It took a few minutes, but when Deku entered the Heroes' Lounge, he already had the Wire Launchers in hand. He handed them to Midoriya and Yaoyorozu as he explained the exam to them.
"Your villains are already setting up as we speak. When the buzzer sounds, you'll both have 15 minutes to engage them before they escape with the hostages. So far, only team one has called in their Enforcer against your teammates. Your villains could call theirs in if they want to," he informed them. "You'll be given special flash drives to activate radio towers to triangulate the villain's location. It's time-consuming but effective in finding them."
"Can we stop the villains from calling an Enforcer?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"No. Unless you capture the villains and confiscate their keys, they can call in their Enforcer from any terminal on-site. The cell towers can call them in, too, so be careful with that," Deku said.
"Any combat rules?" Midoriya asked.
"Villains can subdue and capture you to win. Nothing stops you from doing the same against the villains; however, you have to be careful doing that. Suppose they aren't at the base when you subdue them. In that case, you won't be able to rescue the hostages since they can't relay the exact location to you, and since all of these buildings are similar on the outside, checking every single one for the hostages will be time-consuming," Deku said.
Midoriya nodded. "Now...Enforcers are a different bunch. As I said before, it will be a random pro-hero that'll assume the mantle. The villains will not know who their Enforcer is. Once they're called into action, the Enforcer cannot be recalled unless they are either subdued or evaded until the hostages are safe," the future Symbol continued.
"No backup for heroes?"
"None at all. In these situations where high-value targets are at risk, team-ups are beneficial; however, reinforcements will be spread thin. In this exercise, the remaining pro heroes in the area are assisting law enforcement elsewhere. Don't always assume you'll have a backup and give it your very best."
The two heroes-to-be nodded. Yaoyorozu slipped on the Wire Arrow pack and pocketed her flash drive. Deku, seeing that they were ready, led them out of the room and to the testing grounds entrance. The large steel gates were sealed when they arrived with Mr. Aizawa next to them.
When the two arrived at the gate, the Erasure Hero nodded. "I hope you both remember your strengths. This simulation is not to be taken lightly," he advised.
The two nodded. "Yes, sir."
Mr. Aizawa glanced at Deku. "The villains are ready. I gave them their standard 15 minute prep time," he said.
Deku nodded. "Right then. Best of luck, you two. The scores right now are tied with two hero and two villain victories. Best of luck to you both."
The two young heroes turned to see the gate open up. Once given the go-ahead, the two passed under the portico and entered the testing ground. The gate sealed itself behind them, beginning the exam.
Recovery Girl and Snipe were in the command center with the rest of Class 2-A when the exam began. Iida and Aoyama were at the back of the group, quietly munching on the food left there from the teachers. Shinso was still rubbing the back of his head from his exam. Abigail Winters had just finished transfusing her healing Quirk to Kaminari when Jiro came by and smacked his arm. She had a smile on her face as she did it, though.
When the last hero team entered the testing zone, Snipe sighed. "Here we go..."
"Why would Deku put those two together? They're not that compatible," Recovery Girl said.
"Brains and brawn go very well together," Shoji chimed in.
"Yeahhh, but Midoriya is scary smart. He knows a lot of things about heroes and Quirks," Kirishima said.
"Yao-Momo is crazy book smart and still growing," Ashido said. "Bona fide genius."
"Two smart heroes against two combat villains? This should be fun," Jiro smirked.
Kaminari smiled. "Midoriya against Uraraka...this should be fun."
When the gates sealed shut behind them, they went to work. Yaoyorozu fished out a holo-disc map of the testing area. "Ready?" She asked her partner.
"As I'll ever be. What're we looking at?"
Activating the holo-disc, Yaoyorozu revealed the map. "So it looks like we got a small section of the entire battleground. It looks like...20 blocks? Maybe more," she said.
"Small play zone should move this along. Iida and Aoyama were the last to go, so I bet that Iida sped off to look for the villains," he said.
The Everything Hero nodded. "He probably surveyed the whole area before finding them. With his armor, he probably revealed himself when he found them."
"The element of surprise is key here. A quick blitz attack, once we know where they are, should minimize the collateral damage and subdue them before they can call for an enforcer," Midoriya said.
"If it's a surgical strike. An improperly-planned blitz attack could cause more unnecessary damage. We should determine our villains before we come to a decision," she said.
Midoriya nodded. "What can we do?"
"Well...we need surveillance."
The Everything Hero ran to a small alley nearby and activated her Quirk. "D-Don't look, ok?" She asked.
Midoriya nodded and turned away with a slight blush on his face. "Good thing there aren't any cameras here," he muttered.
Yaoyorozu shivered. "Thanks for that image!"
"S-Sorry!" Midoriya shrieked as the hairs on his neck stood straight up. "I-I was hoping you wouldn't hear that."
