Hello! We return with the 3rd Year's Joint Training Arc! This will be my oppurtunity to explore how 3-B have grown since their first year. Judging by how strong Nejire, Mirio and Tamaki are, all students who reach their final year have practically perfected their quirks.
I am deciding the teams purely from a name wheel. Some may be slightly OP so I'll tweak here and there if that's the case.
'' = speech
' = thoughts
'' 'quote' '' = one character quoting another previous line
[][][] = little transition
{}{}{}= flashback begins/ends
Enjoy!
Classes 3-A and 3-B had gathered for what felt like the first time in months. It was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon when they gathered. Maybe this was a very short hero class?
''Okay, everyone! Here's the plan!'' Ryukyu motioned to a large screen on the outside of Ground Beta. ''2 members of one class will be paired with 1 member from the other. Unfortunately, one team will have to be a pair due to 21 students taking part from Class A. Okay, let's get to work!''
Izuku's gaze hardened as the random generator threw up the teams:
Group A- Denki Kaminari, Sen Kaibara, Shuhai Kuroiro
Group B- Kojiro Bondo, Tooru Hagakure, Yuga Aoyama
Group C- Mashirao Ojiro, Juzo Honenuki, Yosetsu Awase
Group D- Minoru Mineta, Reiko Yanagi, Nirengeki Shoda
Group E- Mina Ashido, Yui Kodai, Ibara Shiozaki
Group F- Koji Koda, Jurota Shishida, Kinoko Komori
Group G- Mezo Shoji, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Manga Fukidashi
Group H- Hanta Sero, Tsuyu Asui, Togaru Kamakiri
Group I-, Izuku Midoriya, Setsuna Tokage, Rikido Sato
Group J- Hiryu Rin, Fumikage Tokoyami, Tenya Iida
Group K- Kosei Tsuburaba, Kyoko Jirou, Ochako Uraraka
Group L- Momo Yaoyorozu, Eijiro Kirishima, Pony Tsunotori
Group M- Itsuka Kendo, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugo
Group N- Hitoshi Shinsou, Neito Monoma
''Ah man! Midoriya and Tokage ended up on the same team!?''
''Dude, that's just not good for us at all!''
The teens all slowly formed their groups, some more pleased to be together than others. Itsuka simply sighed. Having two powerhouses on her team would usually be a good thing.
''Hey, Half-and-Half! Busy complaining, or being the silent type again, today?'' Bakugo passive-aggressively greeted, voice dripping with fake happiness.
''I'm fine, thank you. It's lucky I'm going to help you win this time, instead of beating you for what would be the 58th time in training.'' Shoto replied, equally as venomous.
''You actually keep count? Fucking pathetic.'' Bakugo sneered. ''And it's only 55 times.''
Ochako walked past the two, her eyes threatening to roll out of her head at their childish behaviour. Jirou waved her over to her and Kosei.
''Hey 'chako.'' She adjusted her jacket. ''Looking forward to seeing this kick off?''
''Are any of us?'' The Solid Air user chewed his cheek as he squatted next to the two girls.
''Kosei said it.'' Ochako laughed dryly. ''There's some real synergies out there. There's a good 2 or 3 teams I'm kind of hoping just attack each other and leave us alone.''
''Oi, sensei!'' Denki shouted to the Dragon heroine, who perked up upon hearing so. ''What are we actually doing?'' The Electrification user was visibly confused.
''Ha!'' Monoma drew attention, as he so often did. ''Typical! An ignorant 1-A fool who doesn't even know what we're doing!''
''Then what are we doing?'' Mina yelled to him.
Monoma paused, eyes wide. The other 40 students looked at him expectantly. ''Um, Tatsuma-sensei?'' He looked at the blonde woman with pleading eyes.
''Ignore him.'' Ryukyu began. ''Today we'll be doing an elimination event.'' She motioned to the entirety of Ground Beta.
''Every group is to take an equidistant building on the outskirts of the arena, and use it as a 'home base,' so to speak.'' She cleared her throat. ''Once that's done, each group will set out and aim to defeat as many opposition players as possible. Most takedowns, wins.''
