A/N: Edit finished 16 August 2018. Beta provided by Kylekatarn77.
If you're artistically inclined and interested, I would love to have someone draw Izuku's hero costume as described below.
Chapter 7
Izuku was side by side with his classmates as they entered Ground Beta. After a few seconds, he recognized the cityscape as being the same location used for his testing site during the Entrance Exam. Like the rest, he was dressed in the costume he had designed for his U.A. application. Inspired by the scratchy drawing he produced after acquiring One for All, it remained as simple and utilitarian as the initial sketch. White gloves blended into reinforced gauntlets that ran up to his elbow, a piece of ceramic protecting the joint. His shoulders, upper arm, and torso flexed against green spandex shaded to match his hair. Emblazed on his chest was a thick white inverted chevron, going from his armpits to the point at the base of his sternum. A white utility belt with red accents was snug on his waist and the red color had been retained for the sneaker looking base of his boots. Last were the black tights that blended into plastic-coated ceramic lower thigh and shin armor covering the steel-toed boots. His green hair rippled in the soft breeze that passed over the twenty teenagers. He had played with a hood with bunny ears resembling All Might's hair, but it felt childish and was too on the nail for him.
"Everyone's here! GREAT!" All Might said with his thunderous vibrato. "Welcome, my students, to Battle Training!"
"If I may, before we begin," Tenya began, "It appears that this is the same location used for the Entrance Exam. Will we be performing cityscape maneuvers again?"
The class nodded their agreement with the question, except for Mineta, who Izuku noticed was more concerned with ogling the girls. All except Jirou and Hagakure, but then again I don't know where Hagakure is, but that may be for the best. She's probably nude, unless there's a fabric that her quirk can influence.
"Nope. Today is the introduction to an important urban scenario you shall face: Indoor Antipersonnel Combat! While famous villain battles typically take place outdoors, the worst ones are more often fought indoors. Between confinement, house arrests, and black market deals, you will find our hero-filled society forces the cleverest villains to lurk out of sight, and as they too often rely upon, out of mind.
"Thus, you will be divided into four groups of five to undertake a predetermined scenario! Each group will be different, so when you aren't in combat, please pay attention to the others! By the time you graduate, you will handle every type several times over."
"Wait, so no basic training?" Tsuyu asked with a slight croak.
"Practical experience teaches the basics!" All Might responded with raised fist. "You may be required to write up analysis on your actions and determine what mistakes you made and how to prevent them from happening next time. Plus, you will be fighting each other instead of disposable robots."
A flurry of questions was lobbed at All Might. Izuku only caught two: Momo asking, "What determines victory?" and Tenya asking about division into the four groups. This is much better thought out than my previous exercises with All Might. Nedzu must've designed it, or maybe Aizawa. He'll insist on write-ups afterwards.
"I'll get to some of your questions later, but to answer the most pressing one: groups were randomized by a computer this morning, along with the assigned scenario. The groups are as follows:
"Group A is Ashido, Bakugou, Kirishima, Midoriya, and Tokoyami.
"Group B is Hagakure, Jirou, Kouda, Mineta, and Ojiro.
"Group C is Asui, Kaminari, Shouji, Todoroki, and Uraraka.
"Group D is Aoyama, Iida, Satou, Sero, and Yaoyorozu."
All Might coughed into his hand and Izuku frowned at the hints of blood. The pro hero rubbed his hand against the bright red of his costume and continued on. "Each group will report to the building with their group's letter on it and remain in your staging area until given further directions. We'll start with Group A in a half hour. Plus Ultra!"
Izuku tried to ignore the perplexing stare Katsuki had focused on the back of his head. While talking with Kirishima and Ashido distracted him from the blond, his presence still itched for Izuku's attention. The five walked for several minutes until they reached a building with a bright 'A' illuminating from all four sides. It was ten stories tall with small windows and a metal entrance surrounded by stripped yellow and black banners.
"I suspect we enter there," Tokoyami said. "The light is…"
"Totally All Might's style!" Ashido exclaimed. She grabbed the four boys and dragged them into the metal entrance. Once inside, a giant screen to their left activated.
