Reviews:
Sarah9730: Don't worry, I haven't written of Bakugo yet. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let him get away with his crap.
Runnar: Well, sorry to disappoint you but he isn't fighting Todoroki. And its fine, I don't mind the long reviews. I have to disagree with your assessment on the gen-ed thing. Students in gen-ed still get to become heroes if I'm not mistaken they just don't get the same intense training as those in the hero courses. Besides, it wouldn't be forever. I legitimately didn't know that about psychopaths or sociopaths. The only parts I did know were that sociopaths become that way due to events in their life and psychopaths are born that way. Your detailed explanation of who would be an appropriate match for Alex in terms of a relationship. So now the list is down to two, Mina and Momo. Yes I'm still considering Mina an option because she seems like she has more reason and interest in talking to Alex than Momo, at least in my opinion. Unfortunately, no. I will not have Sir Nighteye be an antagonist to Alex. Here's my reasoning, his quirk lets him see into the future not the past. Thus he would have no reason to suspect Alex of anything as he would see the future of a typical, if extraordinarily powerful, hero. That is, if they ever met to begin with.
To everyone who was kind enough to offer me suggestions as to Bakugo's punishment: Thank you very much! A LOT of you suggested he be transferred to gen-ed and receive mandatory anger management classes, so that's exactly what I've done! Though his transfer will be temporary. I also decided to have the school place a restraining order on him because it just made sense to me.
"Well despite the results, the M.V.P. of this battle was young Iida." All Might announced to the class. Most of the class reacted with varying levels of shock or surprise.
"Shouldn't it be one of the heroes instead since they're the winners?" Tsuyu inquired.
"Hmm… Valid question. Why didn't I choose one of those two? Who has a guess?" All Might asked the class.
"Sir, I can tell you why." Momo stated, raising her hand. "Iida embraced this challenge. He was the only one who truly adapted to his assigned role. I'll explain. Bakugo's judgement was clouded by a personal grudge against Midoriya. As you pointed out earlier, launching a large-scale attack indoors was a foolish move. It could have been disastrous. Similarly, Midoriya's plan was also poorly thought out, considering the amount of damage he received. He rendered himself helpless. Not smart. As for Uraraka, she let her guard down mid battle and her final attack was far too reckless given the hypothetical stakes. If she'd treated the weapon as though it were real she never would have risked using such an imprecise move. Iida was fully prepared for his opponent's arrival. He had a strategy and never let himself lose sight of his mission to protect the dummy weapon, even if he was foiled in the end. Technically the hero team won, yes, but they took advantage of the fact that this was training. They didn't respect the spirit of the trial."
Alex was impressed. She missed the part where Bakugo nearly killed Midoriya despite this being a training exercise, but still. Were he the teacher in this scenario he would give her top marks for her answer.
"Yes, well, you overlooked a few things… Young Iida could have relaxed a little in the exercise. But, otherwise you nailed it!" All Might gave her a thumbs up.
Alex disagreed with that. Considering the nature of the exercise Alex thought Iida acted perfectly well. If this had been real then it would have been an extraordinarily tense scenario especially considering they would have been fighting around an armed nuclear missile that was ready to blow. Having been in this exact scenario on the "hero" side himself once before, he knew exactly how tense something like this was. There was no relaxing when you were fighting to save a city from a nuclear bomb or destroy the city with said bomb. Not in the least. It was one of the tensest scenarios imaginable. Thus Iida not relaxing fit the spirit of the scenario perfectly well. Still he kept his thoughts to himself considering he had caused enough trouble in class for one day.
"One should always start with the basics and devote themselves wholeheartedly to learning. That's the only real way to become a top hero." Momo stated proudly.
"Now then! Let's move on to the next match! Think about everything we discussed and saw as you tackle this training for yourself!" All Might told the class.
""""Yes, sir!"""" Most of the class responded in unison.
{Later}
"Match two! Team E will be our heroes and team C will be the villains!" All Might's voice announced over the intercom.
