"How long has he been here?" Aizawa asked as he entered a room full of cameras, showing various students training.
Though the camera he was looking at was the one with the audio on, allowing him to hear only heavy breathing, the screen showed sweat dripping off Izuku's face as the next wave came.
"Wave 34! Just a few hundred and you'll beat All Might's score!" An automated voice said excitedly.
Izuku has been honing his fighting ability in the UA Combat Training Simulator for the last hour or so, fighting waves of robots similar to those in the entrance exam, and turns out, yes, he can get tired, it just takes a long time.
It also seemed that the wraith was right, combat did really boost their power, Izuku moved faster and hit harder the more he fought, seen when he practically started bouncing off the robots, leaving them mangled on the ground.
Aizawa would admit that he was impressed with Izuku's fighting, he found that Izuku's display at the USJ was just the tip of the iceburg, though some attacks seemed familiar.
'So he's watched the video of that fight I was in 2 years ago, that's probably the most famous I ever was, thankfully'
The screen suddenly brightened immensely and Aizawa had to cover his eyes, when he looked back, he saw the robots were now knocked onto the floor, Izuku wasting no time on finishing them off.
He then rewinded the footage, slowing it down to the last frame which showed Izuku punching the floor.
'Hm? A new move?'
However, these robots weren't like the real thing, these didn't strike with killing intent, nor did they attack more than 2 at a time, these were more to get students experienced with fighting before getting the teachers involved.
"Raise their aggression and bring in more 3 pointers to attack from a distance" Aizawa instructed as the wave number was raised to 100, Izuku seemed surprised but got ready to continue.
After a moment, Izuku began to struggle, he may have been a good fighter but he was still very much a beginner, he seemed to value speed and power over strategy and defence, which left him vulnerable at multiple points.
Aizawa brought up some popcorn, chuckling when Izuku would get knocked back, the kid sure was durable.
That was until he got knocked down again, but didn't get up as fast.
'Don't give up now Midoriya, Get up!'
Aizawa leaned in as Izuku tried to get up, only to fall back down.
'Come on'
Izuku looked up to the approaching robots, dropping his head down as he began to breath harder, and when he raised it again, only determination showed.
A robot raised its arm, about to bring it down, before Izuku shot forward, running up its metal exterior and jumping into the air where he conjured the bow and shot the ranged fighters and the closer robots, the bow disappeared as Izuku clasped his hands together tightly into a hammer fist that he slammed onto the robot he used as a jumping off point.
"Yes! That's it my boy!" Aizawa exclaimed unable to stop the grin that spread across his face.
However Izuku may have taken out a considerable number of robots in a short time, but he didn't take them all out, and once again his inexperience led him once again to being in the same spot, he didn't see an attack from behind, but the wraith countered for him.
Unfortunately, it only countered the first strike and even Aizawa had to look away from the metal strike that knocked Izuku harshly back to the ground, fair to say he wouldn't be getting up from that.
"You got to wave 101! Congratulations!" The automated voice said excitedly as Izuku was carried out on a stretcher.
"Okay Shigarino, I think it's about time we start planning your next mission-arino" Chichi suggested as he subtly took away the only bottle in the room.
"Well after the success of our last mission, I'm a bit hesitant" Shigaraki spoke with sarcasm heavy in his tone, his eyes glancing across the room to look for the alcohol.
"Ok point to you, we were betrayed, but we were also able to break into UA and kill a kid, that's probably the best any villain has done and imagine the effect that has had on UA, they haven't even mentioned a dead kid yet" Chichi groaned in disappointment, what was the point of killing a kid if no one talked about it.
"Yeah I guess, I just don't know what to do next that would get our name out there"
"Why don't we just unleash a Nomu somewhere, everyone is going to be focused on the sports festival including All Might so I think we can wreak some havoc" Chichi grinned, pleased with his idea.
"Ugh, creating Nomu's aren't as simple as you think, it takes months just to make one that follows basic commands, and all the rejects are too dumb to understand orders"
"Rejects?"