"Welcome, Group A," All Might said through the monitor. "Since the other groups have already reached their sites, I will begin with the instructions. You will be split into two teams: two heroes and three villains. Your tasks are simple. While the villains attempt to destroy the building, the heroes will stop them! The heroes will win when they defeat the villains, unless they either destroy two thirds of the interior or collapse the building. Now, for the teams: Midoriya and Tokoyami will be the heroes. Ashido, Bakugou, Kirishima, there are twenty minutes until the exercise begins. Report to the pavilion on the third floor for more instructions. Please restrain from getting a head start on destroying the building."
All Might disappeared, replaced by a counter. '20:00' it displayed, counting down with each second that passed.
"Come along, Broomhead, Raccoon Eyes," Katsuki said, entering the main building. They followed, complaining about the nicknames.
"That Bakugou, he'll be difficult," Tokoyami said once the door closed. '19:15.' "Dark Shadow won't hold up well against the light his explosions produce."
"What exactly is your quirk, Tokoyami?" Izuku asked. I've barely made any entries about my classmates, other than Kacchan. I just hope what I write down won't create problems with the others. "I've listened in on others talking about theirs and what we all saw during Aizawa's test, but yours is rather…unknown."
Tokoyami considered Izuku's question for a moment and then nodded. "Please call me Fumikage, or the Raven if you want to use codenames like pro heroes. My quirk is Dark Shadow, a…shadowy form that I have control over. The amount of darkness that surrounds me influences its size and the ease of control; the more darkness, the stronger I am but the harder it is to control."
Izuku nodded. "Then you'll want to avoid Kacchan, uh Bakugou," he said, noticing Tokoyami's slight confusion over his usage of that childhood nickname. "His explosions produce light and he could likely generate enough light to make your quirk useless. Kirishima should be easy to deal with for either of us."
"And Ashido?"
"Her acid quirk is dangerous. We'll have to either take her by surprise or overwhelm her with pure force." He looked at the counter. Seventeen minutes to go… "Would you be interested in discussing strategy?" Tokoyami nodded and they dug into what they knew about the three deeper inside.
When the counter finally ran out, they entered the main building. The chamber sealed behind them with a hissing press. And then the building shook with a ringing blast. "Bakugou has already started," Fumikage said, looking up. "I'll leave that fight to you. How long do you think All Might will give us to finish?"
"I'd rather not think about," Izuku mumbled, rubbing his face. "Ashido and Kirishima will likely be on the ground level or in route. Think you can handle them?"
"They will shudder before my dark onslaught." Fumikage might be worse than Kacchan, but at least he's on my side here. They split ways, Izuku using his quirk to leap up the open, central area while Fumikage descended towards where they suspected Kirishima and Ashido would end up.
With each leap, Izuku grew more and more nervous. His fight with Katsuki a year ago had been in an open area with nothing that could be used as cover or destroyed to create rubble the other would need to avoid. Thus, he was nervous to see just how Katsuki would manipulate the environment to best use his explosive quirk, especially since his capacity using his quirk was intuitive and suggested he experimented either at home or in an area where his explosions would be hidden from notice. If it weren't for just how much of One for All I can safely use and control, Kacchan would easily be the stronger of the two of us. With it, I can go toe to toe with him. If I can get the advantage, he should fall. All I have to do is follow the explosions and land the first blow.
As Izuku landed on the fifth floor, his green eyes locked onto Katsuki's red ones. The two boys stared each other down for several heartbeats until Katsuki shouted, "I've been waiting for you, Deku. I'm going to take you down as I should've last year, blast that bird out of the sky, and take down the building. It'll be useful knowledge if I ever end up in your shoes."
"I just have to stop you, Kacchan." Izuku's arms rose into a combat stance and he waved Katsuki over like he would a curious child. The explosive quirk user charged, hands illuminated by a dozen tiny pulses as he prepared what would likely be a large and thunderous blast. He jumped, enlarging the pulses to soar over his opponent, and launch forward with a flaming right hook. A brief smile graced Izuku's face. I've watched you fight for years, Kacchan. You always start with a right hook, even against those you've fought more than once. This time, it'll serve me more than it's ever served you.
Izuku ducked under the attack, leaning right, and threw a blistering uppercut into Katsuki's exposed ribs. There was a pop and Katsuki growled as he landed, a hand rubbing where he'd been hit.
