Walking of the entrance tunnel, Izuku fought with his pain to stand up straight. His back had been pretty banged up when he had checked it while he was changing, and it was getting difficult to keep his posture straight, but he was somehow managing.
Looking around, he admired the designs of everyone's costume. All most all of them were flashy in some way, and it kind of made him feel out of place. Glancing down, he looked at his costume once again.
It was a simple design. Not flashy yet not boring either. It was comfortable and protected him with its brace and the suit was mainly green, with bits of black and white thrown in.
He wore a loose hood over his head that connected with the rest of the costume at the base. A dark green and white mask covered most of his face, but had holes in places for things like his eyes and mouth. There was white flimsy material with the costume to cover his mouth, but he knew it wouldn't do much. He would have to ask for a sturdier one later to replace the screen mask.
The main part was an evergreen long coat that fell just above his knees. It split apart before it reached his legs so that it wouldn't restrict his movement when fighting. White trim outlined the edges of the coat as well, giving it a cool look. A black stripe also ran down the sides of the arms and met up with fingerless black gloves. The gloves gave his wrists support and let him use his quirk at the same time.
Beneath his coat was a lighter green belt with pouches full of all the paper he could ever need. Light grey pants covered his legs and a pair of dark, metal shoes completed the costume.
"Wow Izuku! Your costume looks great!" He looked up and saw Uraraka in her costume. He couldn't help but blush, "I should have been more clear about what I wanted; this costume is skin tight. Not really my style, haha" She said, rubbing the back of her head.
From beside them he heard Mineta whisper, "I love this school."
"Students! If you would please gather around!" All Might announced.
Everyone crowded around him and he started speaking, "Now that you're ready, it's time for combat training!"
The robot looking costume next to Izuku raised his hand, "Sir," oh, so that's Iida under there; he looks so cool! "this is the fake city from our entrance exams. Does that mean that we will be conducting urban battles again?"
All Might raised his hand, " Not quite, I'm going to move you two steps ahead!" Everyone leaned closer as All Might continued, "Most of the villain fights you see on the news happens outside. However, statistically speaking run ins with the most dastardly evil doers happens indoors. Think about it, back door deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs." Izuku flinched at that last one, "Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows."
Izuku gulped and looked away. He felt like All Might was targeting him even though he couldn't possibly know.
"In this training exercise you'll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight two on two indoor battles!"
The green haired girl with the long tongue spoke up, "Isn't this a little advanced?"
All Might clenched his fist, "The best trading is what you get on the battle field! But remember, you can't just punch a robot this time. You're dealing with actual people now."
People started speaking up and asking their questions.
"Sir, will you be the one deciding who wins?"
"How much can we hurt the other team?"
"Do we need to worry about the losers being expelled like earlier?"
"Will you being splitting us us based on chance or comparative skill?"
"Isn't this cape treś chic?"
... Okay, maybe the last one wasn't a valid question.
All Might visibly groaned and Izuku could almost hear him mutter, "Guh! I wasn't finished talking!"
He suddenly pulled out a tiny booklet, and Izuku realized what it was. A script?
"Listen up! This is the situation. The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must foil their plans! To do that the heroes must catch the evil doers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the villains succeed they protect their payload or capture the heroes."
Sounds like a classic action movie set up.
"Time is limited and we'll choose teams by drawing lots!" All Might held up a yellow box.
He saw Iida shift besides him and he turned to see him raise his hand, "isn't there a better way?"
Izuku felt excitement shoot through him and before he could stop himself, he was speaking, "Think about it, pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason we're seeing that here." He felt his mouth snap shut and after a moment realized that he had just corrected Iida. Panic flowed through him and just as he was about to open his mouth and apologize, Iida spoke up once more, "Yes, I see. Life is a random series of events." He bowed towards All Might, "Excuse my rudeness!"
All Might just turned around and said, "No sweat! Let's draw!"
Izuku ended up with Uraraka and he couldn't help but sigh in relief. At least he wasn't paired up Bakugou. Or Todoroki, his mind helpfully supplied.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe we're a team. What are the chances!" Uraraka said cheerfully.
Izuku smile's at her and he felt his own small current of happiness along with her.
All might shoves his hands into the boxes and shuffled them around, "I declare that the first teams to fight will beeee," he raised his hands to show off the balls, "these guys!"
His smile disappeared as he realized what letters were on the balls. Team A and team D. Him and Uraraka vs Bakugou and Iida.
