Chapter 04: Battle Trials & Confessions
The rest of the day at UA had been relatively tame, almost like a regular school in some instances. However, Izumi and her friends all knew that this was all building up to the main event, and lo and behold, it showed itself in the final class of the day.
"I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
The Symbol of Peace and #1 Pro Hero himself, All-Might, had stepped into the classroom, swinging the door open as he was all decked out in his Silver Age Costume, the cape billowing in the non-existent wind.
Needless to say, upon seeing him, the entire class freaked out. Melissa even stood up in her seat and ran over to the hero.
"UNCLE MIGHT!"
The class stopped cheering when they heard what Melissa said. The only ones not surprised were Izumi, Melissa, Katsumi, and Ochako, since they already knew Melissa's father was as close as a brother to the Symbol of Peace.
"Melissa, so good to see you again!" All-Might said happily as he pulled the blonde into a hug. "Good heavens, you've sprouted up like a weed!"
All-Might then set Melissa down and addressed the class, giving a long-winded speech about how he would be their acting teacher in Heroics 101 during their time at UA. He then clapped his hands as several lockers popped out from the nearby wall, each with a student's desk number and their name on them.
"HERO COSTUMES!" Most of the class excitedly exclaimed as All-Might smiled.
"That's right! While not the most important aspect of a hero, looking good for the crowd is not something that should be underestimated. Recognition is important because when you stick out in the minds of the people, you give them hope every time you appear on the scene. Now you all submitted your early costume designs along with your Quirk registration prior to your enrollment here, and the Support Class has worked to make those designs a reality."
The students all went in line order to pick up their suitcases and headed to the locker rooms in order to get changed for their Heroics 101 class.
Izumi looked over herself as he finished putting on her costume. She wore a forest green tunic with a golden sash that had symbols representing the Four Primary Elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. She had green gloves and boots along with a diamond-shaped mouth guard over her mouth and a green hooded cape with bunny ear protrusions.
"Looking good, Deku," Katsumi said as she came over. Izumi blushed when she saw just how well Katsumi's costume complimented not just her personality, but also her looks.
Katsumi's costume was composed of a tight, black, sleeveless tank top, with an orange "X" across the middle, forming a v-neck. There were two dots along the left line of her collar. She also had a metallic neck brace worn with rectangular ends that had three holes on each side. Her sleeves reached from within her large grenade-like gauntlets to her biceps. Her belt, which also carried some grenades, held up her baggy pants with knee guards, below which she sported black, knee-high combat boots with orange soles and eyelets. Her mask was jagged and black, and as it went around her eyes, a large, orange-rimmed flare shape protruded from each side.
"Hey, flirt after class, you goofballs." Giggled Melissa as she came in, wearing a costume that suited her style. It was ocean blue with golden accents and worn like a mix between battle armor and robes. She had brass bracers on her arms and also had a crown-like helmet. She also had a gold visor over her eyes in place of her glasses.
"I should have been more specific with my costume, you guys. It came out all puffy and skintight. It's embarrassing." Ochako said as Izumi, Katsumi, and Melissa turned to see her and Momo approach and blushed at their choice of style.
Ochako's costume consisted of a skin-tight black full-body suit with a pale pink design down the middle of her torso, two black circles on her chest, and a black rectangle below her waist, running between her legs. There were two more pink patches over her shoulders, both cut off by darker pink armbands that matched the thick choker around her neck. She also had circular wrist guards, a dark pink handle on the back of each one, wide knee-high boots with magenta soles, and a two-piece belt around her waist with a circle embedded into the center where the pieces join up, a helmet with a pale pink-tinted visor.
As for Momo, her costume consisted of a high-collared, sleeveless crimson leotard with silver lines at her waist and around her arms, which were open to expose her skin from her neck to just below her navel. She sported calf-length red boots with heels, which dipped sharply down in the center, and two gold utility belts around her waist, another, thinner one around the top portion of her chest, below her shoulders. She also had a long high-collared red cape and a ring going around her neck with a large gemstone at her throat.
"You guys look...beautiful..." Izumi shyly said, looking down as Katsumi grinned as she eyed Momo's costume.
