Finally, I have a new chapter of A Hero's Creed for you all. It only took this long because my computer had a little accident and needed to go to the techno-hospital for a while, but it's back and as good as ever. Now, are you all ready to finish 1-A's first finals? Ah, but first: Reviews.
ace200777: No promises. Sorry. Either way I go, someone will be disappointed with the final ship I choose, so I'm letting the story run itself until one ship becomes the most obvious choice. I like both, but this won't be a harem story. That's too much of a cop-out for the dark themes of AC.
Gamelover41592: Thank you. I'm kind of proud of it.
LEGOBRICK13: Those point you bring up do seem to be plot holes in the original story. I have my own ideas about reasoning some of them out, though. Until recently, Toru's hair was also invisible, so I think we can assume that weaving it into cloth (like they said had to be done for Quirk-special clothing) was simply too difficult and she never mentioned the problem to those who had the funds and connections to get it done. (Also, I think that was Horikoshi not knowing where they were going to go with it since, logically, Aizawa's Erase should have been able to Erase her Quirk the first time he used his on the class since we know now it can be turned off.) Mirio should have had such boxers at least, but I think that was played for shock value. As for the Urarakas, I'd imagine if construction and repair is such big business, they have a lot of competition and small, family businesses tend to not fare as well as much larger contractors who have more resources and employees. For them, it's a situation of too many cooks in the kitchen, and they're stuck with cleaning the dishes. I'm going to hand-wave Aizawa not straightening out Bakugo in this story as deeming Izuku's beef with him as its own form of Izuku learning to accept the consequences of free will and deal with it himself. In Canon, I think it was just for the sake of conflict. SQUIRK!
Jerarudo Torinidado: I certainly intend to, but I don't have the mission itself planned yet. We got a taste of that with Izuku's first kill, but it will take time before he sees how evil some Templars can be. I'm still working with MHA Canon to a degree for the next couple arcs, even if they are heavily modified with the death of AFO, so we'll keep chugging along at this pace for a while.
Monkey D. Conan: Fear and paranoia are rarely rational and it's always harder to accurately diagnose yourself with something that instinctive. It's not like he needs to confront a fear of heights or snakes or something so straight forward. His Assassin training and actions are clashing with his internalized societal norms as he still needs time to break those chains. For Japan, they are a whole lot deeper-rooted than for Americans who value personal freedom. And you're allowed to hate Bakugo. He's going to be around for a while, but he'll get some recompense.
Guest: I am unsure how to play with the events of Watch Dogs. Ubisoft announced that Watch Dogs was a game in the AC universe to coincide with the easter egg of the game being found in the Abstergo Games office in AC:4/Rogue, but at the same time the events of Watch Dogs seem to line up with the modern day events and (if I remember seeing the news on it correctly) you can now play as an Assassin in one of the latest WD DLCs. Because I have not played the WD games myself, I will reserve judgement until such a time as I have more information and rule that, if they are connected, the Watch Dogs did not operate in Japan.
Chapter 31:
Finals (Part 2)
Izuku's habitual wrist flick had returned, now combined with a chewing on his lip that was getting painful. The latter had started as an attempt to stop the former considering the proximity of a known Templar, but Momo made no indication that she recognized the motion. On the screens above, Team 10's Denki Kaminari and Fumikage Tokoyami and Team 4's Mashirao Ojiro and Yuga Aoyama duked it out in Training Ground Beta for their finals. It was a sort of back and forth with Tokoyami actively defending from a two-pronged attack while Kaminari jumped in for short but crucial bursts of defense when Tean 4 gained an upper hand. The only reason Team 10 had lasted so long was their decision to hole up inside one of the buildings, the shade within making Dark Shadow stronger compared to the sunny outsides and giving Team 4 less area with which to dodge Kaminari.
Toru was the loudest of the spectators, cheering for Team 10 without a shred of remorse. Ochako had arrived with her and Sero, the brunette having quickly procured a simple, long-sleeved dress from Momo to cover the invisible girl, offering no explanation to anyone who asked. She stood silently with Izuku, Momo, Jiro, and Todoroki as the final on the screens approached its head.
