there were a couple."

Tokoyami hummed in thought but was cut off by an absurdly loud voice coming from the doorway.

"I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOORWAY LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" All Might announced, bursting through the doorway. Excited murmurings echoed through the class, as nobody had been expecting the number one hero to be their instructor.

"Pretty sure normal people don't shout that," Percy couldn't help but say over the din. Only

Yaoyorozu seemed to heard him, if the slight giggle, and shaking of her shoulders was any indication.

"Welcome Students, to the most important class you will take at U.A." All Might announced.

This guy seems to have only one level: amped as hades.

"In this class, you will learn the basics necessary to be the Hero that I know you all can become!" The kids were literally shaking in their seats in excitement, not that Percy could blame them. He was excited too; this was what he had been looking forward to when he had met with Nezu. This was why he was here.

The familiar pang of guilt reverberated in his chest, but he fought the feeling down as ferociously as possible. He had promised Mandalay that he would make every effort to heed her words. Mandalay was right he knew, the one's he'd left behind would want him to try and move on.

Easier said than done though, as his stomach continued to clench painfully.

"So, let us skip the preamble and get right into it!" All Might yelled, holding up a placard to the class, "Today's lesson will be combat simulations." There were more excited murmurings, "But before we get to that, there's something we need to do first!" he shouted excitedly, before gesturing dramatically to the far wall. With a hiss, the wall retracted like the day before, and the lockers reappeared, "Inside your numbered case is your very own costume! These were designed for you by a professional agency, based on the registration forms and personal requests you submitted with your application!" A cheer arose from the students, and Percy thought his own grin nearly split his face. "Now get suited up and meet me at training ground Beta!"

"Yes sir!" answered the class.

BREAK

With a click, Percy closed the final latch on the protective grieves over his boots. He glanced around at the surrounding young heroes, taking in the colorful array of costumes. Compared to the rest, his costume was rather…basic. He'd chosen overwhelming function over fashion for the most part, but had taken inspiration from the all blue costume he had seen Captain America wear in a movie once upon a time. With minor modifications to give it a more personal touch; two silver bars sitting just under his shoulders, swooped over and onto his protective chest armor, meeting in the middle to form a silver trident.

On his feet were black combat boots, and he wore strong, armored black gloves over his fingers. On his right shoulder was a patch of a silver trident, cresting a mountain, and on his left shoulder was a black American flag, with the flag of the land of the rising sun below. While Japan was his new home, he did want a personal reminder of his life before.

The second to last article, was the silver utility belt strapped around his waist, complete with a buckle in the shape of the trident. His pouches all held an assortment of items and keepsakes that he had delivered to the support department prior to the start of the term. First had been his remaining pieces of ambrosia, the last few dregs of the godly food used to recover from injuries. He also held his sword Anaklusmos, in the pouch immediately to the right of his buckle. He didn't think he'd ever be able use it, but it never hurt to err on the side of caution. The final addition was a little…different.

It was his father's spork.

Ok no.

That sounded dirty.

His father's symbol of power. The trident, who's form was currently that of a spork. That was better.

Percy honestly didn't know why he'd held onto the small item. It was literally useless, devoid of all power and strength, rusted to the point of nearly turning to dust. But he'd asked for it from Nezu all the same. It was difficult to explain, but something about the trident…called to him. Like there was a shred of something still left in the ancient and dead weapon. He was certain it was useless, but he wanted to keep it close all the same, if for nothing else other than nostalgia.

As the other students slowly petered out of the locker room, Percy sat at his locker, staring at the final article of his costume. He had thought of it last minute, and had been concerned that it was too late considering he made the request after he had submitted the form. But Nezu had come through for him. The article had no practical purpose, it didn't bolster his abilities, or give him additional protection. It was purely sentimental. A reminder and a memorial to the woman who he'd fought with, bled with, and loved. He almost couldn't bring himself to put it on. But Mandalay's words rang in his head, and he forced himself to think differently. He wouldn't allow the article to be a painful reminder, but a hopeful and symbolic gesture.