Izuku woke up in the nurses office, an ice pack on his face and extremely tired.
"Ah hello again" a short elderly woman smiled from her desk, Izuku recognised her as Recovery Girl.
"If you're having trouble remembering why you're here? You took a hit to the head" She stated before walking over Izuku, dropping more than a handful of gummies into his hand.
"I notice that you seem particularly affected by my quirk, you use up a lot more energy than others, I suppose you're physiological differences are the cause, they do say you are half dead afterall"
"These gummies are specially made for people I heal, they're excellent for recovering faster from the more serious injuries but I still give them out to those with lesser ones" she gave him extra to account for the increased energy expenditure.
After eating the gummies, Izuku slowly left the room, having enough common decency not to try to nap in there.
"Good job, I see you are quite the fighter now, what a drastic change from all those months ago" the wraith complimented as Izuku removed his gym clothes and hit the showers.
"Well with this flexibility and strength, I can pretty much recreate any attacks I see" Izuku added, he had watched hero fights long enough to pick out a style, though that didn't stop him from using more than a few of his teacher's attacks.
After having a shower in a fortunately abandoned room, Izuku made his way to grab some food before he would head home.
When he replenished more of his energy from this meal, he got up and went to leave, but accidentally bumped into a tall man, they looked familiar but Izuku couldn't quite put the name to the face, so figured it could've been another teacher.
"Apologies Midoriya, I was in my own world" he said with a kind grin that revealed a dark tongue behind his teeth, distracting Izuku from wondering how he knew his name.
"Oh uh…no problem, I should've also been looking where I'm going"
"As long as you keep going, that's all that matters" the tall man passed Izuku, confusing him with what was clearly some sort of motivational advice.
And as Izuku continued on his way and forgot about the tall man, said person grabbed some food and went to a meeting room with the principal and Toshinori.
"So? What did you see Mirai?" The principal asked.
Mirai Sasaki aka Sir Nighteye stood silent for a moment before answering.
"Kid has a bright future, but no, he's not the bright lord" Sasaki sighed, he had to leave his important investigation into a certain bullet to check if yet another person was the one he saw in that vision.
"So Young Midoriya is innocent? I can't believe I thought he was capable of being such a person" Toshinori held his head in his hands, guilt and stress not helping his mental health.
"Don't be so down All Might, it's your job to be suspicious, at least you came to me first before acting" Sasaki patted All Might on the shoulder.
"So? How's your quirk?" Sasaki asked to change the subject.
"It's still strong, I'm able to maintain my form for up to 5 hours sometimes, though I nearly pushed it at the USJ, thankfully Bakugo and Midoriya helped me preserve my strength" All Might felt horrible saying that, he should've dealt with the villains, not his students.
"That's good, any update on a successor?"
"I have a few in mind, though narrowing it down to the right one has proved difficult, I don't think any of them are ready to have such a power as One For All yet" All Might admitted, it wasn't that he didn't believe in any of his choices, it was more that it didn't feel right to give it to them, it was like the predecessors of his quirk were weighing in on his thoughts.
"I see, you're in a tough spot, you shouldn't rush something of this magnitude, trust your gut my friend" Sasaki agreed before moving onto more conversations.
The UA Sports Festival
"Yo! Shigaraki! Its on" Chichi called as Shigaraki came in with a large variety of Sushi.
"I can't believe they're still going through with it after what we did" Shigaraki sat next to Chichi as the latter took out a pouch of wasabi.
"Its all for image, they can't afford to look weak" Chichi stated as he dropped some wasabi covered food into his mouth.
Shigaraki glanced over in response to Chichi's observation, "I can honestly say I never expected you to ever say something so…that" Shigaraki mocked with a raspy chuckle.
"What? I know things! Anyway it's on, I wonder what they'll say about the kid I killed" Chichi laughed excitedly as the advertisements neared their end.
