Want to know something funny?
The original file for this got corrupted alongside chapter 19...I managed to force myself to redo all of the edits and rework in a matter of hours.
As the original reworking took me DAYS to finish.
After remastering this chapter, I wish I had taken more time.
My Hero Academia Untold: The Fafnir Knight (Remastered Edition)
Saga I: Dusk
Arc II: The Incident
Chapter XVII: A Trial by Fire Part 2
"Ah damn it, Katsu! Where did you put it?" Yū grumbled to herself as she searched through every nook and cranny of Katsuki's room. It had become common for the two cousins to borrow stuff from each other that they often forgot to return.
"FOUND IT!" Upon finding her lost volume of one of her favorite romantic-comedy manga in a box hidden in Katsuki's closet, she exclaimed. Where it often went whenever Izuku stopped by for a visit as Katsuki would never admit this great secret to him. A secret that only Yū and the rest of the Bakugou family knew: Katsuki Bakugou was a complete sucker for romance.
It was even a tradition in the Bakugou household to have a romantic movie night about once a month, twice if they were lucky. One of the few times that the entire Bakugou household was ever tranquil and at peace. The tradition has gone to the point that it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Katsuki to brawl with his own eyes to keep the tears from pouring out. Especially if the movie turned out to be really good. Hell, he would even need a hug from someone in the family from time to time.
Needless to say, if Katsuki was to ever be confronted with this fact. He flat out would deny it and would likely follow up by threatening your wellbeing while continuing to deny it until his dying day.
She sat on his bed for a moment, double-checking for any damage to her volume, knowing from experience that Katsuki's passion could lead to a rather explosive reaction. Given one case when Katsuki read the latest book of Between The Realms and had realized that his favorite ship had sunk. The poor volume ended up becoming nothing more than a pile of ashes and broken dreams.
Mind you, it was Yū's OTP that sailed that day in opposition to Katsuki's.
At least Yū was happy to find no trace of damage done to her current copy, she slowly rose up when her phone began to ring. The ringtone she had set let her know instantly who was calling, so she answered it as she made her way back to the living room downstairs.
"Hey Ryūko, what's up?" Yū answered as she plopped down on the living room couch to relax.
"It's a slow day, and I wanted to check up on you after I heard you got injured yesterday." Ryūko chirped over the phone cheerfully. Yū smiled; Ryūko had been a big help to her when she went independent, leaving the Dragon's Nest as a sidekick to be a mainline Pro in her own right.
"I'm fine. Just resting up for a bit." Yū answered before remembering an exciting piece of gossip she had heard on her last patrol. A mischievous smirk grew on her face knowing that Ryūko should have more than enough time on her hand for a small chat.
"Hey...Ryūko."
"Yes, Yū?"
"You finally planning on breaking Katsu's little heart by telling him about you and Edgeshot?"
Yū's smirk grew into a grin as she heard Ryūko spit out her drink and start coughing violently over the phone.
'Bingo...'
"WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT?!" Ryūko exclaimed.
"Oho! So it is true!"
"...I may have a date set up with him. And Kacchan's crush on me will end sooner or later; it's not like I'd ever be with him. I'd rather not go to prison and whatnot..."
"Woohoo, a dragon going after a ninja. You know how to pick them." Yū laughed, remembering some of the stories of when Ryūko was much younger. "Have a thing for older guys?"
"We're not official or anything, just testing the waters a bit, you know?" Ryūko answered nervously.
"Does your family know?"
"Only Inko and you now."
"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll keep quiet...if only for the sake of my dear little Katsu's heart," Yū mocked with a childish voice.
"I swear you're more of a Bakugou than you lead on Yū." Ryūko deadpanned.
"Are you sure that we have to leave him there?" Eijirou asked sadly as he carried an unconscious Mina on his back. He was still riddled with guilt for his hand in possibly ending his upperclassman's family line with a single punch.
"You heard the bastard, Ballbuster." Katsuki snapped, feeling angrier than he should have been at the moment, as though someone was mocking him somewhere. Katsuki held his injured hand, trying to nurse it as best he could with what little first-aid knowledge he had. "He wanted us to leave him there; it's not like he'll want to move much anyway."
The new nickname made Eijirou flinch with a fresh wave of guilt. Remembering all of Alex's English swear words that could make any sailor blush, that and a possible curse to the Kirishima family line that would haunt them for generations. -Not that Eijirou would blame the guy.
Still, the redhead swore to himself that he would continue to beg forgiveness from his senior when he got the chance. He considered it completely unmanly to leave things as they were.
"Why do I have to retreat?" Minoru complained loudly, annoyed about the situation while trying to wipe off the blood that kept flowing from his scalp out of his eyes. With only two of his sticky balls remaining and none of the others growing back yet, Katsuki had his doubts.
"Easy Grapeboy," Katsuki growled as he kept an eye out for other threats. "We're pretty fucked up as we are now, and that was from only one of the five bastards we have to deal with. Better we back out now and let the other extras that aren't fucked up take over."
Reiko was bored, and Nejire had left her alone to go after her liaison classmates.
Now she knew this was part of the deal from signing up as a liaison student with Hitoshi, but did they really need to make them wear these silly costumes? She wore a lab coat and a cheap cop 'costume' for Hitoshi. It was just a black shirt with a cheap plastic badge, for goodness sake!
Her role in the briefing was to be a "Bomb Specialist," and Hitoshi's was the "Bomb-Squad Cop." Add in the fact that as pleasant as "Nejire-Chan" was, her numerous questions would probably drive anyone into insanity. Great for mentally breaking villains, not so great for bored juniors trying to make their own way into the Hero course.
Yet as she was still deep in her thoughts, the door for her room creakily and slowly began to open by itself. Snapping Reiko out of her thoughts and placing all her attention on the door.
"Hello?" Reiko called out, unsure if it was someone or the door just being faulty.
"Oh, hi there! I'm-" The voice of Tōru suddenly spoke up, having the unintentional side-effect of scaring Reiko so severely that her scream echoed throughout the building.
