Hero Basics
Part Two
"Hero team wins!"
Terra jumped at All Might's shouting. Her eyes shot to the monitor screen. While she was watching her uncle the battle had ended. A large hole had been blown in the floors and the wall where the weapon was. The hero team was on the floor while the villains remained standing. Well, Iida was kneeling, rubbing a nauseous Uraraka's back. The girl looked like she was about to hurl up her lunch.
"What the heck? The losers have barely a scratch on them and both winners are on the ground!" Kirishima said.
"As the old saying goes, they lost the battle but won the war." Tokoyami closed his eyes as he spoke.
"This school is intense," Asui said.
As the room was abuzz with the villain team's shocking win, Terra looked back at All Might. A clear look of pride was on his face as he watched Midoriya on the screen. Without a word All Might left the room to check on the students who finished fighting. Terra's mind continued to roll over and over her uncle, Midoriya, the look of pride, and the question of why All Might didn't stop the fight when it should have been. There was some kind of connection there. But what? Midoriya and All Might only met once before school started. How could such a bond form from one visit? Sure Midoriya knew All Might's secret, but surely that wouldn't cause all of this. Would it?
"I'm not surprised he had to go all out because he was up against someone like Bakugo," Kaminari said.
"But All Might should have stopped them before it got to this point," Yaoyorozu said. "Midoriya looks seriously injured."
"Naw! That was a manly fight!" Kirishima said as he pumped his fist up in the air.
"Ribbit.Weren't you the one who kept asking if he should stop them?" Asui asked.
Terra glanced at her classmate. They apparently didn't see what she saw in All Might's eyes during the fight. Maybe they were too focused on the fight to notice?
The automatic door swooshed as it slid open. Iida, Uraraka, and Bakugo with All Might tailing behind them walked into the room. All Might retook his place at the head of the class and started to review the fight. "Okay! Let's begin our review of the first battle! The heroes have won the battle but with that said, the MVP for this round is Young Iida!"
"Eh?" the class murmured while Tenya's jaw dropped.
"It's not either Ochaco or Midoriya?" Asui asked.
"Hm? Well, why is that? Does anyone know?" All Might ran his eyes over them all.
Yaoyorozu lifted her hand. "I believe that I know. It's because Iida adapted fully to the role he was given from the start. Bakugo acted on his own because of an obviously personal grudge against Midoriya. And as All Might said earlier, it is foolish to launch a large-scale attack indoors. Taking into consideration the damage he received, Midoriya's plan was also rash. As for Uraraka, she let her guard down mid-battle and her final attack was too reckless. If she treated the weapon as a real nuclear weapon, she would not have done something so dangerous. Iida had prepared for his opponent's arrival and assumed it would be a fight over the weapon, which left him unprepared for the attack that did come. The hero team only won because they took advantage of the fact that this was training. If this was a real situation then things might have ended differently."
"W-well, Young Iida had his flaws too. He could have relaxed more," All Might said with a waver to his voice. "But... yes, that was correct. Great work, Young Yaoyorozu!"
"One must start with the basics to develop depth of learning. We must strive to devote ourselves wholeheartedly," Yaoyorozu said with her hand on her hips. "Otherwise, we cannot become top heroes."
Terra noted this girl was smart.
"All right! Let's move on to the next group and another building since this one is too damaged to use again. Tackle this training after thinking about what we just talked about!" All Might said.
"Good luck, Sho-chan. Not that you need it." Terra waved as her friend and his teammate headed for the door.
Todoroki nodded and left the room.
"This is going to be over in seconds." Terra leaned back against the wall.
"What do you mean?" Asui asked.
"Sho-chan is going to freeze them in place." Terra smiled.
"How do you know that?" Sato asked.
Terra grinned, crossing her arms. "Well, because we've been friends for years, you know. I know how he thinks. And he knows how I think. Why fight when you can easily subdue your opponents? He's really amazing. He's strong. And he's-"
"Take it easy, Terra." Yaoyorozu placed her hand on Terra's shoulder.