"Just for that, I'm sending you to Recovery Girl, Deku," he said. Malice rolled off him like sweat on a hot summer day. Katsuki charged once more, using greater explosions to increase his velocity. Izuku gritted his teeth as he met the charge head on, grabbing his opponent's wrists beneath bulky bracers and twisting them so the explosions went upwards. He pulled them close together and threw his head forward. Once, twice, his forehead hit the bridge of Katsuki's nose. The first blow drew blood and the second one broke it. His third head butt was countered by an identical attack, their foreheads colliding in a thunk that dulled his senses. Izuku shoved Katsuki back, making space so he could recover before the next volley of blows.
Katsuki stepped forward before he could fully recover. Using his slight swaying, Izuku dropped onto a knee and threw his arms forward. He had timed it just right, grabbing onto Katsuki's costume and using his momentum to throw the other boy over his ducked head and slam him into the ground. Before Izuku could move into a finishing blow, gloved hands formed a bowl.
"Oh," Izuku said before an explosion roared towards him. In the second before it would've burnt him, he dove left, rolling away from the flaming edges. Katsuki rose and pointed a bracer at Izuku, fingers wrapping around the chrome pin that he hadn't noticed during both the walk to Building A or during the quick flurry of blows that had defined their fight.
"I wanted to wait until the chamber was fully filled, but I just have to finish you off now. Feel proud Deku, to face the full power of my quirk!" Katsuki pulled the pin and a roaring explosion lanced forward. Izuku watched the approaching flames. He suddenly remembered a televised fight between All Might and Endeavor for title of "Number One Hero." Following his memories, he brought his arms back and clapped. The shockwave cut through the explosion, caught Katsuki in its rolling waves, and slammed him into a thick pillar supporting the upper floors.
In the aftermath, Izuku closed the distance between him and Katsuki in a blur, wrapping the provided capture tape around the explosive quirk user's wrists. The moment he finished, "HERO TEAM WINS!" came over the speakers in All Might's booming voice. "Report back to the starting area for grading!"
Mashirao Ojiro glanced around a corner and frowned. He had been handed a difficult task, having to fight the other four in his group and retrieve a false nuclear weapon. The worst part is the four I have to face could easily make a strong and dangerous team. The structure they had been assigned had walls teaming with bugs, according to one of Kouji's comments. The stony faced hero had mentioned it in coordination with his quirk. The others had bragged about theirs and he had listened. Hagakure's invisibility makes her very dangerous. Jirou's quirk forces me to be even quieter than I would typically have to be. And Mineta. He sighed, tail flicking out. I never expected something so versatile from that little pervert. If I step on any of his balls or let them touch my tail, I'm done.
He started down a long corridor, leading him deeper into the building. Everything was built out of this corridor and he expected an ambush at every corner. With each step, he approached the false villains and he knew their quirks and the environment would allow them to monitor his progress. What are they waiting for? Mashirao wondered. Why not ambush me? All Might never mentioned a time limit and Group A finished in under seven. With each step, his narrowed eyes glanced from side to side. It wasn't until he heard voices that he stopped and ducked behind the nearest piece of cover.
Mineta stepped out of a bathroom further down. He glanced in Mashirao's direction, but after a few tense moments, turned away and entered a room on the left-hand side. The tailed hero sighed, relieved, and considered the approach to the door Mineta had entered. This facility is large and many of the vents are big enough for me to fit into. It's terribly cliché, but then again All Might is the cheesiest hero ever. He'll love it.
Mashirao, however, didn't enjoy crawling through the vents. They were large enough that he could crawl, but their rectangular shape forced him to shimmy on his elbows and knees, chest rubbing the bottom and tail dragging along the top. There were a few moments where he expected to be attacked, but nothing happened. He kept moving until he found a vent over a high stack of crates.
"I can't believe you lost him," Jirou grumbled. "You had ants following him the entire time, including when Mineta walked right past him."
"Hey, he wasn't that close!" Mineta challenged, cutting off any response from Kouda. Before they could continue their argument, Mashirao smashed through the vent and landed on the crates.