"Midoriya," Todoroki said, the secret Assassin nearly jumping at his teammate's voice. "We need to discuss our opponents' Quirks and cover our own shortcomings so that we may be fully prepared."
"O-Oh," Izuku nodded, tearing his eyes away from the fight. "Right. I guess we do."
"I'm guessing you want to do this as a team," Ochako offered, grabbing one arm each from Momo and Jiro. "We'll go watch with the others." Momo opened her mouth as if to protest but then seemed to think better of it, silently following with a backward glance.
"Alright, it's just us," Izuku said. "What do you know about Koda and—" He hesitated, still not used to the American's insistence they use her given name. "—a-and Pony?"
"Not as much as I would like," the other boy admitted. "I have been trying to open up as per Aunt Hi… I mean, Woolen-sensei's advice, but it is not as easy as she made it sound. To be frank, while under my former delusions, I did not take the necessary time to remember the details of my classmates' abilities. I was under the impression from word of mouth that you have a propensity to observing and recording detailed notes about Quirks, however."
"That's true," Izuku replied. "Koda's Quirk is called Anivoice and it allows him to speak with animals and control them to a degree. It appears that the more simple a creature is, the easier he can control it, but simple creatures cannot perform complex tasks. It also helps if he already has a positive rapport with them, which will make him surprisingly dangerous here."
"I see. On the surface, such a power seems weak, but by gathering strength in numbers, Koda may become the leader of an overwhelming force." Todoroki nodded to himself, filing away the information in his memory. "And Tsunotori?"
"Her Quirk: Horn Cannon is a lot more that its name suggests. She is able to detach the horns that grow from her head, new horns growing to replace the old ones instantly. These horns, once detached, can float independently and support enough weight to give her a form of limited flight. At last count, she could control up to four horns at a time. That's all I've seen her control, anyway. She's not as quiet as Koda, so that might me her hard limit."
Todoroki pursed his lips slightly, considering his own powers and what skills Izuku had shown in the past.
"You mentioned Koda may have trouble controlling animals?" he asked. "If that is so, what causes such difficulties?"
"Distrust and/or fear, I think," Izuku answered. "The creatures he controls can be scared away if they think their lives are in danger, but I remember him saying once that the more he interacts with certain populations, the more they are willing to risk it, and creatures with shorter lifespans are more likely to charge ahead without fear. We've been in Ground Beta enough that the local rats might actually be willing to risk their lives." He blinked. "I'd rather not kill them, by the way, even if they are just rats. We're just training."
"I understand. I will try to limit myself, then. However, we must develop a plan before the current match concludes—"
BONG! "Denki Kaminari has been rendered unconscious!"
"—and it appears that time is rapidly dwindling."
"Well, your ice and fire should be able to scare away whatever animals Koda calls on," Izuku muttered. "Pony's going to be the real challenge. She can fly and has enough mobility to avoid you."
"Then would it be possible for you to distract her long enough for me to neutralize Koda?" Todoroki asked. "You mentioned that she can fly, something you are incapable of, but our last few training sessions together have shown that you are quick on your feet. Can you keep her at bay?"
"I can do my best," Izuku vowed.
"Then we have a plan." Todoroki hesitated before holding up his arm diagonally, imitating a gesture he'd seen previously. Izuku offered a small smile, tying his pink, heart-print bandana around his wrist like his teammate before bumbling their wrists together.
"Let's win this fight, Todoroki."
"Please, I insist you refer to me as Shoto. If nothing else, you will need fewer syllables. Besides that, it is also the Hero name I chose for my internship."
"Fair enough," Izuku nodded. "You can call me Izuku if you want."
"So, does this make us friends?"
"If you want to be. I'm counting on you, Shoto."
"And I you, Izuku."
BONG! "Fumikage Tokoyami has been rendered unconscious!" Principal Nezu announced over the PA system. "With this, Team 10 can no longer fight! The winners are Team 4!"
"Aw man!" Toru complained. "That's two in a row our side has lost!"
"Side?" Iida questioned. "What side are you referring to, Hagakure? These matches are arranged so that the only sides, so to speak, are individual teams."
"Our side!" the invisible girl explained, gesturing wildly to everyone in the area. "East gate! Yaomomo and Kyoka squeaked out a draw and you and Shoji won, but my team and now Team 10 lost! That mean's we're down two to one!"