"Sorry." Terra's cheeks flushed. "I was babbling again, huh?"
"You are so lucky to have known him all your life." Ashido's shoulders sagged. "I wish I did. He's so handsome."
"You think he's handsome?" Terra's eyebrows rose.
"Best looking boy in school," Ashido said. "How can you not think he's cute?"
"Well… he's just Sho-chan to me." Terra tilted her head. Her eyes went to her best friend. How good looking was he? She hummed with no idea how to answer that question. Sure having two different hair and eye colors were rare, but did that make someone more attractive than one who didn't? She had no idea how to answer that question either.
Todoroki and Shoji entered into the building. Shoji formed ears on his extensions. The two exchanged words before Todoroki continued on through the building as Shoji headed outside.
"Wah! Hagakure is taking off her gloves and boots!" Kaminari shook a finger at another monitor. "She's going to be completely invisible!"
"Ahhhh! What a waste!" Mineta said with a defeated sigh then drool poured from his lips. "If only the girls we can actually see had to do that. Then I would finally be able to see b-"
"What are you saying?!" Jiro shouted and gave Mineta a hard punch across the face.
So we have two perverts in class. Though Mineta was clearly worse than Kaminari. Terra glanced at the two boys before looking back at the monitor.
Todoroki placed his hand on a wall. Ice shot out from his hand, covering the walls and floor until the villain team was frozen to the floor. With zero resistance Todoroki walked into the room with the weapon and touched it.
The air in the monitor room dropped. Terra rubbed her arms as she wrapped leaves around herself. Her breath plumed from her mouth. "Geez, Sho-chan."
"H-h-hero T-t-team wins!" All Might's teeth chattered as everyone started to huddle together to keep warm.
Todoroki then placed his left palm on the frozen weapon and the ice began to melt and formed steam.
"W-wow!" Sero said. "Does he have heat too?"
"What's up with that quirk?" Kaminari asked.
"As expected of someone who got in through recommendations," Asui said. "Terra was right. That was over quickly."
"All right. Everyone return and let's review!" All Might said into the microphone.
"What's to review? Todoroki won that all by himself!" Sero shook his head. "There was nothing anyone can do against a move like that."
Sero was right. Terra knew that better than anyone. She knew not a single person in her class would be able to take Todoroki down. When serious, Todoroki could take them all down without breaking a sweat.
"You ready for your turn?" All Might placed his hand on Terra's shoulder.
Terra shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Then get going." All Might nodded.
Terra nodded back then turned to find her teammate smiling brightly at her.
"Hello, Mademoiselle," Aoyama said with a wink. "I am flattered to be your partner."
Terra eyed his bright costume. "You look silly."
"Eh?" Aoyama blinked.
"Terra, mind your tongue," All Might said.
"Right!" Surprise rolled up her face. She bowed to Aoyama. "I'm sorry!"
"Quite all right. Shall we go?" Aoyama gestured to the door.
Not trusting her own mouth, Terra nodded then walked with stiff legs to the door. They reached the entrance to the building where the opponents were gearing up before heading inside. She picked up an earpiece and put it in place. With luck of the draw she was to play the part of the hero.
"Ready? Begin!" All Might's voice rang above them through hidden speakers.
Terra and Aoyama stepped inside the building. She scanned the hall. Though the training sessions had moved to another building, since the first teams all but demolished the first one, they were built the same. All floors were built as mazes. Their enemy could be anywhere.
For a moment she wondered why the buildings were mazes. Then she realized in a real situation like this a hero wouldn't know the layout of the building. And there might not be time to get blueprints. Heroes had to be smart and fast.
"So what are we going to do? I know we have to find what floor they are on first. What about battle plans? Let's see…" Terra thought about their opponents as she cupped her chin between her fingers. "Their names are… Shoji and Sato. They're both really strong. I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure I can make my vines thick enough to hold them. I'm sure they can easily rip through my vines. There's got to be something."