Seeing as he was the last one left in the room, he straightened his back, and grabbed it. He wouldn't win the war all at once, but he could win the small daily battles, and eventually, he knew the war would be over. He placed the cap on his head, and smiled. It fit exactly like he thought it would.

Unlike the cap that came before, the Blue Yankee's Cap did not turn him invisible. But when the folds of the brim rested against his ears, Percy allowed a small smile to reach his lips. He felt strangely invigorated. As though he had conquered something great. Cracking his neck, Percy turned and strode out of the locker room, towards training ground Beta. The training would distract him, and provide some much-needed stress relief.

Time to show these kids how a real hero worked.

BREAK

What the fuck kind of school is this?

He could not believe some of the costumes these kids were wearing. Granted, some of them looked pretty practical. His…companions he supposed, Shoji and Tokoyami had gone for simplistic, yet effective designs for their costumes that would meld well with their quirks, whereas others…

Is-is she fucking naked?

Percy stared at a pair of floating gloves, who was talking animatedly with Mina, as they gushed over each other's costumes.

Superheroes had historically, always had revealing costumes, especially the women. Granted, that was mostly a tool to sell the books to horny teenagers, but either way, Percy had thought the trend had pretty much gone out style. With Marvel paving the way for modern superhero stories, especially in mass media, the sexy and seductive styles of the eighties had been replaced by more realistic, and rational designs.

Apparently, life was cyclical.

Also, for the love of the gods Yaoyorozu didn't even have pants on. Percy watched in mounting disgust, as the short kid with purple sticky balls for hair, literally drooled as he looked at the groups of girls.

Is he wearing a diaper? You know what, screw it, not gonna bother. I have seen literal cat-girls, a kid with a bird for a head, and now this. There is literally nothing that is going to be surprise me anymore.

Percy's attention was drawn back to their new teacher, who coughed lightly into a cupped hand, to draw their attention,

"Well, now that you kids are suited up and looking cool!" he said, flashing a cheesy thumbs up, "It's time for the mock battles, but unlike in your entrance exam, these trials will not be taking place in the city."

"Why's that?" Kirishima asked,

Percy's mouth was moving before he could stop himself, "Because we're going to be doing indoor simulations, aren't we?" he asked,

All Might jumped slightly in surprise, which was amusing given that he even dwarfed Percy with his monstrous frame. But his smile somehow grew in size, "That's exactly right! But!" he said, pointing exaggeratedly at Percy, "Can you tell me why?"

He could feel everyone's eyes on him, but he ignored them, "Probably because most of the time, if a situation escalates to the point where it comes down to a fight, it's more likely that we'll be fighting inside, not outside." He said simply, crossing his arms over his chest.

All Might laughed happily, "Correct! More often than not, the only battles that end up on the news, are those fought outside, but statically speaking, you far more likely to face off with a villain inside of a building, lair or otherwise than you would out in the open."

He then gestured to one of the buildings behind him, "You'll be divided into teams of two at random, with one team of three due to the odd numbers of your class, and you'll be assigned either the role of villain or hero. The villain's, job is to defend a fake nuclear bomb, while the hero's job is to either defeat the villains, or recover the bomb. If the heroes run out of time, or are defeated by the villains, then the villains will be victorious! Each round will last exactly fifteen minutes and the villains will have ten minutes to prepare their lair for attack. Any questions?" There were none, and so their partners and roles were divided out.

Percy ended up drawing the short straw, along with his partner-Jiro-as they were the team forced to go up against the lone three-person team, Sero, Kirishima, and Ashido.

"Well this sucks," Jiro said, pulling up in stride next to him as they left the field in order to watch the first fight from an observation deck, "Don't know how they can expect this to be a fair fight."

"I know," Percy agreed, "I feel like they need at least two more people before they have legitimate chance of even getting to the bomb," he said in all seriousness.

Jiro nearly tripped over her own feet, staring at Percy who hadn't stopped. She had to jog to catch back up to his longer strides, "Ok, either you're somehow more arrogant than explosive boy down there, or you know something I don't."