"We are not accruing points in a combined manner through the division of east and west! That is not part of the exams!"
"Team 4, I ask that you carry Team 10 out of Ground Beta, please," the principal continued. "The final match shall involve Team 8's Shoto Todoroki and Izuku Midoriya against Team 9's Koji Koda and Pony Tsunotori. Teams, you have one minute!"
"This is it, Izuku," Shoto said, the pair readying themselves to enter the gate.
"Izuku," Momo called, resting a hand on the verdet's shoulder. Izuku tried not to shy away as she smiled. "Good luck."
"Er, thanks," the secret Assassin replied.
"You as well, Todoroki," she added, as if as an afterthought.
"Come on, Team 8!" Toru cheered, jumping up and down. "Kick their butts so we can tie this thing!"
"This is not a greater competition!" Iida objected, his hand chopping the air. "These are our finals! We should be uplifting everyone equally!"
"You've got this, Izuku, Todoroki!" Ochako insisted, throwing them a thumbs up. "Go show them what you can do!"
"Thank you, everyone," Izuku muttered, his partner only offering a silent nod.
"I can launch us in quickly to catch them off guard," Shoto offered as the pair turned back to the gate. "Do you trust me?"
"Sure. I trust you."
"Aaaand go!"
Shoto drove his heel into the concrete, ice instantly growing beneath them. Izuku clenched his teeth as they were rocketed forward on an ever-growing column. Shutting his eyes to protect them from the sudden air resistance, the young Assassin activated his Eagle Vision, deciding to leave it active for the entirety of the fight. He wanted it to grow and evolve, and only putting it thought strain would that work. At least, that's what his teachers seemed to think.
"Shoto!" Izuku called over the wind. "When we hit the center, get me to the rooftops!"
"Very well!" the heterochromatic student replied, almost immediately separating Izuku from the main column. It shot him upward, launching Izuku away. The verdet flipped, landing on the closest roof with the ease of practice.
He didn't move for several seconds, admiring the sheer scale of power Shoto could put out and how high up he was. As if reading his mind, Shoto curved his ice downward and slid over the road, sending a slippery film of ice over the entirety of the ground. He stomped his foot, rising into the air high above on a new column.
"It's a good thing we're last, huh‽" Izuku laughed.
"Birds!" Shoto replied.
"Birds?" Izuku blinked, turning so his gaze followed his friend's pointing finger. A shadow rose from the other side of the training ground, nearly a hundred birds forming a living wall that threatened to blot out the sun. He blinked. "Oh, birds. Find Koda and take him down! I'll stall Pony!"
"Alright." A snowboard formed under Shoto's feet, the boy tipping forward to ride his ice downward.
"I suppose I need to show off, too," Izuku muttered to himself, turning his gaze to his surroundings. When no red auras of malice appeared in his sight, Izuku took off parallel to the same direction Shoto had gone, the verdet keeping his eyes on the sky since his foe had flight capabilities. He didn't want to give away his climbing proficency —another skill that could potentially give away his loyalties to anyone in the know— so he used his rope-dart to reach the roofs of higher buildings.
Scaling the next building, a mock recreation of the kind a company would run, Izuku had a flash of red in the corner of his vision. He twisted as he passed the top rise, smacking away one flying horn with the blade of his rope-dart before redirecting a second. Flowing with the momentum, Izuku landed on the roof and took in the whole scene, the red shape that was Pony floating above him with a host of birds around her.
["Well, well,"] she said in English, a cocky grin on her face and her arms crossed as she stood on two of her horns. The other two, returned to orbit around her, the birds giving the girl a wide berth. Izuku's eyes picked out the butter-yellow bandana holding the American's blonde ponytail. ["Fancy meeting you here, Izuku. I didn't expect you to deflect those. Nice bandana, by the way. Pink's a good color on you."]
["I think it really brings out my eyes,"] Izuku replied in her native tongue, thankful that he'd learned enough of the language to watch All Might's English interviews without subtitles and that Keeper had helped refine that fluency over the last year-and-a-half. He settled into a low stance, a hand on his bo. ["You always get into character, don't you? So, do you want to play the Hero or the Villain, Pony?"]
