I have returned, for real this time. With this next set of chapters we'll be finishing up this arc and moving into the USJ Arc. Also I early to today I post a new story, 'Subject 9'. It'll replace 'Hitokori', which has been deleted. No review reply today so let's get on with the chapter.
Battle Trial Arc
Chapter 20: Animal Friends
In CCTV Everyone watched as the teams made their preparations. On the villain team was the invisible Toru Hagakure and the rock headed Koji Koda. Their opponents on the hero team were the frog girl Tsuyu Asui and the raven headed Fumikage Tokoyami.
"Who you calling for this match Ruby?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know. In terms of power and versatility Tsuyu and Fumikage hold the edge. But Koji and Toru could use their quirks cleverly to counteract that." Ruby noted. "What do you think?"
"Well I'd say they're actually relatively even. I don't have a gauge on Tokoyami's [Dark Shadow], but it seems very powerful. That, coupled with Tsuyu's versatility, makes them the favorites to win this one in my book, though not by much." Jaune noted.
"True but you can't forget he might be weak up close. With Toru's [Invisibility] she can sneak up on him a get the drop on him. Koji can also use an army of birds or something to cause chaos in the match." Ruby pointed out.
"Good point, also…" Jaune continued.
As the two went back and forth Momo observed them from nearby. Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc… It's shameful of me to admit it but I didn't think much of them, not in terms of strategy at least. In the quirk assessment test they showed a great deal of skill in using their quirks. However I'd yet to notice anything that would denote them as exceptional intelligent, at least compared to the rest of our classmates.
Yet Ruby was able to foresee things in Midoriya's match that I could not. Even if she has prior knowledge of the two's history, that's still impressive. Then in my match she was observant enough to notice I bugged the outside before the start of the match. And Jaune seems to be on an equally proficient level in many regards. Each of their points in regard to this match are spot on. Not only that but both give off an air of leadership and likely have some natural talent in realms such as strategy and tactics.
Even still there level comes from more than natural talent. It's possible they simply studied but this seems like something more. I can't put my finger on why, but I feel like they possess some sort of experience in matters of leadership and strategy. But where would they have gotten such experience? Why does it feel like something's… off in regard to them? I can ponder this later. Once I see their matches I'll have a better read on them. For now I should observe this match and see what I can learn.
Meanwhile, in the building…
Toru skipped through the room with the bomb in it as she took in her surroundings. While she was feeling pretty good about their chances, her partner was clearly nervous.
"Hey quit being so nervous we'll do fine." Toru cheered.
Koji jumped in surprise. He shook his head no.
"You aren't nervous?" Toru questioned.
He shook his head no.
"Your nervous but not about the match." She deduced.
He nodded vigorously.
"Are you shy or something, is that why your not talking?" She questioned.
He, again, nodded vigorously.
"Oh… I see… I guess me being naked isn't helping." She noted.
Koji gave her a confused look.
Meanwhile, outside the building…
Tsuyu studied the building layout on the map while Fumikage kept his gaze fixed on the building before him.
"Any suggestions, Asui, on how to best deal with our foes?" He inquired.
"Hmm… Toru might be a problem ribbit, it's hard to deal with an opponent you can't see." Tsuyu pointed out. "And I remember Koda seeming to command birds during the ball toss. It's likely he can talk to and command all kinds of animals. Depending on what he has to send our way it could be troublesome. Also call me Tsu."
"Tsu?" Fumikage inquired as he gave Tsuyu a questioning glance.
"Yeah we're partners and I get the feeling we'll be good friends. And I like my friends calling me Tsu ribbit." She expressed with a smile.
Fumikage looked at Tsuyu with an expressionless face. Slowly his cheeks turned red. Did he seriously blush from that? Tsuyu mentally question with her finger on her mouth.
"W-well anyways Asu… I mean Tsu. How best do you think we deal with Hagakure's [Invisibility]. Koda's quirk doesn't seem to be much of a factor in this. At least not in comparison to Hagakure's." Fumikage pointed out.
