The combat exercise was stupidly simple, but All Might still used notecards to explain it. He may be the number one hero, but he sucks at being a teacher. Bakugou ignored most of the explanation, opting to glare at the greenette instead. How had Deku gotten into UA? When did he get a quirk? Is the nerd looking down on him? Who's the guy he's always with? Why do they have matching hero costumes? Each unanswered question only made him angrier.
Bakugous costume was perfect for him, just as explosive as his quirk and personality. The hair pieces were mottled after comic book explosions, and the entire ensemble, comprised of reddish oranges and army green accents over black, was put together with murder in mind. Combat boots, grenades, baggy pants, and a giant X across his chest, it was an intimidating sight.
Deku took after their hobo-looking homeroom teacher. He looked unassuming at first glance. Simple-looking deep forest-green combat boots with cleat-like treads adorned his feet. Black workout pants were fastened by a plain brown belt. On his face was what looked like a black surgical mask, but upon further inspection, it turned out to be made of a plastic-like material. Reflective goggles covered his viridian eyes, and his hair was tied back in a half-up-half-down do with a white ribbon. The weirdest part was the reversible hooded jacket. It was forest green like his boots and had at least a dozen zipper pockets. The hood had bunny ears sticking from the top. When the jacket was reversed, it could zip shut; when it was zipped, it was indistinguishable from a regular hoodie. Underneath the jacket was a plain white shirt and a harness. Attached to the harness were a telescoping staff, two cattle prods, and a grappling gun.
The purple-haired freak that hung out with Deku had a similar outfit, but a dark blueish-purple instead of green, cat ears instead of bunny ears, and guns instead of cattle prods. They both had the costume side of their jackets exposed. If they wanted to blend into a crowd, all they'd have to do is put their goggles into one of their many pockets and reverse their jackets. The jackets were the surprise Hakws mentioned; originally, they were just going to wear civilian clothes over the suit Koro Sensei made and a harness for their weapons. They still could do that if they needed to go undercover. But the jackets would be helpful for patrols.
All Might finally finished his stupid explanation and split the class into teams for the 2v2 battle exercise. One team would be the villains tasked with protecting a paper-mache bomb in an office building, and the other team would be the heroes, who had to retrieve the bomb within a fifteen-minute time limit. If one team could capture or incapacitate the other, that would also count as a win. The first match was the tail boy and Deku's purple-haired boyfriend against the half-n-half bastard and the six-armed freak.
The match was over within the first two minutes. It started with Half-n-Half freezing the entire building. The whole thing in seconds. Tail Guy was frozen to the floor. That's what he gets for fighting fare-foot. Purple Freak somehow dodged the wave of ice; the spiked treads of his stupid boots let him run across the ice unhindered. Half-n-Half assumed that his attack immobilized both his opponents, so his face was plastered with a stupid expression when Purple Freak shot one of his pressure points from the rafters. Rubber bullets are non-lethal, but they can still leave bruises. Needless to say, Half-n-Half dropped like a puppet with cut strings. Then Purple Freak jumped out of a third-story window and tackled Six-Arms from that height. Ponytail said that Purple Freak was the MVP of that match for obvious reasons. He didn't even use his quirk!
The rest of the matches were dumb and boring. Bakugou's match was one of the last three. Finally! I get to crush that nerd! His match was him and Round Face as the heroes and Deku and Four-Eyes as the villains. Bakugou stood outside the fake office building, waiting for the villain team to finish their preparations while Roundface tried making small talk with him.
Round Face's costume didn't suit her at all. The costume designer was either sexist or stupid, probably both. He could make better, and that is disregarding the fact that his parents are fashion designers. How were the girls supposed to fight in skin-tight spandex suits and high-heeled boots? Forget how uncomfortable that must be; there's no armor or padding. What little "armor" there is is clunky and exenterates curves instead of actually protecting anything. These are fifteen-year-olds, for god's sake! He would have to have a word with the support companies or at least get the girls better costumes. There is no point in being the best if half the competitors are hampered by poorly made costumes.
Bakugou's rant about the idiotic costume designs was cut short by All Might announcing the match's start. The chronically angry blonde launched into the building without a second glance. Not even ten feet in the door, he hits a tripwire and is propelled face-first into the floor. "DEKU!" he screams in rage. He thrashed about in an attempt to free his leg from the fishing line that tripped him, but he only got tangled in even more fishing lines.
He howled and tried to escape, his quirk activating in an attempt to blow up the invisible plastic thread. He managed to snap some of the wires, but that only yielded more problems. Small pouches fell from the ceiling, filling the room with smoke… no, a fine powder. Bakugou launched another explosion in an attempt to clear the room, but that just ignited the powder. The powder burned quick and brightly. A bright white flash illuminated the entire first floor for a split second. Bakugou's explosions and screams of anger could be heard from the observation room as he kept falling into trap after trap.
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Ochaco Uraraka wanted to help her teammate, but there was no way to get to him through the explosions, smokescreen, and traps. Instead, she tried to get into the building a different way. She used her quirk to scale to the top of the building. She entered the 5th floor with seven minutes left to grab the bomb. The entire floor was open and empty. The boy who saved her during the entrance exam and the boy with engine legs stood on either side of the bomb. She tried her best to sneak up on the duo, but the boy with engine legs was really getting into his villain monologue. She couldn't help but laugh. Oops, there goes my cover.
Maybe it wasn't the wisest idea to attempt fighting two of her classmates at the same time. It took a lot of effort, but she finally got close enough to the boy with engine legs (Iida, his name is Tenya Iida) to use her quirk. Iida wasn't used to maneuvering without gravity, so he spun head over heels until he crashed into a wall, knocking him out. The greenette was far harder to pin down, even after she activated her quirk on him. He activated his quirk, electricity sparking off his body as he bounced around the room like a pinball. She had to be extra careful to avoid his staff. When did he get a staff!?
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Izuku had been having strange dreams ever since he got his quirk. Eight ghostly figures would appear and whisper to him. Many of them were shocked or scared by his sudden appearance. One of them, the one with raggedy clothing and white hair, reached out to him. "Aren't you an interesting one, Nineth?" he said. "Prepare for the singularity. Nothing can stop it now. Prepare yourself." Izuku would reach back to the man, and then he'd wake up, electricity from his quirk still bouncing off his skin.
Was this part of the singularity he spoke of?
The girl he saved during the entrance exam, Uraraka, was wrapped up in black tendrils that shot from his wrists. She almost reached the bomb; all he could think about was ways to stop her. Then they appeared. Stopped her in her tracks, she released her quirk in shock. Izuku leaned back from his perch in the rafters, pulling Uraraka up as he fell back to the ground. He couldn't reach for any of his weapons, so he just held her in the air until the time ran out. This is really weird. The two waited in awkward silence as Bakugou and his angry explosions shook the building. After a couple of minutes, time ran out, and the Villain team won. In those two minutes, Izuku thought of all the ways to utilize this new aspect of his quirk. He got the feeling that things would only get weirder from there.
That night he dreamed of the fifth user, and he explained the quirk. The black tendrils were called Black Whip; they were Fifth's quirk. They responded to his desire to stop the girl from reaching the bomb. They are fueled by his emotions, particularly rage. The angrier he is, the stronger and the harder to control they'll be. Also, he'll eventually end up with all the previous user's quirks. Wait, say that again!? Then he woke up. Damit.