Here it is.
Izuku's first real fight with One for All.
I... think I might have went a little overboard in this chapter. I hope you guys can forgive me.
And even though I'll probably edit this further in the future, so far, I'm happy with how it turned out. I hope you guys will be too.
Enjoy! And if you're interested, there will be an Author's Note at the end!
I do not own YouTube, nor do I own My Hero Academia.
Tetsutetsu was on cloud nine.
Cloud. Freakin'. Nine.
All Might- The All Might- was teaching a class specifically for fighting the bad guys.
He was partnered up with an interesting fellow, and the two of them were getting along swimmingly.
And the cherry on top?
They were about to fight someone with an incredible quirk, one that could totally wreck their shit if they weren't careful.
Togaru was just as ecstatic. His views on their situation, however, were slightly different.
This was the class he had been (im)patiently waiting for. Battle and combat were not only subjects that he excelled at, but loved with an intense passion.
He and his partner were clicking, and with his quirk, little would stop them if they went on the assault. Tetsutetsu was the best partner he could have asked for.
But there was one thing about this situation that sent his excitement through the roof...
They were about to fight a formidable foe. One who's power was going to be so unpredictable, so dangerous, that he wasn't even sure if he or his partner could live through a direct hit. That kind of danger sent pleasant chills up and down his spine, and it only made him want to get this fight started even faster.
The only thing that worked against them was that they were the villains of this exercise. If they had been the heroes, they would've been free to fight anytime they wanted. But… because they were the villains, they had no choice but to comply with the downright annoying condition of guard duty.
So, since it couldn't be helped, the two of them agreed to a rather simple battle plan: be patient, play defense, and let the heroes come to them.
Neither of the young men were happy with their plan in the slightest, and their impatience was starting to show.
Tetesutetsu placed the fake bomb at the top of the stairs in the fifth floor of the building. With a disgruntled expression, he turned towards his partner. "Yo, Kamikiri! Why the hell are we lugging this thing all the way to the top floor? I thought we both wanted to fight Midoriya faster, man! Wouldn't it make more sense to bring this thing to the first floor?"
Togaru, who was a little way ahead of him and was looking for a specific room, replied without so much as looking back. "You want to fight him faster. I want to fight him when he's not being held back by anything."
"Huh? Whatcha mean by that, bro?"
Togaru didn't instantly answer for a second as he finally found the room he had been looking for. It was left untouched, with the wall of mushrooms still sturdy and mostly in-tact, the windows still partially covered, and the floor and ceiling still crumbling from the powerful, unforeseen impacts. Light was somewhat filtering in from two of the sides, and the hole in the wall of mushrooms that Kendo had created was big enough for what Togaru wanted to do.
Suppressing a grin, he turned and waved his partner over, who wore a dark green jumpsuit with metal combat boots, metal chest straps, and a thick metal jaw guard. "Get your ass over here, and I'll show you! And bring the bomb!"
With a shrug, Tetsutetsu complied with the request and headed over to his comrade. He instantly realized where they were at. "Oh! This was Kendo and Shoda's room, right?"
"Yup. We're gonna use the mushroom wall to our advantage, and hide the bomb on the other side. Then, all we gotta do is wait for Midoriya to show up."
"Oh! Nice thinking, Kamikiri!" Tetsutetsu said as he easily brought the bomb inside the room and through the hole in the mushroom wall. As he set it down though, Tetsutetsu turned to the tall hero hopeful clad in an olive-green cloak, black trousers and combat boots and a black mask with a frown on his face. "But, bro…you realize that we now have to wait for him to find us before we get to fight him, right?"
"Use your head, idiot. If we had placed the bomb on the first floor like you wanted, All Might would have thought we were intentionally throwing the simulation. Up here, while we wait for him on guard duty, it'll at least make us look like we're half-assing our part."
Tetsutetsu heaved a sigh at his partner's logic as he nodded and leaned against the wall. "Fair point, fair point."
"And also, think about it. All Might himself said that any structural damage would result in a decrease in grade. Midoriya's the kind of guy who cares about that kind of stuff… I think. So, if we were on the first floor, he'd have to limit his power since he could probably topple the building if he tried."
"Brooooo!" Tetsutetsu interrupted with sparkles in his eyes as his jaw hung loose with awe. "Do you think he's capable of doing that?! That would be so fucking manly if he was!"
"Right?!" Togaru answered with dangerous glee, the eye in his mind eagerly imagining that outcome. He felt yet another serrated blade sprout from his palm on accident; reluctantly, he withdrew the blade back into his body before it could grow any longer, telling himself soon as he did.
God, this match could not start any sooner. "There's no way he ain't capable of doing that, bro! But…" he reeled himself back just a little bit with a shaky breath, "Midoriya probably isn't gonna wanna do that and risk failing the simulation. That's why we're up here, because- "
"-BECAUSE HE CAN GO ALL OUT WITHOUT HOLDING BACK, OH FUCK YES!"
"EXACTLY! NO ONE'S GONNA CARE IF A COUPLE WALLS AND WINDOWS GET BLOWN AWAY ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE BUILDING!"
"YOU'RE A GODDAMN GENIUS, KAMIKIRI!" Tetsutetsu shouted as he shoved his partner in delight.
"FINALLY! SOMEONE FINALLY FUCKING GETS IT!" Togaru yelled as he shoved him back with just as much vigor.
As they both continued to get a little carried away with hyping each other up for their fight, neither noticed how a small part of each of their costumes twitched at their increased volume.
Eventually, the two of them calmed down enough to have a conversation by normal standards. Unfortunately though, their earlier excitement carried over… causing their conversation to take a slight turn for the worse.
"Man, I cannot wait to fight Midoriya! Ya know, no one's ever beaten my Steel before! So- "
"-Uh, what? I know I said that I was going to be the one fighting Midoriya- "
"-Wait, you were serious about that?!"
"Of course I was fucking serious, why the hell would I not be serious?!"
"Because you don't got any defense! How the hell are you going to take one of his hits?!"
"I ain't gonna get hit! Because if he gets too close, I'll just cut him up before he gets the chance to get me- "
"-Exactly!"
"Huh?!"
"You got the reach! And! You're capable of making ranged attacks! So it would make more sense for you to guard the goddamn bomb!- "
"Guard the bomb?! Who the fuck said I was going to guard the bomb?!- "
If this conversation was any indication, the rest of the two villain's preparation time ended up… unproductive, to say the least.
But for them, that was ok. They had a plan, simple as it was, and both young men knew and respected the others power in a fight. If push came to shove, then they could both fight their adversary the moment he stepped foot into their room.
Which, coincidentally, was exactly what they settled on by the time the fifth match started.
-(TTAE)-
All Might continued writing in his notepad as he finished the student reviews for the fourth team.
Compared to the others, their review was short and sweet, having been finished in around four minutes this time around.
Because of the length of the reviews, some of the teams had a bit more than five minutes to prepare for their simulation. But, that was ok. Today, he wasn't pushing his time limit nearly as bad as yesterday. Hero alerts were currently few and far in between as well. And as a bonus, Class B was averaging around six and a half minutes per simulation.
In other words, he could afford to spare a few extra minutes here and there for everyone's simulations, which made their 'five minutes' of prep time turn into eight or nine. Even the first team was given a couple extra minutes to prepare, since they were going first and didn't have another group being reviewed to buy them some time.
So… by that logic, giving Teams F and I an extra three minutes to prepare themselves was ok, right? This wasn't favoritism, since he was treating everyone else the same… right?
All Might shook himself slightly as he finished writing down his notes for both teams of the fourth match. They both got perfect marks for their performance, and the fact that this was the first match to not have anyone be sent to Recovery Girl spoke grandly about the talent that both teams had. That wasn't to say that the other teams weren't talented since they received a couple of minor injuries, but this last fight was an excellent example for all students to follow on how to restrain your opponents with minimal injury and destruction.
The great hero should have been ecstatic that the last team had performed so admirably. And as a matter of fact, he was!
But…
His mind was currently fixated on how this next match would play out…
With as much progress as his successor had made in the last few days, he was absolutely dying to find out how well he was going to do in a few short minutes.
However…
No matter how optimistic he wanted to be, the great hero couldn't help but have the tiniest nibbles of doubt and worry flicker in the back of his mind.
The fact that the remaining members of 1B were causally discussing and sharing their thoughts on the next match out loud wasn't really helping. Especially when they were doing so with a bit more… criticism, than they showed the others.
Or was he just being paranoid?
"Maaaan… I don't know about this match…" Yosetsu grumbled somewhat noisily above the ambient sounds of the basement with a shake of his head. His comment caused many to turn and regard him with varying expressions, and many conversations unknowingly died down to listen in to the subject that was on everyone's mind.
Yosetsu didn't notice the subtle shift in the atmosphere he created as he continued to watch the two teams with skeptical eyes. The hero team, in particular.
"Well… whatever happens, this match is gonna be fast." Sen spoke neutrally from a couple meters away after a brief stint of silence, watching the new teams with similar feelings.
"What makes you say that, Kaibara-san?" Hiryu asked as he leaned around Yosetsu to address him. Currently, his headgear was off and tucked under his arm, revealing a politely curious face.
Sen paused briefly as he answered with the most neutral response he could give, doing his best to not let himself be influenced by how he really felt. "… Kamikiri and Tetsutetsu already got the edge on them. They can use their quirks freely and effectively, and both know their way around a fight. The other two… don't have that luxury. Once the heroes find the villains, it's the villain's win."
"Please, gentlemen, do not be so disrespectful to our fellow peers," Jurota called out to them from the other side of the room with a slight frown on his face. He stood with Ibara, Kinoko, and Pony as they all studied the new teams, and his arms were folded in front of him, blocking some of his new bald spots from view.
Both Pony and he had escorted their opponents to the medical bots while neglecting it for themselves (seeing as they only suffered from exhaustion, for the most part), but all the idle chatter he'd been able to hear about the new hero team made him wish he had gone with them. The more he heard, the more irritated he became, and nothing made him more annoyed than people not granting others the respect they are due.
"While it is true that the villains will be a force to reckon with, the heroes, in my eyes, aren't necessarily powerless. Please, give them a little credit."