Bakugo grinned wildly. He searched around for Izuku, who did the same in turn. He ran a finger across his throat upon them making eye contact, to which One for All's wielder had no choice but to scoff.
''Excuse me, sensei.'' Momo raised a hand. ''I assume regular rules apply to our being incapacitated?''
Ryukyu smiled. ''Indeed. Upon being knocked unconscious or if we teachers deem you unfit to continue.'' She scanned the crowd, making sure to glare at a handful of students. ''And I mean it, this time. If we say that you're out, you are out.''
Katsuki tutted to himself, as did both Monoma and Jurota, who were about equally known for getting a little overenthusiastic.
''Mandalay will be telling you if and when you're out via telepathy. You students will not be informed when someone is out of the game. Even your own teammates.''
Ryukyu clapped her hands. ''Now, off you go. All of you find your buildings. It will be marked with your team's letter. You have 45 minutes before the horn goes to come up with your strategies. And remember; you've all finished your exams and passed with flying colours, so enjoy this exercise. It is likely your last as a year group.'' The woman then transformed and flew out of the arena, leaving a crowd of teens muttering amongst themselves as they swiftly moved towards their bases.
[][][]
Izuku found Building I as simply as he'd expected. A simple, unspecial skyscraper with a single set of stairs on the outside. 'Exercise definitely won't start without everybody inside. Time to do some scouting.' He activated Shoot Style and zipped to the top of the faux apartment building opposite his home base.
Ground Beta had evidently been made larger, possibly by Cementoss. He had never remembered it being this large before, at least. He could barely see the enormous walls that separated the battlegrounds from the rest of campus if he looked across. He let One for All slowly die down as he spun to check their surroundings.
The buildings evidently placed in alphabetical order. He briefly caught Kinoko out of the corner of his eye entering the base closest on his left. 'Team F is somewhat weak in comparison to us. However, if Koji can summon animals, they may change their approach.' He spun to look to his right, only to find a floating head.
''Hey, Midori!'' Setsuna greeted. He didn't give her the satisfaction of jumping in surprise, but he sensed the small jolt of his shoulders was all she really needed for amusement. ''Whatcha doin'?'' She asked with her shark-toothed grin.
''Scouting. Team F is just a few meters down the road.'' He pointed and the disembodied girl followed his motion.
''Oh, then we're surrounded by F and G.'' Setsuna informed him. ''Should be fairly easy, right?'' She asked, confidently. He studied her expression. She wasn't overconfident in their victory, as such. More like… she just had this natural aura of relaxation and surety. He knew all too well…
''Hopefully the other teams don't see those teams as we do.'' Izuku rubbed his chin. ''Maybe we should have a quick look in the alleys. Just in case we need to escape into the sewers.''
''These fake cities have fake sewers, too?'' Setsuna seemed astonished. ''The damn budget at this school. Tsk.''
''Y-Yeah. I had to use them a few months ago when we had an 'Escape Dark Shadow' class. They're well designed.'' Izuku hopped down into the alley, landing in a deep squat. Tokage's head followed at a slow hover.
''There.'' Izuku motioned to a manhole a few feet away from him. ''Let's just assume every group has one nearby. We can't expect the others not to find them.''
''Yeah, people like Creati and Dyna-Might will know, for sure.'' Tokage's body walked into the alley and her head dropped onto her neck with a soft thud.
''Now then, Midori. Let's go meet Sugarman, hmm?'' Tokage strolled away and into their building. Izuku slowly peeled away, extra aware of the feeling he was being watched.
[][][]
''Ah, you two do some reconnaissance?'' Sato was sitting on the floor as the pair strolled in. The interior of the building was, understandably, empty. No point in furnishing a building that was essentially made to be destroyed, after all. There was a handful of tarps and a single wooden box inside.
''Hey, Rikido.'' Setsuna said with a wave. ''F and G are on either side of us.''
The Sugar Rush user sat in silent thought for a few seconds. ''F was kinda weak, right? Like Koji, the beast guy and the mushroom girl?'' He hoped he had remembered correctly.
''Yes. And that's who we'll have to go for first.'' Izuku closed the door behind him.
