Last batch of the exam chapters, gonna be kinda screwy this week ngl
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Back in Recovery Girl's infirmary, All Might blinked a few times after seeing Kouda bring down Ectoplasm so effectively.
"...you don't happen to cover mental injuries as well, right?" The top pro asked, already knowing the answer, but it was the right thing to ask given the circumstances.
"He'll recover." Recovery Girl said, checking Ectoplasm's body for any injuries. "The temporary bout of formication should fade."
"Well that's a pleasant surprise," Iida said with a smirk, "I had always wondered about her internship."
"Aside from who she went with, she didn't really say much did she?" Kirishima asked.
"She wanted it to, quote, 'be a surprise for everyone.'"
"I feel like we should take a course to use weapons like...flashbangs and stuff. Just my opinion, though." Kaminari said. "I dunno if EVERYONE would be safe using a flashbang-"
"I took a course and I did great with it, thank you!" Tooru frowned.
"H-hey, I never said you didn't do well! I'm just saying maybe some other people would have some issues with that sorta thing."
"We're all slowly but surely passing. I should have known we wouldn't give up here-" Izuku said.
"Sorry to interupt your praises, Izuku, but I'm sorry- I need to address Kaminari's comment. Name one person in this class who could possibly have some sort of issue with weapons-" Tooru ranted.
Then came the sounds of screams from one of Recovery Girl's monitors. Recovery Girl looked over, and frowned. "Oh, dear..."
Kaminari made a face. "There's your answer."
"...that's who I think it is, isn't it?" the invisible girl deadpanned.
All eyes turned to see Mineta, running away from the battle.
"Looks like he might be giving up..." Recovery Girl hummed.
That seems about right for him. Ochako thought.
"What about the others?" Kirishima asked.
Tsuyu's group had been placed in a mountainous area, with sparse buildings but plenty of places to hide and recuperate. That was good- plenty they could use to their advantage.
Tsu looked around, trying to find a good vantage point. Shoji's many arms listened around for their opponent.
"Midnight is still a ways away," Shoji noted, listening to her distant heels click as she walked.
"Good." Sato said, punching his palm into his hand. "I think I have a good chance at resisting her quirk."
"What makes you say that?" Mineta asked.
"Well...can't too much sugar cause more energy?" Sato said.
"Wrong- Sugar is more of a sedative since the aftereffects are considerably greater than the first. Tsu said. "Sugar consumption suppresses the creation of Orexin, a chemical in your brain that enhances the sensation of being awake. The more sugar you consume, the sleepier you will get."
Sato looked through her.
"No wonder you did so well on the chem exam." Sato said.
Tsuyu chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of her head, a little sheepishly.
"A-anyway, Shoji, how much time do you think we have before she reaches us?" the frog girl asked.
"Given the distance, we have some time to prep." Shoji said. "I saw we try and find a good place to hide, try and avoid her quirk's range and get to the exit as soon as we can-"
"Agreed. Since my plan A backfired." Satou said.
"That could work if we're quiet enough...but one wrong move, one small sound and she'd find us," Tsuyu said, thinking it over.
"Are you kidding!? We're hopeless against Midnight..." Mineta whined.
Sato rolled his eyes. "Dude, don't be a pessimist."
"No, like, seriously!" Mineta insisted. "Have you guys never heard of the Troy Shield Operation?"
Tsu raised an eyebrow. "No, but I'm kinda curious to hear about it."
"So, like, a few years back, Midnight teamed up with a global sting operation for Japan- tons of drugs like cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamines and trigger was involved. Midnight stepped into a room of, like, 80 goons and knocked them all out, and kicked the asses of the ones who didn't go down easily!" Mineta was clearly exaggerating.
"Why on Earth would you care about a drug bust case?" Shoji asked.
"I didn't! I only cared for the costume she was wearing..." Mineta admitted. "It had a niiiiice boob window."
"...I shouldn't be surprised, that's just in line with how you are," Sato facepalmed.
"I came for the boobs, and stayed for the interesting look into our justice system." Mineta said. "Seriously, that boob window was great-"
"Focus on that later," Shoji said, arms moving around. "Midnight's on the move."
"If anyone has any suggestions to add on to the plan or just change it up entirely, I'm all ears," Tsuyu said.
"I think Shoji's plan of running and hiding has some GREAT merit right now!" Mineta said, scurrying off.
"Hey! No running before we all decide," Shoji scolded, grabbing Mineta by the collar to try and stop him.
"Dude! When Midnight gets serious-" Mineta insisted, but his pleas were cut off by the sharp crack of a whip. Mineta turned pale white.