"Yeah, brooo!" Manga turned around to chime in eagerly from the front of the room, impatiently waiting to watch what was sure to be an awesome fight. "All Midoriya has to do is go like, 'BAM! BAM!'," he mimed some gigantic haymakers for effect, "and then the villains will be like 'Plop'!"
"Yeah, and so will his arms- "
"-and the building- "
"-and the goddamn building!" Yosetsu exclaimed, throwing his own arms in the air as Sen chipped in. "I'm sorry, really, I am! But no one should fight villains like that!"
"I don't think he can even properly fight, period…" Kosei said to himself in a low voice from behind Sen.
"Dude. You are not one to talk." Hiryu snapped as he sent a flat look to the boy with a newly bandaged hand. Kosei merely shrugged and looked away uncomfortably in response.
"Regardless, there are many more factors that influence a fight like this other than quirks and combat experience- "
"Yeah, ok, whatever Shishida. But you can't deny that quirks and combat experience play a pretty big fu- " Yosetsu spared a quick glance towards the great hero in the front, who was still writing stuff down, "-… frickin' role in the outcome! And, ya know, I'm not trying to hate on Midoriya! I'm not! But… y-ya know…" he helplessly gestured to the boy in question on the monitor as the heroes walked around the perimeter of the building, hoping anyone could voice his thoughts properly.
'With Midoriya-kun's quirk so unpredictable, and the lack of experience coupled with it, the hero team is at a disadvantage since they have to solely rely on someone who's quirk isn't suited for combat…' is that what you're trying to say, Awase-kun? Juzo thought with a raised eyebrow as he listened in from the back of the class with Yui.
"His performance, while astounding, leaves shadows of doubts within our minds as one looks past the radiance of his power to see the void within…" Shihai spoke solemnly from a couple meters behind Yosetsu as he stood with his back leaning against the wall, having already been healed and cleared by Recovery Girl. Luckily, the dark teen didn't see the frown grow on Kinoko's face as she stood next to a steadily irate-growing Ibara.
"… Uh… sure…" Yosetsu said as he sent a dubious look behind him.
"Details, details!" waved off Manga with a carefree attitude. His head morphed into an explanation point as he suddenly turned to the boy next to him with excitement. "Hey, you fought him yesterday, right Shoda? He's not that bad, is he?"
Nirengeki grew uncomfortable as he felt multiple pairs of eyes swivel towards his direction and he did his best to come up with a decent answer. "W-Well, ah… he does have a couple of things he needs to work on, but who doesn't? And besides, Midoriya-kun's really smart!"
"Intelligence can only get you so far in a fight…" Sen muttered to himself with a shake of his head, though it was still loud enough for everyone to hear.
"That is enough!"
Ibara's voice sharply cut through the chatter as this discussion continued to rapidly devolve. She wasn't going to allow them to continue talking in a way unbefitting of future heroes. "As Shishida-san has mentioned earlier, this argument has become incredibly disrespectful. Please, reign in your thoughts, and show these contestants the same courtesy you all have shown everyone else!"
"Uh, Shiozaki-san, do you really think these clowns even know what courtesy is?" Kosei replied with a grin as he gestured to the group of boys he was hanging with. Hiryu, Sen, and Yosetsu all turned to glare daggers at the back of his head as Shihai, still a little bit away from them, discreetly snickered behind his fist. Juzo also snorted lightly from his spot in the room at the exchange.
"Y-You guys are just being mean…" Kinoko pouted quietly to no one in particular.
"Y-Yeah! You all very m-mean to Midoriya! And, And…" Pony desperately thought how to say the next part in English before translating it back into Japanese, "Ignore Setsuna! Everybody ignore Setsuna totally!"
Kodai gave a short 'mhm, mhm' from her spot in the back as she nodded in earnest with the horned girl's statement… not that anyone besides Juzo saw, anyway.
"Well, uh… speaking of clowns…" Kosei chuckled awkwardly as the rest of the class shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the other half of the hero team.
"Yeah… she's, uh… yeah," Hiryu muttered more to himself than out loud as he picked at his braid absently.
Little did he know, the majority of 1B understood his train of thought exactly as they thought along similar lines. They just… didn't know what to think or say about the devious girl, whose personality was as scattered as her quirk.
"I, uh, don't know about you guys, but… I just… don't see her being able to make up for the lack of, uh, everything, that Midoriya seems to be missing. Like… cool… she can amputate herself… neat-o…" Yosetsu drawled in a cynical tone with a pair of flimsy thumbs up, "but that… ain't gonna win shit…"
"You guys do realize that Tokage-san got in through recommendations, right? She even tied for the third highest overall score for the most competitive recommendation exam in the nation. And that's out of five hundred of the best, brightest teenagers in this country." Juzo finally spoke up, trying his hardest to keep the annoyance out of his tone.
Everyone turned in surprise towards the male recommendation student at the new revelation. Jurota even asked, with great interest, "Is that true, Honenuki-sama?"
"Even if it is, all that proves is that she's got connections… uh, n-no offense, Honenuki…" Kosei added quickly as he sent an apologetic glance towards the lipless teen.
Before Juzo could even begin explain why that thought process and point of view was wrong no matter which way you looked at it, Yosetsu finished his earlier rant. "Whether she's a recommendation student or not, it doesn't change the fact that the most she's going to be able to do against Tetsutetsu and Kamikiri is chuck her arm at them and run away."
At that remark, there were a few uncomfortable, hesitant laughs that bubbled out of a couple of student's mouths. But before Ibara could scold them again for their behavior, there was one person who began laughing out loud in earnest.
As the students of 1B turned towards the front to see who was laughing so freely, many were surprised to find their other class representative hunched over, clutching her ribs. She must have sensed everyone's stare, because she quickly took a steadying breath to compose herself before straightening back up again with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Sorry, Awase-kun, I promise I'm not laughing at you! It's just- snort- she's actually done that before!"
"... seriously?!"
"Oh yeah! As a joke, of course." Itsuka giggled fondly at the memory before looking off to the side. "Setsuna is such a goofball, doing pranks like that all the time." Then her eyes turned serious as she turned towards the class, seemingly eyeing them all at once. "But if you all actually believe her lazy, carefree act, then you guys will be the ones who'll look like a bunch of goofballs when she blows your minds here in a little bit."
For a few moments, there was nothing but confused silence as everybody took the chance to process her words.
Itsuka couldn't fault her peers for their thoughts and reactions towards her best friend. It wasn't so long ago that she also thought the same things they did; in fact, she downright hated the green-haired girl when they first met.
Hopefully, after this little simulation was over, her peers would come to view her sister in a new light as she did over time.
"What exactly do you mean by 'lazy and carefree act', Kendo-sama? Would you be so kind to explain?"
"Oh, I won't have to! You'll see it for yourself here in a few minutes. Besides, if I spilled the beans on her, I'd never hear the end of it." Teal eyes rolled fondly in amusement as Itsuka could only imagine the storm of bitchiness and complaints her friend would cook up if she told their classmates even a couple of her secrets. But, as she still felt everyone's eyes on her, she knew that little statement wouldn't be enough to sate their curiosity. Deciding that giving a little more background wouldn't hurt, she added on a few things for everyone who was raptly listening to all her words with interest.
"Buuuut... I'll go ahead and say this much at the very least." Putting her hands on her hips and raising her eyes to look at each of her classmates, she spoke loud and clear in the most confident tone she could muster.
"Whatever you do, do not underestimate Tokage Setsuna. There is an excellent reason as to why she was selected as one of the four recommendation students in our year, and it has absolutely nothing to do with her connections. (In fact, her 'connections' probably worked against her in the first place…) She is, first and foremost, a team player, and a damn good one at that. But most of all…," her eyes traveled back towards the monitors to watch the heroes, "if there is one person here who could find a way to mitigate the unwanted side effects of Midoriya-kun's quirk, it's gonna be her."
At this remark, there was a flurry of interested movement among the students of 1B as most of them sent a couple of curious glances back towards the screen while muttering to their neighbors. Even All Might discreetly turned his head to look at the young woman out of the corner of his eye, this information more than enough to interest him for obvious reasons.
"So if you still think the hero team is at a disadvantage, or if you think the hero team is guaranteed to lose… then you're way overdue for a reality check." Itsuka continued on, bringing everyone's attention back onto her. "Regardless of your opinions though, please be sure to watch every second of this match, everyone! Because if I know Setsuna," Itsuka turned back towards her peers, a confident smirk at the corner of her lips, "this match will be nothing but organized chaos."
The basement went quiet for a few short moments as most of everyone's eyes lingered on the redhead, digesting her words.
That is, until Manga broke the silence with a startled screech. At the same time, All Might began to quiver with quiet excitement.
"Yooooo! What the heck are the heroes doin' to that freakin' parking meter ?!"
-(TTAE)-
"Are you sure you want to use… that… as your 'sledgehammer?'"
"I am, Tokage-san! I think this will do just fine!" Izuku said as they continued to walk towards the rear entrance, carrying his 'hammer' in front of him with both hands. His arms tremebled slightly from the act of pulling the object out of the ground with three percent of his power; it was a lot easier than he thought it was going to be.
As they walked, Setsuna idly played with the ruined base of the parking meter, which she had decided to take along with them. Weighing it in the palm of her hand to get use to its weight, she felt herself nod absently in affirmation.
"Ok… well, I'm gonna be honest with you. I know we both agreed that you should use a weapon, but, uh... right now, you kinda look like a tiny caveman carrying around his favorite stick."
She felt the corners of her mouth lift as Izuku shyly snorted at her teasing.
"Alright young heroes and villains! This is your three-minute warning! "
Setsuna suddenly flinched horribly as soon as All Might had finished his announcement.
"Are you alright, Tokage-san?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. They're just reaallly loud, ya know?" She waved him off as she absently rubbed her ears, which were currently being expertly hidden by her shoulder length hair. Ugh, if I'd have known these two were going to be this loud, I would've just used a quarter of my ears to eavesdrop instead of half…
"Welp, since All Might gave the warning, the knuckleheads found a room and made a plan, and we're about at the rear entrance… I guess that means we should probably review our plans one last time!"