Yaoyorozu shook her head and groaned. "A-Almost got it..."
He heard her Quirk subside, followed by a light curse from the Everything Hero. He looked back to see her adjusting her leotard with one hand and holding a helmet in the other. The helmet was red with gold trimmings and looked like a boxing helmet with a glass visor. The top of the helmet had ample room for her ponytail. On the right side of it was a small switch.
She put the helmet on and started to create a few more things: a small controller and a small quad-copter drone with a camera on it. "G-got it," she finally said.
Midoriya found a smile forming as he figured out her plan. "Great idea Yaoyorozu! But that's a large area to cover with the drone. We will expend our time before we find them."
"Which is why we aren't searching the whole zone. When Deku told us of the towers, I hoped that we would have three towers for triangulation, and we do." She pulled up the map. "They're located at the far East part of the test zone. I can have the drone search that area for our villains while we canvas the original scene," she explained.
Midoriya nodded. "We don't have much time left before they escape. Send it out," he said.
Yaoyorozu nodded and tossed the drone into the air. She turned on the controller and smiled. "My first Heads Up Display works! Oh, thank goodness too," she exclaimed.
Midoriya smiled as she sent the drone away. A small screen appeared in her visor with a live stream of the drone camera flying toward the testing grounds' Eastern area. Once it was away, she pulled out her phone and tapped on it a few times before pocketing it once more. "The drone will be looking for any signs of movement. It's programmed to search that area and is small enough that the villains won't see the drone, but I wouldn't want to take any chances."
Midoriya nodded. "Let's go then."
The two ran further into the testing zone.
Abigail watched when Yaoyorozu created the drone inside the viewing room and flew it toward the villain's hideout. "Damn.."
"Damn is right," Mina said. "GET IT YAO-MOMO!"
"Ow..." Kirishima cried out as he rubbed his ear.
"It's lucky that she thought of it. Midoriya is quick and agile, but checking those buildings would've been too much," Sato said.
"Why wouldn't the villains try to intercept them? We got the go-ahead," Tsu wondered.
Snipe chuckled. "While I'm sure Bakugo isn't happy with sitting around and waiting, charging in without a plan isn't a smart decision for both heroes and villains. He has no idea who his heroes are. Arguably he could rush out there; however, he could leave his partner vulnerable as well as the hostages. Sticking together keeps their power strong," he explained.
"True. I mean, we stuck together when we went out there, remember Tsu?" Sero asked.
"Ribbit" was her answer.
When the two heroes arrived at the faux scene of the crime, they found a mess outside the mock bank. Yaoyorozu was standing opposite a cardboard police officer while Midoriya checked out the building's massive hole. He made a note of the villain cutouts lying on the ground inside the bank with multiple hero cutouts over them.
Yaoyorozu bowed to the cutout before approaching her partner. "So this was a bank heist gone wrong," she said. "Kidnapping the Heads of State was a crime of opportunity."
"It looks that way, but they chose this bank at the same time they showed up and along the same route. I think that the bank heist wasn't the intention here," Midoriya countered.
"It was a risky decision then. If the villains made too much noise, it would not have been possible. According to the police report, the hero response was also pretty fast," the Everything Hero said. "If their original plan was to kidnap them and this bank heist wasn't their true intentions, then they knew how big the risk was and planned countermeasures."
Midoriya looked around some more. "Although...there is another theory. Maybe another group was outside and near where the President and Prime Minister were and kidnapped them during the chaos," he said. "Did the report say how many villains entered the building?"
"Seven in total, including the big guy."
"Then...I'm going to guess there are six in here. The big guy was caught up the road from here," he said.
"Which leaves a small group of villains free to kidnap the President and Prime Minister," Yaoyorozu said. "A small team to disarm the Secret Service and get them all into hiding without raising any alarms."
Midoriya nodded. He turned to the hole in the faux bank when Yaoyorozu's helmet pinged her. Her HUD opened a small window with a live feed from her drone. A smile formed as she waved down her partner. "Deku, I got something!"
The young inheritor walked over as the Everything Hero pulled out her phone. "My drone picked up movement several blocks east of here," she said. "It looks like two people holed up inside an old office building."
Midoriya watched the feed. The drone appeared to have entered through an open window and stayed close to the ceiling. The young inheritor's smile faded when he saw their villains. "I-It's Kacchan and Uraraka?"
Yaoyorozu's eyes widened. "Well...this got a little more interesting," she said. "Your girlfriend and rival kicking your butt will surely keep any attention off me." She smiled at the young inheritor.
Midoriya glanced at Yaoyorozu. "Don't make a fishing pole and dangle me outside their base," he said.
Yaoyorozu's smile only widened. "I would never...besides, you're too heavy for any regular string."