''Even with the chance that other teams will go after them?'' The Lizard Tail Splitter user asked with no lack of confusion.
''Exactly. We'll just have to get there before. And Sato?'' He turned to the hulking form of Sugarman. ''You'll need to buff up a lot beforehand.''
The boy looked confused. ''Why?''
Izuku's face shadowed. ''Because we'll need them unconscious. And fast.''
[][][]
''Hurry up, Hand Girl!'' Bakugo yelled back across the rooftops.
''How about you two just stop rushing forward and think with your brains over your fists?'' The ginger girl responded.
''You won't stop him when he's like this.'' Todoroki slid on an ice path to her left.
''But he's missing like, half his gear!'' Kendo shouted in exasperation. She peered over the roof to see Aoyama firing his navel laser at Tsuburaba, who formed a shield from his Solid Air. Bondo was floating, seemingly unconscious, behind the French-speaking blonde. Kendo shook off her thoughts and continued to follow Bakugo.
The Explosion user had immediately stormed out of their base in search of Izuku. His two companions were forced to chase to avoid separation. Unfortunately, they had run into Tokoyami's team. Dark Shadow was now potentially the strongest quirk in Class A, behind Midoriya and Momo, purely for their many uses. While the combined efforts of Shoto and Kendo had left Rin unconscious and covered in ice up to his neck, Tokoyami had simply unleashed Dark Shadow and destroyed Bakugo.
The blonde had only his right gauntlet now, and he seemed to have heavy bruising all over his left side. He had only returned to protect her from Tokoyami, which was very berating of his character, she thought. Maybe he only saved her as he saw her potential usefulness.
Bakugo skidded to a halt at the final roof that overlooked the road that Building I resided in. ''You aren't going to jump in like an idiot, are you?'' Shoto asked as he caught up. Kendo gazed up and down the street a good 5 or 6 times. Very quiet, all things considered. No fights or even the occasional student running down it. Just craters, burn marks, even the occasional downed street light. But nothing stood out.
''You really think people would be so dumb as to storm the building that Deku's in?'' Bakugo asked with a bewildered expression, as if he was expecting them to just guess his thinking process. He leapt down to the street below, firing off a few explosions to soften the fall. Kendo, face flushed beet red, allowed Todoroki to carry her on his back as they used an ice slide to travel down.
Bakugo pushed the door open slowly. 'At least he isn't so dumb as to just blast his way inside.' Explosions crackled in his gloved hand as he lit up the dark room. ''What the fuck…'' He said as he looked out towards a room of 4 tarps, each seemingly with a body underneath. Limbs splayed out from under the coverings, at least. Shoto and Itsuka followed behind, equally wary.
''Oi, Half-and-Half. Something jumps up from under this, you turn it to a crisp, got it?'' He said with gritted teeth. Shoto nodded. Bakugo gripped the edges of the tarp and tugged upwards with incredible speed, revealing…
''Kinoko!?'' Kendo yelped. The Mushroom girl didn't look battered or bruised but she was certainly out for the count. ''B-But… this is I Building, right?''
She looked to the others in the dim lighting. A furry leg. A rocky arm. She grabbed Bakugo's shoulder. ''This is Team F!''
''Three people per team means we have someone different here.'' Shoto created a fireball in his left hand to light up the room even further as he approached the fourth body underneath the tarp. Bakugo. Once again, ripped the tarp from its resting point. A single arm and a single leg was all that laid under it. Before anyone could react, they seemed to dissolve, leaving behind a leathery hide, similar to a shedding snake. Kendo's eyes widened. ''LOOK FOR AN EYE!'' She motioned for Todoroki to increase the size of his human torch. ''It's Setsuna's quirk! She must be watching from somewhere!'' Battle Fist exclaimed as she checked corners and the ceiling.
''Tsk. Damn nerd is obviously stalling his fight with me by using these extra- I mean, guys as a distraction.'' Katsuki corrected.
''Well then let's forget about Midoriya and simply look for others to defeat. We're only 1 K.O between us as of now, many others must have more.'' Todoroki said with clear annoyance.