On the other side of the group of students, Izuku could see Bakugou's ever present scowl somehow deepen even more. He still didn't know why Bakugou hated him so much. As far as he knew, he hadn't done anything to provoke his classmate. Then again, from what he could tell, he had probably just looked at him the wrong way or something and Bakugou had taken offense.
At least he wasn't on a team with him. He felt sorry for Iida, but he knew that Iida could take care of himself, so he didn't worry too much for him.
"Team A will be the heroes; team D will be the villains. Everyone else can head to the monitory room." Everyone responded with a yes sir.
The students separated from the two teams to either watch their fight or come up with a plan.
Izuku glanced down at his fists, and thought about his chances. Iida was fast, and neither him nor Uraraka were very fast, so they were at a clear disadvantage there. Bakugou has a very adaptable quirk and seemed competent in battle, so it would be best to avoid a head on head confrontation with him.
When it came down to it, surprise would be a major factor, but they would need to know where they were going in order to do that, so they would need to scout the area out without alerting them to their presence.
Noticing that the other four had started walking, he quickly caught back up. Falling in step with Uraraka, he quickly filled her in on what he knew and she offered some ideas. They were good ones, and some of them even improved upon the ones he had already come up with. He felt a small smile tug at his lips, Uraraka was more clever than he gave her credit for.
The smile fell when he realized he would have to put that in his notebook.
They stopped in front of a tall, square building, and All Might turned to them. "Bad guys you go inside and get set up. In five minutes the good guys will be set loose and the battle will start!"
Iida and Bakugou started to enter the building when All Might stopped them, "Young Iida, young Bakugou, the key to being successful in this challenge, is to embody villainy. Think from the perspective of an evil doer."
"Got it." Iida said.
"If things go too far, I'll step in."
"Understood."
The pair stepped into the building and All Might left, leaving him and Uraraka to look at the floor plan.
"Do you really think they expect us to memorize the entire floor plan? It's so big." Uraraka looked unsure.
Izuku just hummed in agreement, and went back to thinking. Suddenly Uraraka perked up, "You know, All Might's just as cool in person as he is on tv." She turned towards him with a smile, "I'm glad he's not threatening us with some kind of punishment like Mr. Aizawa. We can relax-Ah! What is that look for!"
Izuku's face was twisted into one of disappointment, "Just because we aren't being punished with expulsion, doesn't mean that we shouldn't take this any less seriously." His disappointment vanished and determination took it's place, "Even in practice things can get dangerous. And we should never just relax on a battlefield. This is real, practice or no." Then he gave her a nervous smile, "Besides, you want to get better right? You won't be able to do that if you don't always give it you'll all!"
There was a lull in the conversation as Uraraka absorbed what he said and Izuku realized what he said. A blush quickly overtook his face, but he didn't try to take back what he said or apologize this time. He meant what he said.
The stunned look on Uraraka's face slowly melted away and she gave him a fond smile, "Yeah, I guess your right." Izuku once again had to hid his surprise, why did his classmates keep on defying everything he knew?! "I will never get better if I don't constantly push my limits. Thanks Izuku."
Izuku turned away and gave a nervous reply, "O-oh! You d-don't need t-to th-thank me o-or anything!"
Uraraka giggled, "Well, you helped me , didn't you? So I should thank you!"
Izuku nervously fiddled with his gloves, "I-I guess your r-right..."
"Of course I am! So let's win!"
He felt some of his courage return, "Yeah. Let's win."
All Might's voice came on through the speakers, "All right! Let's begin the indoor combat training! Team A and team D, your time starts now!"
Uraraka grinned at him and went silent to let him focus. He quickly pulled a piece of paper and concentrated. The paper was suddenly cut into six even pieces, and from there they turned into small insects. They hovered above his hand, and waited for instructions, "Okay little guys," he said softly, "I need you to each go into the floors of this building and look for something resembling a bomb or other people. If you encounter either of those, report back immediately." And with that, they flew off. Each of them going to a different floor.
From beside him he heard Uraraka giggled, but when he turned and questioned her she just shrugged it off as, "Nothing!" Dismissing it, he got to work once more.
Next, he summoned a dog to guard them and detect enemies in an immediate radius. The red colored dog walked dutifully besides they as they quickly but quietly ran inside.
"Careful, there are a lot of blind spots." He said to Uraraka. He didn't want them to be caught off guard, even with the dog.
The first floor was cleared quickly as he knew they wouldn't put it there. They met up with one of insects as well and he sent it to help the others.
The same applied to the next couple floors, though they did have to slow down and check more thoroughly after a bit.