Izuku sat with his class, he could feel his heart thumping in his chest after finding out what he was supposed to do, fortunately he had Ochako, Tokoyami and Iida to calm his nerves by talking about their training and Tokoyami's complaints about not being able to bring in his support items.
Ochako was about to state her annoyance regarding their hero costumes before Todoroki walked past with a glare.
"Bakugo!" He called, said person turning around with a scowl.
"Looking at the facts, my quirk is stronger than yours, it's difficult to sweat when you are encased in ice, so just so you know, I'm going to beat you" he declared with confidence in the facts.
Though judging from Bakugo's deadpan stare, he didn't give a shit.
"Get in line ice tray, I got my own declaration of war, but it's to someone who isn't afraid of a little heat" he turned back to his conversation, ignoring the look of hatred that crossed Todoroki.
"Woah? Bakugo doesn't even care that the son of Endeavour has challenged him, I wonder who Bakugo thinks is worthy though?" Kaminari said aloud, the other people in class wondering the same.
"Well…" Izuku said with a heavy blush, "it's a mystery, best just focus on ourselves right"
'He's complimented me twice now!' Izuku squealed like a little child in his head.
"Ok Class A! Its time!" Iida stood, getting everyone in line as Present Mic announced Class A.
Together they walked out, looks of steel expressions on their face as they tried to hold back any nervous energy.
Izuku however, was failing horribly at doing this as he tapped his leg with his finger continuously, waiting for his name to be called.
Because one thing he had missed during his time at UA…was that he was the highest scorer in the entrance exam…and he had to give a speech!
"Oooh" Mineta drooled from next to Izuku, plus Kaminari for some reason, Izuku looked to where they were, the main stage, and immediately understood why.
"Hello boys…and girls, I for one am looking forward to this years sports festival, so much variety to be seen here today, so I won't waste too much time" The R-Rated hero Midnight spoke with a seductive tone as her eyes swept across the students, none of them daring meet her gaze except for a blond kid with a bolt in his hair, who just grinned back with a goofy smile.
"Can the Student representative please make their way to the stage to give the Athlete's oath! Izuku Midoriya!" She called, seeing a tuft of green hair moving behind the students and towards the stage.
"Calm yourself Izuku, you suck at public speaking when you're nervous"
"Not helping!" Izuku hissed, causing a few students to jump thinking he was speaking to them.
When he got into the stage, there was a palpable silence in the air, he took a breath and began.
"I'm not someone who gives speeches often, however when I do, I try to get my point across without giving the wrong message" Izuku began, he had watched some of the previous athlete's oaths on TV for inspiration, though they all went mostly the same 'good luck everyone, try your best, plus ultra' and honestly it wasn't really something Izuku wanted to say.
"So when I say I'm going to give it my all or die trying, I mean it! Anyone here who wants to be a hero should look at this event as a way to push themselves past their breaking point and create new limits to bypass, otherwise you're just a coward in a suit named AwesomeMan!" Izuku couldn't stop the wraith from calling out the hero they met.
Said hero was actually in the audience, finally recognising the kid that they left at the store as the other heroes glanced at him.
"So give it your all! Or I'm going to show you what happens when you want to be a hero without putting any effort in" Izuku's voice echoed throughout the stadium, and around UA as his side glowed, looking towards the non hero student competitors, the ghostly appearance sending chills down everyone's spine, especially Midnight, who realized that the mic wasn't even on.
"Jesus, what's up with Midoriya?" Sero gasped as he felt his body beginning to shake.
"I think he's finally lost it" Mineta added before Kirishima stepped up.
"I think he's trying to prove himself" he said, knowing what it felt like to feel weak after a failure.
Bakugo stood silent, he agreed with Kirishima, but there was something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Chichi dropped his sushi onto the floor, a bead of sweat making its way down his head.
"No" he whispered as he stood up, the room beginning to spin.
"How is he still alive? I killed him!" Chichi stumbled as his breath grew short.
'Beware the unstoppable GraveWalker' Chichi remembered, he didn't think the GraveWalker was LITERALLY unstoppable!