"You did not go for Subtly, did you Yao-Momo?"
Momo blushed in slight embarrassment. "It's the best way for me to effectively use my Quirk."
"Heroics is the best!" Minoru Mineta, the short dwarfish boy said as he turned to nobody in particular and gave a thumbs-up.
"Hopefully I don't stand out too much..." Akatani muttered, wearing a black vest over a white undershirt, black fingerless gloves, a black wristwatch, black slacks, black dress shoes, a skull-themed black scarf around his neck, and a pair of red sunglasses.
"They say clothes make the hero, and you're certainly proving it today. From this point on you are all heroes in training!" All-Might said as he gave a look-over of each of his student's costumes and nodded in approval.
"Tres bein!" Yuuga said as he struck a flamboyant pose. "UA Is truly a magnifique school! Such creativity amongst everyone in their costumes!"
"Some of us kinda went with a simpler approach to our costumes," Rikidou said as he gestured to the rather standard-looking yellow bodysuit and mask he wore.
All-Might clapped his hands to get his student's attention. "Now then! Here's how the battle training will commence. Right now we're in the urban simulation, which you should be familiar with. However, this environment is two-fold. While the villain fights you see on the news take place outdoors, statistically speaking it's more common to have fights with villains indoors. Abandoned buildings, home invasions, backroom deals, banks or other robbery scenes, and even supervillain lairs. The truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows."
"So all of these buildings are not merely facsimiles," Tenya noted. "But actual building simulations both inside and outside."
"That's correct, Young Iida," All Might said, "Now for this exercise, you'll be separated into good guys and bad guys, fighting in two-on-two simulations."
"Question," Katsumi said. "How far can we go with physical violence before the fight has to stop?"
"You'll be allowed to cause injury with full-contact," All-Might said, "But under no circumstances are you allowed to deliberately kill your opponent, no matter which side you're placed on."
"Sir," Momo asked. "Is the bad guy team required to lose in this simulation?"
"Not at all! The point of being placed on the bad guy team is to get into the mindset of a villain. If you understand how they would conduct an operation, then you can more easily outmaneuver them when facing the real deal. So both sides should strive for victory. Now then..."
All-Might brought out a yellow lottery box and placed it in front of him
"Now many times you won't have the luxury of picking your teammates out in the field, so for this first exercise you'll be paired up randomly."
Team A: Izumi and Melissa
Team B: Shoto and Shouji.
Team C: Momo and Minoru.
Team D: Katsumi and Tenya.
Team E: Yuuga and Mina.
Team F: Rikidou and Kouji.
Team G: Denki and Kyouka.
Team H: Fumikage and Tsuyu.
Team I: Akatani and Ochako.
Team J: Eijirou and Sero.
"Alright, teamwork!" Melissa cheered as she gave Izumi a high-five, which the green-haired girl happily returned.
With all the teams decided, All-Might then placed five lettered balls randomly into two more boxes for heroes and villains, then blindly picked one from each.
"And our first fight is...Team B for the heroes versus Team A for the villains!"
"Yikes...not exactly how I was planning on our first day of Heroics to go. But then again, you gotta be ready for anything." Melissa said as Izumi nodded in agreement.
"Let's get ourselves prepared. We need to not only set up our bomb room but also come up with a strategy for how to handle Todoroki and Shouji."
After setting everything up and discussing their strategy, Izumi made her way out of the room while Melissa stood guard. Suddenly, ice exploded outward everywhere, causing Izumi to quickly surround herself with a barrier of fire that melted the ice around her. As for Melissa, she instinctively got down and placed her hands on the ice, transmuting it into steam.
"You go and try to secure the bomb from outside. They won't be a problem." Shoto said to Shouji, who nodded and made his way to climb up the unfrozen part of the building in order to reach the bomb room, forming ears and eyes on his Dupli-Arms to sense the bomb room.
As Shoto made his way inside, he was stunned when he saw all of his ice coming back at him and shaping into the form of a tiger head. Instinctively, he sent out another wave of ice to intercept it, but it shattered and became part of the head's growing frosty mass.
"Todoroki...why would you use such a predictable move? It'd only be absorbed by my attack." Izumi said, her Quirk in full effect as she harnessed all the ice Shoto had covered the building in to throw back at him.