Percy just shrugged, "Pay close attention to the building as the rounds go on," he said, "We have four rounds in front of us so start trying to get a layout for the building and a feel for potential ambush points. And don't worry," he said with a friendly pat on her head, causing the girl to squeak and flush, "We're going to kick their asses," He reassured her with a smile.

"Wow Percy, thanks for the vote of confidence," Kirishima snarked coming up to Percy's other side, but his shark-tooth grin was still in place on his face.

Percy smiled feral in response, "Don't worry bud, I'll make sure to save you for last," and walked away from the spluttering Kirishima and into the observation room.

The room was pitch black, save for the light provided by the large screen that took up an entire wall. On the screen were several different camera angles of various points inside the building. That was good, it would allow him the in the middle of the screen was the largest view, showcasing the location of the bomb, and the squad assigned to protect it, Iida and Bakugo.

"This is going to be sloppy and hard to watch," he said as All Might entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"What makes you say that," Shoji asked, idling up to him, Percy glanced at him, slightly amused by the action. He could also see that everyone was listening to him. Even All Might looked like he was listening, while he pretended to fiddle around with a notebook. Apparently, he already had a reputation; he should have kept his mouth shut the other day.

"We all saw how Bakugo reacted to Midoriya's quirk yesterday." Percy explained, "He looked like he was ready to kill the poor kid." There were some murmured agreements at that, "I don't know what their deal is, or what kind of history they have, but clearly there's some bad blood there. My guess is that Bakugo splits off immediately, and is going to try and corner Midoriya. I'm willing bet my right arm that get so engrossed in their little feud, that they completely forget about the objective. Leaving the two least suited to the job, to try and complete the task."

"That seems kind of harsh, don't ya think man?" Kirishima said,

Percy shook his head, "Wasn't meant as a knock against them in the least, just think of their abilities. What's Iida's quirk let him do? Run very, very fast. How easy is that to do in an office building? You heard him yesterday during the fifty-meter dash, he needs to distance in order to get into a high enough gear to get going fast enough to utilize his quirk's potential. He's not going to have that here. As for Uraraka…" He trailed off, and gestured at the screen, "Not exactly seeing much that she can take gravity away from, except for the building, but I think if she tries that, she's just going to lose her lunch."

He crossed his arms over his chest and continued to watch the screen and Bakugo and Iida seemed to argue over something, "What I'm saying is, their quirks are limited indoors-which is why this training will be great for them-but they are severely limited in terms of what they can do. I'm sure Bakugo and Midoriya know that, but they're going to be so engrossed in whatever they have going on they won't care enough to do anything. Which means the two with the skillsets better suited to indoor fighting are going to sideline themselves. Which will force the two whose quirks are most certainly NOT well suited for this sort of thing, try and figure out how to make it work. Like I said, it's going to be sloppy.

Silence followed his analysis, as they all thought on his words. All Might broke up the silence, "An excellent observation, Young Percy." he said, his gaze fixed on the screen, "Which brings up another point I wanted to make, this lesson is not just a test of your abilities to fight indoors. We also want you to learn how to analyze a situation, test your critical thinking abilities, and allow you to get a feel for the strengths of weaknesses of not just yourselves, but your comrades as well."

All Might was quiet for a second as he gazed at the screen, which had shifted to show Midoriya and Ururaka studying the building's floor plan.

"Now, before we begin, Mr. Jackson, way I have a word." Percy quirked an eyebrow but nodded at him, and followed the man over to the side. To his surprise, the man actually looked a little embarrassed, "May I trouble you with a request, Young Percy," he asked, and Percy nodded his agreement, "If I remember correctly, prior to coming here, you said you were…a teacher of sorts, at that, erm, camp, your family run, is that correct?" Percy looked at his strangely for a moment, before a memory came flooding back to him. In the weeks prior to the examination, he'd had a few more meetings with the U.A. staff, to go over some of the finer points of history, and to get a better idea of who he was. In one meeting, he had spoken at length about his role as a sword instructor at Camp.