"… Y-Yeah… you're r-right…"
Setsuna regarded him carefully for a moment as they reached their destination. Coming out of the basement, her partner had been completely focused with his task to the point where he even forgot about his nerves. But now that he had completed what he needed to do, it appeared that his unease had once again resurfaced.
Her partner had been mostly silent during the quick trek. A glance at him was enough to know that his mind was more than a little preoccupied, seeing as the parking meter visibly shook in his hands. Setsuna was silently glad they had agreed earlier to go for the quick win instead of a drawn out one- she wasn't entirely sure if his nerves would have held out for that long.
Hoping to distract him, even just a little, she decided to strike up some conversation.
"How's the weight? Can you swing it properly?"
"Hm? Oh, uh, y-yeah! It's hollow, see?" Izuku showed his partner the pole end of the parking meter.
"Well, even though it's hollow, it still looks like it'd be a pain in the ass to lug around." Her face suddenly lit up, and she shifted her arm to cradle the ruined base, snapping the fingers in her other hand as she did.
"Ok my tiny caveman! I have an idea! As we review our plans, you can practice swinging your club! Now, channel your inner neanderthal and defend your food! This baby pterosaur is suuuuper hungry!" She detached her free hand and sent it flying towards him… and Izuku did nothing but gawk as her hand landed on his head.
"…Huh?..."
She failed to hold back a snort at his hilarious expression. Happily clearing her throat, she clarified what she meant for him. "Use my hand for target practice until it's time for us to start. That way, you can get use to the weight of the swings!"
"U-Um… T-Tokage-san, what if I-I hit your h-hand?"
"You won't." She replied with an easy grin as her hand flew from his head to float in front of him again.
"O-Oh, uh… Ok then, Tokage-san…"
Izuku hesitantly swung his hammer in front of him. Setsuna's hand easily ducked underneath it before lunging out to boop his nose.
"You know you can drop the formality, right?" She moved her hand out of the way again as another slow swing was sent its way.
"O-Oh! S-Sorry- "
"It's fine Izuku! Really! But you need to swing a little faster, my dude. If you move this slow, you're not gonna have the chance to hit either of them, ya know!" She casually chided as her hand moved out of the way of the slow-moving weapon again. This time, she flicked his ear as she evaded.
"R-Right! O-Of course, Tokage-san…"
After a few more swings that went slightly faster, Setsuna decided to begin their review. Unfortunately, the playful atmosphere wasn't easing his nerves as well as she liked. Hopefully, this review would not only give him something else to focus on but help to settle a little of his unease.
Besides, regardless of the presence of his nerves, it was a good idea to do one last review. If either of them choked when it counted, all of their meticulous forethought would become wasted.
"So, Izuku… our plan's setup went really well. Plan One is next, right? Until…?"
"Hm?" He paused momentarily before she gestured for him to continue swinging. He answered as he did, "Oh, uh, until we see how they react to your bait."
"And which reactions result in which plans? Also, try swinging from the other side."
"Plan Three if they do nothing, Plan Two if Tetsutetsu reacts, Plan Four if Kamikiri reacts, and Plan Five if they both react to your bait." A couple more swings from his opposite side occurred as he answered her question, and she couldn't help but take note of how highly capable his brain was at successful multi-tasking.
"What do we do if we have to start Plan Five?" Another swing went by that was only marginally faster than the original.
"Uh, Back off and retreat. Then, we wait until one of them is alone, initiating Plan Two or Four accordingly."
"That was a pretty good swing just now! Anyway, when do we go back to Plan One? And let's try a few overhead strikes."
"Never. Unless, uh, we manage to find the bomb unguarded." Izuku replied as he went with her suggestion, swinging his hammer overhead with similar motions as before.
"Nicely done Izuku! Ok, my turn! You quiz me now!"
"B-But, ummm… it's your own plan?" A few more overhead swings went by as he kept missing the floating hand he was using as a target.
"Our plan, Izuku; you helped make it just as much as I did. Besides, one can never be too thorough." Said hand kept retaliating his misses with a few sharp pokes to his side.
"Oh… ok… uh, well…" A few more overhead swings went by as he thought up a couple questions. "What is… the course of action to take if Plan Three happens?"
She moved her hand out of the way to avoid another slow swing as she answered him easily. "Have you act as bait to initiate Plan Two, Four, or Five, and follow their course of action accordingly. Unless, of course, they're stupid enough to leave the bomb unguarded. Then we go for the win, with Plan One."
A few more swings went by, then, "And, uh… what is the main cornerstone of our plans?"
She sent him an unimpressed, bland look that almost made her hand get hit. Almost. "Dude. Really? Divide and Conquer, plain and simple. What was up with that question?"
"S-Sorry… i-it's just, uh…" Izuku paused his swinging as he looked off to the side, scratching the back of his head. "I'm just, uh a-a little, uh…"
"Preoccupied?"
"…y-yeah…"
There was a moment of silence before Setsuna's detached fist gently struck his chest. Izuku's eyes followed her fist to her face to see her smiling kindly, yet with the subtle accents of exasperation.
"We're a team, remember? Your problems are mine, and mine are yours, so… Will you tell me what's got you so distracted, Izuku? Please?"
Izuku swallowed before looking away with guilt as he scratched his cheek. "I've, uh… n-never used my quirk on anyone before. And, uh, I'm still worried about my power going out of control, even with all the stuff I've been learning recently. A-And, also, um… something Shoda-kun said yesterday made me realize that I, uh… h-have no idea how to fight. W-Which, against these t-two… Ah, I'm sorry Tokage-san, I-I shouldn't be dumping this on you moments before we fight…"
"Izuku, this is exactly what you should be doing. This is how people get better, dummy! Besides, it's not like what you're saying is news to me. You're a pretty kind-hearted guy; I wouldn't expect you to go around beating people up for fun."
Izuku looked up at her gratefully as Setsuna absently recalled her hand back to her body, rubbing her wrist lost in thought.
That was when he realized that, in the light of the afternoon sun, he could actually see the entirety of the girl's costume again since they left the shadows of the basement.
To put it simply, she wore a simple Prussian blue bodysuit with a matching domino mask. Accompanying her costume was a pair of black, knee-high combat boots, a black belt with a dark gem in the center, and fingerless gloves. Out in the sunlight, he noticed that her bodysuit was slick like the skin of a lizard, and sported a scale-like pattern similar to what many reptiles have on their own bodies. The scales in question consisted of patterns of squares and diamonds, mingled flawlessly throughout the costume to make the light refract off of it at different angles. It made the solid Prussian blue of her bodysuit appear to have different pigments and hues of the color, giving her natural camouflage if she were to hide in the shadows.
As Izuku took in all the little details of her costume that he hadn't noticed before, he suddenly realized- with dawning horror- that he was staring.
At her.
As she wore a skintight bodysuit.
A skintight bodysuit that displayed her muscles, and curves, and overall figure, fully for the world to see-
(WAIT…)
Izuku's mind came to a screeching halt as he suddenly remembered the assessment test. Vividly.
Her quirk… didn't work with clothes…
That was why Kendo had to wall her off from the rest of class in the first place…
(Which means!-)
Frantically deciding not to follow that particular train of thought, his eyes shot skyward. But try as he might, he only had one frightening question running through his head at the moment:
How the heck am I supposed to fight side-by-side with a... a... a n-n-n-naked girl?!
Fortunately, and thankfully, he was still wearing his mask. With luck, there was a decent chance that his partner, who was just now returning her gaze back towards him, would never know he had just spent the last few seconds all but ogling at her.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, ya know.- "
(OHGODSHESAWMESTARING-)
"- It's ok to be nervous of something you've never done before."
Izuku let out a (hopefully) subtle sigh of relief as he collected himself enough to look in her direction. Surprisingly, it looked like she was struggling to find the right words to say.
"I… can't help you in regards to your quirk use, besides for what we planned for. And I won't pretend to know what to do if your quirk goes out of control... But, if you're trying to find a last second way to fight, then allow me to state the obvious; play to your strengths, and target your opponent's weaknesses."
"Believe it or not, I think that your greatest strength comes from your intelligence, not your power. And our opponents right now are more likely to act than they are to think. So, if you have to fight today, then fight with your brain, not your quirk. If you can outsmart these numbskulls fast enough, it won't matter if you can go toe to toe with them in a fist fight or not."
Izuku blinked as he absorbed the sincerity of her words and the perspective of her advice. He had been so distracted about fighting their opponents head on... that the possibility of tackling this issue any other way didn't even occur to him...
"Annnnd, don't forget! I'll be by your side, remember? You have nothing to worry about today. I'll do most of the fighting, and if we absolutely need you to step in, I'll buy you the time your brain needs until you see a way forward. Sound good?" Setsuna said proudly, pointing a thumb to herself as she sent him a confident smirk.
Izuku gave her an honest smile in return, his shaking easing up slightly as he did. "S-Sounds good. T-thank you, Tokage-san. I… I think I needed to hear that."
Setsuna simply let her smirk widen into a grin before she turned to face their entrance, and Izuku did the same.
Both heroes instinctively knew that their simulation was about to start.
Maybe she was concerned about his nerves affecting his performance. Or maybe... she still felt a little guilty for her earlier thoughtlessness. But as they waited for All Might's signal, Setsuna felt the need to give her partner one last-second nudge of confidence.
"Hey."
Izuku looked up from his wayward, inward thoughts to see his partner with a resolute smirk on her face.
"I know you're still a little nervous. And that's ok. But I just want you to know that I think our plans today are going to kick some major ass, and you are the reason why they will." She held out her fist as her smirk widened into a genuine smile, and Izuku couldn't help but to return both of her gestures.
"You got this, Izuku. If you start to feel overwhelmed, take the time to take a deep breath, and know that I'll be right there with you if you ever need help. You can count on me, just like I'll be counting on you, Izuku." Setsuna finished proudly as she began to quickly stretch her body. As she did some standing quad stretches, Izuku turned towards her to give an appreciative smile, and she watched his shoulders finally relax as his grip on the parking meter tightened.
"You ready, partner?"
"As ready as I can be… partner."
"~Al-right~."
Suddenly, Setsuna stopped stretching and literally fell apart.