"Was that a whip?" Sato asked.
"SHE HAS THE WHIP!" Mineta yelled, struggling in Shoji's grasp.
"...I'm not even gonna ask why you know about that," Shoji said.
"Do you NOT know how the villain Spinebreaker is missing an eye!?" Mineta yelled. "SHE WHIPPED IT OUT!"
"I'm gonna call cap on that." Sato said, pulling out a cube of sugar.
"Could've been an accident," Tsuyu suggested, "Anyway, back to the plan. Shoji, your role's set for the most part, eyes and ears in case we lose her. Sato...if we get the chance maybe you could be the one to subdue her?"
"I dunno how long I'll be able to hold her off without falling asleep, but I'll try." Sato said. "Maybe if I hold my breath-"
"And Mineta, I was thinking you could set up some traps-" Tsu began, but Mineta wriggled in Shoji's grasp again.
"My grape balls will be so obvious! She'll just avoid them!" Mineta whined.
Tsu sighed. "Mineta...no promises, but...if you set some traps, I might let you-"
Mineta's confidence suddenly returned.
"T-tsuyu...are you sure on-?" Shoji asked.
"Just tell me where you need me!" Mineta interrupted, giving a salute to the amphibian student.
As they watched the exam, even All Might had to admit, Mineta's track record continued to prove...controversial, to put it lightly. Yes, some Heroes did enjoy the perks of the more celebrity side of things, but still...
"Just scatter some grapes around the area, try and obscure them..." Tsu said, gesturing to the area before her. She hated that Mineta was driven by such a perverse fantasy, but...it was better than nothing.
Mineta began detaching the grape balls from his head, and tossing them across the landscape. To step on one of these 'landmines' meant you'd be stuck for a good while.
"Shoji?" Tsu turned back to their recon expert.
"Almost here..."
Tsu took a deep breath. "Alright, now's the part where we hide...and when we can, we get the jump on her."
"Do not go there," Shoji said, looking to Mineta. He was just about to, as well, so he timed that perfectly.
"I wasn't gonna!" Mineta insisted, before everyone started to run and hide. Tsu obscured herself behind some rocks, Sato hid behind the corner of a building, Shoji hid inside of another building, and Mineta jumped into a random minecart.
Shoji listened to her footsteps get closer and closer, holding up a hand to signal the others.
The anticipation held in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time, for both those in the fight and those watching. Eventually Midnight stopped right in the middle of the open area. She looked around, already taking note of the possibility of a crossfire.
Good, she thought to herself. She just needed to sell the act, overlooking the hiding places she knew for a fact would be perfect for them as she searched around for any trace of them.
If you're gonna try something, kids, you better do it soon, Midnight thought.
Shoji's arm formed an eye to get a look at Midnight. She was looking around for the kids. His arm branched off, and flashed an open hand to the others.
"Here goes..." Satou said, popping the piece of sugar into his mouth.
Midnight tightened the grip on her whip. She didn't look over her shoulder, but her attention was focused on the back first. Considering who they had, it was probably Satou going for the handcuffing approach.
Peeking out from his position, Satou launched himself at Midnight- his muscles were slightly larger than usual, so he only had a small strength boost. His goal was to grab Midnight and pin her down so someone could handcuff her or Mineta could glue her down with his grape balls.
But that wasn't gonna happen. With a crack of her whip, Midnight unleashed flurry of lashes that hit Satou's body at all angles. Satou could feel the bruises already forming when he hit the ground. Midnight smirked.
"You're out of your league here, children." Midnight smiled. "I'll have you know I was one of my graduating classes BEST fighters!"
While that may have intimidated Mineta, the others kept their resolve. First things first, Tsuyu leapt from her hiding spot and shot her tongue out at Midnight's wrist. She managed to land the move, yanking the pro hero's arm back, giving Satou some room to move and not worry about being lashed.
Satou weakly stood back up, and tackled Midnight to the ground. With her arms restrained, it would be easy to slap those cuffs on...right?
Wrong.
Midnight grinned evily. "Shouldn't have done that. My outfit just got torn..."
"Satou, quick!" Tsuyu shouted.
Too late. A thin, pink mist began to rise up off the ground under Satou and Midnight, the former trying to hold his breath, only to be a second too slow. His vision started to get blurry and his eyelids started to get heavy.
"N-no...gotta...stay...awake...!" the muscle of the team growled, trying his damnedest not to submit.
"You managed to get a small hint of it, didn't you?" Midnight asked, "That's alllll it'll take."