Everyone else continued their observations at the hero base and waited for Katsuki's team to arrive. Some chatted quietly, commenting on what they saw. In contrast, others like Ochako had been busy speaking with Fumikage and Tsuyu with her phone out.
"Thanks again for helping out, Tokoyami," Ochako said gratefully while looking over the pictures she had just taken of the avian boy.
"It was of no concern, Uraraka. It would not have been the first time I have dealt with a situation like this," Fumikage answered calmly with the tiniest hint of a smile. "I...have accidentally frightened many children due to my visage."
"Ribbit...you're actually really nice, aren't you, Tokoyami?" Tsuyu asked with a slight hint of a laugh.
Fumikage looked away as if the comment made him embarrassed. "Revelry in the dark..."
"I'll take that as a "Yes" ribbit…."Tsuyu answered with a giggle, much to Ochako's bemusement.
Meanwhile, as the trio of Momo, Kashiko, and Izuku were busy monitoring the situation at the operator's station, the primary central monitor's feed was suddenly cut-off screen before displaying nothing but static.
"Wait, what's going on?!" Izuku asked, standing up as he attempted to bring the signal back from the console.
"I don't know!" Momo responded, trying to check over her side of the console when a burst of loud echoing laughter rang out throughout the entirety of Site Gamma for everyone to hear.
"MUWHAHHAHAHAHA!"
The feed returned, revealing Mirio Tōgata, leader of the Big Five, wearing a fake black pointed mustache over his costume's visor. Which just cut down the intensity of the threatening laughter like a knife to rice paper. Everyone else watching the monitors was just confused by their upperclassman's appearance.
At the same time, Shouta Aizawa was still in the observation room. Wearily facepalming himself as he watched one of his most promising senior students in the whole of UA perform this kind of theatrics.
"The number one student in the school..." Shouta sighed, while All Might couldn't help but laugh.
"You have done well, my dear heroes!" Mirio exclaimed dramatically, his body animating with each word.
Tenya exclaimed, "The dastardly boss has finally appeared!" Ultimately bought in by Mirio's overboard acting.
"However, it seems like we have been far too lenient in letting you scrape on by." Mirio's tone suddenly turned dark as he grew a vicious grin. "Allow me to fix that. Suneater, would you kindly give us a demonstration?"
For a few moments, it was utterly silent in Site Gamma, save for anyone who was still on the move, while those at the control panel waited with bated breath. Uncertain as to what exactly was to come of this demonstration.
Among the remaining souls out in the field, Kyouka was about to ask the Operators for an update. When she noticed movement in the room, she kept a tab on.
'What is going on?' She thought to herself as she replaced her jacks into better positions against the wall before the question answered itself. The game completely changed when she heard a small pop, and the automated announcement called out.
"A hostage has been killed by the villains!"
Inside the room, Tamaki was standing over his "hostage" with a small remote-like device that simply made a simple popping sound to replicate a firearm when activated. Hitoshi sat there with an annoyed expression etched on his face, given that he was now dead without being to do anything. However, he was at least grateful that his thankless role in this exercise was now over.
Tamaki quickly began to untie the young brainwasher. Who at first chance simply got up silently to make his way back to the break room alone, using a secret door on the opposite side of the room to exit.
With Hitoshi out of the picture, Tamaki pulled back the white hood of his costume, revealing a pair of rabbit ears that protruded from the top of his head. Thanks partly to his rabbit jerky snacks and a few other surprises he had in store for the Hero, he could now hear behind the wall next to the door on his right.
Kyouka had been left wholly stunned and wide-eyed; the hostage she was supposed to keep an eye on was taken out of the game. If this had been the real deal, someone's death would have now been on her hands; the very thought made a chill run down her spine.
"Holy shit..." She thought, "just how far is this damn test going to go?"
It was this distraction, however, that made her miss out on the footsteps she should have heard getting closer until a cow's hoof suddenly busted through the wall in front of her.
"GAH!" Kyouka yelled from the sudden shock and severe crash caught by her jacks that painfully forced her back. Making her fall on her ass as she clutched her head to try to manage the ringing pain plaguing her. The hoof retreated back to the wall only to be replaced with several long tentacles that sprung out of the hole in its place. These strong tentacles made quick work of Kyouka as they began wrapping themselves around her limbs to keep her from escaping.
"What the hell!?" She screamed out in a complete panic struggling between the pain in her head and wrestling her limbs out of the tentacles' grip.
All the while, the video feed from her chest-mounted camera gave her fellow heroes a front-row seat to her sealed fate. Kyouka saw one of the tentacles wielding a small remote-like device, and that suddenly made a popping sound in front of her face.
Kyouka's camera feed was instantly cut out at the base, with an automated announcement following shortly.
"Hero, Kyouka Jirou has been Killed-In-Action!"
Everyone at the base who had witnessed the dramatic moment was left completely stunned. None of their plans had accounted for something like this.
Izuku knew that this class assignment had felt off from the start, but this was the moment that he came to one conclusion: they had been thrown to the wolves.
Now in full-on panic mode, Izuku's brain began to shoot out ideas and plans a mile a minute. Trying to compensate for this new dynamic launched into the game. He had been the leader from the start, so he felt the need to act as quickly as possible to try and salvage the operation the best they could.
"Yaoyorozu! Send everyone I listed to back up Kasei and Hagakure now! I'm going to try to secure the bomb!" Izuku managed to yell out before sprinting at full speed out of the base.
"Wait, Midoriya!" Momo called out, trying to get him from leaving, but like almost everyone else, she stood there shaking from the fear that had just been instilled in them, knowing it was too late. She started going over all the notes they had so far now that...everything seemed to be fair game for the villains now while they as heroes were still limited by the rules.
And that was when it hit her. Momo's eyes grew wide as she seemed to realize why their mission seemed so hard for a first practical exam.
'Were we meant to fail this?'
"I do hope you take us far more seriously now, my dear heroes," Mirio chuckled darkly as he reached for the camera's off button but then, he stopped.
"Oh! But before I forget! The hostages- well, at this point, the last hostage is the only one who can disarm the bomb! For which I have now started its countdown. You have twenty minutes." Mirio began again as a display of numbers appears on the bomb's countdown to detonation.
