- This is a rewritten version of chapter 20 -
Rumi could not help but grin as the five students from class 1-B lay on the ground in various states of defeat. They had put up a good fight considering all their training, but they were no match for someone like Rumi who had years of experience. Rumi's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of a door opening nearby and she waited for the other class, teachers, and Izuku to return.
"An excellent display of your abilities." Principal Nezu said as he watched Vlad King tend to his students. "I am sure the students will remember this lesson quite vividly. After all, it is not every day they get to practice with someone of your caliber."
Shrugging but still smiling, Rumi chuckled as she watched the defeated students get helped to their feet by their teacher.
"They put up a good fight." She said honestly. "But like you said, there is a big difference between practice and the real thing. Overall they do well enough, but their teamwork starts to fall apart the second things do not go according to plan. Improvisation is key in crucial moments. Sorta why I work...well used to work, alone. You don't have to worry about other people mucking things up when you fight solo."
Now things were about to get interesting. Rumi was very sure that Izuku was going to deliver the mother of all beatdowns Eraserhead's students, the big question was just how exactly he was going to do it.
Principal Nezu was clearly still anxious about letting Izuku spar with his superpowered students, but he still gestured for Izuku to step forward as Eraserhead had his kids line up on the fake street.
"Your turn, Agent Midoriya." The well-dressed principal said cautiously. "While I am still a little hesitant to let you do this, part of me is curious as to how exactly you will manage the lesson."
Nodding respectfully, Izuku stepped forward and gestured to the students.
"Well the first thing I want to establish is that I will be sparring with them one at a time." Izuku said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I am not arrogant enough to believe I could take all five of them on at once."
Rumi felt slightly more relieved, it seemed Izuku was smart enough to know his limits.
Izuku was silent for a moment before falling into a relaxed military stance and addressing the students in front of him.
"I will be honest, one of the most idiotic things I see a lot of pro-heroes do is try to fight fair." He said bluntly.
Ouch, well that was definitely an interesting way to start the lesson. Rumi glanced over to the small group of teachers and tried to see if that controversial statement got a reaction as Izuku continued.
"Some of you may believe that fighting fair is honorable, or at the very least a bit of common decency between opponents." Izuku said as he paced in front of the students. "If you disagree with me, raise your hand and give me a reason why you should try to fight fairly.
Immediately the two boys of the group raised their hands. Rumi was not that surprised, but she was still interested in seeing how Izuku's lesson would play out.
Staring at the two boys with an intense gaze, Izuku pointed to the one with the spiky red hair.
"Kirishima, right?" He said. "Why do you think heroes should always try to fight fair?"
The boy named Kirishima straightened up and replied in a loud voice. "Because fighting fair is the manly thing to do! It gives both opponents the opportunity to prove who is better."
Nodding his head in understanding, Izuku pointed to the tall boy with glasses.
"If I remember correctly it is Iida." Izuku said clearly. "What is your reasoning?"
Iida took a moment to adjust his glasses before speaking like he was a recruit responding to a drill sergeant. "I think that if there is the opportunity to fight fair it is only right to use it, sir! I understand that there may be situations where a fair fight is simply not possible, but like Kirishima said, it gives the participants a chance to see who is truly better, sir!"
Nodding again, Izuku resumed his pacing as he fixed the students with cold and humorless eyes. "I will share some knowledge with you that I had to learn early in life." He said coldly. "Fighting fair is a fantasy made to make people feel better about themselves. In real life there is no such thing as a fair fight. Nobody is truly equal, one opponent will always have the advantage over the other. That is simply how life works. The only reason I am standing here right now is because I never fight fair. There is one simple truth that is universal in every situation, and it is that there are no rules in the fight for survival."
The two boys averted their eyes as the girls began to fidget nervously. Clearly this lesson was not going how they expected, and Rumi knew there was only more to come.
"Let's imagine a hypothetical scenario." Izuku said suddenly. "You are alone, and you are facing a villain that is impossible to beat in a fair fight. Said villain is holding a thousand people hostage in a building rigged to blow at the touch of a button. If the villain defeats you, the bombs go off and everyone dies. The villain won't kill you though, so in the end you will survive. Are you telling me that you would simply accept the inevitable and let those innocent people be killed? Even if there was some under-handed way to ensure your victory and the safety of the hostages?"
Iida looked like he was trying to shrink into a hole as the girls all silently stared at the ground. Only Kirishima was able to meet Izuku's eyes.