Alex had his hand against a wall and was in the process of rapidly infecting the entire building, turning it into something akin to one of the many hives he destroyed in Manhattan. The whole process took about one minute in total and the entire building was covered in pitch black biomass with red and orange bioluminescent splotches serving as lighting. The only parts that weren't covered were the cameras which he intentionally left exposed so everyone in the observation room could see what was happening. When it was over he started pouring more biomass into the Hive, covering the fake missile in it in order to conceal it. He then proceeded to create several copies of the structure covering the missile in every single room on every single floor of the building so the "heroes" would have no idea which one was the "real" missile.
"Alright… Hagakure, just so you're aware, this entire building is now my "hive" meaning it's technically all an extension of my body. So here's the plan. As soon as the exercise starts, I'm going to be going down there to capture them. Before that, though, I'm going to be playing the part of a particularly sadistic villain and drag this out a bit just to give them a chance to demonstrate what they can do since this is a training exercise. So I'll wear them down with bio constructs before I go in and fight them myself. I don't expect them to make it past the first floor and I guarantee they won't make it past me. So just wait up here until it's over. It shouldn't take too long." Alex explained.
As he spoke he made a single bio construct he called a "brawler" based on the hunters he fought in Manhattan spawn from one of the walls. However he made it significantly smaller and weaker so they would at least have a chance of defeating it. This was already an unfair match up. There was no real need to waste the effort making it any more unfair.
As an added bonus for psychological warfare purposes and to better suit the scenario of him being a "sadistic villain", he started making tortured and eviscerated bodies start appearing on the first floor. Some were leaned up against the walls with their internal organs hanging out on display with their torsos ripped open, others were torn or sliced to pieces and were strewn about the floor in a gruesome display of brutal carnage, some were partially melded with the walls, floors, or ceilings and were moaning in agony begging for someone to put them out of their misery, or were hanging from the ceilings by pitch black tendrils of biomass, while others were just whole completely intact corpses with no visible wounds whatsoever. He even had a few of the corpses look as if they had been half eaten by the brawler. It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie. None of the "infected" or "corpses" appeared in the room he and Hagakure were currently in, however.
"All right, I guess… Are you sure there isn't anything I can do to help?" Hagakure inquired
Alex shook his head, "Sorry but no. Not really. Your invisibility quirk is good for stealth, scouting, and can provide an advantage in battle since your enemy wouldn't be able to see you unless they have thermal vision like me, but we're fighting defensively and I can see and hear everything in this entire building. I'm also a lot harder to fight even if they can see me. So the best thing you can do is stay here and wait. No offense." He then cracked his knuckles in preparation before shifting himself into his bioweapon form. "Now, let's just get this over with…" He said, his voice sounding just as inhuman and monstrous as he looked.
"Wait, you have thermal vision?!" Hagakure demanded.
"Yes. Well… I can switch between normal and thermal vision at will. Right now I'm using normal vision as I have no need for thermal vision at the moment. So you're just as invisible to me right now as you are to everyone else. Besides which my quirk has drastically reduced my sex drive. Thus I couldn't care less even if I could see you."
{In the observation room}
All Might flinched slightly as he saw what Alex was doing inside the building. Seeing the false corpses brought back some very bad memories with some of his worst run-ins with the most depraved and insane villains he ever had the immense displeasure of fighting. The images of the mutilated corpses of those villains' victims still haunted him to this very day.
"Oh wow… Uh… Mercer's taking this whole 'villain' thing really seriously isn't he? Ugh… Were the bodies really necessary?" Kaminari inquired as he looked at the screens.
"Hm… Indeed… He intends to use psychological warfare to demoralize his opponents… While I disapprove of such tactics, you all are going to need to learn how to deal with such things if you are going to become Pro Heros. There are some truly sick villains out there and they will use real people and real corpses in a similar manner as young Mercer is using those biological constructs at this very moment. Better you learn how to deal with it here with false bodies you know are not real than to learn in the field with the bodies of real civilians." All Might told the class in a grim tone, though he didn't let his smile fade even for a second.