19:59
"I hope you didn't think you could disarm the thing by yourselves without any training," Mirio laughed out loud. His voice returned to being more overly dramatic and playful. "But I let no one say that I'm not a fair fighter. The bomb is in the building at the heart of Site Gamma."
As he said, a signal appeared on Site Gamma's map highlighting the bomb's location.
"On which floor, however, is something you'll need to figure out on your own! I suspect we'll be seeing each other very soon, my dear Heroes!" Mirio finished with a bow before the feed cut out and the original display returned.
Momo sat there for a moment as she tried to calm herself and tried her best to salvage the mission with everything she had on hand.
'Jirou and Ashido are down for the count, so I can only send one person out right now.' She began thinking to herself as Momo listed off everyone available for deployment. Her options were minimal, given that Izuku had decided to take one of the two spots currently available for himself. Pulling up the list of available names that remained on-site with her as her eyes scanned the list while mentally processing the best possible candidate among them.
'Whoever I send out now needs to count since I still have to wait for the remainder of Bakugou's group to return, which would let me send out three more people. The remaining villains would now logically converge to the bombsite to defend it. Knowing that whoever I send out needs some real firepower.'
Then she saw his name. The one who seemed to fill the bill perfectly.
"Todoroki!" Momo called out through the microphone. "Please head over to Kasei's and Hagakure's location and try to rescue Kaminari along the way if possible!"
Upon the rooftop, Shouto looked over the west side of the building where Denki had gone toward. He shot out his right hand to begin forming a massive ice bridge towards the nearest rooftop to follow in the electric blond's footsteps.
"Understood; I'm heading out now." He said in a low and cool voice.
"You are doing a good job, Yaoyorozu; keep it up," Shouto added as he had been around Tensei long enough to at least try to do something to help calm and reassure Momo with what he had learned from him.
Momo had found herself figuratively frozen from the sudden, out of nowhere praise she had received from her fellow recommended student. Something about the tone of his voice helped ease her nerves allowing her to think a bit more clearly. Giving her time to prepare for her next movement on the chessboard.
"Tokoyami, Uraraka, Asui. The moment Bakugou's team returns from the field, please head out to backup Todoroki."
"What about Izuku? He's going after the bomb alone!" Ochako responded with worry knowing that Izuku would most likely encounter the most challenging fight to come. Momo was about to answer when Katsuki and company ran into the room, the blond in particular looking quite furious.
"THE FUCK IS GOING ON GODDAMN IT!?" Katsuki yelled out, pointing at the door with his good hand, while Eijirou carried Mina on his back and Minoru made their way to the back of the room. "MOVE OUT!"
"Bakugou, please hold on! We got to stay calm!" Momo retorted, trying to calm the explosive blond down and get her barrings with the team.
"FUCK THAT NOISE PONYTAIL! WE JUST HIT SHIT CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE!" Katsuki roared out, knowing time was short.
"Hate to interrupt, ribbit. But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be the best match up with Todoroki," Tsuyu interjected with a concerned look. "Those fire and ice powers can affect me easily if we both aren't careful, ribbit."
"I can say the same for myself." Fumikage interjected, "both Kasei's and Todoroki's fire quirks. Along with Hagakure's light refraction powers, could all could put me in quite a difficult situation with Dark Shadow."
As Fumikage finished speaking, Dark Shadow appeared on his left shoulder, nodding in agreement with his host. In the chaos of everyone trying to get a word in, none of them had noticed Ochako slipping out of the room. Like Katsuki, she knew time was limited, only she wasn't following the original plan to backup Ryu and Tōru like Momo had asked her to.
Instead, she planned to backup Izuku and headed toward the bomb.
All Might sat there as he could see the fresh wave of panic hit his students hard, and the order they had when they first started had now gone out right out the window.
"This is exactly what I suspected would happen," said Eraserhead grinning as if Christmas had come early.
"Aizawa...tell me." All Might began, making Eraserhead face The Symbol of Peace.
"Did you really design this exam to be unbeatable?"
Eraserhead looked at the man for a few moments before answering, yet those few seconds felt far longer to All Might.
"No mission is ever 100% done perfectly or failed completely. In the worst case, should both hostages be killed, a secondary option opens up and should the bomb be taken out of Site Gamma before its timer goes off. It will count as a victory as the city would be 'Saved'; however, whoever carried the bomb would be considered of being caught in the blast and therefore 'Killed-In-Action.'"
The veteran teacher then pulled out another juice pouch from within his sleeping bag, taking a quick gulp from it before continuing his answers.
"We can see now that the panic is setting in. Now that the original Operator and the current Operator had their plans thrown out the window," Eraserhead pointed to a screen showing Eijirou setting Mina down on a stretcher. "It's here when they start making mistakes that can prove very fatal."
Eraserhead paused here to allow All Might to process and allowed himself to take another drink of his snack pouch.
"You wanted this to happen." All Might stated as he finally solved the puzzled laid before him.
Eraserhead nodded. "I had the Big Five go easy on the first years to lure them in a false sense of security and make them believe that their teamwork seems better than it actually was."
He stopped for a moment to bring up the files of Alexander Springfield and Mezou Shouji, which included their strengths and weaknesses on the monitor.
"I knew that either Springfield or Shouji would be the first to fall depending on who they got matched up with. I told the team that the moment one of them was taken out, to take the kid gloves off and start going for the kill. To show them what they had seen out in the field during their work studies and show them a taste of just how unkind the world of heroes can really be. But I don't have to tell you that now do I?"
Eraserhead's smile was gone, replaced by a deep frown that knew many years of hardship from working out in the field. All Might couldn't retort. Eraserhead was cruel indeed, but his words spoke nothing but the truth. UA was the time to make mistakes and learn from them.
When most mistakes wouldn't cost innocent lives.
Izuku ran as hard as he could while keeping his quirk topped out at around twenty percent. The most he could output with his costume on before his more draconic features could grow in enough to possibly out him. However, he was still pushing it. He could feel his body straining against his costume, which wasn't designed with a heavier transformation in mind. Thanks to his efforts to keep his quirk's nature a secret, he had to severely limit himself.