Izuku watched as she split herself into multiple pieces, too fast for him to count. As the majority of her pieces began to orbit around him, her decapitated head had remained floating in place of where she originally stood. That is, until her head swiveled towards him and symmetrically split itself down the middle.
Fortunately for Izuku, her costume had stayed on as her body split apart.
He only had time to process the split smile she sent his way before the words rang loudly in their ears.
"INDOOR ANTIPERSONEL TRAINING, ROUND FIVE: START!"
"Let's go!"
"Right!"
And without wasting another second, the two heroes sprinted for their entrance. Most of Setsuna took point and guided the way in as other portions of her body took to the air for a more direct route.
-(TTAE)-
"INDOOR ANTIPERSONEL TRAINING, ROUND FIVE: START!"
Finally.
The villain's patience had finally paid off, and it was all they could do to stop themselves from setting out to look for the heroes. Now that the simulation had started, all they had to do was wait for them to show up.
Which, for these two, was easier said than done.
"Oh, maaaan! This fight is about to be wild, ain't it Kamikiri!" Tetsutetsu's voice shook with barely contained excitement as he paced around the room.
"Definitely." Togaru wasn't doing any better himself; he stood next to the bomb, arms crossed, with his foot quickly tapping along with his impatience. "And you better remember, Tetsutetsu: I'm the one who's gonna be fighting Midoriya."
"God…damn it! Again?! Really?!" Tetsutetsu stopped his pacing to throw his hands in the air, pointing a finger at his partner as he did. "Bro, we just agreed that we would both fight him! Together!"
"Yeah?! Well guess what?" Togaru's arms uncrossed as he took a couple steps towards his partner. "I'm gonna get the first hi-"
CRASH!
SMACK!
THUD!
"What the he- "
TING!
Tetsutetsu was glad he instinctively turned to metal. Otherwise, he would have gotten a face full of metal.
He stumbled backwards in confusion as the object that hit him fell to the floor; it looked like some sort of metallic base, but it was all broken and bent to shit.
As he shook himself free of his stupor, he heard two noises. One of them was definitely his partner, groaning on the ground. (Shit, did Kamikiri get hit with that thing?)
The other was a wily female voice, whose words sounded like they were being spoken out of the corner of her mouth.
"Are you sure you boys can call yourselves men? You both just got your shit rocked by, like, a fifth of a little girl, right out the gate. That's just… so… sad and pathetic, isn't it?…"
Tetsutetsu felt his annoyance swell as her words stung deeper than what his quirk was able to defend against. With a snarl, he whirled around to face his adversary…
…Who was… half of a floating head?...
He was caught so off-guard that he never saw the floating hand hovering close to the floor.
The hand snatched the base off of the floor again and lunged for his face, shoving the thing forcefully right between his eyes.
The attack didn't hurt, but the act itself irritated him even further, especially when it was so cheap and straightforward.
As he stumbled backwards again, more words came flowing out of her mouth.
"Ya know… I came into this fight with an open mind. I didn't realize I'd have to lower the bar for your stupid asses after a single hit."
"HEY, FUCK YOU!"
Tetsutetsu charged at the dismembered head, who was casually floating near the wall of mushrooms, with an angry raised fist and struck.
The half-head simply swerved to the side as his fist collided with the fungus, creating a cloud of spores as chunks of mushroom blew apart and flew everywhere.
As Tetsutetsu turned toward his source of aggravation, he failed to notice the detached hand pick up a rather large chunk of mushroom from the floor. That might have been because the floating head kept the taunts coming with each swing he missed, steadily adding more fuel to the already blazing bonfire.
The floating head noticed the other person in the room start to stumble upward as he tried to stand on his feet again.
She was running out of time. It looked like she needed to bring out the really juicy insults before the heroes lost any advantages they had.
As she causally floated towards the break in the mushroom wall, she baited the metal man with a taunt she knew would strike home as she continued to dance out of the reach of his fists.
"It's a shame, really, Tetsutetsu. You were looking forward to fighting Midoriya so much that you forgot he had a partner. And if you can't even manage to land a hit on a meeee~…"
Against his better judgement, Tetsutetsu faltered as he listened to her words… and Setsuna had to fight the triumphant smirk that was threatening to spread on her half-face as he bit down on her bait.
"… then what makes you think that you have a chance of winning against him?"
Tetsutetsu renewed his assault, his face contorted in fury and desperation as her words narrowed his focus solely onto her.
And amidst the flurry of blows, Setsuna easily began to reel in the metal fish she had hooked onto her line.
"If you want to win against Izuku, you gotta catch me ~fi-rst!~"
All of a sudden, her floating hand dropped in front of Tetsutetsu's face. And right as he got over his surprise and realized that a severed hand was in front of him, holding a large chunk of mushroom, the hand lurched forward and squeezed it into his face.
The boy ended up choking on a cloud of spores as they got into his nose and in his mouth. Closing his eyes and furiously trying to wipe the stuff away, he heard a retreating cackle. As he opened them again, he saw the girl's head disappear into the opening of the mushroom wall as her hand followed closely behind, its middle finger extended upward in a taunt.
With a roar of rage, Tetsutetsu abandoned all thought and gave chase.
He didn't even bother to listen to his partner, who had just recovered enough to yell out a warning.
"No, you fucking idiot! It's a trap!"
-(TTAE)-
Izuku panted quietly as he stood, hidden behind a wall, on the landing of the fifth-floor.
At the start of the match, the two heroes had immediately charged up the stairs, where they knew the bomb was hidden thanks to Setsuna's reconnaissance.
As he quietly caught his breath, the other side of Setsuna's floating half-head came closer to whisper in his ear.
"Ok, I found the villains. I'm gonna try to start Plan Two."
"Got it!"
"You good to go?"
"I-In a few seconds, yeah."
Izuku looked at the floating half-head as she nodded her understanding before she stared off in concentration.
As he waited for her signal, the image of an old friend forced itself into the forefront of his mind, uninvited...
He began to remember his tenacity and fearlessness whenever he fought a strong opponent. He began to remember how he always won, no matter what he was up against. And it reminded the freckled boy that he was everything that Izuku ever wanted to be.
Izuku's envy began to make his palms sweat and his knees shake as he pictured him standing over his enemy in a cloud of smoke. The vicious, victorious sneer he knew so well made his stomach churn and his heart race with burning familiarity.
He didn't want to think about him. He never wanted to think about him.
But, sometimes, when Izuku really wanted to push limits, when he really wanted to win... he was all he could think about...
Besides… for this part of Plan Two, Setsuna had made the point that Tetsutetsu was more likely to react favorably if Izuku came at him 'loud and proud'…
And who else did Izuku know to be louder and prouder than his old childhood friend?
"Ok, Tetsutetsu's definitely taking the bait. I almost got him."
Izuku gripped his hammer tighter in anticipation, his body shaking with what was to come.
Setsuna suddenly looked at him, as if sensing his unease. Just then, he was truly gratefully for the brief solace her malachite eye brought him.
"Breathe, Izuku. Breathe. You got this, ok? You got this. Oh ok, here we go… Remember the plan! You're up in three… two… one… go!"
Izuku nodded and exhaled his shaky breath…
… and then he charged out of the staircase, screaming, "FUCKING DIEEEEEEEEE!", at the top of his lungs while brandishing his weapon like a madman.
Setsuna blinked after him a few times as she processed his words, his face, and his demeanor. A small "…huh!?…" escaped from her lips before remembering that she was supposed to back him up. Without wasting another moment, she sent some of her parts to follow closely after him while keeping the rest hidden here for now, just in case.
-(TTAE)-
Tetsutetsu left the room and took an immediate right, hot in pursuit of his incredibly agile, utterly infuriating target.
She had successfully led him about five meters down the hall when they both heard something unusual coming from behind them, on the other end of the hallway.
"FUCKING DIEEEEEEEEEE!"
Tetsutetsu skidded to a halt and whirled around unsteadily to see Midoriya charging straight for him.
He had a fierce look in his eyes, a ferocious war cry escaping his throat, and a- wait, was that a fucking parking meter in his hands?!
Just like that, Tetsutetsu forgot all about his anger as his soul became lit up with a unique brew of pride, kinship, zeal, and overwhelming machismo.
Here was Midoriya, bearing his soul and coming at him with an open challenge. And in Tetsutetsu's mind, there was only one thing he could do- no, only one thing he should do- to respond.
Meet his challenge head on with one of his own.
With a brutal grin, Tetsutetsu charged towards him with a war cry of his own, eager to meet his opponent at long last on the battlefield.
"LET'S DO THIS! MIDORIYAAAAA! RAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
They were about ten or eleven meters away from each other, screaming their hearts out in the spirit of competition, when Midoriya abruptly veered to the left. He disappeared from sight as he entered an empty room.
Not wanting to let his quarry escape, Tetsutetsu took the most direct path towards Midoriya that was available.
As he ran and crashed through the walls to find him, he could be heard heartily shouting, "OH NO YOU DON'T, MIDORIYAAAAA!" at the top of his lungs...
...And never once did Tetsutetsu notice the irregular, dark blue shapes that hid behind Izuku as they followed him into the room…
-(TTAE)-
As Izuku entered the room, he prepared himself for what was to come. As his partner's five pieces went to work, he ran through an abridged version of Plan Two in his head.
First, I lure him into an empty room…
Izuku raised his parking meter and faced towards the direction of his partner's pieces, ready to swing with it like it was a baseball bat.
Tokage-san times the attack, while tracking Tetsutetsu-san's movements…
He watched as one her pieces- a part of her shoulder, maybe?- slid along the far wall, indicating their opponent's position as they listened to him rapidly approach. At the same time, her half-face hid behind his body before she whispered in his ear, "Start charging…now!"
As she does that, she will also prepare the trap…
Izuku saw in his peripherals how the other three parts of her were bustling around as he kept his eyes squarely on her shoulder.
From the looks of it, the hand that had accompanied them had attached one end of the capture tape to her… thigh? Half a thigh?... before unraveling a few meters of it. Then another piece- maybe the other half of the thigh- came over and wrapped itself in the other end. The ensemble reminded him of party streamers as the thigh pieces hovered near the ceiling. The hand hovered above the shoulder after it tossed the capture tape to the side.