"I would fight with all my power regardless of the difference in strength!" The red-haired boy said bravely. "You say the villain is impossible to beat, but in real life nothing is impossible like that. So long as there is a slight chance I might win I need to take that risk! If there was some dirty under-handed trick that would let me win I wouldn't take it. I did not get to where I am today by cheating and avoiding hardship! I would never give up my honour just to get an easy victory! That is not manly at all!"
Rumi arched an eyebrow in surprise. The kid had guts, she would give him that. But she knew all too well how easy it was to act tough when faced with just a hypothetical situation.
Striding forward with a cold glare that looked like it could freeze a campfire solid, Izuku came to a stop in front of Kirishima and looked down at him with visible disdain. He then spoke with a voice so chilling that it even sent a shiver of unease down Rumi's spine.
"Then stand in the ashes of those thousand dead souls, and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer."
Rumi was pretty sure that everyone would agree on one thing. Nobody wanted to be in Kirishima's shoes at that moment.
Kirishima's skin looked about three shades whiter as he tried to avert his eyes away from Izuku's intense gaze. The teachers looked like they were on the verge of intervening until Izuku finally broke eye contact and walked away.
"In the end, we can talk all day about this topic, but I think there is a better way of showing you my methods." Izuku said emotionlessly.
Reaching under his suit jacket, Izuku drew his pistol and held it up for the kids to see. "Right now this sidearm is my only means of defense." He then ejected a bullet from the chamber and held it in his palm. "Right now it is loaded with non-lethal rubber bullets. They hurt like hell but at the end of the day the worst you might get is a broken bone. If any of you were to attack me right now I would most definitely lose" Reloading his pistol and holstering it, Izuku held his hands out to show that he had no other weapons. "I have a secret technique that I learned in the military that comes in handy in these situations. Can anyone guess what it is?"
The students were all quiet as several scrunched up their faces into looks of concentration. However, none of them had an answer and eventually Izuku nodded in understanding.
"Alright, let me show you this secret technique." Izuku said cryptically.
Rumi knew she was not the only one curious to see what this secret technique was. In all her training sessions with Izuku, Rumi had never seen or heard Izuku use this supposedly secret technique.
Looking around, Izuku picked up a potted plant that had somehow emerged unscathed from class 1-B's sparring session and placed it on a table that was part of a fake outdoor dining area. Walking back until he was on the other side of the street, Izuku faced the potted plant and aimed his finger at the pot like it was a gun.
Suddenly there was the crack of a supersonic bullet flying past and the potted plant exploded into a cloud of dirt. One of the girls let out a yelp of surprise as the teachers all instinctively pulled everyone down to the ground to avoid any more bullets that may fly by.
A second later, Rumi's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of a gunshot booming in the distance. Whirling around towards the source of the gunshot, Rumi looked around to see where the hidden sniper was. However, all she saw was the fake city, and there was no way a sniper would be able to infiltrate the UA campus unnoticed.
Lowering his finger gun, Izuku gestured behind him in the direction the bullet had come from. "A sniper is one of the most useful tools in any military's arsenal. It doesn't matter what kind of quirk you have if you are dead before you can even react."
Standing up with anger clearly written on his face, Eraserhead strode up to Izuku and held up a warning finger. "Agent Midoriya I did not think it needed to be said, but do not use real bullets around my students. I don't care how much faith you have in your sniper, all it takes is a single accident for someone to get killed. Are we clear?"
Clearly unfazed, Izuku nodded. "Do not worry, all the bullets I am using for the lesson are the non-lethal kind. I am not stupid enough to use live ammunition around kids."
Rumi honestly did not care at all what kind of bullets were being used, she wanted to know where the hell the sniper was hiding.
As the students and teachers all got back to their feet, the helicopter that had been buzzing around in the distance suddenly started to get closer.
Frowning unhappily, Rumi finally put all the pieces together as the scout helicopter approached. As the helicopter came to a hover overhead, Rumi looked up to see a woman in a drab green uniform sitting on one of the benches bolted onto the side of the fuselage. In her hands was a deadly looking sniper rifle with a long-distance scope attached to it.
As winds from the helicopter's downwash buffeted everyone below, the sniper reached behind her and pulled out a large black duffle bag. She then dropped it to the street below and gave Izuku a thumbs up, which the green-haired agent returned. Mission complete, the helicopter quickly ascended high into the sky and zoomed out of sight.