"Yeah, I guess so." he said, scratching the back of his ear,

"May I ask that you assist me then, if instructing and offering guidance to your fellow classmates?" he asked, "It is obvious, that several already look up to you, and they clearly listen when you speak. I am…new to this whole teaching thing and if I'm honest, I'm kind of making it up as I go along. I would be in your debt if you were to assist me." he finished with a soft bow. Percy blinked at the guy. Unsure of what to say.

On the one hand, he was a little honored that he was being asked for his own expertise. Gods knew that he probably had the most life-fire combat experience of anyone in the room except for All Might himself. On the other hand, he hadn't really had the intention of getting too involved with his fellow classmates. Never mind the fact that he was nearly five years older and more experienced, he just wanted to be left alone to do his own thing. But as he looked back at the group of kids, the way they were all smiles and full of hope and endless optimism, naive to the real dangers and evils of the world, he was filled with nostalgia. He remembered the faces of new campers, the eager excitement and expressions of determination as they did their best to become the best heroes they possibly could be. Finally, he thought of his mother and friends, and thought of what they would do in the same situation.

At the end of the day, it was really no surprise that he agreed.

BREAK

He had been right. The match was sloppy, and painful to watch. Midoriya had managed to pull a semi-decent plan out of his ass at the last possible moment, at the expense of literally breaking his body. Whether that had been his goal all along or not was relatively unimportant, the kid needed to get his quirk under control somehow or learn how to fight without it, otherwise, what Aizawa said the other day would be correct.

He would be an utter liability in the field.

After Midoriya had been stretchered off to the nurse's office, the other three participants were brought back into the observation room, and the lights turned back on for the After-Action Report.

"Now, based upon what we witnessed in the exercise, and the results of the match, who would you say is the MVP of the round?" All Might asked the room,

"Well it would have to be that Midoriya guy right?" Said a blonde kid that Percy thought he remembered being named Kaminari,

"His actions certainly sealed the victory, but if it were not for Uraraka, then the efforts would have been fruitless," Tokoyami calmly rebutted

"Interesting points, Young Percy, what would you say?" All Might asked, grinning wryly at him,

Seriously? We're doing this already?

Percy sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest, "Honestly, if I had to give it to someone, I'd give it to Iida," he stated calmly, much to the surprise of the rest of the class,

All Might laughed happily, "My thoughts exactly!" he said cheerfully,

"Shouldn't one of the heroes have gotten it? Since they won the round and all?" Tsu asked,

All Might looked to Percy to supply the answer, but Yaoyorozu raised her hand and asked if she could answer instead, All Might looked pleased at the request, and granted her request.

"It's because Iida embraced the challenge. He was the only one to truly embrace the spirit of both his role and the assignment. Bakugo was clouded his own personal grudge and vendetta. Like you said during the exercise, his use of such a destructive attack indoors could have ended disastrously. Similarly, Midoriya's attack, though successful, rendered him completely useless and unconscious. As for Uraraka, she let her guard down during the exercise and allowed herself to be found. Her final attack was also quite risky, as if it had been a live weapon instead of a prop, she could have mistakenly set off the bomb. Iida however, stayed on mission, and stayed true to his role as a villain, even when his partner went rogue, he continued to guard the objective."

All Might seemed a little thrown off by the answer but nodded, "Precisely," then he looked over to Percy, who had to surprise a groan.

At this rate, I think I'd be better off just teaching the class myself.

"You mind if I make a couple of observations and suggestions then," he asked the pro hero who nodded excitedly. Everyone turned as Percy addressed Iida. "While Yaoyorozu is right and you stayed, 'in character" he used air quotes to emphasis his point, "I'd argue that you did lose sight of the objective, and allowed yourself to get too distracted with your role." Iida looked surprised for a second, but recovered and seemed intent on listening closely.

"Be honest with me. In a fight between Uraraka, who wins?" he asked, and the boy seemed to hesitate for a second as he glanced at his friend, "Don't look at her," Percy commanded, "Look at me, don't think, just answer. Who wins in a straight fight?"