"My, my, rather tense are we?" Aoyama asked.
Terra jumped then rubbed her head. "Sorry. Apparently I'm socially awkward. I have no idea what I'm doing when around people. Words just pour out of my mouth. Like it did with your costume. Sorry about that again. I know we made our costumes in our tastes. That's what I did with mine. So if you like it then-"
"Terra, please, stop babbling and get on with the exercise." All Might's voice was laced with a sigh.
"Yes, sir! Sorry!" Terra jumped.
Aoyama cleared his throat. "Anyway, we should find them. It'll take some time so we'll have plenty opportunities to figure out a battle strategy."
Terra nodded. They slipped down the hall, cautiously peering around corners before moving on. "Any ideas yet? By the way, what is your quirk again? A beam?"
"No, I'm afraid not." Aoyama peered up the stairs before going up them. "I can shoot my laser for a second before it hurts my tummy. What about you? Your quirk is plant based. Surely you can do something with that."
"I don't know." Terra looked at her fingers. "As you saw, I can form vines and leaves from my body. I can also form small flowers and thorns but that won't be much help in close combat since they're stronger than I am. Well, I guess I can throw flowers into the room and hope they have allergies."
"Seems our best choice would be to wrap them up in vines."
"True. But as I said before their quirks are strength based. Well, Shoji's is surveillance, but he's still strong with multiple arms. They could rip through my vines like paper."
"We are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to fighting head on. Looks like our only chance will be to sneak attack them," Aoyama said.
Terra hummed. That might work, though she wasn't sure. Since they, the heroes, knew what the villains quirks were then it would be the same in reverse. Shoji and Sato were probably expecting a sneak attack. "Doesn't look like we have any other options. So how about you rush in and distract them with your laser then I'll wrap them up in my vines the best I could while you run for the weapon?"
"Oui." Aoyama nodded.
With a plan in place the two continued to trek through the floors until they finally found their quarry on the seventh floor. They tucked around a corner before giving a nod and charged forward. Aoyama went first. He charged for the room with Terra quickly following. Aoyama's laser shot through the room. Terra threw out her hands, vines formed from them and wrapped around the enemy. Aoyama shot forward.
Shoji and Sato struggled in the vines for two seconds before bursting free. Sato threw out his arm, catching Aoyama on the neck. The laser boy fell onto his back and didn't move.
Terra squeaked when the enemy turned to her. She stood ready as Sato took a step towards her. She licked her lips. Was he trying to draw her forward? What was their battle plan? They took out Aoyama with one hit. Were they going to do that to her, too?
A buzzer broke through the air followed by All Might's voice. "The match is over. The villain team wins. Return to the monitor room."
"At least it's over." Terra's eyes dropped to Aoyama. "Is he all right?"
"He'll be fine." Sato pulled the unconscious boy on his shoulder and headed for the door.
They entered into the monitor room together.
"Well done," All Might said while clapping. "You all did great."
"Thank you, sir," Sato and Shoji said.
Terra shrugged. "It wasn't great on our part. We had a poor strategy and lost."
"You are partly wrong, Terra. Your battle strategy is often used in real battles. However, there is more than one way to do this." All Might placed a fist on his hip while holding up a finger. "It was clear to everyone that Shoji and Sato had the upper hand here with their quirks and their strength. You and Young Aoyama would have stood a better chance at winning if you had lured one of them away. Two on one would have given the heroes a better chance at winning. And you over looked one very important fact: Young Shoji's quirk. He heard everything you two said to each other. So he and Young Sato were prepared for your attack."
Terra puffed out her cheeks. She had even spoken about his quirk. How did she miss that?
"Don't fret about it." All Might patted her head. "You did very well on your first try. You still have a lot of growing to do."
"Yeah. Sure." Terra shrugged before heading off to take her place beside her best friend.
"Mademoiselle," Aoyama called.
Terra turned back to him.
"I know we didn't win but I am glad I got the chance to pair with you." He smiled. "Perhaps we can do this again at a later date. When we have gotten stronger."