While he made it toward the area where Katsuki's team had fought earlier. Izuku needed to hop around to avoid all the sticky balls that Minoru had laid the area thick within their battle with Blink.
'So much damage...' Izuku thought as he observed the carnage that had been left behind. Acid marks on the streets from Mina; holes and craters from where Eijirou had either missed his punches or been slammed into; scorch marks where Katsuki had blasted throughout the area. 'Everyone has been doing amazing...'
Izuku felt the weight of the whole operation on his shoulders. He had been the operator at the beginning of the mission, thanks mainly to Katsuki's insistence. Not wanting to fail, his best friend, his brother in all but name and blood, accepted the role and took charge, and now it had all blown up in his face.
He was going to do his best to make up for his mistake of underestimating just how far UA was willing to go to teach a hard lesson.
'I've got to win this!' Izuku declared in his head as he made it to his destination.
"Hahaha! Looks like I finally get to have my own fun!" He could hear a voice echo out from the sky. Izuku froze and looked up; that is when he saw him. He had remembered him from last year's sports festival and his rather nasty habit of being unable to keep his clothes on.
Still, that proved an excellent way to make someone stand out, even if it was an accident.
"Mirio Tōgata..." He said to himself, bracing for a hard fight he knew that was coming.
Mirio was on the top of the building that contained the fake bomb. His hero costume had a billowing red cape and a white bodysuit with blue legs, which featured a golden number 1,000,000 emblazoned across his chest.
Then he made the first move before Izuku could even react; Mirio jumped off the roof headfirst.
Izuku yelped out of concern, fearing for his upperclassman's well-being as jumping from that height could possibly kill him, and he just dived toward Izuku without care. Bracing himself to catch Mirio, he was left shocked when Mirio just seemed to phase right through him and into the street itself. Leaving the white and yellow visor with the fake mustache behind.
"What?!" Izuku yelled out, spinning around looking for his upperclassman while remaining on guard.
In Mirio's grand display, he had already forgotten about the most essential element of his senior's possible quirk.
"Surprise!"
Izuku heard behind him, his reflexes allowing him to brace himself for the attack, proving that the lessons with Gran Torino had been somewhat successful.
When Momo finally managed to rein in order by getting Katsuki and his team to get treatment, she noticed someone missing from their number. After a quick headcount, she realized who was missing.
"Where is Uraraka?" She asked, firmly folding her arms from her seat.
It was Yūga who spoke up to answer her.
"Ze mademoiselle left the moment monsieur Bakugou returned as ordered, my dear Yaoyorozu," He finished with a sparkling wave of his hand.
The answer did not help with Momo's mood.
'She left without me even realizing...' She thought as she pinched the bridge of her nose as she had to rethink her plan on the fly. After taking note of Tsuyu's and Fumikage's concerns when planning to deploy the following two people at her disposal.
'Okay, I need someone with speed...' Momo's eyes open, making their way to a certain blue-haired speedster who had happened to be dying to get out there.
"Iida!" Momo called out, placing her bets on a gamble.
"Yes?!" Tenya answered, suddenly standing to attention.
"I want to you switch out with Satou to be the medic."
Tenya could have kissed the ground that Momo walked on as he gave his Medic armband to Rikidou and placed his helmet on with a smile on his face. He was thrilled that she saw value in the scion of the Iida family and now had that chance to prove himself.
"I am ready at a moment's notice, Yaoyorozu!" Tenya declared with a substantial chop of the arm.
"I want you to back up Uraraka and head over to where Kasei and Hagakure are to save the remaining hostage," Momo ordered before turning to face Fumikage. "Tokoyami, I would like for you to back up Midoriya instead."
Tenya and Fumikage both nodded and began their journey toward their own destinations. But as they did, the intercom came alive with another announcement, one that granted them hope in their situation.
"The Villain Tentacole has been captured!"
The control room cheered at the news, especially since there was no announcement that anyone from the Hero team had been taken out. Kashiko took charge and started to contact Denki, only met with a strange noise that left her confused.
"Um...Yaoyorozu, I think something is wrong with Kaminari's coms." She said, looking at Momo with a puzzled expression on her face.
"How so?" Momo asked back; before her answer came, Shouto's voice came alive in her earpiece.
"Yaoyorozu, I think we may have a problem with Kaminari."
"Is he okay?" Momo asked, concerned given Shouto's tone of voice.
"I don't know how else to say think this other than...He's become something of a bumbling idiot."
Now it was Momo's turn to look puzzled before looking at Kashiko. "Sekigai, can you bring up Kaminari's video feed?"
Kashiko turned back to the console and brought Denki's camera feed only to be met. Denki's hands gave a thumbs up while pulling back and forth from his chest, accompanied by a loud.
"WWWHHHEEEEYYY~~."
All while a confused-looking Shouto remained in the background, securing what appeared to be a crispy-looking and unconscious Mezou Shouji. Despite the situation, almost everyone in the control room who had been watching how the scene unfolded just burst out in laughter at the unexpected development of Denki's condition.
"If I was to take a guess. I think Kaminari may have taken down our foe, while his quirk's backlash may explain his current condition," Shouto suggested as he quickly inspected Denki.
"Regardless, it's another villain down, but I don't think Kaminari is in any condition to continue fighting; we will have to get him to return. Asui, please move out and back up Tokoyami!" Momo ordered after recovering from the fit of giggles the scene had caused.
"Call me, Tsu, please ribbit!" Tsuyu answered before turning to make her leave when they were all suddenly interrupted by All Might's voice.
"Young Kaminari has neither been rendered unconscious nor killed. You will have to send out your medic to recover him and wait for his return before sending someone else."
Momo was left dumbfounded given that she had just switched out Tenya for Rikidou, and Denki was still a distance away on a rooftop, no less!
"Todoroki, is the ice bridge from the roof still up?" Kashiko asked, trying to help where she could.
"No, it does not last long without me. I can make another one and wait for Satou to pick up Kaminari."
"Yaoyorozu?" Kashiko asked nervously, awaiting her operator's orders.