His back straightened as though he were addressing a commanding officer in the military, "I-I do sir." he said haltingly

Percy looked at Uraraka, "You disagree with that?" he asked, and she shook her head, "Good neither do I. Not a knock against you Uraraka, you have a good quirk and you're creative, but you don't have a good counter for someone like him yet. No doubt with a mind like yours, you'll figure something out in time, and we're all here to help you with that."

"Anyway," Percy continued, turning back to Iida, "What I'm getting at here, is that you could have subdued her, with relative ease. Either knocked her out, or tied her up. Instead, you allowed yourself to become consumed in your role. In other words, you got distracted, when you discovered her presence, what did you do?" Percy didn't give him a chance to answer, "You monologued, and played a bit. It was in the spirit of the exercise to be sure, but you lost sight of what you were trying to accomplish. In the field, distractions like that can get you or someone else killed." The boy looked mollified, but invigorated. Good, the boy knew how to take constructive criticism.

He turned his attention to Uraraka, "Uraraka, you weren't here when I said this before, but I'll say it again for your benefit. Indoor fighting is going to be your weakness. You're limited by what you can use your quirk to manipulate. As Iida showed us, that can be nullified by a creative enough villain. While your use of your quirk on yourself, and your ability to coordinate with Midoriya are speak to a lot of promise, you cannot allow yourself to be a one-trick pony." Percy then glanced around the room,

"This goes for everyone else in here as well. It's something I've noticed with a lot of the heroes and villains in this time. Everyone is so focused on their quirk, they think it's the only weapon they have at their disposal. If you only rely on your quirk, eventually, you're going to encounter a situation in which your quirk is taken out of the game, what do you do then?" He looked back at Uraraka, "I want to suggest you learn to use a weapon or take some self-defense courses. There's no such thing as being over-prepared if it keeps you and others alive." She nodded, determination blazing on her rosy cheeks and Percy smiled at her.

His smile quickly vanished as he looked at Bakugo, who had been silently sulking the entire time. "Bakugo," he said and the blonde-boy glared at him, "You got talent, drive, and a hell of a lot of potential." His stare turned into a venomous glare, "But you need to get that attitude, and that temper, in check."

"The hell did you say to me?" he snarled, striding forward, his hand sparking menacingly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw All Might tense slightly, but Percy gestured him off, and blurred into motion. Faster than any of the others could react, Percy had the boy pinned on the floor. His boot on his Bakugo's head, and the boy's sparking right arm twisted in the air at an odd angle.

Percy had been wondering throughout the entire simulation, whether he should get involved in whatever was going on between Bakugo and Midoriya. On the one hand, Percy hated a bully, and he could tell that Bakugo was of that ilk. On the other hand, he didn't want to fight other people's battles for them. Everyone at U.A. was there to become a hero, and they couldn't grow on their own, if Percy was fighting every fight for them. That being said, All Might had asked Percy to help, so he was going to. Bakugo needed to realize that just because he had a strong quirk, it didn't mean he was the strongest one in the room. More importantly, the kid's attitude was likely to get either himself, or someone else hurt. Percy wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened, and he could have prevented it but chose not to.

Percy twisted the arm a little, the bones creaking under the strain. Bakugo bit out a pained gasp, "You so much as twitch and I break your arm. Now shut and listen, because this is exactly what I'm talking about. You lost because you allowed some petty little grudge to override any logic and reason. I don't know what your beef with little green is, and frankly I don't care. But you need to get yourself under control. You're too easily goaded into a fight. One of these days, someone smart enough to figure you out is going to goad you into acting without thinking. When that happens, you're going to get either yourself, or someone innocent, killed. The only thing keeping you back is yourself, learn to control your emotions, before they get you in trouble. You ain't in middle school anymore, and your temper tantrums aren't going to fly. Understand me?"

He growled, under Percy, but Percy saw the flash of understanding in the boys eyes. Percy knew that what he had said, and more importantly how quickly he had dispatched him, had gotten through.

Bakugo reminded Percy a lot of Clarisse. Headstrong, arrogant, and easily angered. But he respected strength and power. Show them they aren't the biggest, baddest fish in the pond, and they're more likely to listen. It was how he had gotten Clarisse's respect after all.