Izuku then walked over and picked up the large black bag as he spoke to the assembled students and adults.
"Snipers are one of the most commonly used methods to eliminate targets with dangerous quirks." Izuku said flatly. "I had a hunch that this lesson would involve some kind of training activity, so I planned ahead and had one of our best snipers hang around just in case one of you got the jump on me."
The assembled teachers were clearly not amused, while the five students looked like they were finally beginning to understand just how dangerous Izuku was.
In a twisted sort of way, Rumi was proud of Izuku. The guy had no quirk yet was still able to strike fear in a group of people that included veteran pro-heroes.
Putting the oversized black bag down, Izuku spoke as he unzipped the top. "We can start the sparring now. Just give me a second to get ready."
Like everyone else, Rumi was curious to see what exactly was in the mysterious bag. However, she was shocked to see Izuku uncaringly take off his suit jacket and shirt, revealing his ridiculously sexy toned torso.
While that certainly was surprising, though Rumi was not complaining.
As the girls in attendance whispered excitedly to each other, Rumi heard the short brown-haired girl exclaim in a voice that could best be described as excited dismay.
"Oh no, he's hot!" The girl said as she covered her eyes.
Midnight and the pink girl named Ashido looked like they were practically drooling over the half-naked guy in front of them, and for a moment Rumi felt a brief stab of jealousy flare up inside her.
However the show was soon over as Izuku put on matte black body armor as well as a standard military tactical vest festooned with all sorts of gadgets. He then reached inside the large bag and pulled out a menacing gunmetal gray combat shotgun. Done equipping himself, Izuku strapped the shotgun to his back and did one last final check of his armor and weapons. He then looked over at the five students and pointed at the bright pink girl with small yellow horns.
"Ashido, you will be my first opponent." He said flatly. "Everyone else can go to the observation room."
Rumi followed the group of teachers into a nearby building that led to what looked like some kind of underground bunker. Inside, there were dozens of screens that showed live video feeds from various hidden cameras placed in the training area.
As the four students talked excitedly to each other, Rumi was approached by an irritated Eraserhead.
"You know I thought you were going to be the troublesome one." He said bluntly as he crossed his arms and looked at the nearby screens. "That guy is not normal, what is his deal?"
Rumi narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she mimicked Eraserhead, crossing her arms and turning to look at the many screens. "You heard his little speech like everyone else." She said with clear irritation. "Not much else to say. The guy has a massive chip on his shoulder, especially when it comes to people like us. Trust me, he may be an asshole but he is a good guy at the end of the day."
Clearly unsatisfied with Rumi's answer, Eraserhead gave a single unhappy grunt as Izuku talked to a wary Ashido.
"The rules are simple." The green-haired man said. "You win if you incapacitate me or I give up. Time limit is ten minutes. Any questions?"
Ashido shook her head and took a fighting stance, making Izuku nod and place his hand on his holstered pistol.
The two opponents then moved at the same time, Izuku drawing his pistol while Ashido created a wall of gelatinous acid. The green-haired agent fired a few rubber bullets into the wall experimentally and nodded his head in appreciation as he advanced. Surprisingly, Ashido took the initiative and burst through her acid veil, charging straight towards her opponent while shooting globs of acid. If Izuku was caught off-guard he did not show it. He easily dodged the projectiles and rushed forward as well, one hand reaching out to grab Ashido while the other brought his pistol up to fire a point-blank shot. However, it seemed that Ashido had planned for that kind of move, as she suddenly created a large amount of gelatinous acid around herself like a suit of armor. With lightning fast reflexes, Izuku dodged out of the way as Ashido grinned excitedly.
"Your stupid guns aren't gonna help you now!" The pink girl jeered. "My Acidman move is the perfect counter to your kind of fighting style. Now give up or I am gonna make you regret looking down on us students!"
Standing just out of Ashido's reach, Izuku shook his head in disappointment as he holstered his pistol.
"You hero types sure love to talk in the middle of a fight." He said with obvious annoyance. "Instead of wasting oxygen like a ditzy airhead you should have capitalized on the opportunity you had while I was evading. If you are done acting like an obnoxious brat, come fight me like a real pro should."
It was clear to everyone watching that Izuku's insults had struck a nerve in his pink opponent.
Growling angrily, Ashido resumed the battle, swiping an acid coated hand at Izuku and charging forward like a gelatinous golem. While Izuku did not attack, he easily avoided all of Ashido's moves. After almost a solid minute of evading an enraged Ashido, Izuku came to a stop and pulled a small metal ball from a pocket on his vest.