["I'm always the Hero, Izuku!"] Pony laughed. ["You know that! That's what we're working for, after all!"]
["I thought so but I thought I would at least ask. I mean, I don't want to be the Villain every time we meet."] His eyes narrowed. ["I thought you needed hand gestures to move your horns."]
["They make the movements faster, but aren't required,"] Pony admitted. Her eyes moved from Izuku to something behind him in the distance. It was a chance Izuku wasn't going to pass up, his rope-dart shooting out to snag Pony's ankle before she could look back at him. He pulled, Pony's eyes going wide as her opponent made her fall off her floating horns. The girl spat an English curse, her arms going wide to call her horns beneath her.
Izuku charged forward, throwing himself off the side of the building as he threw his second rope-dart so it hooked around the girl's waist. He swung upward as Pony caught herself, the secret Assassin controlling his movements so he landed on her back, driving Pony and her horns downward.
["Fuck, that hurts!"] Pony yelled, her horns' edges cutting into her fingers. ["Izuku, the Hell are you doing‽ At least take a girl to dinner before you tie her up and try going for a ride!"]
"W-What‽" the verdet croaked, Pony using his second of embarrassment as he comprehended the English euphemism to buck him off. Acting quickly, Izuku swung by the rope-dart still wrapped around her, positioning himself toward the alley between the company building and the one next to it. As he expected her to, Pony used one of her horns to cut him loose, dropping him into a controlled freefall.
Izuku resolved to get more rope-darts than the standard two he normally carried. Most things weren't strong enough to cut through the micro-carbon fiber they were made of, but Pony just proved that her horns had the same sharpness as most swords. Possibly the ability to dull and resharpen as well considering the limited damage she sustained from grabbing them herself. If they could do that, was further reshaping possible?
Izuku shook that thought away for later and refocused on the fight. His ribbed soles dug into the company building's concrete, carving gashes as he slowed himself. He jumped to the opposite wall, slowing himself further, and glanced back toward Pony.
She smirked, throwing two horns toward him. ["Bull Rush!"]
Izuku leapt off the wall, the horns stabbing into the place where he'd been, before his body smashed through a window on the company building. His thick Hero costume protected him from the shards as he rolled over the carpeted floor. Muscle memory kicked in, Izuku rolling to his feet before he'd even stopped moving, already drawing his bo. The room's lights were not on and likely not even wired, leaving the only light to come from the window. For all the money UA had for the training grounds, rigging all the lights to standards was not something they could do for every mock building. Electrical wiring of standard levels was special to Ground Alpha as far as he knew.
Except, of course, for the cameras. Seriously, where did UA get all that money?
["Don't you look ready for a fight?"] Pony grinned, floating down with arms crossed to stare at him through the broken window, perched again on two of her horns. Izuku's eyes widened, however, when Koda, carried within the flock of birds, lowered to hover beside her. His yellow bandana was actually around the neck of the largest of his birds. ["To quote one of my dad's favorite movies, do you feel lucky, punk?"]
"Koda‽" the verdet gasped.
"H-Hi, Midoriya," the other student whispered, waving shyly.
"What are you—? How—? But if you're here—?"
"Shoto is off chase the local rat population!" Pony laughed, switching to Japanese with the others. "Koji is always so quiet, Shoto will not know Koji is not there. That fog I saw earlier was our signal that Shoto fallen for it. Koji can be pretty devious when he need to be."
"Th-Th-Thank you," her teammate muttered.
"This just got a lot harder," Izuku muttered to himself, backing away slowly. Pony and Koda lowered to the floor, the girl's horns rising to float over her shoulders while the birds that had been working together to support Koda settled on his head, shoulders, and arms. Izuku closed his eyes and breathed deeply, letting the tension drain from his muscles.
"We do not need to hurt you, Izuku," Pony offered. "Give us your bandana and we will leave."
"Heh, just to leave me here and go attack Shoto?" Izuku teased. "Two on one? Or more if we count the birds? Who's acting like a Villain now, Pony? And if you send them after me, Koda, I won't hesitate to hurt them. In a real fight, we won't have the luxury of mercy if civilians are at risk."
"Civilians are not at risk—" Pony tried.