With a nod, Percy released the boy's arm and stepped off of him, and then offered the boy his hand. For a second, Percy didn't think he'd accept, but he was pleasantly surprised when Bakugo grabbed him around the wrist, and allowed Percy to haul him to his feet. He could see that he had gotten through to him, at least a little anyways. It was all about baby-steps with someone like him. Percy had eventually worn-down Clarisse, he felt sure he could break through to Bakugo as well. Percy walked back to his original spot. The rest of the room silently gawking at him.

All Might coughed uncomfortably, "Right, well, erm, excellent observations Young Percy, and I hope you youngsters take what he says to heart. His observations are entirely correct. Now onto the next battle!

BREAK

The following battles went in a similar manner. The students would fight, and Percy and All Might would critique. Some were harder than others; he felt bad that he hadn't even been able to offer Shoji any advice but with how Todoroki handled things, it wasn't like he had anything to go with. Still, he told the boy he'd watch him over the next few weeks and offer help where he could, which cheered the large teen up. Before long it was his and Jiro's turn. His idea of studying the building for use was thrown out the window when it became apparent that the testing sites would all be different, but he could still make something work.

He had an idea he wanted to try, it was something that had popped into his head years ago after watching the first Avengers movie. The Helicarrier had used sun panels on the deck of the ship to use the rays of the sun to essentially mock invisibility. Utter fantastical nonsense, but it had given Percy an idea. When light hit a water's surface, the light was refracted, and changed. He had always wondered if he could apply a similar concept to something else, either himself or another substance, to create a bastardized form of invisibility. Well, that was the whole point of this whole school thing, right? To try new and creative ways to apply your quirk?

He was jerked out of his thoughts when one of Jiro's headphone jack things, plugged him in the side. It didn't hurt, but it did gran his attention.

"Sorry," he apologized, "Was kind of lost in thought. What were you saying?"

She snorted, "I walking if you had any ideas for how we want to handle this Mr. Teacher's Assistant."

He stopped just short of the steps to the building, "Shit, you heard that?"

She smirked, and twirled one jack around a finger, "Part of my quirk, I have very good ears."

Percy sighed, "Please don't say anything,"

"I won't," She promised, but leveled him with a look, "But at some point, you know when we're not being tested, "I do want to hear more about this summer camp thing you taught at,"

Percy just nodded, he could make something up, and as they ascended into the building, a thought occurred to him, "How well can you hear with those?" he asked, "Could you be able to identify where they are in the building? Actually, just what can you do with your quirk?"

"First, yes I can, I figured we'd use it to keep tabs on them, lay some traps or some shit. But I can plug them into just about anything and amplify the natural sound, and also expel pressure-based sound attacks through these," she gestured to what looked like speakers in her boots, and Percy paused again at the threshold of the building, as a plan came to him,

"Think you could direct sound throughout the entire building?" he asked,

She shrugged, "Probably, but I haven't tried it while also listening in with the other jack. Why?"

Percy waved her off, "I'll explain in a bit. Head up to the bomb, I need to do a brief bit of scouting."

She gave him a weird look, but nodded and headed up stairs. Percy spent the next few minutes going as quickly from room to room in the four-story building as possible, committing the layout to memory as best he could.

With a few minutes to spare, he walked into the room on the fourth floor that housed the bomb, he ignored Jiro for the moment, in favor of approaching the bomb. "I'm going to try something really quick, then I'll explain my plan." Placing both hands on the bomb, he concentrated, drawing on his power, and willing a small membrane of water to coat the exterior of the device, a few moments later, and with a little application of divine effort, the bomb looked like it was no longer in the room.

"Sweet!" He said, pumping a fist in the air, "Didn't think that would actually work," He turned around to see Jiro just staring dumbly at him,

"What the fuck was that?" she asked weakly, pointing at where the bomb used to be,

Percy smirked, "Used water to create a bit of an illusion to make it look like the bomb had disappeared. It's still here, it's just camouflaged, here," he grabbed her hand and guided it over, placing it on the hidden prop. She flinched a little when she touched it, before her mouth dropped open in astonishment.