''We can go back to where Aoyama was; maybe we can do some clean up on the guys left standing there.'' Kendo suggested.
Bakugo sighed. ''Alright, we'll forget Deku for now.'' He opened the door again and strode out just a few steps. ''But if we get ambushed I'm going to ki-'' WHAM!
Bakugo was sent sprawling up the street. He landed in a heap a block or so away, groaning in pain. Todoroki created an ice shield to block yet another blink-and-you'll-miss-it swing. Kendo looked up in the sky to see Midoriya floating high above them. His eyes glowed green and his Black Whips surrounded him. Attached to one of said whips was a shiny figure. He was obviously the object that had sent Bakugo so far. Kendo squinted to see as Midoriya swung the whip back to prepare for another attack. ''Tetsutetsu!?''
{}{}{}
''Are you sure you can carry us and get there in time?'' Sato said as he rested on Midoriya's back. Tokage was resting lazily in a bridal carry in his arms.
''I'm sure, Sato. We'll need Shoot Style to get us there fast enough to get them back here.'' Izuku tensed greatly as he felt One for All surge around him. Whilst Sato wasn't the worst teammate in terms of synergy, he wasn't exactly fast enough to keep up with him and Tokage. And carrying him, whilst efficient for time keeping, wasn't exactly ideal.
He stood on the roof of their skyscraper base, awaiting the horn that signalled the start. Sugarman gulped down a vial of liquidised sugar. He had discovered, in his 2nd Year at UA, that ingesting it in liquid form helped preserve his cognitive functions more than granulated. ''Don't drop me. I won't exactly land softly.'' Rikido's attempt at a joke only further pushed the boundaries of his stress.
''I'll try.''
Rikido laughed. ''Y-You'll try? That's too funny, ma-'' The horn sounded. Rikido couldn't even finish his sentence as Izuku launched forwards, clearing several buildings in front and landing at the door to Building F, just as their 3 members exited.
''Wha-?'' Kinoko barely got out before Sato leapt off Midoriya's back, swatted the mushrooms she'd thrown in her panic aside, and pushed past her to strike Jurota. Tokage's arms split from her body and hit Kinoko with a flurry of punches that left her fading, clutching her head as she hit the ground.
Izuku felt the weight of Setsuna leave him as she split her body, allowing him to rush to Koda, who was in the midst of summoning birds with Anivoice. He grabbed Koji's arm as he threw a vicious hook and flipped him over his shoulder and slammed the rock boy's back into the floor. With a 20% One for All punch to the temple, Koji was out cold.
Izuku zipped into the room that Sato and Shishida were trading blows in. Shishida was clearly on the back foot. 'That sucker punch must've left him a little dazed.' Shishida was simply empowering his beast form further to overcome the pain and dizziness. He slashed across Sato, who winced as the claws drew blood.
''Sato! Grapple!'' Izuku shouted. Sato grunted in affirmation as he jumped over the Beast user and pinned his arms in a Nelson hold. Izuku took the chance and threw a jab at Jurota's stomach that left him winded, before throwing an uppercut that, judging by the way the fur-covered boy slumped forwards in Sato's grip, instantaneously knocked him out.
''Right, grab them and let's go!'' Izuku left Rikido to carry Jurota and Setsuna to carry Kinoko as he threw Koji over his shoulder and sped towards their base. His teammates followed him in briefly after and he slammed the door shut.
''I'll get the tarps.'' The green-haired boy placed the unconscious three in random locations and laid a tarp over each one.
Setsuna's left arm and left leg popped off. A dull glow emanated from the gaps they left in her body as new ones seemed to grow in their place.
''How long did you say that'd take, again?'' Sato eyed the floating hand as it fixed Setsuna's hair.
''About 2 minutes. Maybe 3 if you want a whole arm and whole leg.''
''We got that kinda time?'' Sato peered through the window of their building.
As if on cue, a loud roar that could only belong to Dark Shadow filled the arena, followed by a swathe of explosions.
''We have plenty of time.'' Izuku said with a slight smile.
Setsuna giggled weakly as her face began to sweat. Izuku studied her intensely. This was his first time actually seeing the new aspect of her quirk in a combat situation. She had informed him in their 2nd Year and asked him for advice, as well as Shoji.