At the same time, Izuku felt his abs begin to cook the egg as the mice eagerly bobbed their heads about, sniffing the air, waiting to steal it. He began to mentally plot their path in his mind, as he did the day before.
And all that's left to do…
Izuku felt his partner's half head float closer to his ear. "Incoming in 3… 2… 1…"
The shoulder marking Tetsutetsu's location lurched to the side right as the metal man burst through the wall in a shower of concrete.
"MIDORIYAAAAA!"
A-All that's… l-left… to do…
Izuku was wide-eyed and paralyzed.
Tetsutetsu bursting out of the wall shouldn't have surprised him. In fact, the heroes had discussed at length the chances of this exact situation happening.
But to actually be here, in this moment… Seeing the ferocious, gleeful smile spread on his face as Tetsutetsu locked eyes and barreled forward was something Izuku could never have prepared himself for…
Oh God…
Assuming that Tetsutetsu didn't hit him first, he was about to hit someone… with One for All…
With All Might's god-like power…
One wrong move… one small slip-up… one lapse of absolute control and, and, and-
You got this.
Breathe, Izuku.
If you ever need help, I'll be right there with you.
From behind Tetsutetsu, he saw her pieces begin to move in tandem, going forward to carry out their plan.
And that was all Izuku needed to force himself to breathe, freeing himself from his shaky inaction in one smooth motion.
Tetsutetsu lengthened his strides and cocked back his fist as he sped towards his opponent, failing to notice the object that easily kept with his strides…
All that's left to do…
… And suddenly, Tetsutetsu was forced to stop his advance about two meters in front of Izuku. Just outside of his own attack range, but just inside of Izuku's.
… Is strike when the opportunity presents itself!
Everything happened all at once.
Tetsutetsu was almost upon him, and Izuku barely saw Setsuna's hand within the shadow of the metal man's boots. And the moment that Tetsutetsu was both mid-stride in his charge and close enough for Izuku to attack, her hand darted out, palm up, and grabbed his sole before and yanking it toward his other knee…
… and as Tetsutetsu tripped over his own feet, all he could do in the immediate aftermath was panickily flail about as his own forward momentum worked heavily against him. He reflexively chose to forfeit his chance to defend himself in order to stop his fall...
And that was the exact opportunity Izuku was waiting for.
As Tetsutetsu tried his hardest to recover from his vulnerable free-falling position, the mice stole the cooking eggs and began running crazy circles around Izuku's torso. They lit up his abs and his back in sync with his breathing.
The extent of his power then shifted down his arms as he took a decisive step forward and swung, imagining the mice jumping and landing on Tetsutetsu's metal face as he did.
Izuku didn't use the tingling sensation of one percent for this swing, nor did he use sweet spot that three percent offered.
No, this was the boiling, bubbling, five percent that Setsuna had given him the chance to create.
If he had used any other percentage, he was certain that Tetsutetsu would have shrugged off his attack. They would probably never get the chance to catch him off guard again.
And so, with five percent of One for All condensed into the motion of his swing, Izuku struck his metal-clad opponent fully in the face as Tetsutetsu's momentum helplessly carried him forward right into his path.
"CHICAGO… SMAAAAAASH!"
TING!
Tetsutetsu was thrown backward and lifted into the air from the force of the blow. The sight of his head rolling with the movement was a sure sign of brief stupor. A fraction of a second later, he started to fall backwards.
That was when Setsuna's thighs descended upon him, with the capture tape still strung tightly between them.
They sped forward as Tetsutetsu fell backward. The moment the capture tape hit the back of his neck, Setsuna's two pieces flew around him in opposite directions. Once, twice, three times, her pieces dressed him like dancers would a maypole.
As Izuku followed through with his swing, he felt five percent of his power still active within him... and in a spur of the moment decision, new mice began to steal new eggs from his core as he dared to repeat the process once more.
By the time Tetsutetsu had shaken off his stupor, he was already mid-fall... and it was way too late to do anything.
He barely had time to address the ribbons of white that were loosely wrapped around his body before a blurred image moved behind them. He blinked his eyes to focus, and all he could see was Midoriya coming in for another swing, this one coming downward from above his head and accompanied by a yell of power.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
TING!
SMASH!
Setsuna's thigh pieces sped away- ripping the capture tape off themselves in the process- at the same time Izuku sent a wrapped up Tetsutetsu crashing onto the floor. The metal man was laid out eagle-spread in a crater of his making as he gasped for air from being struck in the chest.
In the seconds that followed, Izuku took a shaky breath as his arms trembled in sweet agony. A small cylinder of Setsuna's ear also floated upwards and out from Tetsutetsu's trouser pocket, to reconnect with the rest of her ear.
But before Izuku could even appreciate that fact that he had pulled off two back-to-back five percent hits, and before Setsuna's ear could completely reform, her detached hand snatched the earpiece from the fallen villain and demanded an answer to the question that they both shared.
"All Might! Was that a clean capture, or what?!"
For a split second, there was nothing but a tense, quiet pause.
Then-
"TE-TE-TE-TETSUTETSU HAS BEEN CAPTURED!"
-(TTAE)-
Silence.
There was nothing but absolute, stunned silence in the basement as every pair of wide, available eyes replayed those last five seconds in their head.
Even their teacher, who had been watching this match with a tad (a lot) more diligence than the others, was speechless at this unexpected outcome.
Many of the viewers had a subtle change of heart after Itsuka's earlier declaration. Expectations weren't necessarily high for the green haired duo, but many were still willing to give them the benefit of a doubt.
Some viewers may have expected the heroes to put up a good fight, but still ultimately lose in a close match. Others thought that the villains would still dominate this round with ease, seeing as they both had powerful quirks and high combat ability. And a few viewers may have even vainly hoped for the hero's success, despite knowing the overwhelming disadvantage they were supposedly at.
But no one, absolutely no one, was expecting the heroes to capture their first villain…
… in the first 55 seconds of the simulation.
The number one hero had only been spurred into action when he heard one of his students calling out to him on his earpiece.
And with a quick shake of his head, All Might announced to the entire basement (with just a touch more vigor and excitement than he had previously shown before)-
"TE-TE-TE-TETSUTETSU HAS BEEN CAPTURED!"
All at once, the spell that had seized the basement was broken as howls and cheers of excitement and disbelief filled the room.
Amidst all the noise, All Might watched with a wide grin as his successor and his partner ran out of the room through the hole that Young Tetsutetsu had just made. As he proudly watched their progress, he heard another question from Young Tokage through his ear piece. For some reason, she was on the villain frequency…
"Say, All Might Sensei… Does this count as capturing the bomb?"
The hero snapped his head to the screen that showed the footage of the bomb. While he was momentarily distracted by all the other commotion that was going on in that room, he forced himself to focus on the bomb and saw a singular, detached hand resting upon it, sending him the peace sign through the cameras.
With a surprised, good-natured laugh, All Might replied to her question with one of his own. "Now, now, Young Tokage! Do you really think you can secure a bomb with just one hand?"
He held in a chuckle as he watched half of the young woman's head do an eye roll (which was… quite disturbing, to say the least…). As the two heroes neared the room where the bomb was hidden, she asked another question from next to Izuku as he got ready to strike the wall with his 'hammer'.
"How many of my pieces need to touch the bomb in order to count it as being secured?"
"At least three-fourths of your body, Young Tokage."
Personally, he thought that this specification was just a little unfair to the young woman since no one else had any set on them. But, Vlad King had been pretty insistent on setting up this particular boundary; he now understood why.
"Do it… now- hold up, three-fourths of my body?!"
Just then, a loud noise cut her off at the same time that Young Midoriya swung his makeshift sledgehammer.
-(TTAE)-
Togaru was fuming.
First of all, this chick- Tatimuge? Tukukage?- had blind-sighted him by slamming a hunk of metal into his forehead. He only knew because he heard her voice as he tried to stay conscious.
Had he not grown thick, simple blades protruding from the top of his shoulders to the top of his head when he did, he would have been knocked out.
Still, the surprise attack had been enough to knock him flat on his ass, seeing stars. The hunk of metal, whatever it was, had violently pushed the flat of his blade up against his temple; she basically used his own defense against him. His guard may have been down, but he should have known better than to let her do that.
Then, right as he was getting his bearings back, his dumbass partner just went on ahead and ditched him. No warning or nothing.
It irritated him to no end knowing that his partner fell for such a cheap trick. Even his barely conscious mind had been able to recognize that the chick had obviously been baiting him.
And now, somehow, he was alone in the room with the goddamn bomb.
As Togaru unsteadily got to his knees, he heard yelling literally on the other side of the wall. It sounded like Midoriya was about to clash head-on with Tetsutetsu.
And there was absolutely no way in fucking hell that Togaru was going to let them fight when he wasn't right there with them, bomb be damded.
But as he took a few wobbly steps towards the wall and grew some meter-long blades from his forearms, something whizzed by and smacked him in the back of the head.
Growling, Togaru turned toward the direction the unknown object went when two more suddenly darted towards him. Both broke through the windows and swerved around the bomb to conceal their trajectory.
He was able to dodge the first one- barely- but the second one struck a glancing blow to his windpipe.
As he bent over coughing, three more objects came to attack him- or were they the previous objects from before?
He didn't have the time to ponder- the first and second attacks hit him, hard, in the same kidney. As he dealt with the pain from that attack, he saw the third... thing darting in through the makeshift doorway in the mushroom wall. He barely ducked under that attack before he rolled out of the way, springing up ready to slice the next thing that came at him.
He heard the window break, and turned towards the direction of the sound just in time to see… something dart behind the bomb…
…And then a different something collided with the back of his knee, whizzing away before he had the chance to strike back.
Pesky little… if I could just get this pattern down, I'd be able to parry them as they approach. But seriously, what the fuck is hitting me?!
The hits themselves didn't hurt; so far as he could tell, these were little love-taps. They were more annoying than anything, but God damn they were fast and went straight for his weak points. The objects were so fast that the most he saw of them until now was the outline of their irregular shapes.
But that all changed with the next barrage, consisting of three attacks coming from places both new and old.
By sheer luck, he was able to dodge the attack aimed for his groin and the attack coming for his liver. But the third one, which struck the back of his head, got him completely by surprise.