"Pretty cool huh," he said, not bothering hide how smug he felt, she just nodded dumbly.

"Now, you gonna stand there looking silly all day, or do you want to hear my plan?" he got a jack in the ribs in response. Chuckling, he pulled his phone out and waved it at her,

"You ever see a really old movie called Halloween?"

BREAK

"I'm telling you guys, you didn't see him during the entrance exam, our only chance at beating him is if we all stick together, and that's just him. We don't even know what the earjack girl can do!" Kirishima explained as they approached the building.

"You seriously think he can take all three of us?" Sero asked, "I know he's number one in the class and all, but like, that feels like you might be overestimating him a bit. Or underestimating us? I don't know, but estimations are being made."

"He might have a point," Ashido said thoughtfully, a finger on her chin in thought, "I mean you saw what he did to Bakugo right? Sure, the guy was probably tired from his own fight with Midoriya, but like, I could barely see Percy move."

"I'm sure," Kirishima stated, "We stick together, go floor to floor, but my guess is they're at the top, and we'll have to go through Percy first."

"All right man," Sero shrugged,

"That works for me I guess," Ashido agreed.

"Awesome!" Kirishima exclaimed, pumping his fist one excitement,

"Heroes, Villains!" came All Might's voice over the speakers, "Your test begins….NOW!"

They rushed through the door, and the second their feet crossed the threshold, their ears were assaulted by music. It was a dissonant and unsettling melody, just a piano, but it made the hair on the back of Kirishima's neck stand on end, and he was immediately unsettled. Was that the purple-haired girls quirk?

"Ugh, what the hell is that," Ashido complained, looking as uncomfortable as he felt,

"Doesn't matter," Kirishima stated, "We can't afford to waste any time, let's get moving!"

"Right!" his two partners agreed, and they began their trek forward,

BREAK

"What the hell is he doing?"

As soon as they had entered the building, Percy and Jiro had separated. With Jiro heading up to the bomb, while Percy began taking off at a mad dash around the building, moving fast enough that even most pro-heroes would likely have a difficult time keeping up with him. All Might had a feeling that he knew exactly what Young Percy was up to. He had once explained one of his abilities as, 'vapor travel' which allowed him to turn into water mist, and essentially teleport from one space to the next, the trick was, he had to know exactly where he was going, or have been there before. All Might suspected that he was familiarizing himself with the building in order to travel from place to place quickly, but why?

"This is the guy that's been giving us advice all day?"

"What a joke,"

"He's kind of weird,"

Percy seemed to have finished up his sweep, with a few minutes to spare, and was on the fourth floor with Jiro. He ignored his partner, in favor of walking up to the bomb, and placing his hands on it. All Might nearly choked on his spit when he watched in utter fascination as the bomb seemed to disappear from view. The room behind him fell silent, and All Might clicked a setting on the display to change it to infrared, the bombs emitted a low power heat signature in order for them to always be able to see its location. The prop was still in the room, it was just masked somehow, he would have to ask Young Percy how he managed that little feat at another time. The more he saw of the young man, the more he became aware of how limitless he powers appeared to be.

Percy then turned and began explaining his plan to Jiro, through the microphone in his ear, he could hear the plan Percy was unveiling. His ever-present grin growing even wider as he explained what he wanted to do.

He heard someone snort behind him, "They do not stand a chance," said Tokoyami,

"What?" Sato, the large boy with thick lips asked, "I know they're outnumbered, but I thought you were friends with Percy?"

"That isn't who he's talking about," Shoji refuted,

All Might was inclined to agree.

BREAK

The music was starting to get under his skin, even worse because so far, nothing had happened yet. He had been expecting…something, what? He couldn't be certain, maybe an ambush, maybe a trap of some kind, but the nothingness combined with the annoyingly terrifying music was fraying his last nerves.

He had been nervous as it was going into the test. He had seen first-hand what Percy was capable of. The raw power at his disposal when he utterly obliterated that zero-pointer in the exam, as well as what he had displayed in the assessment test the other day. He knew that in terms of sheer strength and ability, Percy was easily the best in the class. Sure, that Todoroki guy had a powerful quirk, but Percy was versatile, he adapted, and so far? Kirishima head yet to see an actual limit to what he could and could not do with his own quirk.