"Chichi! What's wrong? How is the kid alive?" Shigaraki noticed Chichi's pale expression at the revelation.
"Oh where to begin" Chichi laughed, his destiny was to die to this kid, and it was so fixated, that the kid couldn't die.
This certainty, this guarantee of death, sort of made Chichi's life flash before his eyes in advance
Ever since Chichi was young, he found that he wasn't normal, he grew up idolising villains, especially the ones that had high kill counts, he also found that he didn't react to things like others did, a dead cat in the street was fun to dissect and play with for Chichi, though others were horrified by this.
So when he gained his quirk, his activities took a turn, though he quickly realized that his quirk was terribly weak, at 14, he could only make blood flow in a direction and with having to be touching it as well as having to be close by, he wasn't able it offensively and had to rely on his claws and teeth to actually kill things.
But then he got his hands on trigger, and what a game changer it was, even better, after a while of taking it, his quirk got strong enough that he could finally use blood as a weapon.
All his life, Chichi wanted to be a villain who was feared, but everywhere he went, every group he joined, just saw him as the psycho, the one they could leave behind if things got tough.
At some point he understood that he could never be the villain he dreamed of being, but naturally, he needed confirmation.
Enter Shelob, the dame of destiny. Beautiful, elegant, and a complete bitch.
"A million yen!?"
"To know the future is to rob your life of excitement, so I'm just doing the same, but with your money"
'Huh, that was the day I robbed those stores and killed that kid's dad' Chichi absentmindedly thought.
It seemed Izuku's speech had an impact on the other attendees, who looked at him with a visible desire to beat him.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to antagonize your competition like that?"
"Yes, I'm going to show them just how large the gap between us is, and to show everyone watching why we are here" Izuku said as he walked back to the group, staring down everyone who looked his way till they averted their gaze.
Throughout his training, he felt this anger towards how he was threatened with expulsion for killing a murderer, this anger grew and grew the more time that passed, and Izuku grew tired of being stared at as a kid who died, he was going to show them just how much of a threat he was.
The first event was an obstacle course, 4km long.
Izuku did some math in his head, his arrows weren't affected by wind but disappeared after around 50 meters due to being out of range so if he were to travel via his arrows they wouldn't disappear but would probably begin to drop around 60-70 meters depending on various factors such as height and the Wraith's involvement.
With these calculations in mind, he would need to shoot round 50 arrows to win purely by arrow traveling, and he could only shoot up to 8 before having to wait to recover them.
"Our burst speed also won't get us through this, we will need to use a mixture of both while taking advantage of our endurance"
"I guess I'll have to use both with caution" Izuku got into position just as the buzzer sounded.
Activating burst speed immediately, Izuku quickly got to the front of the group and into the tunnel first.
"Not so spacious here" the wraith noticed as Izuku just managed to stay ahead of the mob behind him who quickly got stuck with everyone fighting to get ahead.
When Izuku cleared the tunnel, leaving everyone behind, he felt a chill on the back of his neck, and immediately jumped as ice covered the ground below him.
With his momentum and the ice, Izuku deactivated burst speed and turned to his side, sliding across the ice, his balance holding true.
"Quick Izuku! Duck!"
With no hesitation, Izuku crouched, feeling the air get disturbed above as a robot's gauntlet striked where he was.
"Robots?! Goddamn obstacle course!" Izuku shouted as he looked forward, eying a series of robots and even a few 0-pointers in the distance.
"I'd say now is a good time to use your arrows"
"I agree, if I get on top of one of the 0-pointers, I could see what's next and probably use the height to get further" Izuku said as he conjured his bow and shot, disappearing into the arrow.
"1A's Izuku Midoriya remains effortlessly in the lead! What an awesome display of his quirk!" Present Mic screamed in excitement as Izuku appeared atop a zero pointer then jumped off only to disappear again just as they got frozen.
Aizawa sat next to him, seeing Izuku appearing further down the track just before the drop.