Sato and Tsu's grips loosened, and Midnight stood back up. She grinned.
"Where's the other two?" Midnight asked, laughing playfully. "I can help you get a good night's rest."
Shoji was at a loss. Half their team was down already...and the only other person awake was Mineta.
Today's just not my day, is it? Shoji mentally cursed his luck.
Shoji looked at his arms- he began to elongate them to keep some distance. These did not have many bones. For the lack of a better term, they were 'floppy'. Shoji jumped out of the building, and whipped one of his arms around at Midnight, snatching her whip away.
"There- I took away her only way to really hurt me from afar." Shoji said.
"Oh no, not my whip! Whatever shall I do now?" Midnight smirked, the sarcasm in her voice oh so obvious.
Shoji frowned. "The range of your quirk is only within a certain radius. As long as I stay back, I'll be safe."
"Yes...but you'll also be letting the clock run out." Midnight said, walking towards Shoji. "Tick tock, boys. Your friends may not pass this exam if they stay asleep..."
What could he do here? The range on Midnight's Quirk was easy to counter, but she was right about the clock. Time was ticking down every second.
"Mineta...now might be a good time to come out and-" Shoji turned to the minecart...and saw it knocked over. Mineta was running away, screaming.
"SCREWED!" Mineta yelled. "I'M SCREWED LIKE NO ONE'S BEEN SCREWED BEFORE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PASS A TEST AS NUTS AS THIS?"
Shoji and Midnight watched him run off. Shoji's eyes looked...tired.
"...I'm so sorry you had to all pair up with him." Midnight said.
"It's...it's fine." Shoji sighed.
"Honestly, I feel like I should give everyone else some kind of bonus for their grades next semester because of this," Midnight mused.
"That'd be nice..."
The onlookers from Recovery Girl's tent watched Mineta run off. No one was shocked by this, but it was still worrying to see Mineta just give up so easily.
"Mineta was so excited about the summer training camp." Izuku sighed. "Guess the stress must be getting to him."
"Things aren't looking good for that little guy." Kirishima said.
"It'll be hard for him to fight alone." All Might noted. "UA is constantly preparing new barriers for you kids- all in the hopes of 'going beyond'. In order to overcome those limits, it's essential to have some other goals in mind."
"I get it- you're trying to have us go beyond the mindset 'I wanna be a hero' and have us figure out what kind of hero we wanna be." Ochako said.
All Might nodded. "I have to wonder what Mineta's goals are."
"...knowing him?" Kirishima deadpanned, "I have an idea..."
"Think Shoji's gonna solo Midnight?" Kaminari asked. "I dunno if he could do it."
"He's got an incredibly versatile quirk, and some range with those arms." Izuku said. "Looks like he's been practicing- those 'whips' are new."
There was one advantage that Shoji had over Midnight, knowing where Mineta's improvised mines were. If he could lure her over to one, maybe even use his new whip-move to throw her into one...
Shoji cracked his whip back, and lashed out at Midnight- the heroine easily jumped through the barrage. However, the multiarmed hero realized something- his attack had actually cleared the air around her. Her sleep gas had dissipated.
"Of course...we're in the open." Shoji noted.
And with that, a plan formed. He kept lashing out at Midnight with his own whips, hoping to drive her towards one of Mineta's mines. At the same time, each missed strike cleared away more and more of the sleep mist. He could pull a win out of this!
Midnight hissed. "I'll give you this, kid. You're better at improv than I thought." Midnight grabbed one of tentacles that was about to hit her, and dug her nails into it. Shoji winced.
"But so am I."
"Come on, Shoji..." Ochako muttered back in the infirmary.
The multi-limbed student narrowed his eyes at Midnight, who was about to go for another zipper on her outfit.
"One last dose, I think, and then we're done here," Midnight said.
"...please." Shoji said, squinting. "I've got you right where I need to." Shoji pulled back his arm, and whipped Midnight around. His long arm slammed down onto the ground, right onto one of Mineta's balls.
Midnight quickly righted herself, raising a brow at...whatever unorthodox plan Shoji was putting to work.
"Mineta...you can drop the coward act now." Shoji said, retracting his arm. He cooly walked over Tsu and Satou's sleeping bodies.
"Huh?" Midnight said, trying to get back up.
"Wait what?" everyone in the tent, save Bakugou, said in unison as soon as the words filled the air.
"He was acting?!" Kaminari yelled.
Mineta jumped out from behind a rock, laughing. "I FOOLED YA!" Mineta began tossing grape ball after grape ball, burying Midnight underneath a pile of balls that immobilized her. Midnight struggled and gasped underneath the weight of them.