Momo stood there, almost paralyzed on what to do next. Her next move needed to be done carefully if they hoped to turn things around. However, as if fate would prove itself to be fickle when she heard a familiar voice. A voice she had only dealt with moments ago calling out to her to be the classes' salvation.
"Ponytail...I got a plan."
Ryu limped his way down the hall as fast as possible, exhausted from the constant fighting or running away more accurately. Nejire had proven to be damn too strong for him to even get one attack in edgewise with the way he needed to work to keep his cover. Hoping to buy Tōru more time, he turned a corner in the hopes of going into another hallway only to find himself trapped at a dead end. Ryu cursed himself.
If the conditions were different, he knew he could win against Nejire easily. However, conditions in this scenario did not favor him in the slightest.
"Ohohoho!" Nejire's laugh echoed throughout the halls, making him flinch.
"Ah...find me in the alps..." The young Fire-eater muttered to himself, knowing he was screwed. Ryu took a deep breath, trying to build up some of the fire in his lungs, and turned around, deciding that this would be his last stand against the sexy blue menace.
Tap tap tap
Ryu could hear Nejire's footsteps drawing ever closer. He raised his arms in a defensive stance, it wasn't much given she could just blast him from a distance, but at the very least, he would try to hold out.
Tap tap tap tap
'If I was a gambling man, I'd say Hagakure's already met the hostage,' he thought, judging from the scream he had heard earlier. 'This girl's been on my ass since we split up, so there is no way she got pinned...at least I did something right.'
Despite his breathing exercises, Ryu ruled out using his quirk now since he was still quite winded and trying to use it in this manner. While in this condition could result in either cracked or, worse yet, broken ribs if he wasn't careful. It wasn't something that Ryu did not want to relive anytime soon.
TAP TAP TAP...
Nejire appeared from the corner with a terrifying grin on her face, a grin that only grew wider as she spotted her prey.
'Someone this attractive shouldn't be this damn scary...' Ryu thought as he finally got a good look at Nejire's skintight blue hero costume. 'Well...at least the view is nice, so I can't complain about that.'
"Not bad! You lasted a lot longer than I thought you would!" Nejire exclaimed, her face still grinning before suddenly lunging for Ryu's throat, pinning him to the wall, completely breaking through his stance. Ryu's head violently slammed against the wall. He could have sworn that she had applied enough force to make the wall behind him crack. The last thing he could remember seeing as he felt his eyes lids close was Nejire pulling a small remote and pointing it at him.
Pop
"Hero, Ryu Kasei has been Killed-In-Action!"
Tōru and Reiko were almost down to a ground level as they heard the announcement ring out. Tōru knew that the original plan was to get Reiko to safety. But now, knowing that she was needed to disarm the bomb meant that plan had gone out the window as they would have to take the hostage into the heart of the danger itself. It was all proving a bit much for the poor girl to wrap her head around.
Hoping to have a backup, Tōru called out to Momo on the coms.
"Hey, Yaoyorozu? Any luck with me getting some help here, please?" She asked quietly, not knowing if Nejire would be nearby as she could most likely be heading toward their location now. Unfortunately for the invisible girl, no one was responding to her calls at the moment, dampening her mood and morale. Reiko stood by her classmate, keeping an eye out for Nejire. She hadn't been saying much, given her average deposition to the conversation. Still, she was observant enough could tell despite being invisible, Tōru was actually very expressive and, ironically, kind of easy to read.
Even now, she could almost feel the frustration coming off Tōru, who was now showing the lack of experience they all had. At least when compared to their seniors in this exam which now seemed so one-sided.
After trying again, Tōru huffed and spoke. "Let's go; maybe we can find someone at ground level."
What they didn't know, however, was that Nejire was actually heading toward the rooftop instead, ready to execute a plan Mirio had cooked up earlier. When she made it to the roof, she began drawing energy to her limbs, ready to take flight towards Mirio's direction when her feet suddenly felt freezing. Looking down, she saw they were now trapped in ice.
She heard a cold, monotone voice say behind her.
"I am afraid this is where I will have to stop you now."
Ochako ran past all the purple balls from the earlier battle. She knew that she wasn't following the original plan to back up Tōru instead of deciding to follow Izuku. She knew that Momo would find a way to adjust as needed, as everything in Ochako's gut told her that she needed to back him up.
Luck would have it that she barely missed another one of her seniors: Suneater, who had been heading toward the Tooru's location. His quirk was refreshed, thanks to his snack supply. He spotted Ochako running toward Mirio's direction but knew Mirio shouldn't have that much trouble with the two so far.
"Hey, Lemillion, you got more company heading your way," Tamaki said to his earpiece before noticing considerable rumbling noise getting closer, followed by a large dust cloud getting ever close.
"DAMN YOU, IIDA!"
Tamaki heard someone yell out, sighing as he saw the armored Tenya running at full speed with a clinging Fumikage holding on for dear life on Tenya's back. The former came to a complete stop upon seeing the enemy before him, much to the relief of a grateful raven head boy who quickly latched off to clutch his chest.
"Never again...you madman..."The young raven-headed boy huffed, trying to catch his breath, as his quirk, Dark Shadow began to project from his body.
"Fumikage, we got company."
The two juniors looked at their villainous upperclassman and took cautious stances. It was Tenya who decided to boldly declare their presence while chopping away furiously. "Halt there villain! Your reign of terror is over! Surrender peacefully and face justice criminal!"
Fumikage could not help but cringe at Tenya's melodramatic introduction.
While Tamaki's expression was hidden behind his white hood and purple domino mask. He couldn't help but breathe out a rare chuckle as Tenya briefly reminded him of Mirio. Tamaki looked around the battlefield; it was two on one. Barring some additional backup, he should be able to handle the two without too much trouble. All he really needed to do was eat up as much time as possible to prevent the heroes from going after the bomb.
"Apologies, heroes, I'm afraid that I can't go easy on you otherwise…" Tamaki answered while trying a shaky attempt at grinning when he looked at his juniors. "I'll suffer under Aizawa, and I'd really like to avoid that as much as possible thank you. Now prepare yourselves."