When the prep time was up All Might raised his microphone and said, "All right kids, show us you're the embodiment of good…! Or evil. Let's go!"
{In front of the hive}
Momo and Mina entered the hive cautiously and were immediately greeted by the sight of dozens of eviscerated corpses. "Wow… Uh… Those… Those look way too real… Ugh… They smell way too real too!"
Momo proceeded to create two respirators and handed one to Mina before putting the other one on herself. "There. That should help with the smell at least…"
"Yeah, it really does. Thank you…" Mina said appreciatively as they walked deeper into the building.
As they made their way deeper into the building something reached out from the wall and grabbed Momo, pulling her towards it. "Kill me! Please! It hurts so much! Kill me! KILL MEEEE!" It begged desperately.
Looking Mina saw it was another body, but this one was apparently "alive" and was partially melded with the wall. Grabbing Momo's hand, she yanked her teammate away from the wretched creature.
"No! Please! COME BACK! YOU HAVE TO KILL ME! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! IT HURTS! OH GOD IT HURTS SO MUCH! AAAAAHHHHH!" The creature screamed.
"P-professor All Might, sir, do these count as hostage civilians? Are we supposed to try to help them?" Momo shouted, trying to be heard over the creature's wretched screaming.
"Good question! Unfortunately, while this would be a good opportunity for extra credit if you could find a way to save them had you been the first group to go, not everyone in class would be able to receive the same opportunity since another group went before you. So instead just treat them as what they are, part of young Mercer's quirk that he is using to intimidate and demoralize you." All Might responded over the intercom.
"Understood." Momo nodded in understanding.
She and Ashido continued on until they eventually entered a room and saw that there were multiple biomass structures shaped exactly like the missile and they found a horrific monster munching on one of the "corpses". The creature perked up the moment they rounded the corner and looked into the room, apparently having either heard or smelled them. Whirling around it roared at them and immediately began charging at them.
Mina immediately sprayed acid on the floor in front of the creature causing it to slip and fall while still sliding towards them. Momo readied her staff and smacked it in the head as soon as it got within range, attempting to knock it out. This succeeded in making it angry.
Getting back up, it tried to punch Momo. Seeing this coming Momo dodged backwards and struck it again with her staff even harder this time, actually succeeding in momentarily dazing it. "Ashido, get in there and start melting the tissue that makes up those structures! I don't think Mercer and Hagakure would have put it down here, especially in such a lightly guarded room, but we have no idea if the bomb is hiding underneath one of those shells! We have to be sure! I'll hold this thing off!"
"Right!" Mina responded before rushing inside the room and burning holes through the biomass structures with her acid. All of them were completely hollow. "They're all empty!" Mina shouted as she finished checking the last structure.
"I knew it! It's probably on one of the top floors!" Momo responded, still fighting the monster.
As she said this, the most intact "corpses" on the ground began to jerk violently as if they had all started having seizures at once. Then their bodies started rapidly mutating into horrific monstrosities. Once they were finished mutating, which only took seconds, they started getting up and attacking Mina and Momo.
"Zombies?! Really?!" Mina shouted in frustration, punching one of the infected in the face before kicking another in the gut.
"We're just going to have to fight our way through them! Come on!" Momo shouted, trying her best to batter the infected and brawler away with her staff. She actually managed to knock out a few of the infected, but the brawler was still too tough for her to knock out with her staff.
The two of them then proceeded to fight their way through the infected and finally reached the stairs leading up to the second floor. They bolted up the stairs and as soon as they reached the top they were greeted by the sound of clapping. "I'm impressed. You actually managed to reach the second floor. But as I'm sure you were aware, until now I've just been toying with you. That ends here." Alex then came out from behind a corner.
"Mina, I'm going to make a smoke grenade. Try to be quiet and stay close to me." Momo was at a loss as to what to do in this situation. The smoke grenade was just an attempt to make it harder for Alex to find and attack them by obscuring his vision.