Her discovery was simple, and even more lizard-like than her primary quirk functions. She could grow new limbs. Only arms and legs, but it was a huge step in her growth. They would grow finger or toe first, before continuing into the hands/feet then forearm/calf and so on. The new limbs were weak; they could be broken with a handful of punches, but they simply dissolved when destroyed, leaving just a few pieces of snake-esque sheddings behind. Alternatively, Setsuna could cause them to dissolve just by thinking aboutit.
A downside, however, was that meant that she could never replace her real arms with the newer ones. They would simply have to hover around somewhere. At least it was a surefire way to confuse enemies or catch them by surprise. Another downside was that it drained a lot of her energy to keep them from simply dissolving.
After 90 seconds, Setsuna had already created an arm stretching from the fingers to just above the elbow. Izuku listened intently to the distant sounds of fighting. They had no reason to rush. They already had three takedowns to their group's credit.
The explosions ceased. Izuku nodded to himself. ''Alright, that's fine, Setsuna. We need to leave.''
The greenette wiped her brow before letting the arm and leg drop. Sato placed the bare hand and foot under the edge of the tarp.
''Okay, just as planned.'' Izuku opened the door. Setsuna took off one of her ears and placed it under Koda's tarp, just next to the boy. She then allowed her mouth to float off. Midoriya pulled his hood up and placed her mouth in the space between his neck and the fabric.
''Ooooh~'' She cooed. ''So warm, Midori.'' She whispered teasingly. ''You should've put me down your pants…''
''Just don't lick me.'' Midoriya warned as the three of them ran out into the street and ran to Group G's base.
As they got within a few hundred feet, Setsuna peeled off from the two and ducked into an alley.
''Operation: Find Manga is a GO!'' She announced, her warm breath tickling Izuku's earlobe.
All Might's successor stayed deep in thought. Manga Fukidashi was a unique opponent. He was arguably one of the physically weakest in the hero course. But his amazing quirk more than made up for it. Especially after his personal breakthroughs earlier in the year.
Of his group, he was most likely to be tucked away. He could provide Tetsutetsu and Shoji with support from afar, but his quirk required concentration.
As they approached Group G, he was thankful they hadn't ventured far. In fact, Tetsutetsu stood in the centre of the road, facing them. Shoji stood just a few feet behind, clearly using Dupli-Arms to sense around them.
A trap. Not unexpected, really.
Izuku jumped forward making the Steel quirk user take a battle stance. In midair, Izuku threw his arms out in front of him, creating a wind current so strong it sent him flying back again. And just in time, too. Enormous, several story letters spelling 'BAM' fell roughly where he was, cracking the concrete.
Sato reached up and plucked him out of the air, before placing him on the ground again. The words disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, meaning Manga was once again writing.
Izuku grabbed Sato and threw him forwards, much to the other boy's confusion. Short-lived, however. Single letters fell into place and shot into the ground like spears. They were significantly smaller than the word from moments before, but they were still twice the size of Sato.
Sugarman and Deku had troubles dodging them all. The letters were too commonly thrown their way and too well placed. Izuku took a 'zo' hiragana to the chest; the curl of the letter catching his ribs and likely cracking a few.
He ducked into an alley, where the letters would have to be even smaller to fit between the buildings. 'Come on, Setsuna…' He could hear her soft breathing the entire time, if he chose to tune out the crashing and banging noises of the enormous hiragana.
''Found him!'' Setsuna suddenly shouted. It wasn't as if he needed to be quiet. Her mouth was right next to him while the rest of her was supposedly near Manga. Izuku dashed from the alley and into the street. The letters still fell around him, but he was making up plenty of ground. Tetsutetsu and Shoji were slowly walking backwards up the street, towards the next road over.
Izuku, with Sato a good half a block behind him, finally reached the two enemies. He couldn't strike Tetsutetsu directly; that'd be asking for a broken hand or wrist. He instead leapfrogged him and swung a leg at Shoji, who used one of his many arms to block, before swinging himself. Tetsutetsu spun on his heels and threw a punch, which Midoriya dodged with relative ease. The two taller boys threw flurries of punches his way simultaneously, which he barely avoided. Izuku leapfrogged again. Shoji, this time. As he did, he kicked off the masked boy's back, causing him to stumble. Directly into the metal fist of Tetsutetsu.