"But we should practice like they are," Izuku rebuffed. He smiled. "Your family likes old movies, Pony?"
She studied him. "…Most of them. Why?"
"A quote of my own. [Would you like to play a game?]"
And Izuku turned, throwing his remaining rope-dart into the lightbulb above and fleeing into the office. He dragged it back and ducked a corner as the shattered glass rained down on his foes, the boy barely avoiding the horns that tried to pin his hood to the wall.
"[Shit!] He is getting away, Koji!"
The hallways were a veritable maze that Izuku lost himself in quickly. He hunkered down in a meeting room, not damaging or rearranging anything as he closed the door as quietly as he could. His dark green suit faded into the shadows, Izuku stabbing his rope-dart into the upper wall by the corner and carefully balancing himself upon it. He needed time to plan.
"I need to think," he hissed to himself, having to split his attention with watching his surroundings. If he closed his eyes, there was always a chance someone could come in without him noticing. He raised a hand to interact with the headphones in his helmet only to remember he'd chosen to leave it behind. His eyes started to itch from the strain. "Crap. Well, Shoto doesn't have a communicator anyway. Looks like I'm on my own… Alright, Koda's got his birds, but they are unlikely to have the ability to open doors. With that in mind, only he or Pony could enter. That is, unless they release the birds into the air ducts. Luckily, I know I can pick them out of the background with my vision—"
"Oh Izuku~!" Pony called from somewhere outside the door. ["You can try to hide the whole time, but I don't think that would net you a passing grade~!]
"Come on, think!" Izuku growled. "If only I could see them through the…" Izuku blinked as it vision blurred for a moment. A hand stabilized him against the wall as his sight cleared, but there was a notable change.
There were two red shapes stalking through the hallways; two shapes he should not have been able to see through the wall but suddenly could. Pony moved with confidence, her steps even. Koda was meeker, peeking around corners as he muttered to the birds around him.
"…Walls? Well, that's… new," Izuku muttered to himself. He'd heard that the various famous Assassins with Eagle Vision had different abilities, but he didn't know enough to place who had a power like seeing opponents through walls. American, maybe? Or French? He wasn't sure. Many of the records had been lost or distorted between the Great Decimation and the chaos of the Dawn of Quirks, after all. Only the story of Desmond Miles and the ancestors whose lives he lived remained clear thanks to the teachings of Gavin Banks.
Either way, this was a power he possessed now, and Izuku intended to make the most of it. He could see his fellow students, but Izuku could not see the birds. He figured they were acting as scouts for the quiet boy since Koda would point periodically. He couldn't see Pony's horns either, now that he thought about it, which was an unfortunate factor of his new tactical advantage. He knew the birds had auras he'd seen before, but apparently considering them extensions of Koda wasn't enough for this new power if the same did not work on Pony's horns.
If nothing else, being able to see his fellow students showed Izuku that Koda was coming his way.
The verdet dropped to the floor without a sound, pulling his rope-dart out of the wall to recreate his position over the door. The dart stabbed into the wall, but he needed a way to draw the other student deeper into the room. He tipped the table over noisily (he saw Koda's outline jump) so that it looked like a barrier. That should cause Koda to investigate, but Izuku quickly hid the chairs behind the table before jumping onto his dart. He mouthed an apology as Koda drew closer, drawn by the noise, the boy opening the door a second later.
"M-M-M-Midoriya?" the shy student asked, stepping into the room with his birds. "P-P-Please j-just surrender."
Izuku fell on him, driving Koda's head into the carpet. Instantly, the red aura around Koda vanished as he was rendered a non-threat. The birds around the boy squawked, raising a racket as they swarmed their friend's assaulter.
"Sorry!" Izuku apologized, drawing his bo.
BONG! "Koji Koda has been rendered unconscious!"
"Woah!" Toru gasped, she and the students around her watching the final on the screens. "Midori just took Koda down with one hit! He never saw him coming!"
"The birds!" Ochako yelled despite the fact Izuku could not hear her. Yelling at screens wasn't something she did often, but it was a habit she'd picked up from her old man, a fan of the country's various Quirked Sports leagues. "The birds, Izuku!"