"Hmm… … … Ribbit… … … Honestly… … … I don't have a clue." Tsuyu expressed blankly.
Did you really have to take that long to answer? Fumikage thought to himself.
"Well… maybe by predicting the enemies next moves we can catch her when she goes to capture one of us." Fumikage suggested.
"That could work I guess. Or we can opt to finding the bomb and avoid fighting all together." Tsuyu suggested. "I can climb along the walls and search the outside of the building for the bomb."
"That's assuming it's by the window but that could still work in our favor." Fumikage stated. "If you come in from the top and I from the bottom we could cover more ground faster. And since your ability to scale walls wasn't shown during the quirk assessment it's unlikely they'll know about it."
"True, but splitting up could make us easier targets. A two verses one could be difficult. Though it would make finding the bomb more efficient and it's unlikely they'll leave the bomb unguarded so it'd still probably be a one on one." Tsuyu pointed out. "Just to be safe when one of us finds it we should let each other know in case both of them stayed behind."
"Agreed," Fumikage replied.
The two waited in silence as time tick away to the start of the match.
"And start!" All Might announced.
Immediately Fumikage rushed into the building from the first floor, while Tsuyu leapt onto the building and began searching to see if the bomb was near a window. Racing through building, Fumikage scoured every room in search of the bomb. As he searched he remained on guard for any potential surprise attacks. After finding nothing on the first floor, he quickly made his way up to the second floor. Their he also found no signs of their opponents or the bomb. Then he made his way to the third floor.
When reach the stairs to the third floor, he stopped dead in his tracks at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes widened and mouth was agape at the sight before him. Atop the stairs, waiting for him, was Koji, who was putting on a nervous brave face. Koda?! What's he doing here? I thought Hagakure would be the one who'd go out not him. I should warn Tsu. He went to place his finger to his ear piece. However before he did, he stopped. Wait, Koda's not surprised to see only me here. He should have expected at the two of us not one. I made sure to watch for any signs of Hagakure sneaking out to try and listen in on us. In the time Tsuyu and I were talking she couldn't have snuck out without us noticing. By the time she'd make it the the back door we'd have finished our strategizing. Then why isn't he surprised.
Then he had an epiphany. Koda can talk to animals and command them. That'd mean he's likely studied up on what all kinds of animals can do. So he'd know about Tsu's frog-like abilities including the ability to climb walls. He predicted we'd split up. But even still why would he face me alone. Hagakure would be better. No offense to him but there's little he can do against my [Dark Shadow]. Unless… His eyes narrowed on Koji. He prepared to charge forward, only to spin around 180.
"[Dark Shadow]!" He shouted as he did, calling out the shadow bird entity that served as his quirk.
[Dark Shadow] lunged out and attack in front of him.
"AAAHHH!" A disembodied girl's voice screamed.
Toru had managed to hop away from the attack at the last second. With here hand no longer covering her ear, a small ear piece could be seen floating.
"Dangit, he predicted our surprise." She groaned.
Fumikage grew more frustrated. Their both here. Why would they leave the bomb unguarded. Wait… He placed his finger to his ear. Both Toru and Koji both went to charge Fumikage.
"Tsu, don't go for the bomb it's a trap!" Fumikage shouted.
Toru and Koji stopped. Koji's eyes went wide in surprise.
"Oh come on, he figured that out too?" Toru groaned.
"That confirmed it." Fumikage muttered.
"I'm by the stairs from the second floor to the third, both Hagakure and Koda are here. Get here as fast as you can." He stated.
He resumed his focus on Koji and Toru.
A little earlier…
After finding no signs of the bomb by the windows, Tsuyu made her way through the building from the top floor. The building had seven floors in total. After searching through the whole of the seventh floor, she quickly made her way down to the sixth floor and began searching their. I hope we can find it soon the clocks ticking down. Not long after starting her search through the sixth floor, she found the room with the bomb. It was completely empty save for the bomb and a pair of gloves and boots on the floor. That must be Toru's. Is she in here waiting for us? And where's Koda? Is he hiding? She suddenly heard something squeak by here. She looked down and saw a rat run past her.