"Disappointing, I expected more from you." Izuku said as he easily dodged another lunging attack. "I might as well end this now, no point in dragging this pathetic fight out any longer."
Rumi was curious to see what Izuku's gadget was going to do, and eagerly watched as he tossed it at Ashido's feet. The second the metal ball made contact with the ground, it released several powerful arcs of electricity with a hissing pop. The arcs of electricity then made contact with Ashido's Acidman armor, causing the girl to let out a yelp of surprise as she was thoroughly electrocuted. Seconds later the acid jelly surrounding Ashido melted into runny liquid as the girl fell to the ground twitching and spasming.
Rumi watched with dread as Izuku stepped to the edge of the acid puddle and carefully took aim with his pistol. The girl was clearly defeated, but it looked like Izuku was going to ensure his victory was undisputed.
"Stop the test!"
Rumi looked over to see the female teacher known as Midnight step forward with panicked concern.
"It is clearly over!" She yelled at the frowning principal. "We need to-"
She was cut off as gunshots began to ring out. On screen, Izuku rapidly fired three bullets into Ashido's gut and two more into her head for good measure.
Rumi frowned as everyone began to rush out of the bunker.
"Jesus Christ Izuku…" She whispered in disbelief as she followed everyone out of the observation room.
Emerging onto the empty street, Rumi was met with the sight of an angry Eraserhead standing nose-to-nose with an unapologetic Izuku
"You sick fuck." Eraserhead hissed at Izuku. "If she is seriously injured I am going to hold you personally accountable. I can appreciate your dedication to acting like a hardass, but she is still just a kid."
Casually reloading his sidearm, Izuku regarded the furious teacher with an apathetic stare. "She was by no means unable to defend herself. You might not have faith in your student, but she was almost about to counter-attack. If I went easy on her and declared my victory pre-emptively she would have had the perfect opportunity to incapacitate me."
As Eraserhead spluttered in outrage, Izuku watched Ashido be carried away on a stretcher by a pair of medical robots.
"All it takes is one mistake." Izuku said coldly as he turned to face the assembled adults. "One mistake, and you can lose your life. In the real world there are no second chances. I have seen friends end up in body bags because they got overconfident. I will never make the mistake of underestimating an opponent. I treated that girl like I would any enemy I come across in the line of duty and ensured that she was down for the count. I don't sugarcoat things, and I sure as hell don't go easy on anyone. Now either we continue with the training, or we can end the lesson right now. What will it be?"
Rumi sighed in exasperation as the teachers took a step away and began talking to each other in hushed voices. She wanted to be surprised by Izuku's actions, but after getting to know the man this was par for the course.
Suddenly the teachers were interrupted as one of the students spoke up to get everyone's attention.
"Excuse me, I would like everyone's attention!" The tall boy with the glasses said loudly. "My classmates and I want to continue the training with Agent Midoriya. He is right, a harsh lesson today might save our lives tomorrow. I would like to request that us students be allowed the opportunity to prove ourselves against a tough opponent."
The teachers all looked at each other in surprise as Izuku nodded.
"Like I said." Izuku said calmly. "You teachers seem to not have faith in your students abilities. They went up against Gigantomachia and lived. I can see their potential and am treating them with the same respect I reserve for any formidable opponent."
Eraserhead was clearly not happy with what Izuku was implying, but he stayed silent as Principal Nezu stepped forward and spoke.
"If you four are in agreement I suppose there is no good reason for us to stop the training." The short and furry person said diplomatically. " Agent Midoriya, it seems that my students are ready to prove themselves. Continue with your lesson."
Nodding respectfully, Izuku turned and pointed at the tall boy with glasses.
"Iida, your turn. As the brother of Ingenium I have high expectations of you."
Wearing a fierce smile, Iida nodded bravely.
"Understood sir! I will not disappoint!"
- A/N -
- Sorry but I was not happy with the original version of this chapter and felt the need to rewrite it considering I made an error about Ashido's Acidman move.
- Like I said before, I am taking a few liberties regarding the outcome of the big PLF battle in the manga, as it is currently still ongoing.
- Also, I feel that I should let you all know that I often take quotes from videogames and put them in my stories. A sort of homage to some of my most favorite games that I have played.
- Thanks for the continued support, and I hope you all are doing well.