He looked down at them, and in his most dramatic voice, said, "I am vengeance. I am the night. I…AM…TAILMAN!" A long moment passed as the others stared at him before Mineta burst into laughter.
I'm going to hurt him the most.
Mashirao jumped down the stack, keeping the large bomb in the room's center between him and Jirou. She's the most dangerous at long ranges with those speakers attached to her costume. I'll need to avoid her attacks until I can get closer. Mineta ripped the purple balls on his head off and threw them along Tailman's path. He weaved through the onslaught until it suddenly stopped. In a moment of startling intuition, he ducked under Kouda's thick fist. His tail whipped out, wrapped around the larger boy's legs, and tossed him at Mineta. The two slammed together and slid across the room. Neither moved to stand.
Jirou might still be on the other side for now, but Hagakure is hiding from me. Where can she be?
Invisible arms wrapping around his neck answered Mashirao's question. Pink and teal gloves grabbed each other and put pressure onto his throat. Jirou came around the false weapon, her earlobes plugged into the speakers on her boots.
"Get out of the way, Hagakure," Jirou ordered. "He'll be finished in a moment."
After a moment, a voice came over the speakers for only two people to hear. "VILLAIN TEAM WINS!"
Mezou Shouji followed Tsuyu Asui and Denki Kaminari towards the hostage location. All Might had tasked them with rescuing fake hostages from Shouto Todoroki and Ochako Uraraka, the simulation's villains. The trio's plan was simple: Mezou and Denki would distract the villains while Tsuyu rescued and extracted the fake hostages. Achieving that would mean a victory for them.
"Hey Tsu," Denki called out as they stopped. Their group had been assigned to a barren mall and the hostage note sent to them at the beginning of the simulation led them to their current spot. "What do you see inside?"
The frog quirk girl peaked inside and then quickly jumped away from the wide entrance. A beam of ice past through where her head had been, hints of frost scattered along the corner she had just looked around. "Todoroki is guarding the entrance. Looks like Uraraka is in the back with the hostages floating on a platform."
Denki frowned. "Todoroki is dangerous. That quirk of his…I don't know if we have a counter."
"What about taking a different route?" Mezou suggested. Tsuyu and Denki blinked and then the three of them stared at the empty storefront they stood in front of.
"You're what, the second strongest in the class?" Denki asked. "You could just break down the wall.
He absently nodded, flexing his six arms. The webbing between them rippled from the motion and Mezou led them into the empty store next door. Instead of stopping partway through as the other two expected, he crossed the barren store and entered the back room. He stopped before a door to their right, which would lead into the store Uraraka and Todoroki were barricaded in. Tsuyu touched the door and nodded. "It's not freezing. They must've assumed we wouldn't try and sneak around like this."
"Then let's go!" Denki said. Tsuyu opened the door and they slipped through. They peered out from the back room to see that the platform with fake hostages was close by, floating. Uraraka sat on a counter before the platform while Todoroki paced halfway between the main entrance and the back room. Tsuyu's tongue shot out, wrapped around the first hostage, and pulled them in. Mezou bent over and took the stuffed mannequin from the long tongue. Twice more they repeated, Tsuyu's long tongue reaching out, grabbing a hostage, and placing it on Mezou's back.
Once all three had been taken, Denki waved them away. "I'll distract them while you get them to safety. Go!"
The last Mezou saw or heard of Denki Kaminari before All Might's victory announcement was a bright flash as the boy unleashed his electrical quirk.
Momo Yaoyorozu nodded to herself as a pair of night vision goggles dropped from her stomach and into her hands. She had closely watched the three simulations preceding her group's simulation. Each one had been a test involving a variety of scenarios and challenges they were bound to face: hostage rescuing, decreasing collateral damage, and seizing dangerous weapons. When All Might had given her group a free-for-all spar, she had been initially disappointed. Then, he had told them the lights would be shut off and that a variety of hazards would be spread throughout the building, a two-story squared structure that seemed to be designed after refurbished warehouses used for entertainment.
Maybe there is something to this simulation, she considered. By throwing taking away our primary sense, he's challenging us to rely on our instincts and observational abilities. The goggle's straps were tight, but once Momo slid them on, the world went from black to shades of green and gray. She started forward, a metal staff emerging from one hand, the other keeping it from making noise.