"I doubt he wants to use up all his arrows, so what's his plan to cross this?" Aizawa speculated with his mic off, he didn't want to put Izuku at a disadvantage by revealing aspects of his quirk to his competition.
However, to his surprise, Izuku just kept running until he reached the edge and jumped, getting a good halfway across the gap until the next surprise came.
Izuku's body glowed as it suddenly jolted elegantly into a second jump from nothing but the air from the gap, pretty much doing what could be described as a double jump.
Before the first person made it to the drop, Izuku had already cleared it with this new technique.
"And you said that wouldn't be useful, typical" the wraith voiced its smugness.
"Yeah yeah, screw you" Izuku groaned before he was once again greeted by that chill, plus the sounds of explosions.
"Didn't think I'd be able to keep up Deku! I'm just getting started!" Bakugo shouted before Izuku activated burst speed to edge ahead.
"Oh finally, thought you'd still be at the start, scowling" Izuku jeered as he passed him again before being passed himself.
Whether it was luck or pure coincidence, neither Izuku nor Bakugo realised just what they were running on until they got a quarter way across the field and pink explosions began to echo around them.
Izuku stepped on a mine accidently, only having enough time to let out one word before he was launched upwards.
"Shit".
However, he quickly corrected his mistake by conjuring his bow and aiming as he fell.
Next thing the crowd knew, he was back in the lead.
"Quick thinking from Izuku Midoriya! I think he may come in first at this rate" he heard Present Mic announce.
"Is that your unbiased opinion?" Aizawa questioned, resulting in a laughter filled response from Present Mic.
Izuku activated burst speed once again, feeling that this was going to be his last one.
He began to run expertly across the minefield, his feet instinctively knowing where to avoid.
When his speed returned to normal he kept running, hearing explosions behind him along with ice approaching until he had to jump again, though this time the ice covered the area in front of him and was at an incline.
"Shoto Todoroki has covered the minefield in ice!? Is this him getting desperate for first place!?"
Todoroki slid past Izuku as he just barely stayed upwards due to the incline, he didn't have enough momentum to copy Todoroki so conjured his bow again, he has used 3 arrows so far, seemed he overestimated the course.
Todoroki could see the finish line as he surfed on his ice, he was going to show them who was stronger, he didn't need fire to win, he'd never need it.
And then Bakugo shot by, not even bothering to look at him.
He didn't know why, but this just annoyed him as he raised his ice creating a reverse ramp that he used to increase his speed.
He reached but didn't pass Bakugo before he saw Izuku appear in front of both of them.
"Too slow Kacchan" Izuku jumped, spinning to reveal a shit eating grin as he conjured the bow once again and disappeared past the finish line.
"I told you! Izuku Midoriya has come first!"
Now all eyes were on Izuku, watching him with different faces, some angered, some surprised, most just amazed at his versatile quirk.
Though Izuku wasn't alone for long, as Bakugo came in second, with Todoroki shortly behind.
"Oh hey Kacchan, finally got here, what place did you get? 30th?" Izuku once again attempted to ignite Bakugo fuse, though the latter just grinned mischievously.
"You better make it to the last round Deku, there's no one else whose going to put up a good fight before I crush them"
Todoroki managed to hear Bakugo's threat, and turned to Izuku.
He felt angered, Izuku was the one Bakugo was talking about earlier!?
"Just you wait, I'm going to show you" Todoroki whispered, a silent promise that he was going to give 100% to keep.
Heyo, so this chapter was written and finished way faster than I thought it would be, which has broken my streak of releasing chapters very far from each other, I haven't started on the next chapter but I hope I can deliver it as fast as this one.
So I've been playing the Arkham series which has impacted how I write Izuku's combat ability, such as the free flow combat which was perfect in Arkham city, I do like the idea that Izuku gets faster and stronger the more he lands hits without taking any.
Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed, feel free to critique cause I'm really not sure if these recent chapters are as good as they could be.