Tenya and Fumikage both readied themselves.
Fumikage knew that his original plan to back up Izuku would have been placed on hold for now. The two junior heroes-in-training lunged toward Tamaki, hoping to get the first strike in.
"RECIPRO BURST!" Tenya proudly roared, his engine legs coming to life, rocketing him toward Tamaki, boosting the speed and strength of his high kick.
"GO! DARK SHADOW!" Fumikage followed, having Dark Shadow lunge toward Tamaki hoping to catch him in mid-dodge of Tenya's frontal assault.
"I GOT IT! HAHAHA!"
Tamaki easily dodged Tenya's kick and used his quirk to turn his left arm into tentacles once again. Wrapping them around the young junior's limbs. He Dragged Tenya in front of him, in the hopes of using him as a shield against Dark Shadow's attack. The dark beast moved quickly to avoid hitting Tenya and opted to grab him instead.
The result was Tenya caught in a makeshift game of tug-o-war between his senior and his bird-headed classmate.
"DANG IT!" Tenya yelled out, struggling to break himself free. He considered using his quirk to break free, but he knew that his legs were in somewhat awkward positions. One wrong move could launch Tenya right into one of the other buildings or, worse, straight into Fumikage.
Tenya cursed himself for running into such a simple trap that only proved the two students' experience gap. Tamaki moved to pull out his remote as one of his tentacles removed Tenya's helmet. Neither teen knew what to do at this moment as it would seem that Tenya would meet his end here until an unexpected rescue came in.
"LIGHT REFRACTION!" They heard a voice say as Fumikage realized what was about to happen next, unable to recall Dark Shadow in time and too late to have Tōru back out. Fumikage had to brace himself for the shock that was coming.
"GRAK!" The shadowy creature screamed as the bright blinding light began to eat away at it, weakening it to the point that it was forced to let Tenya go. Ironically, however, the light did manage to partially blind Tamaki, whose domino mask was not designed to block such a powerful flash.
This surprise would cause the strangest chain of events to occur. Tamaki was still pulling on Tenya the moment Dark Shadow had let go of him. Making a rather whip-lashed, Tenya launched forward and landed right on top of Tamaki, pinning him down ground thanks to his large frame. Seeing the opening, Tenya proceeded to strike his upperclassman's unprotected head with his fists, landing several successful strikes that dazed and blinded Tamaki.
Fumikage remained conscious when Dark Shadow was painfully forced back into him and was exhausted from it, given that Shadow Dark was tied to his stamina*.He had predicted that such a scenario would happen if he worked with someone with a quirk that could produce light. Yet tired as the boy was, Fumikage still had enough strength to successfully run up and cuff Tamaki as he was still pinned down by Tenya.
"The Villain Suneater has been captured!" The intercoms announced.
"YAHOO! I did it!" Said Tōru cheerfully, literally jumping with joy as the tiny shadow that kept retracting on the street was any indication. Next to her was Reiko, who had been taking cover behind the open door, where the two had exited from.
Fumikage sighed; he could tell that Dark Shadow was no longer at fighting strength and would not be for quite some time, even with the help of his black cloak. His quirk needed to recharge, and they didn't have time to waste. He helped Tenya get off of Tamaki, who still seemed dazed from the rather impromptu assault he had to endure.
"Thank you, Tokoyami," Tenya sighed as he was pulled up. "That was a rather embarrassing display there."
"No need, despite Hagakure's ill-timed attack, it proved nonetheless effective in securing our foe. However, we cannot waste any more time, Iida. I would recommend you take the hostage and escort her to the bomb. I'm sure Midoriya and Uraraka should be able to cover you." Stated Fumikage before turning around to face where he suspected Tōru was standing. "Hagakure, I'm not sure about yourself, but I've been weakened by your last attack, and shamefully I must withdraw. If you are not at your best, I suggest you do the same to give our allies a chance to join the fray."
"I have to agree with Birdman on this one." A voice answered them as their earpieces all suddenly became back to life with a familiar hot-blooded voice filling their ears.
"Bakugou?" Tenya asked, unsure if he heard the voice correctly.
"That's right bitches! Your resident bomber man is now the operator for this hot mess! Legs! Birdman is right; grab the hostage and head to the bomb. I've got back up heading your way now. Thanks to Ass breath getting his dumb ass killed and the fact we just brought sparky in, so we should be good to go."
Katsuki's voice then tensed up with a commanding bravado that seemed to awaken everyone. Their goal was close.
"ALRIGHT THEN! ATTENTION TO ALL YOU BITCHES ON THE FIELD! WE GOT NINE MINUTES TO WIN THIS! ICY HOT! KEEP BLUE GIRL** AWAY FROM IZUKU AND URARAKA. BIRD BOY! SEETHROUGH! GET BACK HERE NOW! SPARKLES, NORMAL TAIL, MOVE OUT WHEN THEY GET BACK! LEGS, I GOT PONYTAIL, AND BIG LIPS HEADING YOUR WAY AS BACK UP! NOW NUT UP, SHUT UP AND MOVE OUT!"
Katsuki's voice rang out with an authority that left them with no room for questions. And while Tenya disapproved of his methods of communication. He reasoned that someone like Momo must have placed him in charge for a reason, just as Katsuki figured for Izuku to initially start as operator.
"Understood."
"Right!"
"Okay!"
The three agreed to follow Katsuki's plan; Tenya, in keeping with the goal, moved towards Reiko as she made her way out of the building and into the street.
"Excuse me, miss, I am here to escort you to the bomb safely! I recommend that you will please allow me to carry you to the bomb's location so we may get through this as quickly as possible!" He said with a straight face, having lost his helmet during the fight with Tamaki. "Please and thank you!"
Reiko, who hadn't been privy to the plan given she had no earpiece, was now confused and slowly backed away due to Tenya's rather intense presence.
"Ummm...Okay?" She answered, seeing that he was the only one who would be moving forward.
"EXCELLENT! LET US GO!" Tenya said with gusto, seemingly pleased by her consent.