He always viewed himself as a pragmatist, he knew when he was in over his head, or when he was tackling something stronger than him. Did he often charge in anyway? Of course, he did, it was the many thing to do, but that didn't mean he couldn't read the situation.

"I don't like this," he muttered,

"Same!" Ashido said, "This music is creeping me out, and nothing is happening! I thought we would have been attacked by now!"

Sero scoffed slightly, "See, I told you guys we didn't-" Whatever he was about to say died in his throat, as the wall next to them exploded, and a hand whipped out, grabbing Sero around the throat, and dragging him through the wall.

Ashido screamed, spraying acid in the direction of the attack out of instinct as Kirishima charged. The acid melted through the rest of the wall, Kirishima burst through the wreckage, his body hardened and ready for a fight.

Only the room was empty.

And Sero was gone.

"What the-" he gasped out, "Where did he-how?!"

His heart started thumping in his chest, as his adrenaline began to peak, and his blood pulsed almost painfully in his ear with the beat of the music.

"He turned around, to see Ashido, staring down the hallway, muted horror on her face, facing the way they had come. Climbing out of the wreck of the ruined wall, he turned to see what had her so scared.

His blood froze in his veins.

There, at the end of the hall, was Sero, bound in capture tape, and frozen to the wall. A large number one frozen into the wall next to his body.

"T-thats…" Ashido stuttered out,

Kirishima growled, trying to fight back against the panic and fear threatening to consume him, "PERCY!" he roared, "COME OUT AND FACE US LIKE A MAN!" when he received no answer, he turned on his heel and sprinted to the next set of stairs. Ashido, taken aback by the sudden action, quickly turned to follow.

Climbing the stairs two at a time, he rounded the last step, and bolted down the abandoned hallway. He was nearly to the end of the hall when he froze, as Ashido screamed in utter terror. His heart pounding painfully, he whipped around to see Ashido, fighting desperately against two enormous tendrils of water that had wrapped around her legs and shoulders. She was trying in vain to use her acid to burn through the tendrils, but the acid just fizzled out when they came into contact with the water. The tendrils lifted her into the air, before slamming her into the floor. It wasn't hard enough to knock her out, but it certainly dazed her enough to get her to stop struggling for a moment.

Kirishima tried to run over to help her, but she was yanked backwards far too quickly, screaming in utter terror before disappearing into the darkness of the stairwell.

Kirishima almost panicked, the music growing louder around him, as he fought to get control of himself. Panting in fear, he turned, desperate to get away from the nightmare that was hunting him, only to be blasted through the air as a powerful fist crashed against his hardened temple. He flew backwards, landing awkwardly against a nearby wall, but his attacker didn't give him any moment to rest. Two powerful blows landed against his chest, knocking the wind out of his battered lungs, and he nearly doubled over in pain. A hand shot and grabbed his face, before slamming it painfully into the wall behind him. He didn't fall unconscious, but he was too dazed, and winded by the speed and ferocity of the sudden attack to do anything.

He collapsed against the wall and was barely coherent enough to make out a massive rolling form wrap him in capture tape.

A large finger poked him in the cheek, "You good buddy?" Came Percy's entirely too cheerful voice,

"Go fuck yourself!" was what he had wanted to say, but what came out was more like,

"ghmo fpphk yosrhelp"

Percy just laughed, "Told you I'd save you for last,"

"VILLAINS WIN"

AN: This was a hell of a lot of fun to do. If it wasn't clear, Percy had Jiro play the theme to John Carpenter's Halloween. The idea of Percy just systematically tearing people apart like a serial killer is very amusing, in a grotesque way. Anyhoo, thanks for all the support guys! This is already the 2nd most popular fic in the genre! You all are awesome and I can't thank you enough for the love and support. Hope ya'll are staying safe and have a good weekend. I'll see you tomorrow.

Love,

LilDB