"RIBBIT!" She screamed she hopped away from it.
The rat ran into the room.
"Why did there have to be a rat." She sighed.
She looked into the room again. There was still no signs that anyone was their. There's no way they'd leave the bomb unguarded. This has to be some sort of trap.
"Tsu, don't go for the bomb it's a trap!" She suddenly heard Fumikage shout into her earpiece.
Looks like it was right.
"Yeah I figured that when I saw the room empty. Where are you?" She asked.
"I'm by the stairs from the second floor to the third, both Hagakure and Koda are here. Get here as fast as you can." He stated.
Both Toru and Koda then who's guarding the bomb?
"Got it, I'll…" She began.
Suddenly she heard something coming from the room. She looked and saw a huge hoard of rats charging towards her.
"RIBBIT?!" She expressed.
She quickly began to hop away as the hoard continued to chase her.
"I'll be there soon Tokoyami! RIBBBIIIIIIIT!" She shouted into her ear piece.
Meanwhile, on the second floor…
Did I hear a group of squeaking rats? And why did she sound panicked. Fumikage thought to himself, though he didn't dwell on it for long. With [Dark Shadow] beside him, his attention remained on his opponents, Koji behind him and Toru in front of him. No one dared to make the first move. After what felt like an eternity, Toru was the first to move charging forward at the same moment covering her ear piece. [Dark Shadow] immediately smashed up the ground and part of the walls and ceiling kicking up a lot of dust. The dust cloud obscured Fumikage as he called back [Dark Shadow]. With no hesitation, Toru charge right in. Okay, there's no way it's like the movies and he can see me through the dust even though I'm invisible. So even if I can't seen him through this I should be able to… Suddenly she saw a dark claw come lunging at her.
"He can see me!" She exclaimed.
With no time to dodge, she raised up her arms to defend as [Dark Shadow]'s attack sent her flying out of the dust cloud. She tumbled on the ground for a bit before coming to a stop.
"Darn it really is like movies." She moaned.
Not even close. Fumikage thought to himself. I had no idea it was her. The dust only lets me see if someone is moving through it and generating wind. If she hadn't run in, she would have gotten a lot closer. Fumikage continued to observe his surroundings as [Dark Shadow] kept watch behind him. His eyes were straining to see any signs of movements in the dust. Meanwhile, outside the dust both Toru and Koji were hesitant to head into the dust. Okay so Toru can't sneak through, then what do we do? Koji thought to himself. Maybe if we charge in together we can get him? Now… just need to talk to her. Slowly, but surely, he raised his hands up to the communicator in his ear.
"Hagakure if we charge in together we can get him." He whispered in a very quite voice.
"Oh good idea let's do on the count of three." She whispered back. "One, two, thre…"
"I'm here Tokoyami!" They suddenly heard Tsuyu shout.
Huh? Koji mentally questioned.
"Ow!" He shouted as Tsuyu bounced off his head.
"Finally!" Fumikage shouted.
He had [Dark Shadow] swipe away the dust cloud. Tsuyu landed next to him.
"Glad you made it Tsu." Fumikage greeted.
"Same here. Also you might want to get ready, we've got some guests coming ribbit." Tsuyu stated.
"Guests?" Fumikage questioned.
"SQUEAK!" They all heard.
Suddenly a large hoard of rats came charging down the stairs. Both Fumikage's and [Dark Shadow]'s jaw dropped.
"Hell yeah there's our back up!" Toru shouted.
I know Koda didn't tell them that but hey, they don't need to know that. Guess he decided to have them help us. The rats began to run around a surprised Koji and charged straight towards Fumikage and Tsuyu
"So any plans to deal with this?" Fumikage inquired.
"Yeah I'll throw you towards Koda ribbit. You take care of him while I take care Toru." Tsuyu ordered.