Mina nodded and Momo proceeded to create the smoke grenades before throwing them at Alex. He looked down at the two smoke grenades on the ground for a moment before looking back at the two of them. "You know, I have thermal vision and you're standing on my biomass. Smoke won't work on me." Alex said before bolting forwards and grabbing both of them by the throats and throwing them further into the hall and away from the stairs. He didn't want to risk injuring them by sending them tumbling down the stairs. "So, 'heroes'? How do you want to do this? Should I end this now or do you want to continue struggling against the inevitable?"
"Even if we can't win we have to try our best. Heroes fight no matter how low the odds seem to be." Momo responded, pushing herself back up off the ground.
Mina nodded in agreement as she got up as well. "Yeah! Sorry, Mercer, we're not going to let you win that easily!" Shen then coated the ground between them in acid which began melting the biomass covering the floor before melting a hole through the floor itself. "That should buy us a few seconds! Run!"
She and Momo then turned and began running. Alex looked at the hole in the ground separating him from them and shook his head. He then appeared to melt into the biomass covering the ground. Not even a second later he emerged from a wall directly in front of the two of them. "Buy you time? Sorry, but you're completely outclassed. Your acid isn't going to buy you any time. As you can see, I can dissolve myself into the biomass covering the building and get past any holes you create in an instant. After all, this is my hive and in my hive I am GOD. You know, this is getting just plain sad. It's time I ended this."
Suddenly tendrils shot out of a nearby wall and wrapped around them both. Mina and Momo were both then pulled over towards the wall and the tendrils held them trapped against it. With that Alex morphed back into his base form and said, "Alright. Enough with the whole 'super villain' act. They're both captured. I won. Or do I have to wrap the capture tape around them to officially 'capture' them?"
"The heroes have been captured! The villain team wins!" All Might announced.
{Later}
The rest of the class went by fairly quickly. Some of the battles were fairly impressive, others not so much.
"That's a wrap!" All Might announced at the entrance of the battle center. "Super work! You really stepped up to the plate! And we didn't have any major injuries, except for Midoriya. You should be proud! Excellent first day of training all around!" All Might gave the class a thumbs up.
"It's nice to hear some encouraging words after our homeroom class." Tsuyu commented. "Mr. Aizawa was kind of a buzzkill."
"I'm happy to bring such staggering positivity to my Alma Mater! That's all for now folks! I should go check on young Midoriya's progress. But before I go, Bakugo, after school is over I'll need you to come to the principal's office. There are some things we need to discuss. Now watch how a pro exits. Like he's got somewhere to be!" All Might said before bolting off at high speeds.
"Okay you guys, that is a hero!" Denki stated in excitement.
"Aw, I'll never be able to run that fast…" Mashirao said disappointedly.
{Later}
After classes were all over Bakugo headed straight for the principal's office just like All Might told him to. He had recovered somewhat but he was still very much in shock after realizing that not only was he not the most powerful student in class but even Midoriya could beat him in a one on one fight if he wasn't holding back. This realization had shaken him to his core.
Entering the Principal's office he saw not only All Might and Principal Nezu waiting for him, but his mother and father as well as Izuku's mother. "Ah, there you are. Please come in and take a seat."
Katsuki said nothing but walked in and sat down at the empty seat between his parents.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" Nezu offered. "Perhaps it will help you relax a bit after today's events."
"I'm fine, thanks." Katsuki said in a somewhat aggressive tone. "So what's all this about?"
"Hm? I suspected it would be quite obvious considering what happened earlier. Well, in that case, let's watch the recording shall we? All Might, if you would." Nezu stated before taking a sip of his tea.
"Of course." All Might said before setting down a holographic projector on top of Nezu's desk. He then proceeded to play the recording.
"I'm all loaded up." Bakugo said..
"What does that mean?" Midoriya inquired.
"Why aren't you using your fancy quirk? Don't tell me you're underestimating me, Deku." Bakugo said menacingly. "Get over here and show me what you're really made of."
"Kachan… I'm not scared of you any more!" Midoriya responded.