Although the structure wasn't large, Momo wandered for several minutes until she encountered someone. Instead of a fight, she found Rikidou Satou taped onto the wall, likely from an ambush given the lack of noise. Sero's a greater danger than I thought. She continued on, tense, nervous, and excited. Shortly after passing Satou's unconscious form, she came upon a duel between Aoyama and Iida in the central room. Aoyama's laser illuminated the space, but was so brief that it made the fight easier for the faster hero. The beam fired three more times before Iida leveled his opponent with a quick cross. He then ran off, not bothering to look for onlookers. Speed is his greatest advantage and weakness. Even without light, he's still fixated upon it.
As Momo left the main chamber, the fire alarms went off. A screeching alarm pierced the silence as a bright light flashed in time. The sprinklers activated and she pulled off the goggles. Metallic water covered everything and she spat out the little water that dribbled into her mouth. The pipes have rusted. However, the water harms me less than the other two. It'll make surfaces slick, weakening Sero's tape and throwing off Iida's maneuvering.
She came upon Sero first. When Momo had heard humming, she had grown suspicious. While it could certainly be a trap, there was an off chance that she could catch whomever was humming unexpected. She found him in a small room, all but one entrance blocked with tape. He wasn't looking her way, so she crept in. As she raised her staff, he turned to face her with a face splitting grin.
"Hey Yaomomo," Sero remarked as the staff made contact with his forehead. He collapsed, and when he tried to move away, she delivered a second blow to the side of his head.
"Don't take it personal, Sero," Momo said as she looked down at the unconscious boy. She turned at the sound of footsteps and moved away from the entrances as Iida slammed into one of blocked entrances. His attempts to free himself bound the tape tight to his shiny armor, glistening from the sprinklers. She brought the staff up under his neck, and said, "Yield, Iida."
There was a pause as they stared at each other. Iida sighed and then said, "I yield."
"Now that everyone is finished, let's talk about the results!" All Might said once his twenty students had all reassembled with him in Ground Beta's monitoring room. "We'll start with Group A! The star of that conflict was Tokoyami Fumikage. Anyone know why?"
"I do, sir," Momo said, hand raised. All Might nodded and she continued. "Tokoyami contributed nearly as much to their plan as Midoriya did, but instead of taking down only one enemy, he defeated two. While Midoriya's fight with Bakugou was the flashy and more difficult of the fights, Tokoyami engaged both Ashido and Kirishima, disabling them before Midoriya took down Bakugou while keeping damage to a minimum. As for the three villains, all of them were defeated, with only Bakugou presenting a serious threat to their counterpart."
"Very good," All Might said. "As expected from a recommendation student." He noticed Izuku's bummed look, even as he shared a small grin with Fumikage. It appears he was somewhat humbled by the exercise, even though he did defeat Bakugou. Humility will serve him well as he moves forward.
He continued. "Now for Group B. The star was clearly Jirou Kyouka. While Group B's villain team didn't put as much thought into their planning as either the heroes or villains of Group A, they did work well as a team. What factor convinced me to name Jirou as the top sport of her Group?"
"She defeated me," Mashirao Ojiro said, shoulders slumped. "I was caught off guard and she stopped me with a single attack."
"Correct," All Might said. "There are times where you will outnumber your opponent. Being able to stop them can make a situation easier.
"Now, for Group C?"
Izuku raised his hand and All Might nodded in his direction. "Shouji Mezou. He led his team to the backroom door that allowed them to sneak in and rescue the hostages without tripping an alarm or having to fight either Uraraka or Todoroki."
"Exactly what I was looking for." All Might grinned. "Now for the last group?"
There was a brief moment as his students glanced at each other, wondering who would speak up.
"Yaoyorozu, although Tapeboy didn't do poorly," Katsuki said, arms crossed defiantly. "Her quirk gave her an advantage few of the others had and was able to manipulate her encounter with Tapeboy to achieve victory. He was surprisingly competent, taking down Monkeylips and his quirk being what Yaoyorozu needed to beat Speedy." All Might nodded as Sero, Satou, and Iida grumbled over the nicknames given to them.
"Strong analysis, Bakugou. Well, you're all dismissed for today! Farewell!" And with that, All Might departed.