"Wait, Iida!" Fumikage tried interjecting to spare Reiko the incoming heart attack she was in for. However, he was too late as Tenya literally swept Reiko off her feet in a singular fluid motion. Carrying her in his arms like a bride, making her yelp with surprise.
"Um, w-w-wait, hold on! I've changed my Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnndddd!" Reiko stammered off guard before suddenly blasting toward the bomb site dangling from Tenya's arms.
"NEVER FEAR I WILL GET YOU THERE SAFELY, MISS!" Tenya could be heard saying as he sped away.
"Madness..." Fumikage said as he exhaustively shook his head before turning around to return to their base with Tōru.
"I don't know, I found it kind of cute, like a total knight in shining armor~!" She exclaimed, not realizing from the excitement that the adrenaline finally left her system, making her feel the exhaustion and pain she had managed to ignore so far. "Man...this actually pretty tough..."
Kashiko was surprised when Katsuki returned with an arm bandaged up, yet still full of vigor to take charge after Momo's resolve to lead had been so thoroughly shaken. His plan was simple, basic even, but given all the cards on the table. Being basic could actually be what's needed right now.
"Currently we have three villains down. Two of us are 'Dead.' Sero and Ashido are still out cold. Mineta stopped bleeding, but Recovery Girl wants him to sit out for the remainder of the exam," The bespectacled girl started to list off her fellow students' conditions. "Kirishima is exhausted from his injuries and getting healed up. Kaminari is still...whatever that was. We have Hagakure and Tokoyami heading back to base. So that just leaves you and me, Ojiro and Aoyama, on standby. Oh! And Asui serving as our medic, of course."
"Ribbit! Call me Tsu, please!" Tsuyu called out from behind them.
"Umm...yes, we have pretty much-used everyone in the class at this rate," Kashiko finished listing out.
Katsuki listened carefully, knowing that they really wanted to win this exam now. They needed to go hard and fast. His idea to make Tsuyu the medic instead of Rikidou proved to be an excellent start in his role as Operator. He had reasoned that the frog girl's natural agility, in tandem with climbing up walls and using her long tongue to grab things, including people, would make her an excellent rescue worker.
'Ponytail was slipping up...this should have been the obvious choice...' Katsuki thought as he looked over the notes that Izuku and Momo had left behind when he had taken over. Katsuki had been studying Izuku's notes for years and had managed to develop his own methodology of quirk applications, though nowhere near as sharp as Izuku's.
This was the critical difference in their ways of tackling problems: Izuku is the strategist, The long-term planner, and he several ways to tackle an issue while considering the risks and rewards provided that he had enough time and information. Katsuki, however, was a natural battlefield tactician: The short-term planner with the ability to make quick, solid decisions with limited information on hand, even if it bordered on simple logistics. Katsuki looked over Izuku's other plans, seeing that while Shouto hadn't been able to get a real hit on Nejire.
However, he was at least able to keep her at bay and away from backing-up Mirio.
'If they're quick enough, we could have at least had a three-on-one or up to five-on-one battle with Pip-boy.'
He would have preferred to take down all of the villains instead of just disarming the bomb. Still, he knew that underestimating their seniors had been their greatest mistake, one they were all clearly paying for now.
Izuku was thankful when Ochako appeared to back him up in his fight against Mirio. Their teamwork shone as they turned the tide from defensive to offensive. Yet, despite this, they had not landed a single hit on their trickster of a senior so far. Still, it had become much easier to dodge him and make him work a little more complicated.
Both juniors were bruised up from their senior's constant assaults. Ochako had lost her visor, while her riot shield was now heavily dented. In contrast, Izuku had his hood ripped off with his costume beginning to tear at the seams and stress points, slowly revealing more and more of his green scales hidden beneath them.
Izuku had been trying to pick up what he could on Mirio's quirk, such as the timing needed between his attacks and when the quirk would activate. Izuku had reasoned that he could close that gap and land a hit if he was just a bit faster. Yet Izuku could go faster, but that would, in turn, increase the risk of revealing his secret.
"Izuku behind you!" He heard Ochako cry out, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts.
"I wish you weren't holding back, my friend," Mirio whispered before throwing out a combination of punches and a finishing kick before phasing back down into the street. Avoiding Ochako's counterattack.
"You okay?" She asked as she covered him with her dented shield raised up. Mirio's last attack had knocked Izuku off his feet. She wanted to help him up, but instead, she kept her eyes darting around, waiting, knowing that he was out there getting ready for his next strike.
Izuku's head was juggling between recovering from his daze and trying to figure out a way to break this stalemate with Mirio.
"Keep at it, Izuku. I got you on a private line." He heard a familiar say into his ear as he tried getting up from the ground.
"Kacchan...?"
"Change of plans. I need either you or Uraraka to get inside and find the fucking bomb. We don't got much time, and I know you're holding back for a good reason, but you're not going to win like that against Pip-boy unless you go faster. And I know you should be able to catch him off guard... I can shut the cameras off for a bit to let you do what you need to do. I'll let Uraraka know her part; it's time to catch us a Senior."
Izuku knew he was right; he wasn't going to win like this. He needed to go beyond even if he risked getting outed; at least he knew Katsuki would always have his back.
"Right! Ochako move!" Izuku said, his voice returning with some strength behind it; Ochako heard the change in his voice along with the relit confident spark in his eyes. Izuku had gotten his second wind as he got up from the ground.
"Okay!" She said as Katsuki began giving her orders to coordinate their assault. Both made a break for the actual building that contained the bomb rather than waiting for Mirio to reappear.
"Oh no, you don't!" Mirio exclaimed, launching out from the street behind them, "It's about time you started thinking about the actual mission objective instead of just fighting me!"
Izuku knew the timing now; he just needed to beat him by being faster. With a surprising burst of speed, Izuku doubled back to charge their senior.
'FORCE BOOST 40%!'
Izuku began to glow to push his combined quirk to its upper limits, tearing his costume further as his muscle mass grew***. Izuku still took several punches from Mirio before blocking the last one. Grabbing Mirio's fist with his own, surprising their senior, who had a growing grin on his face. Izuku had found the sweet spot he was looking for as Mirio's attention had been focused squarely on him.