"Yeah, those birds could be a bit of a problem," Sero commented as Izuku became nothing but a shadow in motion. "Holy— That's crazy!"
"Midoriya did mention he uses his weapon proficiency to counter his lack of an offensive Quirk," Iida said, rubbing his chin with his hand. "However, I was not aware that his skill had progressed to such a degree. His internship with Edgeshot must have raised his ability to a higher level."
"He does say power means nothing if one fails to hit him in the first place," Shoji remembered.
"He has shown an unparalleled ability to bend darkness around himself," Tokoyami muttered. "What a mad banquet of umbral revelry."
"In normal person words, Fumi means he's real good at sneaking," Dark Shadow translated.
"Was that a standing backflip?" Jiro questioned as, on the screen, Izuku flipped over the largest bird, distinctive by the bandana Koda had entrusted to it. The student landed on the tipped table, balancing on its edge as easily as a gymnast. His bo spun around his back, knocking down a bird that had been aiming for the back of his head, before the verdet planted the end of his weapon by his feet. He jumped with a spin, opening his legs into a split to kick two separate birds, and landed on the table's edge once more without a moment's pause.
"Did anyone else know Izuku was an acrobat?" Ochako asked. No one answered. "So I'm not the only one that's surprised? That's good to know."
"…I bet he's ripped under that costume," Toru commented, almost audibly licking her lips.
Ochako and Momo both choked, blushing fiercely. On the other side of the training ground, Mina was voicing similar theories. Bakugo loudly dismissed the idea, but Tsuyu wasn't adverse to the mental image. Considering she'd already seen him training shirtless a number of times with various Assassin trainers, she knew they weren't wrong.
In a matter of moments, every bird that had been in Koda's retinue was on the floor, tiny birds of their own flying around their heads. Izuku let a grin slide across his lips, not even breathing hard.
"Izuku!" Pony yelled from somewhere on the other side of the floor. "I will get you for that!"
"Looks like that's my cue to leave," the verdet muttered, pulling Koda's bandana off the bird that had worn it. He was lucky Koda hadn't had the idea to separate or send the birds into the vents like he'd feared, but the clock was still ticking.
Actually, speaking of vents… No. Izuku shook his head. If he tried to traverse the air ducts and Pony sent her horns in after him, he'd have no room to avoid them. Dismissing that plan, Izuku stepped into the hallway.
He didn't have time to question the strange trail of red that seemed to trace Koda's path to the room, but he took off to follow it anyway, since it went down a different hallway than the one he could see Pony's outline coming down.
["I know you're still here, Izuku!] she called. ["You're not going to get my bandana if you keep hiding!"]
Izuku did not respond, muffling his steps as he traced a path toward where Pony had already been. A new trail of red crossed the one he was following, the young Assassin switching to it as he began carefully tracking his remaining opponent.
'I wonder how Shoto's doing right now,' he wondered.
"Where are all these rats coming from‽" Shoto demanded in the fog, his arm swinging upward to create an ice wall. A veritable wave of rats crashed into it less than a second later, cracking the barrier with their sheer weight. "Damn it! I need to get to Izuku, but I have no idea where he is."
SQUEAK!
"Shit!" He stomped, launching himself into the air with a pillar of ice. Three rats each the size of a small dog leapt from the shadows, landing where he'd been. "Why are you so big‽"
SQUEAK! They started nibbling on his column of ice, acting more like very efficient beavers than rats.
"Seriously, does UA not have the funds to hire exterminators‽"
In the viewing box with the other teachers watching the finals to grade each of the students, Principal Nezu made a shorthand note in his personal code on a notepad. His paws more dexterous than even some human hands, he folded the note into a small square and tucked it into a pocket of his suit for reference later.
"Have the rats in Ground Beta been getting larger recently?" Aizawa questioned.
"Have they?" Nezu shrugged, hiding a bemused grin behind his teacup. "I hadn't noticed."
The mammal's words fooled no one.
'Go, my little minions!' the principal silently cheered. To what ends, no one could fathom.
Straining his ears now, Izuku could hear the soft footfalls of Pony's hooves on the carpet. At least, he assumed she had hooves as opposed to regular human feet. It was a question that had never really come up in conversation with her, but it was a theory he had after the American landed a devastating mule kick on Kirishima during training the week before. It might just be an aesthetic choice for her Hero costume combined with her extra-human musculature in her legs, the uncertainty made him just so curious.