That was when he finally saw what was hitting him.
Blue scales? So it's that chick's quirk? But how the hell is she hitting me so accurately without visually seeing where I am? I don't see her face, so how-
"All Might! Was that a clean capture, or what?!"
What-
"TE-TE-TE-TETSUTETSU HAS BEEN CAPTURED!"
"The fuck he just say?!" Togaru spoke out loud with bulging eyes, trying to process what was just said through the speakers.
His partner hadn't been gone thirty goddamn seconds, and he already got himself captured?!
Unfortunately for Togaru, he chose the least favorable time to stop and stare in disbelief.
Almost as if they were waiting for the opportunity, eight dark blue pieces darted towards him from different directions and at wicked speeds.
The first two pieces struck him in the stomach. Two more hit him on his right side: one to the same kidney as before, and the other hitting a sore spot in his ribs. One hit the side of his left knee, again. Another darted for his armpit, making his left arm seize up. And the last two went for his throat and his nose, respectably.
Reeling from the barrage, he jumped backwards and put his back against the wall that was behind him. From this vantage point, he could properly see anything that tried to move towards him in the room while also defending against attacks from his blind spots.
Togaru was now beyond pissed that he, of all people, had placed himself in a situation where he was literally backed up against the wall.
That last train of thought didn't quite register with Togaru for the next ten seconds or so, because his mind was otherwise preoccupied. From tracking the little pieces' movements, to parrying and counterattacking an endless volley of fast but simple attacks, to being distracted by All Might's conversation with Tatimure, he was denied any chance to do anything but defend himself.
Until suddenly, the little pieces quickly retreated to the other end of the room.
At the same time, her heard the chick say, "Do it… now- hold up, three-fourths of my body?!"
And before he could properly process what was happening, he was thrown across the room from the sheer force of the exploding wall behind him.
-(TTAE)-
"TE-TE-TE-TETSUTETSU HAS BEEN CAPTURED!"
Relief finally began to well up in Izuku as his trembling arms wiped the sweat off his face.
But before he could even enjoy that brief respite, Setsuna was next to his ear. "Nice work, Izuku! Now, let's go get Kamikiri!"
"Plan Four?" Izuku asked as he took off in a sprint after the dismembered girl.
"You know it!"
As they left through the hole in the wall, Izuku watched as Setsuna brought her hand to her ear to ask All Might a question. He didn't really listen to what she was saying though, as there were other things that required his attention, such as her shoulder piece.
When they came to a sudden stop in the hallway, her shoulder began brushing against the wall like it had before. Unlike last time though, it was moving randomly and quickly, and as Izuku built up power in his stomach, he could only assume that their opponent this time around was incredibly agile.
As he did his best to track her shoulder's movement, he saw out of the corner of his eye how the pieces she kept in reserve flew up to join them for the last confrontation. At the same time, her thigh parts and another piece he couldn't quite make out were spaced apart evenly in a triangular shape above her shoulder as her hand quickly wrapped the three pieces in one continuous link of capture tape.
Izuku was just finishing building up the power in his core when he heard her give the signal. "Do it… now- hold up, three-fourths of my body?!"
Ignoring the last part of her remark, Izuku hastily swung his makeshift hammer towards the wall with what he had assumed was five percent of his power.
Midway through the swing though, something felt… off...
It wasn't until his hammer had connected with the wall that he realized what it was.
As a rough three-meter-wide hole was blown into the side of the hallway, and as Togaru was flung across the room with a grunt of pain, Izuku felt the entire right side of his torso light up in piercing agony.
Suddenly, it became extremely hard to breathe and the grip in his right hand slackened considerably. His weapon clattered to the ground as Izuku cradled the right side of his body…
… and all Setsuna could do was stare in wide-eyed horror as a feeling of dread washed over her.
Oooooh shit, we need to leave. Right now. "Plan Five, Plan Five, Plan Five!"
"R-Right!"
But as Izuku moved the fastest he could to pick up his weapon, they were both made to realize that retreating wasn't going to be quite so easy.
-(TTAE)-
Through the cloud of concrete dust, Togaru had recovered enough to stand. Even though his back ached terribly and he was hacking up a lung, he could see the outline of Midoriya as he hunched over in pain. Seeing a target- his target, no less- in such a sorry state spurred him into ravenous action.
And just like that, Togaru got his second wind.
Currently, there was a little more than three or four meters between them. But that distance was nothing for Togaru.
In the same movement, he withdrew his forearm blades and thrust out his palms, forcing simple harpoons to grow as fast as they could towards Midoriya.
If he hit him, great. But that wasn't his goal.
His goal was two-fold: to hit the wall, and to briefly separate his target from the majority of floating body parts that had begun to swarm around him.
Normally, creating something that wasn't a simple variation of a knife blade on the fly wasn't ideal since it made his weapons incredibly brittle and unbalanced. But, right now was not the time to worry about that.
His harpoons flew past both sides of the freckled boy's startled face within centimeters. More importantly, it also forced a good majority of that chick's body parts to scramble out of their path.
With the harpoons fully embedded into the wall behind the heroes, Togaru rapidly reeled himself towards the duo at a frightening speed before either of them could react. As he flew through the air, he bent his knee and aimed it at his target's face, hoping to score an easy win once he had successfully forced Midoriya onto his back.
Izuku had scampered backwards from his weapon in a panic once he felt the two harpoons flying by him. As he looked up, his heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he saw Kamikiri nearly upon him with a feral smile and a knee coming straight for his face.
Suddenly, a hand yanked him backwards from the neck of his costume. At the same time, something collided with the backs of both of his knees, making him fall backwards even faster.
As Kamikiri sailed by above him, missing him again by centimeters, Izuku was forced back to his feet by the same forces. He was lucky the hand grabbing him had a surprisingly strong grip, otherwise he would have been stumbling around in pain from the sudden jarring movements.
Togaru ended up bouncing off the wall with the balls of his feet, pulling his harpoons back into his body as he did. As he gracefully turned to face his opponents with blades coming out of his forearms, he felt his annoyance return when he was immediately swarmed by a flurry of dark blue body parts.
As he deflected, parried, and dodged the best he could, he saw Midoriya get up from that impressive dodge he just pulled off with the help of a dismembered hand. At the same time, a couple of dark blue body parts lifted something off the floor (is that a fucking parking meter?!) before roughly shoving it into his hands.
A dismembered face then whisper-shouted, "Go go go! Plan Five, I'll buy you a few seconds!"
Togaru didn't know what 'Plan Five' was, but by watching his target turn to eye the closest staircase, he instinctively knew that it had something to do with retreating.
Togaru had also noted how All Might hadn't declared them the winner yet, even though that Tumiyake chick had her hand on the bomb for the past couple seconds.
As he continued to parry and evade with gradually better results, Togaru couldn't help the wide, ruthless, toothy grin that spread on his face as he came to a few beautiful realizations.
Midoriya was wounded.
Totomage couldn't capture the bomb without using multiple body parts. And she needed multiple body parts to both properly attack him and defend the both of them.
Her quirk worked best with the element of surprise. And now that the surprise had mostly worn off, she was basically just an annoyance.
To cap it off, he had them on the defensive, and they were trying to retreat. He had the reach, the range, and the power to fight the both of them, as they were right now, in close quarters and win.
Despite everything that had happened so far, he miraculously had the upper hand in this fight.
And this… was going to be one exhilarating experience.
-(TTAE)-
Izuku was in pain.
Every breath he took, every move he made, was nothing short of excruciating.
It didn't help that Setsuna just shoved the parking meter back into his hands right as he was on the verge of a brief recovery.
"Go go go! Plan Five, I'll buy you a few seconds!"
Izuku's mind began to clear as his body moved to heed his partner's words… but as he turned to eye the staircase they had just came from, he hesitated for a split second.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bomb.
Unguarded.
Not even nine or ten meters behind him.
Victory was within their grasps, just a few steps away.
Was it really ok to just retreat, when they were so close and had come so far? Was it really ok to retreat, just because he had a few broken bones?
Unfortunately, his brief hesitation didn't come without a cost.
Something sharp pierced into Izuku's right shoulder, and it felt like someone had taken a hammer and nail straight to that area. As he cried out in pain from both the shifting of his broken bones and the new foreign object deep in his skin, any indecisiveness about retreating immediately vanished.
A gruff cackle sounded through the air as Izuku's weapon once again clattered to the floor.
"I got ya now, Midoriya! If you think I'm just gonna let you waltz on outta here, YOU GOTTA 'NOTHER THING COMIN'!"
Izuku forced himself to move, dipping down to reach for his weapon as he took a step towards the staircase. Not wanting to aggravate his right arm any more than he had to, he reached out for it with his left.
However, as he brought the parking meter to his chest, something whizzed by in front of him in a blur. All he heard was a metallic ringing sound as something completely sheared off the part that was supposed to collect coins.
Izuku could only stare dumbly at it for a fraction of a second. His hairs then stood on end as a presence rapidly approached from above.
Looking up, he was met with the sight of Kamikiri spinning and jumping into a slash, brushing off the multiple small blue objects that were attacking him.
Izuku barely had time to register the blades on his forearm coming down to slice him before something fast and blue collided into his chest. At the same time, a hand yanked him backwards by his costume again.
"Sorry! I'm sorry! I blocked the bigger kunais but I didn't see the smaller one! Let's ge- Look out!"
Izuku leapt backwards as Setsuna's parts simply scattered from Togaru's forward lunge.
The freckled boy immediately regretted doing that, as the sudden movement sucked the air out of him.
He then dove and rolled towards the bomb as Togaru followed up with an overhead slash, and regretted his decisions even more as his rabbit-like hood slipped off his head.
His chest was killing him, and if the slight sting across his back was any indication, his opponent had grazed him.
But he had no time to rest. Togaru was relentless in his pursuit.
As he lay on the floor, Togaru pounced onto him with like a tiger, wielding a blade in each hand as he struck downward.
Izuku was able to scoot backwards to avoid his downward plunge. But as Togaru withdrew his blades from the ground, Izuku knew he wouldn't be fast enough to avoid the following attacks.
Luckily, he didn't have to be.