Shoto grit his teeth and sent another wave of ice at Izumi, but she gave a disappointed sigh and converted the attack into a full body for the tiger head. The ice tiger pounced on Shoto and roared in his face, frost wafting across his skin as he struggled to break free before Izumi lifted up two fingers, and a collar of vines formed out of the ground and choked Shoto into unconsciousness.
"I'm sorry, Todoroki. But this was a bad match-up for you...and I know for a fact you didn't use your full power."
"Damn, Deku destroyed that icy-hot bastard without even breaking a sweat!" Katsumi whistled as Ochako had stars in her eyes.
"She's amazing, isn't she?"
"You can say that again..." Kyouka said, twirling one of her ear jacks with her finger.
Back with Shouji, he had made it into the bomb room and saw the fake weapon in sight. But before he could move forward, he found something clamping over his legs and looked to see metal braces that were forming into full shackles up to his shins. What was strange about them was that they were glowing with a slight golden shimmer.
"Like them? I call them Shackle Braces! I can put them on any part of a person's body and they're shackled!" Melissa explained as she came out from behind the fake bomb. Shouji grunted as he struggled to move his legs but found himself bound.
"Trust me, you'd prefer this form of subduing over what else I can do. My Quirk gives me enough strength to clock a person into next week!"
Realizing he had lost, Shouji held up his hands peacefully, silently praising Melissa for catching him off-guard.
"VILLAIN TEAM WINS!" All-Might shouted.
After Shoto was taken by the released Shouji to Recovery Girl's office to check for any injuries, it was now Team I as the Heroes against Team C as the Villains.
"Uraraka, I need to ask. What exactly is your Quirk?" Akatani asked.
"Oh, it's called [Dynamokinesis]. I can basically manipulate Gravity, Electromagnetism, and the Strong and Weak Nuclear Forces." Ochako explained. "When I was a little girl, I thought all I could do was remove the gravity of things I touched but then...I had an awakening."
Akatani could tell from the tone Ochako's voice took that her 'awakening' wasn't something she wanted to talk about, so he wisely decided to stop questioning but instead explain his own Quirk.
"Well, my Quirk is [Quirk Artificer Quirk Artificer]. I can steal, copy, duplicate, transfer, overhaul, and even manipulate Quirks. By manipulating Quirks, I can activate and deactivate them, change how they are activated or force them into a dormant state."
Ochako looked amazed. "Whoa, that has to be just as powerful as me, Mel-Chan, and Deku-Chan's Quirks!"
"I-It's nothing special..." Akatani said with a blush but at that point, the timer began and the two entered the building. Akatani's eyes glowed light blue behind his sunglasses as Ochako took notice.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm using the Quirk known as [3D Map]. My eyes can take my surroundings and make a sort of digital 3D Map, hence the name."
"Can you tell where Momo-Chan and Mineta are?" Ochako asked.
"Yeah, they're on the third floor in the second room on the left. But they've set traps around a perimeter, meaning that it'll be tough to get in without a plan."
"What kind of traps do they have?"
Akatani concentrated before relaying the information he got. "A barricade and a set of cannons for further defense. What do you have for a plan of attack?"
Ochako smirked. "I think I have a few creative ideas."
Momo and Minoru heard explosions coming from outside the barricade and figured that they had managed to get Ochako and Akatani. However, the barricade suddenly began melting as if exposed to a giant microwave. The parts that didn't melt became brittle and started cracking.
"I should have figured. Ochako is using her control over the Weak Force to project radiation and microwave emissions!" Momo cursed as Minoru panicked when the opponent team came in.
"CRAP, THEY'VE GOT US!"
In terror, Minoru threw his hairballs at Ochako and Akatani, hoping to trap them. However, Ochako simply waved her hands as the hairballs became covered in a pink glow before transmuting into bricks, dropping down at the Hero Team's feet.
"Come on, Momo-Chan! You should have used lead for that barricade!" Ochako said teasingly as Momo sighed before creating a shoulder-mounted cannon.
"Let it be said that I never go down without a fight!"