He shook the thought away. Questions for later.
The young Assassin pressed himself against the wall, carefully edging his head forward to glance into the perpendicular hall. Pony had paused at another intersection, seemingly debating with herself on which way she thought Izuku could have gone. Her blonde tail —an upward tuft of hair unlike the tail of any horse at the base of her spine— twitched, prompting Izuku to back away from the corner. He could still see her red outline, the girl turning to look his direction.
"Izuku?" she asked. The verdet pressed his lips together, not sure how she'd detected him. He was sure he'd not made enough noise to tip her off and she didn't have heightened senses due to any of her horse-like mutations.
He'd not be able to approach without her detecting him if he came at her from a straight hallway. He'd either need to be as quick as Iida or literally fade into the shadows like 1-B's Kuroiro. By strategy or happenstance, Pony had placed herself in the one place where Izuku couldn't get the drop on her.
Nonlethally, anyway. A rope-dart to the back of the head wasn't exactly within the rules of the finals.
'We're on a timer,' Izuku thought. 'I don't know how much time is left, but we've got to be past the halfway mark. I don't have time for anything elaborate. My best chance to get her bandana at this point is probably a straight rush.' He took a deep breath. 'Well, nothing ventured and all that.'
Quiet as a church mouse, Izuku stepped around the corner and drew his bo. Slowly, he stepped toward Pony, the girl still with her back to him.
He paused. Where were her floating horns?
"I know you would track me down, Izuku," she said, not turning around. "Too bad I expect you to do that."
Izuku threw himself backward, Pony's weaponized horns stabbing into the floor. His bo spun, snapping the horns in half as it went. His other hand shot out, flinging his remaining rope-dart at her.
Pony tilted her head, the dart just missing her.
[This reminds me of paintball with my siblings,"] she said, turning to show him the grin on her face.
["Did this happen in paintball?"] Izuku asked. He wasn't completely sure of the rules of paintball, but he enjoyed the American's look of surprise when he yanked his rope-dart back, her bandana snagged on its hook. Her hair fell, freed of its ponytail.
["Wha—?"]
Izuku took off, running away as fast as his legs would carry him. Pony yelled something, but he didn't stop to listen, the sounds of her horns whistling through the air after him pushing his legs to go faster.
["Get back here, Izuku!"] Pony yelled.
["I do not understand English!"] he yelled back. The verdet let a grin come to his face as he dodged another hail of projectile horns. He followed the red trails to their origin, the broken window, and slowed to a stop. Pony stopped on the other side of the room, her upper body tilted forward for easy firing of her horns.
"What now, Izuku?" she panted. The boy backed up toward the window a step and glanced down. The height was dizzying, the cold wind blowing against his back. He smirked, the gator covering his nose and mouth hiding it. "I have you cornered."
"Do you have hooves or feet?"
"Excuse me?" Pony replied. "I—" She pointed at him. "You are stall for time. I will not fall for it. Give me the bandanas."
"And if I say no?"
"You beat Koda, but my Quirk is more dangerous than his. Do not make me cut you. I might feel bad."
"Sorry," Izuku replied. He spread his arms, holding both bandanas out the window.
"What are you doing?"
"Trusting," he said. "After all, this is a team exercise. SHOTO!"
…
. . .
Pony smirked. "Hehe! It look like Sho—"
Shoto blurred by the window, snatching the bandanas from Izuku's hand before Pony could comprehend what she was seeing. She ran for the window, but Shoto was already turning the corner, his snowboard ramp of ice carrying the dual-haired teen toward the closest exit.
"How…?" Pony muttered. She stared at the last point she'd seen him, her second opponent already outside her grasp. She chuckled, slowly building into a full laugh. Izuku felt the tension break, joining in her laughter. "Alright, Izuku! You got me, but I will not fall for that a second time."
"Good match, Pony," Izuku said. "Let's go get Koda and meet up with the others."
"Yes. Good plan."