"T-these are heavier than they look..." Midnight grunted.
"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" Mineta said, jumping up, and bouncing on the grape pile.
"...see, you had it for a split second. And then you ruined it," Shoji said.
"Hey, I deserve at least one for that stunt!" Mineta defended, "Seriously!"
Midnight struggled underneath the mountain. "B-but how? I thought you'd run away and hide until the time ran out."
"Yeah...but Shoji and I had a little conversation while you weren't looking." Mineta scoffed.
Kaminari and Kirishima, hell, pretty much everyone back in the infirmary tent were just flat-out surprised by this little turnaround.
"Ok, yeah, call me impressed," Kirishima admitted.
"The things he'll do to touch boobs." Ochako sighed.
(AN: This sentence could also be applied to Denji from Chainsaw Man.)
"It's sad that's what it took to get him to do something." Tokoyami shook his head- until he started to hear Midnight laugh. A bit too...maliciously.
"First off...please stop, that is rather terrifying," Shoji admitted, "Second off, why are you laughing?"
"I'm still in your range." Midnight said, as she started to create some more sleeping gas. "Did you know...my quirk is twice as effective on men than women?"
Shoji narrowed his eyes and used his whip-like limbs to try and clear away the sleeping mist, but with the amount Midnight was producing, that clearing only lasted a few seconds. Shoji cursed to himself as he tried to jump back, somehow managing to avoid inhaling any of the sleep mist.
"G-go!"
Shoji's eyes widened when he heard those words. Mineta had his hand over his mouth, trying to not inhale any of the smoke. "Go! I can take the L on this one! You only need two people to pass- so go and take the other two and get them outta here!"
"Mineta..." Shoji muttered, looking at the two unconscious teammates he was holding. With a nod, the multi-limbed student raced off, seemingly leaving Mineta behind. Only for one of his whips to lash out, wrap around Mineta's waist and pull him after him.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but it's not really a pass unless we all go through that gate!" Shoji called back, "If Midnight somehow gets free, make sure she can't follow us easily!"
Mineta yelled. "COME ON MAN! I WAS GONNA BE COOL AGAINNNNNNNN!" Mineta whined as he pulled out more chunks of grapes from his scalp and began to toss it at the path behind them.
"Again, appreciate the sentiment! The offer itself was...being cool enough, honestly," the multi-limbed student smirked, genuinely impressed with that sudden act of selflessness. Even if the motivation was selfish, in truth.
Obviously, Midnight couldn't move...but still. She chuckled to herself. "He was willing to sacrifice himself..." She hummed. "To think he was the same kid who was cowering before a bunch of E-ranked villains a few months ago."
Suddenly, something dawned on Midnight.
"...how do I get out of this?" She asked.
The group watched the four of them cross through the finish line- they'd passed the exam, as the second to last group to do so. The class felt relieved- 16 out of the 20 students, most likely going to the summer camp! If they could get those last 4...
"Alright!" Kirishima said. "We're almost there, with 20 minutes left in the exam! And the last group is..."
"Wait, Momo's still out?" Izuku said.
Ochako couldn't believe it. Momo? Didn't she have a dream team of Todoroki, Mina and Jirou?
"Wait...that begs the question. Who is Momo pitted against?" Iida asked.
"About that..." All Might began, pointing to the last monitor.
The setting of their battle was a suburban neighborhood...and whoever they were fighting clearly had the upper hand. Todoroki and Jirou were wrapped up in bandages, dangling from power lines.
"Oh, no." Ochako said.
"They're fighting Mr. Aizawa?!" Kaminari yelled.
"Momo's not in a good position- she relies on her quirk for utility, and something tells me Mr. Aizawa is focusing on her especially." Izuku frowned. "How did this happen...?"
20 minutes before...
Momo was nervous as hell because, unlike the other exams, Aizawa did things a little different. As soon as they walked in, he had made his presence known to them. The words he said next never stopped echoing in the girl's head this entire time.
"I personally chose to challenge you. Yaoyorozu and Todoroki, you two are considered rising stars by quite a few people...I want you to prove that's praise you deserve," the group's homeroom professor said, "Now...get going. I'm giving you a marginally bigger head start than the others. You have an extra minute."
The 'emitters' of the group had a plan to tell if Aizawa was near- using their quirks as a sort of 'sensor'. Mina dripped acid from her hands, Todoroki produced some icy mist from his hands, and Momo...
Todoroki watched the wooden dolls drop to the ground behind Momo.
"What...are those?" Jirou asked, confused.