Bakugo scowled furiously for a moment before smiling to himself. "Since you're such a stalker, by now you probably know how my quirk explosion works." He said, pointing his oversized, grenade shaped gauntlet at Midoriya. "I secrete nitroglycerin like sweat from my hands and make it blow up. Imagine what I could do if I had a lot of it!" He then cocked the "safety lever" of the grenade shaped gauntlets like a gun revealing a pull pin, which he grabbed. "That's right, these gauntlets aren't just for show! They've been storing up my sweat inside for one monster blast!"
"Young Bakugo! Don't do it! You'll kill him!" All Might's voice said over the intercom.
"HE'LL BE FINE AS LONG AS HE DODGES!" Bakugo shouted back before pulling the pin. Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the entire facility and blasted a massive hole in the side of the building.
All Might then paused the recording.
Both of Bakugo's parents were deathly silent upon seeing the recording though his mother was very clearly absolutely furious. Izuku's mother appeared to be in shock.
"Quite the impressive explosion, I must say. It caused quite a bit of damage to the building. In fact, it was so impressive that had Midoriya not moved out of the way in time he would have been blasted to pieces and we would have to scrape him off the walls, floor, and even the roof. Then you would currently be under arrest for the murder of a fellow student." Principal Nezu stated in an eerily cheerful tone.
Bakugo said nothing but just clenched his fists and scowled furiously.
"Fortunately, Midoriya moved far enough away that he managed to survive. So you are not currently under arrest, though you very much could be under arrest for assault and attempted manslaughter." Nezu continued before taking another sip of his tea and setting it down on his desk.
"Izuku… Where is Izuku! Is he okay?! Please tell me he's alright!" Inko Midoriya pleaded desperately.
"Don't worry. Your son is just fine. He's currently under the care of our school nurse, Recovery Girl. According to her estimates, he should be waking up soon. So he should be joining us shortly. Though, I suppose you will want to know the rest of what happened. All Might, please play the rest of the recording." Nezu requested.
All Might nodded and played the rest of the recording. When it was finally over, the hologram projector shut itself off.
Inko Midoriya had tears in her eyes from a mixture of pride and worry. She was unbelievably proud of Izuku for being able to not only hold his own but actually win the battle despite the fact that Katsuki nearly killed him. Yet she was extremely worried about his broken arm and how he passed out immediately after the battle was over
Bakugo's breathing was getting very heavy and he was on the verge of tears as he was forced to relive his failure.
A few moments later the door opened up and Izuku walked in. "Um, hello? Ms. Recovery Girl told me to come here after I woke up. I—"
"Izuku!" Inko cried out before getting up and rushing over to him. She then wrapped him in a big hug. "I was so worried!"
"M-mom? Why are you here? Hey, what's going on?" Izuku inquired.
"We were just discussing what happened in the indoor battles earlier today. Come, please take a seat. Would you like some tea?"
"Uh, sure… Thank you." Izuku said, walking over and taking a cup of tea before sitting down next to his mother.
"Excuse me, All Might, but why didn't you end the battle after Bakugo nearly killed my Izuku? I just… I don't understand…" Inko inquired.
All Might sighed. "Miss Midoriya, this is a very serious situation so I won't lie to you. I wasn't thinking rationally. I wanted to give your son every chance to succeed, to win through his own power. Or at the very least to put up as much of a fight as he possibly could before losing. I suppose he just reminds me of myself when I was younger… It wasn't until another student informed me how serious the situation really was that I realized the gravity of my mistake. It was my failing as a teacher and as a Pro Hero and for that you have my deepest apologies. I don't expect you to forgive me and I don't ask that you do. I just wanted to apologize. That's why I am here at the moment rather than letting Principal Nezu handle this on his own." He then bowed to Inko apologetically.
Inko nodded in understanding. "I see… Well, I can't forgive you for letting the battle continue and causing Izuku to get hurt, but… Thank you for the apology. I appreciate that you are willing to own up to your mistakes."
"So, what's going to happen now?" Mitsuki inquired. "Is Katsuki under arrest or is he going to be expelled?"