BONG! "That is the end of the final match of 1-A's physical finals! With the acquisition and extraction of Team 9's bandanas, Team 10 takes the victory! Congratulations and thank you all for your hard work! We will meet at Ground Beta's southern entrance for a short debriefing. See you there!"
"Well, let's go," Izuku offered. He went back to collect Koda, the birds awake once more and giving him as dangerous a side eye as birds were capable of. Even so, rousing Koda was not that difficult and Pony offered to carry everyone to the ground with her horns. Together, the trio made their way to the southern exit. They found the rest of the class already there, some bandaged and others in the process of being treated by Recovery Girl, but everyone was awake. Izuku met Shoto's eyes through the crowd, the pair sharing a smile.
"I said it before but allow me to say it once more in person," Nezu began before anyone could say anything to the new arrivals. The students of 1-A arrayed before him as the principal stood tall on an annoyed Aizawa's shoulder. "Thank you all for your hard work. Win or lose, you each showed us the extent of your abilities to date. Each of your teachers made notes on your performances and we will discuss each of you this evening. Your final grades will be released to you tomorrow before you are given leave for the first part of summer break. That said, do recall we will be having a summer camp the second half as per UA tradition, so plan accordingly. If you did not pass this final, we will simply have to ensure you work twice as hard during the camp. Well, that is all I had to say, but please humor me as I attempt to drive your motivation higher. Win or lose, pass or fail, we only want you to break your current limits. To go—?"
"PLUS ULTRA!"
All Might asked to be excused from the meeting for a moment, his cell phone repeatedly proclaiming "A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!" Once the door shut behind him, leaving Japan's Number One Hero alone in the hallway, he let go of his transformation with a sigh and answered the call.
"Please tell me you have good news, Naomasa."
"Do you consider a startling lack of any news to be good news?"
"Wha— Nothing?" Toshinori questioned. "I know All for One is secretive to the point we thought him dead for all these years, but he can't have up and vanished after one attack."
"The attack on the USJ at the start of the schoolyear was the first and only instance in which we've seen any of these Nomu creatures. At this point, it might just be another guy trying to emulate All for One's style like a wannabe protegee."
"Impossible," the blond insisted. "No one else has the ability to steal and transfer Quirks."
"We know he had allies," Naomasa reminded him. "These Nomus are a scientific monstrosity. Perhaps a scientist with some type of genetics Quirk cloned him? Could we be dealing with a copy?"
"I… I don't know. Would that be better or worse?" He blinked. "Actually, have any doctors gone missing in the last couple of months?"
"Let me run a check through the database." Toshinori tapped his foot as he listened to the background noise of the police station, his friend and confidant typing away at a keyboard. "Three doctors have gone missing in the past three months, but only one in the area: a Quirk analyst and pediatrician named Garaki… That's weird. His adopted grandson went missing a year ago, too. Unsolved."
"At this point, I'll take any lead," Toshinori said. "It might be nothing, but it might be something. Find this Garaki's last known location. We'll see if we can follow him to All for One and put that bastard down for good this time."
"Leave it to me."
Toshinori sighed as he hung up, leaning slightly against the wall. This added stress of All for One potentially coming back caused his old wounds to flair up worst than ever, though he didn't know if that was true pain or just some weird placebo. Still, he knew he could not let the threat of All for One fall over his students..
Little did he know, of course, that his worries had already been settled by a greater threat to the rest of the world…
End of Chapter 31
Alright, my esteemed panel of judges (ALL OF YOU), which students passed and which students failed, and why? Seriously, I feel like I can't look objectively and grade them since this test wasn't so Pass/Fail as the one they did in Canon.
Beyond that, some of you might be annoyed by Pony's continued broken grammar while speaking Japanese. Surely she would have gotten a total grasp on the language by now, right? Well, she's known the language since before she came to UA; she's just playing it up to make the other students underestimate her. Deception, you see, is one of the main factors of the Devil's Game here, especially if no one else knows she's even playing.
The next chapter or two will be the raid on the Shie Hassaikai, then we'll move into the first movie (which I still have to watch, BTW), then the summer camp. After that, I'll be on my own for a while, but I'll figure it out when we get there and already have some idea of what Assassin-related plot points I want to cover. Thank you all and don't forget to grade our students!
Read and Review!
-SwordOfTheGods