"Sure. Why not?" Terra shrugged. "I still think you and your costume are weird." She smiled. "But I like you."
"And I like you." Aoyama took her hand and kissed it.
Terra tensed and squeaked at the warm lips against her skin before breaking out into nervous laughter.
"First time getting a kiss from a man?" Aoyama asked.
Terra nodded.
"Perhaps you'll get more one day." Aoyama winked at her before walking away.
Stiff bodied, Terra walked over to Todoroki.
"Hey, Terra?" Asui looked at the water bottles on Terra's hips. "I've been meaning to ask. What's with the water bottles?"
"Huh? Oh, these?" Terra looked down. "They're to keep me hydrated, of course."
"Ribbit?" Asui pressed her finger to her chin.
"I can detach from my vines and leaves and such from my body." Terra formed a vine from her pinky and detached it, her finger reformed in its place. "See? I lose water when I do this. The more plants I use the more water I lose. I need to keep hydrated because of my quirk."
"I see." Asui nodded.
"Then, does that mean you're also weak against fire?" Mineta asked.
"Yup." Terra nodded.
"Should you be revealing such weakness?" Kaminari asked.
"It's not like it's a secret." Terra swirled a strand of hair. "I have yet to hear of a plant base quirk without these weaknesses."
Bakugo scoffed. "Pathetic! No wonder you lost your fight! With a weak quirk like that you'll never make it as a hero! I expected more from someone who was recommended by All Might! You're nothing but a pathetic disappointment, Plant Face!"
"Plant Face?" Terra blinked as Todoroki glared and tensed beside her. "Whatever. I don't care what you think." She elbowed Todoroki. His glare vanished. His body relaxed.
"What was that?!" Bakugo screamed. "You wanna fight with me, Plant Face?!"
"Fight? Why would I want to do that? It's obvious you're far stronger than I am." Terra smiled.
"That's right! I am stronger than you! Don't you forget it!" Bakugo stalked off to the other side of the room. "And stop smiling like that! It's creepy, you idiot!"
"Creepy?" Terra blinked.
"That guy." Yaoyorozu sighed. "But he does have a point. We all expected better from someone All Might recommended."
Terra shrugged. "Yeah. Whatever. This is only the beginning of school. And now I'm ready to go home."
"Terra," All Might said in a soft tone. She ducked her head, knowing what he was going to say next. "Perhaps you should tell them."
"Tell us what?" Mineta asked. "Are you keeping some hideous, dark secret from us?"
Terra gritted her teeth unable to look at anyone. A strong hand squeezed her shoulder. She glanced up to see All Might smiling at her. Movement pulled her eyes to her other side. Todoroki moved closer to her. He nodded at her. She sighed. "Fine. Let's just say I was involved in an incident when I was a kid that hurt people. A lot of people. Because of that I lack confidence in using my quirk. All Might sees hero potential inside of me. He thought coming here would help me over come that time."
"I did think it was odd that you didn't throw the ball very far during Mr. Aizawa's quirk assessment tests." Yaoyorozu cupped her chin. "Now it makes sense."
Terra scratched her neck. "Yeah. I guess."
"Does Mr. Aizawa know about this?" Hagakure asked.
"He does. I told him about the incident," All Might said. "He's going to help her during classes. The principle and Recovery Girl also know."
"Ribbit. I'm glad," Asui said. "I wouldn't want you to get kicked out because of something that happened to you as a kid. With your quirk you'll be a great asset to the hero world."
"Yeah!" Kirishima nodded. "You'll be able to rescue people easily with that awesome quirk you have."
"Uh, thanks, guys." Terra adverted her eyes and rubbed her arm. "Can we please move on? I hate talking about it."
"Right. Let's get back to work." All Might nodded. "Next teams get ready."
Terra walked to the back of the room. Lending against the wall she wrapped her arms around herself. Todoroki followed. He pressed his shoulder against hers, letting her know he was right there.