"Thanks, Creati."
Inside the faux villain base, Bakugo sighed as he leaned against the wall. "What's taking those heroes so long to find us!" He bellowed. "I'd hate to win by time running out!"
Uraraka shrugged as she juggled a few chairs in the air with her Quirk. "It's not like they know where we are. Just gotta wait for them to make a move," she said.
Bakugo rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you talked me into staying in here until they make a move," he complained.
"I'm surprised you listened to me when I did. Honestly, I should play the lotto because of that."
"Shut up, cheeks."
Uraraka smiled and continued focusing on the floating chairs. "You gotta chill sometimes. Honestly, you're so tense that it's making me uneasy," she said.
"Maybe you should be stabbed by Shigaraki in multiple places, so you know why," he said.
She stopped playing with the chairs. "You know...for someone with little tolerance towards Deku, what you did was so-"
"Don't," Bakugo growled. "It's over, and I'm over it. Besides, getting frozen by those robots took my mind off it."
Uraraka nodded and continued juggling the chairs. Bakugo looked back at her and rubbed his chest. "You and Deku doing alright?"
"Huh?"
Bakugo rolled his eyes. "You and Deku are doing alright?!" He shouted.
"Oh...yeah, we are. I'm honestly surprised you're asking," she admitted.
"Well...sometimes that nerd needs someone to keep an eye on him. Since you two are fucking blind sometimes, I guess I have to ask," Bakugo grumbled.
"Aww, you do care," she said with a smile.
Bakugo rolled his eyes once more. "Whatever. It's fine as long as he doesn't slack in his training. He can be all lovey-dovey to you on his time off," he said. "Mr. 'Next Symbol of Peace' needs to keep his head on right."
"You do know he's not stupid, right?"
Bakugo smirked. "That's up for debate," he said.
Uraraka dropped the chairs and released her Quirk. "You're something else," she said.
"And you're talking too much. Shut up and keep an eye out for those heroes."
Uraraka rolled her eyes and walked out of the room and toward the prisoner room. She was unaware of the quad-copter drone hovering outside of the window. It flew up to the roof and settled on a box.
Once the live feed cut, Yaoyorozu nudged Midoriya. "So...what do you think?"
"Well...no audio doesn't help us much," he said.
"Sorry, but the live stream feature came at the cost of live audio," she said. "Anyway, now we have them ID'd and a location. Let's plan."
"Way ahead of you. First, we should head to the cell towers near their base," he said.
The Everything Hero nodded, and the duo ran toward the villain base. To save time, Yaoyorozu created a set of skates and passed her partner. Midoriya smirked as he activated Full Cowl to keep up with her.
After a few minutes, the duo arrived at an office building near the villain base. It wasn't as tall as the surrounding buildings and was not marked by any particular indicators. Yaoyorozu tossed the skates away and turned to her partner. Midoriya nodded and kneeled next to her.
In a move that drew wide eyes and raised eyebrows from the spectating class, Yaoyorozu climbed on his back and hooked her legs around his torso. Kaminari stared at the screen and angled his head down for a bit, prompting Jiro to jam her aux cords into the back of his neck.
Once she was secured on his back, Midoriya leaped into the air and used his Black Whip to grapple onto the roof and pull them up the building. The Everything Hero's grip tightened as he flipped over the edge and landed on the roof.
Now settled, the duo checked the cell tower. It was a standard tower with a dish at the top. At the base of it was a computer set up with a monitor and a small keyboard attached. The keyboard had two critical slots at the bottom and a big red button covered in a glass case in between them. Yaoyorozu checked on her drone by tapping her helmet while Midoriya inspected the setup.
"The villains are getting antsy. Bakugo is pacing around the place," she said. "If you have a plan, we need it now."
Midoriya turned to her. "Alright, I have a plan." He motioned for her to get closer.
She inspected the setup while he explained the plan. "The keys we got from Deku activate these towers. We have to insert the key, turn it in, and input our team number as the password. We are team 5, so that's our password," he said. "Once it's in, a signal is sent and alerts the villains."
Yaoyorozu nodded. "Are you proposing what I think you're proposing?"
Midoriya nodded. "A bait-and-switch. I lure the villains out here while you sneak into their base and free the hostages," he said.
Yaoyorozu nodded and thought about the plan. "With your speed, you can make it seem as though we are taking one tower each. Both villains will deploy to stop us in our tracks," she said.
"And Kacchan is restless, right? The second the alarm sounds in their base, he'll rush right in to fight."
The Everything Hero smiled. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her key. "I'll need a head start," she said.
Midoriya nodded and kneeled. "We'll get there faster if I take you. I won't be able to take you there directly, but I can get you close."
She nodded and climbed onto his back. "If Ochaco saw this, I think she would kill me," she said.