The crunch of bone made Midoriya cringe. 'Sorry, Mezo.' He couldn't even imagine the headache he'd have when he woke up. Tetsutetsu didn't stop to apologise or even check his teammate's injury. Real Steel caught him as he fell and placed him on the ground gently. Izuku didn't attack the silver-haired boy as he did so, to which he thanked the successor with a silent gesture.
''MANGA!?'' The metal man bellowed, begging for some form of break to plan, to reconsider his options. No response came, as expected. 'Setsuna must've dealt with him.' He allowed himself a moment to take pride in his plan.
The sound of crumbling concrete and an explosion of brick and mortar resonated instantly in his ears. He spun to see that a skyscraper a few blocks over had imploded, the word 'BANG' splitting the building in two.
''Got 'im!'' Setsuna's words rang in his ears. 'Thank god she wasn't caught up in that.'
He turned back to Tetsutetsu, only to find the boy lunging for him. He wasn't fast enough this time, the Steel user gripping him by his forearms and squeezing tightly.
''Aargh!'' Izuku roared in pain as he felt bones shatter and muscles tighten.
''Midoriya!'' Sato yelled as he finally approached. He was bleeding quite heavily from his side.
Izuku shook his head. Sato slowed his run, perplexed. And then Izuku activated Float.
The greenette soared upwards, Tetsutetsu clinging onto his broken arms for dear life. They were high up now; so high up that they were above the giant walls that hid Ground Beta away from the rest of the campus.
''M-M-Midoriya, man! Take us back down, bro!'' Tetsutetsu shrieked in fear.
''A w-word of advice.'' Izuku barely got out as he clenched his teeth at the pain in his arms. Tetsutetsu gazed up at him. ''Stay in your steel form.'' He said sharply.
Then he took a very deep breath, lifted his arms so Real Steel was directly in front of him. And breathed fire.
Tetsutetsu recoiled, the heat singing him, even in his metal form. His grip loosened and Izuku shook him off. The metal man plummeted, falling even faster than a regular person due to the weight of his steel-covered body. He landed with an incredible boom, the crater he made covering at least half the length of the street.
Izuku ran out of breath, the flames dying down within his mouth. Devil's Breath. His father's quirk was powerful indeed. Yet another advantage of One for All's many gifted quirks. He had recovered a quirk that was seemingly taken from him.
He remained in the air for a few seconds, before cancelling Float over and over to get him back to ground level. He landed in a back alley and reconvened with Rikido and Setsuna , who had returned from her fight with Manga.
''You okay?'' He couldn't help but be concerned at the gashes in her hero costume.
''Yeah!'' Her mouth said from within his hood. He jumped in surprise. He had forgotten that was there. The mouth hovered out and slotted back into her face. ''He used that last word as a Hail Mary to try and take us both out. I managed to split in time.''
She glanced down at his arms, before doing a double take. ''Am I 'okay?' Look at your arms, Green Bean!'' She cried in worry.
He looked down to his arms. She was right. There were no compound fractures but he could feel something was definitely broken in each arm. He activated Black Whip, two tendrils wrapping around each arm to act as a makeshift cast. ''That should get me through it.'' He said confidently, though both his teammates were less than pleased.
''You alright, Sato?'' He asked. Sugarman didn't try to hide his wound.
''A letter caught me. It's a deep cut. I can power through it with lots of sugar. But I'll need you to point me in the right direction when you need me.'' He said with a serious expression. Deku and Lizardy nodded.
They stood regaining their breath for a few minutes when Setsuna perked up. ''Hear something?'' Rikido asked.
Tokage nodded. ''Mhmm. Bakugo just walked into our base.'' She looked to Izuku for guidance.
''You two slowly approach. Use the alleys. If anyone far beyond your power level spots you, use the sewers.'' He clasped Setsuna's shoulder. ''Lend me your mouth again.''
