Boku no Hero Academia: Custodian Izuku
Disclaimer: This is a crossover fanfiction story of 'Boku no Hero Academia' and 'Warhammer 40k' (yes, really). I own nothing of the two series other than the fanfiction stories that I make.
I am making this story for the sake of fun, fluff and awesome after writing a one-shot story of the same story concept. If I am able to somehow impress fans of Warhammer 40k or even move someone to tears, even better.
Also, if anyone wants to know how in the world I got this idea in the first place, please refer to the artist, Ryuusei (Mark II), who has made some awesome pictures of gender-bent primarchs. The link is: .us/pools/17320
Please note that while I am familiar with the Warhammer 40k setting, my actual knowledge of it is casual at best. Also, if the genderbent primarchs seem at least a bit OOC, please kindly consider the fact that their bodies (especially the traitor primarchs) have changed drastically after entering Izuku's world.
In case anyone asks how much crack I was taking in to come up with the idea, I am just going to say enough to make even a loyalist Adaptus Astartes trippy.
Chapter 15: Days at U.A. High School (Part 1)
It was the second day of school at U.A. High School and, despite the recent revelation of the League of Chaos Undivided possibly gaining a new member, the residents of the Imperial Dorm attended their lessons as originally planned. After a short home-room session with Toshinori as their home-room teacher, Izuku and the rest of Class V proceeded to take part in four shared periods together. The four shared periods dealt with not only basic subjects, such as language and mathematics, but also reform-specific topics such as proper quirk management and counselling.
Of course, given the actual circumstances with Izuku and the former primarchs, they mainly used the time given to discuss on how to improve the security of the school and various strategies for the inevitable confrontation with the League of Chaos Undivided. Not surprisingly, Nedzu took part in the discussion as well and, seriousness of the issue aside, actually found it enjoyable.
On a side note, Eri was an unofficial member of Class V who was taught separately from the others due to her young age. Inko also took part in the class to help Eri with her lessons. Although some would consider it strange, if not risky, to allow Eri and Inko to be involved in the strategy discussions, there was an unspoken agreement among the former primarchs that they could help provide a different view that might reveal otherwise hidden flaws in their strategies against Lorgar and her potential forces. Besides, in spite of her young age and relative lack of education, Eri was smarter than some would assume.
After attending the four periods, the students of Class V proceeded to have lunch at the school cafeteria with their peers before splitting up to take part in their respective additional course lessons. For Dorn, Ferrus and Vulkan, that meant going to the support studios to take part in support course lessons while Guilliman took part in the business course lessons. As for Izuku and the rest of the former primachs, they attended the hero course lessons instead while Eri returned to the Imperial Dorm with Inko. It should be noted that while the other courses had only two more periods after lunch break, students from the hero course had to attend three periods instead.
-During one of the three periods for the hero-course…-
Izuku, along with Angron, Russ, Jaghatai, Sanguinius, Lion, Icarian, Corax and Curze, went to Ground Beta with the students of Classes 1A and 1B while dressed in their respective "hero costumes".
"Wow, your costumes look really cool!" said Ochako who admired the armour that Izuku and the former primarchs with him were wearing.
By the standards of the former primarchs, the armour that they wore was downright primitive as it was not proper power armour but mere carapace armour not unlike the ones worn by the Adeptus Arbites and the Militarum Tempestus in their original universe. Still, the armour was made of light yet strong materials so it offered passable protection without compromising their overall speed and agility. Izuku's version of the armour was even lighter than the ones worn by the former primarchs as he lacked their superhuman strength. While the armour worn by the former primarchs had at least a passing resemblance to the power armour that they used to wear in their past lives in terms of colour and design, Izuku's armour was moss-green in colour and, due to its smaller and lighter design, was slimmer in appearance. As for helmets, they were still in development as Vulkan, Ferrus and Dorn wanted to take advantage of the 'mass displacement technology' available to pro-heroes to make retractable helmets that housed sensors, air-filters and communication devices. The helmets would also be designed to generate transparent shields for added protection even while retracted.
As far as weapons were concerned, Izuku had a naginata, the knife he had received as a gift from the former primarchs and a small personal energy shield that was attached onto his left gauntlet. He also carried what was basically a small armoured backpack, which contained not only medical supplies but also various portable tools, on his upper back. Sanguinius had a spear as her primary weapon and a two-edged sword as a secondary weapon while both Curze and Corax wore bladed gauntlets which had three blades on each gauntlet. Angron had a pair of one-headed battle axes while Lion had a two-edged sword and a shield. Both Russ and Jaghatai had swords although Jaghatai's sword only had a single edge similar to a katana for quick slashing. Much like Izuku, Icarian had her own naginata but she also had a katana as a secondary weapon.