"Russian nesting dolls. Fastest and easiest thing I can make right now." Momo explained.
"Oh, those things! ...how are they supposed to help?" Mina asked.
"Well, if they stop popping out of my skin, we know Aizawa's near." Momo said.
"Fair enough. Just yell if your quirk starts acting weird." Todoroki said.
"Gotta hand it to you, Todoroki. Only you could quickly hammer out a strategy against Aizawa like that." Jirou said.
"Yeah!" Mina said. "I dunno how we'll even fair against him without our quirks."
"It's nothing special," Todoroki insisted.
"That...is something of a problem though," Momo said, "We'll know when he's near...but we still don't have an idea on what to do when he finds us."
"Easy- we split up." Todoroki said. "Jirou's the only one of us who retains her quirk, since she's a 'mutant class'. She could help one of us hold off Mr. Aizawa."
Momo sighed. "Right."
Jirou looked over at Momo. "Something wrong?"
"Sorry...I've just been in a weird mindset recently." Momo said. "Todoroki and I both got into UA with special recommendations. But when it comes to practical hero skills, I still haven't shown anything worth mentioning."
"That's not true- what about your internship with Snowfall?" Mina said. "Didn't you do something there?"
"I...did, yes," Momo admitted, "But that's a little different."
Todoroki turned to reassure her, but then he realized something was off.
"...Momo. Your dolls."
"What about them?"
"They're not popping out anymore."
"...oh no," Momo muttered as everyone got on guard. Jirou jabbed one of her jacks into the ground to listen for footsteps while the rest kept their eyes on the rooftops in case the pro went for the high ground.
"He's here!" Mina yelled, looking around. She couldn't produce acid right now.
"I'm sorry, I-" Momo sputtered.
"Yes. You should've acted sooner."
Aizawa was dangling above them, his capturing device wrapped around a bundle of power lines. Todoroki spun around, as his teacher dropped down to the ground before he and Jirou.
"Both of you!" Todoroki yelled. "GO!"
"But-!" Momo began to argue.
"Argue later, run first!" Mina said, grabbing hold of Momo's hand and bolting.
Aizawa didn't turn to watch Momo and Mina run away.
"So. That's your plan, then?" Aizawa said, standing up. In the blink of an eye, he had suddenly ensnared Todoroki.
"Such speed-!" Todoroki said, as he was pulled up- he hadn't realized that Aizawa left some of his 'rope' around the power line still.
"Fine by me."
Jirou was about to try and retaliate somehow, only for another part of the capture scarf to wrap around her as well.
"Crap!"Jirou yelled as she was pulled up as well.
Jirou attempted to wriggle her earjacks free, but they were wrapped tightly in that binding material.
"You two were the 'offense' and 'tracking' of the team, so I knew I had to capture you two." Aizawa said. "If I captured Mina, then she'd be able to melt her way out of the trap."
"You really think this will hold us?" Todoroki spat. "My quirk can break through this..."
"Sure." Aizawa reached into his pockets, and dropped some caltrops on the ground. "Watch your landing."
"You're crazy prepared there, teach..." Jirou shivered.
"This isn't like when you fought the hero killer, Shoto." Aizawa said, pulling out some eye drops. "I know all four of you, and your quirks. I'm ready to counter everything you can do."
He's right, Shoto thought to himself. He's seen us train and knows the weaknesses in our plans and Quirks like no other teacher. It makes sense why he wanted to handle us personally.
"You took on more than your fair share with this plan, though." Aizawa said, putting his goggles back on. "...though, if I were you, I would've listened to Momo more."
Aizawa disappeared, leaving the two dangling there.
"Crap..." Jirou said, struggling. "I dunno if we're gonna pass at this point, Todoroki."
"...Jirou. Did something happen with Snowfall and Momo?" Todoroki asked.
Jirou didn't respond.
"She's been acting weird ever since the Festival, and even more after Snowfall..." Todoroki said. "You two are close. Surely, she must have mentioned something."
"She...she didn't really go into too much detail," Jirou admitted, "Just that...she didn't live up to expectations?"
"Snowfall's?" Todoroki asked.
"Ever since she got that ring out from Tokoyami during the Sports Festival, Momo's been focusing too much on her own mistakes. She'd kind of hoped that Snowfall could...help her iron out some issues." Jirou said.
"And...she did not, then?"
"She was seriously weighed down by her indecision, and worried she wouldn't live up to Snowfall's expectations." Jirou said.
"I see..." Todoroki looked down at the caltrops and tried to figure out a plan to get out and help.
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