Two dark blue objects the size of a young woman's forearms swooped in from under his armpits and began to drag him backwards on the floor of the hallway to avoid the assault.
Izuku could barely see the other dark blue pieces darting here and there around their quickly advancing adversary, doing their best to stall him. Setsuna's entire head then came around to his left side.
"Press your feet against the floor and push! You're a little heavy, ya know!"
His shoulder and his chest were screaming and his breath was still stolen, but somehow, Izuku managed to bring his feet back under him.
Setsuna's forearms began to move upwards as they continued to move back, and soon, Izuku was hoisted back onto his feet. Just in time to avoid another incoming pounce from their pursuer.
Togaru was now right in front of him... But before he could recover, two dismembered boots swerved in from behind Izuku to kick him forcefully in the chest.
As he stumbled backwards from the strength of her kicks, Togaru looked up in time to see something that caused his eyes to widen in alarm. Abandoning all thought, Togaru scrambled backwards as a newly fashioned metal baton came careening for his face.
Izuku watched his reaction, and saw how more on guard Togaru was against his wild attacks than he was his partner's trained, targeted ones. He took another step forward and swung the baton with a backhand. Togaru confirmed his suspicions as he scrambled back even more.
Setsuna used the opportunity to begin another assault, starting with three, well-aimed attacks towards their opponent's back. As Togaru reacted by trying to lash out behind him with one of his blades, Setsuna's hand came around his other side to throw a huge chunk of mushroom at his face.
It was then that Izuku realized three things as he struggled to breathe and watched his partner through the cloud of spores, her multiple pieces moving so cohesively around their opponent like a swarm of bees.
The first was that this young woman, who often presented herself as an easy-going jester, was an incredibly skilled individual.
She moved like a tempest: untouchable and unbeatable, appearing everywhere and anywhere, and always a couple steps ahead of whatever was planned.
He could only watch on in amazement as Kamikiri's practiced swings and veteran thrusts met nothing but air, and for every strike he tried to land, she scored three.
He already knew she was amazing. It was easy to tell from all that planning they did and the remarkable coordination of their earlier attack. But seeing her in action really brought into perspective just how much she outclassed both himself, and their opponents. Probably everyone else in the class too, he was willing to bet.
This led to the second thing he realized in those precious few seconds.
He was absolutely slowing her down. There was no way he wasn't!
She had to waste time to protect and defend him, and she had to scale down her power to match his pace. He had the distinct feeling that, if she were by herself, and if she wanted to get serious... she could have ended this fight without any effort.
Even now, as he watched her move like a whirlwind, a part of him knew she was holding back- and that blossomed multiple different emotions within him.
Envy, for the power and skill she possessed.
Anger, at himself, for slowing her down and getting in her way.
Admiration, as he saw how effortlessly she move, how easily she covered his shortcomings.
Determination and Annoyance, because dammit they were so close to winning! But he just had to get himself injured at the least favorable time.
But most of all, he felt Desperation as he tried to come up with something, anything, to help her out. Anything to show her that she could rely on him, as he had relied on her for this simulation.
And the third thing he realized was brought on by these feelings as he took the time to take a deep breath.
He saw a way to win the simulation within the next twenty seconds.
-(TTAE)-
Setsuna had her hands full.
Multitasking had always been easy for her, but when their opponent was as tenacious as this guy, it made her kind of multitasking much more of a headache than it already was.
And that was barring her current heightened sensory input.
Kamikiri was a lot more skilled than she anticipated, and her attacks were losing their edge. With the element of surprise all but gone from this fight, the only thing she could reliably use at this point of time was her speed and her multitude of attacks. But even then, he was slowly beginning to learn where to defend and when to strike.
It did not help that at every chance he could, he tried to attack Izuku.
She was truly glad (and admittedly, a little miffed) that to him, dealing with her was a secondary goal.
That was one of the few things that was currently saving Izuku from his onslaught. Whenever Kamikiri would try to focus his attacks on him, she would forcibly remind him that he had another obstacle to deal with before he had that pleasure.
Speaking of Izuku… she felt reeeeally bad for rough handling him so much, especially when he was this wounded. She silently promised herself that she'd properly apologize after their simulation was over.
She had to admit though, Izuku's injuries revealed a whole new side to him. One that displayed his determination, his focus, and his insane toughness.
Or, maybe he was just plain insane…
She thought she had quite the pain tolerance, but seeing Izuku still move somewhat agilely with several broken bones in his chest, a shallow gash across his back, and a small throwing knife stuck in his shoulder made her reconsider. Had she not have verified for herself the extent of his current injuries each time she had to manhandle him out of the way, there wouldn't have been any way she would have believed what she was seeing.
And that was why she was so insistent on getting him out of there. They needed time to lick their wounds, and wounded creatures always brought out the savageness in a predator. The more time they spent dealing with Kamikiri, the less of a chance they would have to escape.
Unfortunately, their chances of escape were quickly becoming irrelevant… since all Izuku wanted to do with the time she was buying him- to do exactly that- was stop and stare at the fight before him.
Her floating head appeared next to him, ready to urge him into action.
"Izuku, come on! Plan Five- "
"No, we can't Tokage-san! Plan One! I'll lead this time!"
Setsuna's eyes nearly popped right out of her skull as she turned to address him with an alarmed expression. "Wha- No! No no no! You can't- "
"Just trust me! Buy me a few seconds, and push him back into the room! Leave the triangle with me! We can do this!"
Yup. That settled it. He was insane.
Because there was no way in hell that him leading Plan One would work at this point of time.
When the two of them had finally started to strategize together, they eventually agreed to five different plans of attack.
The second and fourth plans were specific to Tetsutetsu and Kamikiri respectively, and each contained multiple ways to neutralize that specific person.
The third plan was their fallback should the first, second, or fourth plans not yield any results. They designed it to create another chance for them to try the previous three plans again, but with a better outcome.
The fifth plan was their fail safe, the plan they kept in reserve just in case both of the villains came out strong and overwhelmed them. It was also their emergency backup plan should Izuku get injured, or if they ever exceeded five-minute intervals within the exercise.
The first plan, however, was a simple head-on assault to capture the bomb. It was supposed to be used as a means to initiate Plans Two or Four. The only time that they would follow through with Plan One was if both of the villains happened to leave the bomb unguarded, and even then, they had designed it so that Setsuna would be the one to pull aggro as Izuku secured their victory.
If Izuku wanted to lead Plan One, while knowing that she needed at least three- fourths of her body to capture the bomb, that meant he was ready to commit to a face-to face confrontation against Kamikiri.
With little to no back up.
While badly wounded.
And armed with his unpredictable quirk, and a tiny metal stick.
They would easily win, but… if Setsuna wasn't fast enough, Kamikiri would reach Izuku before all her pieces reached the bomb...
...And Izuku was gonna get wrecked if he tried to fight their opponent in his current state. Wounded and inexperienced didn't really amount to much against a skilled fighter with an almost full tank of gas left in them.
But as Setsuna tried to condense these thoughts into simple words, Izuku turned to her with a daring expression- one that made her reconsider everything she was about to say.
The fear, the anxiety, the pain, and the uncertainty were all still present on his face, but now they were being turned into kindling for the wildfire within. His eyes burned with the blaze of resolve, hellbent on this singular goal before him. It was a downright wild look, one that she never would have dreamed to see on the boy before her, and it seemed to only enhance the smile below his burning eyes.
The smile he wore was simple, and displayed a confidence that she didn't know he had. It practically screamed 'you can count on me!' and it inspired a bold, valorous spirit she didn't know was within her. His smile made the words 'We can do this!' echo in her head…
… And she couldn't help but feel that he was about to lead them to an absolute victory.
(He's got this…)
God… dammit, why the hell wasn't she arguing against this idiotic idea!?
As she roughly whispered her next words to him, she promised herself that he was going to get an earful of her thoughts later on, after the fight. At the same time, she instinctively realized that she would never figure out Izuku's true nature… and she was surprisingly ok with that.
"How much time do you need?"
"Give me three seconds!"
"Done. Make sure you make them count. Wait until I say 'go'."
Izuku's smile widened, and the wildfire burned brighter with her support. "You got it, Tokage-san! I will!"
Setsuna turned away from him with a smirk on her face, eyeing her target analytically as she felt Izuku get ready beside her.
And as she shouted "GO!", the heroes began their final assault.
-(TTAE)-
Togaru may have been busy trying to wade through the onslaught of multi-directional attacks, but that didn't stop him from noticing Midoriya and that chick's floating head a few meters away. They were talking just low enough for him to hear their voices, but through the confusion of the battle, he couldn't make out what he was hearing.
He knew they were up to something, but he didn't care- he was thoroughly enjoying himself at the moment, and he still had the upper hand.
But then everything changed when that chick shouted "GO!"
Suddenly, every attack directed at him stopped for the space of a fly's wing-beat. Before he could react, they all darted in the same direction, at a speed he hadn't realized she was able to move at.
As one, all the body parts in the area (save for a few he couldn't immediately see) lurched towards the wall behind him before rebounding back towards him.
The multitude of quick, simultaneous hits from the same direction and aimed at his already sore back hurt something incredible as he was shoved through the hole in the wall that Midoriya had made. As he was thrown into the room with mushrooms, he sprang up as fast as he could with the mushrooms to his back.
Togaru vaguely heard Tamiage sending her pieces straight towards the bomb behind him.
He would have moved to defend it... had it not been for the war cry that sounded before him, solely directed at him.
Heh heh heh... Looks like Midoriya's finally showed up...
Togaru watched as his opponent came charging towards him, screaming bloody murder, with his metal stick poised and ready to strike.
And Togaru felt himself willingly move to accept his challenge, with a savage grin on his face and chills running down his spine.
All Togaru had to do was parry and defend against the weapon. After that, his personal match against the strongest in the class would be his to claim victory.
As Togaru and Izuku rapidly approached each other, the insect-like teen kept his keen eyes on Izuku's face and on the arm that held his weapon. In close combat, the eyes of inexperienced warriors always betrayed their intent… and as much as Togaru respected Midoriya's might, he was, unfortunately, quite inexperienced.
Which was exactly why he was going to win this challenge.