"I expected nothing less!" Ochako smiled as pink electricity crackled around her while Akatani turned his fingers into sharp claws. Minoru gulped as he pulled two more hairballs and held them in his hands.
"This is gonna suck...!" The dwarfish boy said in fear.
Ultimately. Ochako and Akatani managed to outmaneuver Momo and Minoru and secure the weapon, winning them the match. However, Ochako and Momo were happy to know they were both giving it their all while Minoru couldn't help but find Akatani to be cool after seeing a few more of his Quirks in action.
After the rest of the class had their battle trials, All-Might had to head off but not before telling Akatani, Momo, Izumi, Melissa, Katsumi, and Ochako to follow him.
"What did you want to tell us, All-Might?" Izumi asked as the Symbol of Peace sighed and sat down, deflating into a more skinny form. Melissa and Akatani seemed to be the only ones who weren't freaked out.
"I need to tell you kids something important. Six years ago, I fought a powerful Villain who gave me a devastating injury. I would have been dead had Melissa and David not immediately come over to Japan. Melissa was still getting used to her Quirk, but she used it to heal my injuries and save my life."
Melissa nodded. "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat, Uncle Might."
"Of course, the injury took a toll on my body and my power was running out. You see, I wasn't born with a Quirk, in fact, I was Quirkless."
"All-Might...Quirkless?! No fucking way..." Katsumi breathed in disbelief.
"No Hero is invincible, Young Bakugou, not even me. The Quirk I was given was once used by another. It is a stockpiling network of power known as [One for All]!"
"And just last year, [One for All] was given to me..." Akatani said softly as his classmates looked at him in shock as he continued to explain. "My original Quirk was the same as my father's...[All for One]."
"Like the motto of the Three Musketeers?" Momo asked as Akatani nodded.
"Yes, All for One was the villain who injured me," Toshinori explained. "But his son wanted nothing to do with his vile father and ran away. During our battle, a dear friend of his who was like a brother to him died to save his life from debris. The mother of his friend was then killed not too long afterward and I knew that, despite my best efforts, All for One was still alive."
"That's terrible..." Ochako said in sympathy as Akatani bowed his head.
"Yes. Knowing that Young Mikumo needed to be protected and to atone for letting his friend die, I took to adopting him as my son. I also chose to pass down [One for All] to him when he showed his drive and determination to be a Hero above all else to defy his father. The Quirk Factors fused together into one and Akatani's Quirk evolved into..."
"[Quirk Artificer]." Akatani finished. "When I was a child, I knew my dad dreamed of taking [One for All] for himself since it was the one Quirk he could never take with his own. But what better way to spite him than be the next one to inherit it. Me, the son of the greatest Villain ever."
Akatani was then shocked when Izumi and Ochako pulled him into a hug, which Melissa and Momo joined in as Katsumi placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You really are a tough son of a bitch, huh? Being the son of a deadly Villain who nearly killed All-Might but instead, you got to become his family." Katsumi said sympathetically as Akatani blushed before smiling, a few tears running down his freckled cheeks.
"I-I've barely known you guys for a few days...And yet, you're still giving me the benefit of the doubt."
"Hey, my mama always tells me; "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet"." Izumi said with a smile. "So chin up, you and the rest of Class 1-A became my friends when the day first began. So let's go and say hello."
Toshinori smiled as his adoptive son, the biological son of his nemesis, left with his new friends in tow before taking out his phone and texting someone.
IAmHere#8: Your daughter is truly an amazing young woman.
Marshmallow Mama: She's always had that way with people. It's one of the reasons why she got her moniker of 'Mother Nature's Child'.
IAmHere#8: I can also see where she got it from if you know what I mean. ;)
Marshmallow Mama: Oh stop~. /.
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit bar, a young man with wrinkled skin and preserved hands all over his body was reading a newspaper. Growling in disgust, he clenched his fingers around it and the paper disintegrated into ash.
"Can you believe this joke? It says All-Might's a teacher now."
The young man looked up to a figure that seemed to be made of purple smoke, though still with a humanoid shape and wearing a neatly pressed bartender outfit.
"Hey, here's a question. What do you think would happen when the mighty Symbol of Peace...was permanently kicked from the server?"