He went bright red. Setsuna went bright red. Even Sato looked away in second-hand embarrassment.
''S-Sorry.'' He squeaked out.
''It's fine, wouldn't be the first time.'' Setsuna battled off her blush to grin deviously at him. Izuku didn't think he could blush any harder.
''Don't talk about that now.'' He tried to look annoyed. It only made Setsuna laugh harder.
The lizard girl detached her mouth again and Izuku tucked it back into his hood. ''Just tell me when you're on the move and where.'' He launched another tendril of Black Whip towards the unconscious form of Tetsutetsu and dragged him towards him. Steel still coated his skin, as he often was when he was rendered unconscious in that form.
''Whaddya need him for?'' Sato tilted his head.
Izuku slowly hovered off the ground. ''If I can't punch… I'll need a hammer.'' He then launched off, his human shaped weapon following just under his feet.
Lizardy and Sugarman watched in awe. ''So, uhhh, what was that all about?'' He eyed the dark-haired girl.
''What was what about?'' She played dumb with a goofy smile.
''The 'talk about that right now' part? Like, two seconds ago?'' He seemingly fell for her fake stupidity.
''Pfft, that's not important right now! Let's just get moving, ya big brute!'' She playfully tapped his pec, much to his chagrin.
''Fine, don't tell me…'' He mumbled as they began their slow journey back to their base.
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The teachers watched closely from their observation room.
''My, my! sure is quite the bag of talents, ey Toshinori?'' Nezu commented before sipping his tea.
''First he breathes fire, the next he's using a student as a hammer. My student, by the way.'' Vlad King said as he gave Aizawa the most condescending look he could manage. Eraserhead simply chuckled.
''You say that as if he didn't just use him as a bat to knock Bakugo a good half mile up the street.'' Present Mic deadpanned.
''Young Midoriya isn't quite out of the woods yet.'' All Might sat, face contorted in thought.
''Ah, yes! The variable!'' Nezu cackled evilly as he turned to Midnight. ''Nemuri, hit the button! I'll press mine too!''
Nemuri did as instructed, tapping a large red button in front of the monitors.
''I do love this part!'' Nezu said as he pressed the large blue button on a remote in front of him.
[][][]
''Midoriya, that's very evil, don't you think!?'' Kendo shouted up to him. ''He's unconscious! You could seriously hurt him!'' Her motherly instincts bled through her rage.
''I'm sorry! But I-huh?'' Izuku was startled as all the artificial lights that protruded from Ground Beta's walls and all of the street lights went off. It was already about 4pm, and the spring sun was just starting to descend. Normally, that'd be no issue. But when the walls of their arena were tens of stories high, that meant that the arena itself descended into darkness. Very dull, blue lights flickered on from beneath the ground, the glow escaping the cracks in the sidewalk and craters in the road.
Izuku stopped swinging Tetsutetsu for a moment, wracking his brain for some motivation behind their teacher's sudden interference. Then the lightbulb finally went off in his head.
Dark Shadow. Kuroiro.
They were fueled by darkness. Their powers originated and finished with darkness.
The all-too-familiar screech of Tokoyami's quirk echoed throughout the battle site. Not a chance in hell that someone hadn't heard that.
The enormous, pitch black monster burst from Tokoyami's chest, reveling in the lightless atmosphere. It grew and grew, gaining more and more strength until it's size rivalled that of the skyscrapers next to it.
However, unlike at the Training Camp, Fumikage had full control. Izuku floated above the ground on the opposite side of the arena and gulped.
'Ah. So that's our motivation.'
Hello again! Thank you for reading!
This was a long chapter but I hope you enjoy that factor. This was definitely my favourite to write so far.
I also hoped you enjoyed the evolutions of both Setsuna and Manga's quirks. It seemed like an in-theme and natural progression for the both of them.
Izuku's new fire breathing quirk will be explained (if not in an admittedly silly way) later on. For anyone wondering, he also has all of his current manga-based quirks: his normal strength enhancement that includes Shoot Style, Float, Black Whip and Danger Sense.
Next chapter will be the conclusion of this little arc, then we're back to that sweet, sweet romance! Until next time!