"NOW URARAKA!" Izuku could hear Katsuki yell out as Ochako appeared from his right side, swinging her arm as fast as she could.
SLAP!
SLAM!
However, their counterattack was not without consequence. As Mirio had reflexively managed to strike Ochako right in the center of her stomach with his free hand. Yet, Ochako still managed to slap his shoulder, so the senior still found himself floating in the air out of reach from everyone.
"UGH!" Ochako coughed out as she ended up falling painfully to her knees.
"Whoa! Good job there!" Mirio praised as he tried to keep himself steady and still while floating around freely.
"Ochako!" Izuku exclaimed, his face full of worry as he knelt down to her level, trying to check over her condition. "Are you okay?"
Ochako did her best to put on a brave face, despite tears of pain that were welling in her eyes.
"'m fiiine..." Ochako managed to wheeze out painfully as she clutched her stomach. Almost having to rock in place to manage the pain that was spreading quickly throughout her body.
"I got him here; go ya goof... I'll be just fine..." Ochako suddenly stopped as something seemed to catch her attention. Izuku was about to ask what was wrong when they heard something in the distance; the two turned to see Tenya carrying a terrified Reiko in his arms.
"WE ARE HERE!" Tenya exclaimed proudly when he stopped in front of two before gently placing Reiko down, who in turn collapsed the moment her feet touched the ground.
"S-s-s-s-st-st-st-still...alive...ugh..." Reiko groaned out, trying to steady her shaky limbs and nausea.
"AHA! I see you managed to capture the mastermind! Excellent work, you two!" Tenya proclaimed, while Mirio simply continued to float around casually tapping way at his earpiece, the four unaware he was signaling for Nejire to get there on the double.
"Well, we trapped him, but he's not officially caught since we can't really cuff him thanks to his quirk." Izuku sighed as he gently rubbed Ochako's back. "Ochako here took a nasty hit."
"STOP STANDING THERE AND GET MOVING, DAMN IT! YOU GOT ABOUT SIX MINUTES! MOVE YOUR ASSES!"
Katsuki's voice rang out again. Making Izuku realize that they still needed to secure the bomb to have Reiko disarm it, he knew Ochako would recover in time. He just had to trust her.
"Right, Kacchan! Iida! You and I can spread out to search the building; once we find the bomb, we can have Yanagi here disarm it!" Izuku stated as he helped Ochako get up on her feet.
"About that...I'm afraid that isn't what is going to happen, my dear heroes." Mirio suddenly spoke out loud; the four hadn't been paying much attention to him, seeing that he couldn't harm them. Still, in doing so, they didn't notice that he had pulled out a remote like a device from his costume and had it pointed at Reiko.
Ochako realizing what was about to happen, tried to use her quirk to try and force Mirio underground and make him drop the device with a sudden change in gravity. But between the pain and nausea, she couldn't make it in time.
Pop!
" A hostage has been killed by the villains!" The announcement rang out, making the hearts of almost everyone in class 1-A sink as it echoed out.
"THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!?" They heard Katsuki bellow out.
"You should always keep an eye on the villains even if you think you got them caught." Mirio winked at the three shocked heroes and one very annoyed Reiko, who started simply started her quiet walk back to base. Ochako managed to shift Mirio around a few times with her quirk enough to force him to drop the device while Izuku secured it.
The trio seemed unsure what to do next before a new announcement was made.
"All Hostages have been killed. Secondary Objective failed. New Objective Update: remove the bomb from Gamma city."
"Wait...I...thought All Might said that the hostages were the primary focus?" Ochako managed to wheeze out.
"They were the public focus, not the hidden, more objectively important focus. Two lives? Or the whole city?" Mirio answered as he continued to casually float in midair. "We should always strive to do both whenever possible, but when push comes to shove, priorities need to take center stage. That's the reason why the hostages were needed to disarm the bomb. In the public eye, you have failed, but there is still a chance to save the whole day."
"Iida, let's go!" Izuku called out, not wanting to waste more time as he realized again that Mirio had been stalling them for time.
"Right," Tenya answered curtly, running alongside Izuku into the building.
"Welp, at least you're learning!" Mirio called out before turning to look at a puzzled-looking Ochako, as it was just the two of them here now, waiting to see what would happen next.
"You okay there?" Mirio asked upon seeing this strange expression on his junior's face.
Ochako looked up at her upperclassman. But didn't say anything as she was still trying to control her breathing to fight the pain and nausea she was dealing with. But even if she could speak, Ochako wasn't sure how she would be able to explain it. She hadn't noticed it until just now when Izuku had been in front of her earlier. Izuku's hands were covered in something shiny and...scaly running up the arms of his torn-up costume, while the boy's hands had become clawed.
Ochako wasn't sure if she just imagined things, or if this was a new train of thought taking root in her mind that could be true. As it could finally explain why the Midoriya family always seemed on edge regarding Izuku's father. Add with a few clues she had managed to piece together and, if this idea was accurate, then so much would suddenly make sense.
'Izuku, are you Draco Knight's son?'
One part of her was excited at the prospect. Yet, she also knew that could be an extremely touchy subject, especially if she was right. Who knew how the Midoriyas could react if she just suddenly asked without a prompt.
Yet as the idea grew, so did her fears; she loved being around the Midoriyas and didn't want to risk losing the friendship she had been building with them. The last thing they all needed was unnecessary drama. Ochako would have to do some checking after school, but she now had a job to do.
Author's Commentary
*Dark Shadow: This was a slight adjustment to Tokoyami's quirk to tie DS with his own stamina. However, in exchange, I made DS a bit stronger and slightly more accessible for him to control even in darkness.
**Other possible nicknames I thought of Katsuki to call Nejire included but were not limited to, Big Titty Blue, Blue Chick, Chatterbox, Blue Bitch, and Wave Girl. (Obviously, I went with Blue Girl, but again these were just some ideas I had when writing.)
***Izuku doesn't grow that big in muscle mass, but it is enough to strain the costume that was fitted for a smaller person, but this isn't some DBZ levels of gains.
ZX