Besides, that weapon had already smashed apart a thick cement wall, dealt one powerful blow to him, and probably dealt a few decisive blows against Tetsutetsu. Not keeping an eye on it would have been stupid.
They were just outside of arm's reach of each other now, and Togaru could easily see through Midoriya's attack. He meant to strike him in the face with his unbelievable strength.
If he hit, Togaru was definitely done for… but again, that was if he hit.
All Togaru had to do was parry with the thick short sword that had grown in his left hand as he dealt the finishing strike with the spear-like blade he had growing from his right.
Or, conversely, he could just slice through the metal baton. As Midoriya stumbled, it would be easy to force him into submission at spear point.
But before he could follow through with either option… the baton deliberately fell out of Izuku's right hand.
-(TTAE)-
When Izuku had stalled his retreat by watching Setsuna and Kamikiri fight, he hadn't wasted a single precious second.
For those few brief seconds, he committed himself to hungrily watch the exchange of blows. His perceptive eyes saw every detail as his overactive mind immediately analyzed the data to find what he desired.
And in his desperate search for a way to win, he noticed three things.
The first was how his opponent was extremely wary of the metal stick in his hands. Izuku's mind rationalized that it made sense, seeing as the blade using teen was an incredible swordsman. Since his quirk created blades, he probably knew first hand just how deadly any weapon in the right hands could become.
So as Izuku charged, he made sure to wave his stick around like a maniac, all the while building up the power of One for All in his hand through Tiger's guidance. And thankfully, Kamikiri's eyes had remained glued, and his bladed hand began to move, towards the remnants of the parking meter as they closed the distance to each other.
The second thing Izuku noticed was Kamikiri's footwork.
Earlier that morning, during homeroom, Izuku had talked to Nirengeki about learning how to fight. His friend had told him that the first step was to establish the groundwork, then to work on the basics. He suggested to begin by refining his fighting stances and focusing on his footwork, as often times the power for a number of techniques in any style are generated through them. Nirengeki even showed the freckled teen a couple of YouTube videos, comparing the footwork of professional fighters to that of amateurs, and took the time to explain the vast differences between them.
This prompted Izuku to begin brainstorming ideas for the creation and improvement of his own fighting style. And while he still lacked some of the information he needed to develop his own stances and footwork… he found he had the knowledge to partially analyze his opponent's.
Through his observations, Izuku noticed that Kamikiri relied heavily on mobility. With each thrust, he lunged. With each slice, he stepped according to the power behind his slash.
With each swing and strike, with every and parry and dodge, Kamikiri was constantly in motion as he skillfully blended his natural momentum, his blades, and his reach to create a deadly little dance.
If Izuku wanted his plan to work, then he needed to restrain his opponent's movements. Even if he could only do it for just a moment.
And that is exactly what Izuku did as his now empty right hand lurched forward to grab Kamikiri by the wrist as his opposite foot came slamming down on the other boy's forwardmost instep.
Togaru's face warped in pain by the sheer pressure that was now encompassing his wrist. His eyes widened in alarm as his natural reaction to move out of the way was stolen from right under him…
…Which led to the third thing that Izuku had noticed.
Against attacks that Togaru could see, detect, or anticipate, his defense was his offense.
Izuku had noticed that when Setsuna struck him from a blind spot, small blades would grow just a fraction too late to try to ward her off before promptly shrinking back into his skin. Other times, when he could actually see the attack coming, he would grow simple blades to strike where the target was supposed to be with startling swiftness and accuracy. The only reason that he missed most of his attacks in this simulation today was because he had the misfortune of fighting Setsuna. Against anyone else, his attacks probably would have hit home.
In close quarter encounters, Togaru was a strong and clever combatant blessed with amazing offense and a quick, vengeful defense…
…But did that still apply when his movements were restrained, and he was up against an attack that was simply too fast and widespread to defend against?
Right as the triangle of body parts and capture tape came into view behind Kamikiri, Izuku felt multiple blades begin to slice through his glove as he continued holding on.
And Izuku couldn't help but smile despite what was probably going to happen next.
This next attack had been all thanks to her, and two specific comments.
'If you have to fight today, then fight with your brain, not your quirk.'
With that little piece of advice, this situation would never have been created in the first place…
'I'm pretty sure you could send everybody in this room flying with the raw power of a simple flick of your fingers.'
…And her little joke made the wheels in Izuku's mind begin to spin…
From a young age, Izuku had seen numerous All Might videos. Multiple times, he had seen his hero use his great strength to hurl powerful gusts of winds from far away. He even saw it in person, when All Might took out the sludge villain!
Whether it was for putting out fires, saving civilians from falling debris, or even knocking down an escaping villain, All Might had been able to simply strike the air to create windstorms of varying power for the purposes he needed them for…
…So why couldn't Izuku do the same thing, with nothing but a simple flick of his fingers?
Obviously, he couldn't use 100 percent at point blank range. And even if he had the time to build up 5 percent, he doubted that it would do anything to Kamikiri besides make him stumble.
That left one last option: to ignore the egg in the microwave, and to focus on rolling the toothpaste.
The egg in the microwave analogy was good for containing his power... but that wasn't what he needed right now.
What he needed was a way to quickly build and release an amount of power greater than five percent but less than 100 in the space of a second. No... less than a second.
And as he learned through Vlad King's training: if he rolled the toothpaste while supplementing it with Edgeshot's guidance, he could achieve that goal with ease.
In the time it took him to raise his other hand waist height and form his middle finger and thumb into a flicking position, he was already halfway through the process. Edgeshot's guidance had quickly gathered five percent of his power, and Setsuna's toothpaste analogy forced the power to rapidly jump and increase for the half-second it was active.
And then Izuku took a deep breathe and flicked his finger.
-(TTAE)-
Togaru was fucked. Plain and simple.
But he wasn't about to give up without a fight.
The moment that Midoriya had dropped his baton, every instinct he had within him screamed 'getawaygetawaygetthefuCKOUTOFTHEWAYRIGHTNOW!'
Faster than he could even react, however, Midoriya had grabbed his arm and secured it in his strong vice grip.
And then Midoriya had stomped onto his foot.
As Togaru reeled in pain, he suddenly realized that Midoriya had no intention of letting him escape.
Once that thought quickly flitted through his mind, a trickle of fear had bled into his excitement for the first time in this fight… And it only added onto the sublime experience that Togaru was having right now.
But, as he mentally declared before, he wasn't giving up without a fight.
He forced multiple long, thin, sharp blades to grow around the wrist being held captive in an effort to free himself.
But as he felt his blades slice through his adversary's gloves… he met resistance.
Togaru's eyes widened even more- he knew he just hit skin, but… it felt like he was trying to cut through Kevlar…
The trickle of fear grew to a steady stream as his half-formed blades were crushed by the might of his opponent's terrifying grip strength.
Oh yeah… that's right…
Midoriya had completely crumpled one of those grip measurement devices a couple of days ago...
How the hell did he forget about that?!
Desperate to escape, he took the spear-like blade in his other hand and was about to stab Midoriya in the shoulder with it…
But stopped in his tracks as his eyes met Izuku's, and awe began to seep into the mix of emotions he felt.
As he took in the eyes full of wildfire and the smile of triumph in man before him, Midoriya's other hand moved out of the corner of his vision.
Togaru looked down to see his other hand poised into a flicking position. He witnessed the sheer power within this man's body becoming so intense that his own clothes- the sleeve of his costume and most of his left glove- started to rip apart under the strain, revealing his bare hand and wrist for the world to see.
And as Togaru ruefully smiled, true and proud, as he gladly accepted his defeat…
As the metal baton Izuku had been holding clattered onto the floor…
As every available body part that Setsuna had suddenly came in contact with the bomb to secure it…
As Setsuna's decapitated head witnessed the reckless brilliance of her partner's plan from behind him…
And as her eyes widened when she suddenly became acutely aware of the power Izuku wielded…
Izuku took a deep breath, flicked his finger, and cried out, "DELAWARE… SMAAAASH!"
-(TTAE)-
So many things happened at once, it was impossible to tell the order of them happening.
A wide gust of gale-force winds was suddenly created into this tiny space. Luckily, it was angled just enough to keep Setsuna and the bomb out of its range- with room to spare.
Togaru was thrown back by the wind, and straight into the simple spiderweb of tape that lay behind him. Said spiderweb of tape was also blown back against the wall of mushrooms, just moments before Togaru landed within them.
Surprisingly, the mushrooms withstood the power of the winds for a brief moment. But as the flying floor tiles, ceiling tiles, and everything else that the room was constructed of was thrown at the mushrooms as well, they quickly began to crumble apart.
Once the powerful winds died down, the aftermath was apparent. Surprisingly, the wall of mushrooms had prevented a lot of the damage from seeping into the other half of the room.
All that was left was a ruined room, with some blown out windows, a few destroyed walls, a shattered floor, a partially missing ceiling… and a very beaten Togaru, laying dazed and battered in the corner atop a pile of broken mushrooms and debris.
Setsuna's body parts weakly finished wrapping the capture tape around him, and for a few seconds, there was nothing but silence once more.
Then-
"KAMIKIRI HAS BEEN CAPTUUUURED! AND THE HEROES HAVE SECURED THE BOMB! WHAT A FLAWLESS VICTORY, AND THE HERO TEAM WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS! IN A MINUTE AND FIFTY-TWO SECOOOOOOOOOONDSSSS!"
Author's Note!
So first, thank you all for your patience, and I hope 2021 is better for all of you than 2020 was. Also, happy belatted holidays, everyone!
And I gotta ask... how did you guys like this fight? How'd you guys like the sneak peak into Setsuna's backstory? How'd you guys like Izuku's development, Chicago Smash, and the powered-down Delaware Smash? And my interpretation of Tetsutetsu and Kamikiri's characters? (Sorry, but it annoys me to no end when writers turn those two into carbon copies of Kirishima and Bakugo- they are their own characters, after all.)
Anyway, all that's left of the Battle Trials is to wrap it up. And you know what that means...
The USJ is right around the corner. After that, a little bit of filler, and then the Sports Festival.
I hope you guys are ready- shit's gonna get real, real fast.
Be safe everyone, and from the bottom of my heart, thanks for making my 2020 so much better!