They were about to go to the next floor when suddenly one of his insects came to him. Holding out his hand, it landed and he saw a a flash of the bomb and a number. Having completed it job, the insect unfurled itself back into a small rectangle of paper. Concentrating on the paper once, he turned it into a hummingbird. Hummingbirds were small but still visible, so they were perfect for what he needed it for.
"Um, Izuku? Why did you summon a hummingbird?"
He glanced up, "Oh! I figured it could help lead us to the bomb since it didn't give me exact directions."
She nodded in realization, "That makes sense! That was very smart of you to think about."
"It was nothing really," he said while scratching the back of head. Glancing around once more, he turned back to the stairs, "Come on, we need to get there as soon as possible. The bomb is on the next floor."
Uraraka quickly nodded and followed silently behind him as he started up the stairs. If this was the floor that they were keep the bomb on, then they were probably guarding the stairs.
The hummingbird hovered next to his shoulder and he got an idea. Holding out his hand, the hummingbird bird landed on it. Closing his eyes, he called out to the rest of the insects that were still scouting the building. Since the hummingbird had been part of the original paper, he figured that he could contact the insects that way. He could just call out to them regularly, but that could take vital energy that he would need later.
Sure enough one of the insects came up to him a few seconds, quickly followed by another. Once all of them had gathered around him and Uraraka, he sent one out to look for any enemies near the stairs. It flew away and came back after a few seconds. It landed on his hand and he saw Bakugou hiding behind one of the corners. The paper unfurled itself and he quickly turned it into another hummingbird. The paper should transfer memories so it should know where Bakugou and the bomb are as well.
He then turned to Uraraka while taking out a light blue piece of paper, "Okay Uraraka, here's the plan. Bakugou is waiting to ambush us near the top of the stairs. I don't know where exactly he is, so what I'll do is draw him out of hiding. You can then sneak past him and go to the bomb." He nodded to the first hummingbird, "That hummingbird will guide you there." It moved closer to Uraraka as if understanding its job, "You will also take the dog with you in for when you find Iida."
She nodded but then she looked concerned, "What about you? Don't you need the dog to defend against Bakugou? And how will you find the bomb after that?"
He smirked, "That's what I have this for," he said and he held up the light blue paper. Setting it flat against his hand, it morphed into a small wolf. Lowering his hand closer to the ground, he grew it into a large sized wolf and it growled softly as if it realized there was going to be a fight soon.
The animals all looked at him and he quickly whispered instructions to each of them. He once again turned back to Uraraka, "The other hummingbird will guide me to the bomb. That's where Iida will be, so keep your guard up."
She nodded, but before they got up, he stopped her, "One more thing, remember that Iida's a bad guy right now. You will be fighting against a villain, so don't allow yourself to get distracted. Got it?"
He saw her shift nervously before she finally nodded, "Yeah, got it."
Seeing her unease, he tried to give her a calming smile. He wouldn't show it, but he was terrified. He wasn't sure he could win against Bakugou alone, but he also knew that Uraraka needed him to be strong or else she would loose her confidence. "It'll be okay, Uraraka. You got this!"
He saw her look at him and she seemed to steel herself, "Yeah! We got this!"
Feeing his own confidence strengthen with her declaration, he got up and ready. They pressed themselves against the corner they were hiding behind and before he ran out into the open Uraraka gave him one more smile.
His heat beating against his rib cage, Izuku quickly turned the corner and made sure to make as much noise as possible. The hummingbird fell back and hid itself in the shadows to avoid being detected while the light blue wolf ran along side him. The noise he made while running up the stairs echoed loudly back at him in the large hallways that carved out this floor. Bakugou still hadn't revealed himself by the time Izuku made it to the top, so he supposed he was waiting for Izuku to turn his back before he attacked. Huh, seemed like the hot head was also smart in addition to his raging temper.
There were many blind spots like there had been in the rest of the building, so Bakugou could be anywhere. Glancing at the hummingbird, he noticed it was hovering closer to one of the hallways. After giving the area one more glance he started making his way down the hall.
There was a turn almost immediately in the hall and as he was about to pass it, the wolf suddenly jumped forwards. Izuku quickly jumped backwards as an explosion burst right where he had just been standing. Some of his mask and coat were too close to the explosion and they were burned, some parts even being completely destroyed. The screen that had covered his mouth was easily burned away and half of his mask was now missing. Maybe loose material wasn't the best thing to wear in a fight. He made a mental note to fix that later.
The blue wolf had caught Bakugou off guard and he was now trying to dodge the angry wolf. Frost stung the air as the wolf activated its power. Izuku grinned, light blue paper meant that the paper had minor ice powers. He figured that explosions wouldn't do well in the cold.