"She gets piggyback rides too, so she shouldn't be that bad...but I think you're right," Midoriya said before leaping off the roof.
The duo flew through the air thanks to Midoriya's Float and Air Force smashes. He maneuvered through buildings with the grace and strength of a competitive swimmer. He leaped off an 'I' beam suspended over a small construction site across a faux park.
When Midoriya landed on the ground, he slipped them through an alleyway and eyed the building where the faux villains were. Bakugo was poking his head from the window and nearly spotted the heroes had they not ducked back into the shadows.
When he returned to the cell tower, Midoriya sighed heavily. He held Yaoyorozu's key in his hand and inserted it. "Showtime," he told himself.
Once the key was in, he turned it counter-clockwise three times. Each turn was heavier than the last one but was still doable. Once the key stopped turning, he put in the team name as the password and clicked on the 'EXECUTE' command. Once he hit it, he activated Full Cowl and leaped off toward the second tower.
Using Black Whip and Float, he pulled himself from building to building until he found the second tower. This time, the tower was on top of a larger building that nearly dominated the faux city's skyline. A thought crept in his mind that the city was almost liveable if not for the robot patrols and villains. He flew up the building and touched down to turn on the second tower.
While he turned on the second tower, Bakugo was checking the clock mounted over the hallway leading to the QICD hostages. They started at the top of the hour, so it was easy to keep track of their 15 minutes. With 3 minutes left on the clock, he had half a mind to go out there and fight the heroes before time was up. His readjusted Grenadier gauntlets were evident of this.
Right before he could leap out of the window, the alarms inside the building started to blare. He stumbled at the window sill as Uraraka came running in. "It's a cell tower. The heroes are actually going for it!" She called out.
Bakugo smiled as he eyed the clock. "Those bastards are in for it now. I'm going!"
"Wait! What about the-"
Before she could finish, another alarm started to blare. She ran over to one of the consoles, and her eyes widened. "Another cell tower. One more, and they are free to capture us and win," she said.
"Like hell, they will. Cheeks, you take the closest tower and deal with the hero there. I'll go to the other." And with that, he blasted off out of the building.
Uraraka sighed as she readied her collapsable bo staff. "So much for actually using my name," she muttered as she fired her grappling hook and shot off toward one of the towers.
On the ground, Yaoyorozu watched the Anti-Gravity faux villain fly out of the building. Seeing her chance, she dashed toward the main lobby of the building. She ran past what would be the receptionist's desk and ran into the only working elevator. The doors were wide open, and the light was the only thing working.
Once she was inside, she eyed the hatch directly over her head. Creating a grappling hook, she jumped up, opened the hatch, and climbed out of the unit.
She steadied herself for a moment before aiming her grappling hook up. Once she found her first anchor point, she fired the hook and shot up the shaft. She repeated the action multiple times before she reached the top of the shaft. Thankfully, the door was already open.
When she exited the elevator shaft, she burst through a door and ran down the hallway and toward the hostage area. She smiled as she checked the feed from the drone. "This thing mapped out this entire floor so that I won't be aimlessly searching for the detention room. I am so glad this worked!" She cheered.
Little did she know that the villains had prepared for it. While they were unaware of the drone, they left behind a small sensor at the door where she came bursting out. As soon as she passed it, it started to emit a silent alarm that reached only one of the villains.
Bakugo was nearing the first tower when he saw the ruse.
The area was void of any hero. The console attached to the cell tower was blinking, and a single key was in its slot. He growled as he reached for his communicator. "Hey Cheeks, there's no one here!" He called out.
"Same here. I think they went to the other tow-"
Her pause alerted the Explosive Faux Villain. "Cheeks?"
"There's an alarm coming from the base. Someone is there trying to free the prisoners!"
"We got played?"
"Like the fiddle you are!"
Bakugo's head snapped up to see Midoriya come flying in with his feet sticking straight out. The Explosive villain didn't have time to react as the young inheritor kicked him hard, sending him to the ground.
Midoriya stayed floating in the air as he pressed on his communicator. "Creati, your position is compromised. I think Uravity will be coming to you," he said.
"I just got to the cells. I'm getting the hostages out now. What about Bakugo?"
The Explosive villain groaned as he picked himself up. "Dynamight is mine. Deku, going dark," he said before switching off his communicator and using his Delaware Smash to rocket toward his foe.
Bakugo smiled as he blasted the ground beneath him. The two clashed in mid-air with a fire in their eyes.
I don't know how I feel about Bakugo's hero name, but Horikoshi is still an amazing writer. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Anyway, I have free time again! Finals are done, and Christmas is right around the corner. If I don't update before then, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoy the Holiday Season. Stay safe and be merry! Remember, your reviews are always appreciated as they let me know how things are going with the story.
-Newage