Izuku was horrified when he heard this. Why would Kachan be at risk of being arrested or expelled?! Was… was what he did really that serious?! He wanted to say something, to speak up in Kachan's defense, but he couldn't. His words caught in his throat and he had no idea what to say.
"Preferably neither. It is our professional opinion that being put in prison or juvenile detention is not in your son's best interest nor the best interest of society at large. Nor is being expelled. You see, arresting or expelling him ultimately solves nothing. He won't automatically improve or become a better person. Rather, if anything we believe his current behavior will only deteriorate further which would be no good for anyone, especially considering he has such a powerful quirk. Instead we would like to transfer him out of the hero courses and into general education. During this time he will be required to take mandatory anger management classes twice a week with our Guidance Counselor, Hound Dog. If he shows signs of improvement, we can discuss transferring him back into the hero courses. Considering your son was the one who's life was threatened, does this sound reasonable to you, Mrs. Midoriya, or is there anything you would like to add?" Nezu explained.
"Hm… If possible, I would like some sort of restraining order. After what he did, I would rather he not be allowed near Izuku. At the very least until he can reign in his anger and unwarranted hatred towards my son." Inko suggested.
"That can easily be arranged. While on school grounds he will not be allowed within three meters of your son without a teacher present until he learns to control his anger and we can get to the bottom of his aggression towards your son and fix it. There is no room in U.A. for students to be hating other students, let alone to such a degree that they would knowingly and willingly endanger the life of the student they hate. Thank you for being so understanding. Many parents in your situation would be determined to press charges." Nezu stated.
"Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind… Still… You made good points as to why I shouldn't, so I won't. At least, not unless he does something like this again." Inko said.
Nezu nodded then looked at Katsuki's parents. "Your son has great potential to be a hero. He has power, talent, and tenacity. However, his arrogance and aggression absolutely need to be quelled. I suspect you will be having a talk with him once you get home, correct?"
Masaru sighed and said, "Yes… We will… Katsuki, I can't believe you would be so reckless. I mean you nearly killed him! What were you thinking?! I… I'm so disappointed in you…"
Mitsuki nodded. "Not only are we going to have a very long talk once we get home but he's going to be grounded until he can earn his place in the hero courses again. We absolutely did not raise him to be a thug or a murderer. We hoped coming to U.A. and learning to be a Pro Hero might help him curb his ego a bit but clearly being accepted has only made it worse if anything. You know he only got this way because of his powerful quirk, talent, and people always praising and fawning over him since he was a child. It's gotten completely out of hand."
"Good. I'm glad we all came to an understanding and I look forward to getting this all sorted out as soon as possible. Well, it was a pleasure to officially meet all of you, though I do wish it was under better circumstances." Nezu stated.
All Might nodded in agreement.
Inko, Mitsuki, and Matsaru all got up out of their chairs. Izuku and Bakugo followed soon after. "Thank you for handling this as professionally as possible. I just hope nothing like this happens again."
"You have my word as a Pro Hero that it will not. I'll make sure of it. The safety of our students is our number one priority!" All Might stated confidently.
Inko nodded. "Come on, Izuku. Let's go home."
"Wait." Mitsuki stated, walking over to Inko. "I just want to apologize for what Katsuki did. I can hardly believe he did something so dangerous and stupid!" She then sighed and said, "I also wanted to thank you for deciding not to press charges. Hopefully the staff here at U.A. can help him get back on the right path."
Inko just gave her a small smile and nodded before turning and leaving with Izuku in tow.
End notes: I just got my second Covid shot yesterday and I feel like absolute crap and I got little to no sleep last night! Still it will be nice to be able to go out without having to worry about getting sick, or at least as sick. So, worth it! Anyways, this is the last chapter I had time to write to upload it on a daily schedule so it's going to be the last daily upload. I'll be switching to a bit longer of a schedule now. Partially because of the shot and how crappy I feel and partially because I have other things I need to do. I hope you guys understand.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as if not more than I enjoyed writing it! Constructive criticism is always welcome! I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong after all.
Stay safe out there everyone!