"Alright, I'll trust you have a way around her [invisibility]." Fumikage replied. "Let's go Tsu!"
"Ribbit!" Tsuyu express.
She sent her tongue out and wrapped it around Fumikage's waist. Whipping herself around, she flung him straight at Koji before charging towards Toru. He flew over the rats and straight at Koji, much to his opponent's surprise. Instead of attacking however, Fumikage sailed over Koji. As he did he pulled out his capture tape, he used [Dark Shadow] to wrap it around Koji in an instant. Using [Dark Shadow] to give him a boost, he landed a little was up on the steps behind the rat hoard.
While this was all happening, Tsuyu charge at Toru. Toru readied herself for her coming opponent. She covered up her transmitter so she'd be completely invisible. Quickly, Tsuyu secreted some mucus.
"Sorry in advance Toru." She stated as she flung it on to the invisible girl.
A decent amount of mucus was splattered on Toru revealing her, luckily for her it didn't land anywhere embarrassing.
"Ewww… gross." She expressed.
Suddenly a kick came flying towards her. In the nic of time she was able to avoid it. Quickly she readied her capture tap. However, Tsuyu was already on top of her. Before she could react, she was kicked into the wall. Dazed from the attacked, Tsuyu was able to easily capture her.
"The villains have been captured, hero team wins." All Might announced.
With that announcements the rats suddenly dispersed.
"fuhhh… that one was pretty close ribbit. Good job out there Tokoyami." Tsuyu commented to her approaching teammate.
"Same to you Tsu." Fumikage returned. "And good job to you two. You caught me off guard there."
"Thanks," Toru replied as she tried to brush the mucus off herself.
Koji gave a nod and a smile in response. After brushing off some more mucus, she bent down and picked up her gloves and shoes.
"Guess he had them bring them." Toru muttered.
"Alright everyone report back to the CCTV for your evaluation." All Might directed.
"Yes sir!" They all replied.
Later, in the CCTV…
All four participates lined up before their teachers for their evaluation.
"Excellent work out their students each team performed well and stayed true to the spirit of the test." Glynda praised.
"Indeed, in fact we had a hard time deciding on the MVP for the round." All Might expressed. "While it was close between all four ultimately Young Tokoyami earned the title for this round. Can anyone explain why?"
"I can." Jaune stated with raised hand.
"Take it away young Arc." All Might directed.
"Right," Jaune replied. "It's because Tokoyami was able to keep a level head in a two versus one situation. Through quick thinking he was able to deduce the enemies plan and shut it down immediately. This allowed him to stall for long enough to enable Asui to arrive and give him a hand, ultimately leading to their victory."
"Correct!" All Might proclaimed. "Though as we said it was a close choice between any of them."
Geez that's another one of my students as good or better at this then me. That makes three now.
"By the way Mr. Koda, Ms. Hagakure, how did you get the rats to organize like that. I didn't know Mr Koda's quirk extended that far." Glynda noted.
"Oh well… you see…" Toru began.
"deys had a little helps from me." A voice spoke up.
Everyone looked around the room for the source of the voice.
"Overheres!" It shouted.
Everyone's went straight to where Ruby was. She looked and saw on her shoulder a rat. It looked like a normal rat but it stood up right like a human. It's arms were folded across it's chest.
"Yo!" It expressed with a wave.
Ruby: *Stares at the rat on her shoulder with mouth agape.*
Jaune: *Stares at the rat on Ruby's shoulder with mouth agape.*
The Rat: *Looks between the two* Looks like I's gots to handles dis dis week.
The Rat: *Clears his throat* Next times we's finds out mores about me. Also we gets on to da pretty boy over there's match. *Points to Ren*
Ren: *Stares at the rat on Ruby's shoulder with mouth agape.*
The Rat: Alsos Mamadoriya has a little encounters and da train. I's hope things don't go's to bads. Next times Chapter 21: Close Calls. Catch ya guys den...