It seemed he had been right as Bakugou sweared and tried to attack the wolf, only for small explosions to pop uselessly in his palms.
The wolf ran back to Izuku as he turned and ran away. He needed to get Bakugou away so that Uraraka could get through and to the bomb.
"Hey! Where the hell do you think your going?!"
Good. It seemed like Bakugou was giving chase.
After a little bit of running, he was suddenly met with a dead end. His heart dropped and he forced himself to see a sweating Bakugou blocking the only exit.
Bakugou grinned, "It was a mistake to make me run. You see, I secrete nitroglycerin from my hands to make it blow up. And when I run, I sweat. Imagine what would happen if I had a lot of it." He suddenly raised his gauntlet and put his hand on the tigger looking thing. "That's right, these thing aren't just for show. They've been storing up my sweat inside for one monster blast."
Izuku felt his face pale. He couldn't dodge that. He had nowhere to go. And his wolf would be obliterated the moment it went off, so he was on his own. He had no choice but to face it head on.
"Young Bakugou! Don't do it! You'll kill him!" All Might's voice rang from the speakers.
Bakugou just scoffed and continued to pull the trigger, "He'll be fine so long as he dodges!"
Izuku turned and ran as far as he could from Bakugou and then turned and held his arms up to defend himself. The explosion tore through the hallway, and completely obliterated everything in its path. He managed to brace himself right before it hit.
Uraraka bit her lip to keep herself from laughing, Izuku's words echoing in her mind. Iida was monologuing just beyond the pillar she had hidden herself behind. The dog was right next to her and the hummingbird was somewhere nearby. Apparently it was uncertain of what to do now that it's job was complete but Izuku wasn't there.
Iida continued to remain oblivious to her presence and she decided to use that to her advantage. Apparently, he had taken her quirk into account and had hidden everything in the room except for the bomb. So she would have to use surprise tactics to the best of her ability or else she would never reach the bomb.
Leaning down to the bright red dog, she whispered as quietly as she could into his ear, "as soon as you're sure Iida won't spot you, go to the other side of the room and wait for my signal. Once I sent it, keep Iida's attention away from me as I recover the weapon, okay?"
The dog nodded and she stood back up and pressed her back against the pillar. She was about to contact Izuku when the building suddenly started to violently shake. Stumbling, she caught herself before she gave away her position and distantly noticed that the dog was now gone from her side.
The tremors eventually slowed to a stop and she heard Iida mutter something. Once she was sure the tremors wouldn't start again, she took a quick peek from behind the pillar.
Iida seemed pretty shaken up and disoriented so she took the opportunity to sneak to a closer pillar. Now she was practically right behind him and he was still none the wiser. Though he was still to close to the bomb for her touch it without him reacting.
A glimpse of red was all needed to see before she sent the signal.
A burst of fire flashed across the room. Iida stepped away from the bomb.
Suddenly, she found herself running full speed at the bomb. Jumping up, she latched onto the bomb with her quirk activated.
"I got it!"
Even with bracing himself, he was sent flying backwards and landed harshly on the rubble from the blast. The entire building shook and dust filled the air.
His entire body felt like it was on fire and he felt his injuries from that morning rend him nearly immobile. His spine was screaming at him and he swore he had a few broken ribs if the immense pain in his chest was anything to go off of.
Sitting up was a real chore, and once he did, he noticed that a good chunk of his coat was now gone, and the sleeves were now nonexistent.
The burn marks were surly going to take a while to heal on there own, not to mention the bruises. Once that thought passed through his mind he instantly started internally panicking. They were going to check his wounds after this, he was sure, and when they did, they were gonna see the bruises. They were clearly too bad to be a result of the attack alone, and anyone with half a brain would able to tell that they were there before the fight started.
He tried to calm himself down by thinking thoughts that obviously weren't true.
Maybe they won't look too closely? Maybe they would actually think it came from the explosion?
"Ha ha ha. These things are amazing. The most nitroglycerin stored in these cuffs, the bigger the explosion is!" The dust was slowly clearing and he could now make out the approaching form of Bakugou.
He felt his ear price and tried contacting Uraraka, but found it missing. Must have blown off in the explosion.
He hoped Uraraka was doing okay.
"What's the matter? Are you scared?" Bakugou taunted.
Pain stabbed his body, but he forced himself to stand up. If he could keep going, he would.
Bakugou scoffed at this a raised his other gauntlet, "Die!"
"The heroes win!"