For the sake of safety during the training exercise, all the sharp-edged weapons wielded by Class V were covered in specialised sheaths to blunt their edges. Yes, it could be argued that Togaru's quirk was already a safety hazard due to being all about sharp edges but there was no denying the fact that Togaru could fully retract his blades back into his own body by pure instinct to avoid harming anyone. It should also be noted that Vulkan, Ferrus and Dorn were already making "experimental firearms" but were not allowed to give them to the other former primarchs or Izuku during hero training. The last thing any pro-hero who worked at the school wanted was a "boltgun misfire".
"Your armours are manifique!" said Yuuga who was wearing knight-like plate armour and was honestly impressed by the armours that Izuku and the former primarchs were wearing.
"They're really manly!" said Eijirou while Tetsutetsu and Inasa nodded in shared agreement.
Angron noticed Tooru's… lack of costume and had to ask, "Are you… only wearing gloves and shoes?"
Tooru giggled sheepishly and said, "Pretty much. My quirk won't work if I wear clothes."
"You should visit the support studio. I'm sure those three will be happy to help improve your hero gear," said Jaghatai who had already convinced Vulkan, Ferrus and Dorn to build a hover-bike for her.
Toshinori, who was currently in his All Might Form, said, "Now that everyone from Classes V, 1A and 1B are here, we can begin the Battle Trial!" He then started to explain, "During your first day here, you've been made to spar with the students of Class V in one-on-one matches to determine your individual abilities. For this battle trial, you will take part in a series of team matches in an indoor environment. Each team will have a total of five randomly-selected members with one student from Class V and a pair of students from Classes 1A and 1B respectively."
Shouta, who stood next to Toshinori, nodded and said, "Each match will have two teams, 'Defenders' whose goal is to protect a 'key object' until the time limit runs out and 'Attackers' whose goal is to capture or destroy it before the time limit runs out instead. Alternatively, defeating all members of the opposing team is acceptable as a win condition for either team. Defenders are given five minutes to set up their defences while the actual match itself will last for another five minutes."
Sekijirou, who also stood next to Toshinori, took out a remote control and pressed a button to show a picture of a box with Nedzu's face printed onto it while saying, "This will the 'key object' that defenders must defend while attackers must either capture or destroy."
"While I do not disagree with the arrangement, won't it leave at least one team without anyone from Class V?" asked Tenya.
"That is certainly true which is why a member of Class V will be joining two teams instead of one," answered Toshinori.
Tenya bowed and said, "Thank you for your explanation, All Might-sensei!"
"Now, without further ado, let the team selection begin!" said Toshinori.
A short while later, the following teams were formed:
Team A (Defender): Izuku, Momo, Kyouka, Yui and Setsuna
Team B (Attacker): Angron, Eijirou, Rikidou, Tetsutetsu and Togaru
Team C (Defender): Curze, Hitoshi, Mezou, Shihai and Reiko
Team D (Attacker): Corax, Fumikage, Tooru, Juuzou and Kinoko
Team E (Defender): Russ, Kouji, Hanta, Kojirou and Kousei
Team F (Attacker): Lion, Mina, Yuuga, Hiryuu and Manga
Team G (Defender): Sanguinius, Ochako, Tsuyu, Ibara and Pony
Team H (Attacker): Jaghatai, Tenya, Inasa, Kendou and Sen
Team I (Defender): Icarian, Mashirao, Minoru, Juurouta and Nirengeki
Team J (Attacker): Shouto, Denki, Neito and Yousetsu (Plus One More)
"Now that the teams have been established, it's now time for the first match between Teams A and B!" announced Toshinori.
As Izuku and his team left the area to enter a building that had been selected as the venue for the match, Minoru, Denki, Hanta and Kousei glared at him and thought bitterly, "How the hell did he end up in a team with four girls?!"
-First Match-
"This 'key object' is bigger than I thought," said Momo as she looked at the box which was cubic in shape and a metre in length.
Izuku tapped the box and said, "Thankfully, it's lighter than it looks." He then turned around to face the rest of the Team A and said, "Okay, we have about five minutes to set up our defences and I have a plan to counter An-chan's team."
"What do you have in mind?" asked Kyouka. Had Izuku been a random person instead of someone who knew Angron well, Kyouka would have been at least a little doubtful about his ability to make a plan to counter her at the very least.
"Knowing her and her team composition, she will most likely go for the direct approach and try to win by defeating all of us or destroying the box. Our best bet is to avoid a 'total team kill' and keep the box safe until the time limit runs out," answered Midoriya who then grimaced and added, "The problem will be keeping both the box and the one team member safe."
"I can make the box small. Easy to carry and hide," said Yui.
"I can split myself into pieces and hide somewhere in the building," said Setsuna.
"That can work but five minutes is more than enough time for An-chan and her team to figure out our plan so we will need a lot of traps and distractions," said Izuku who then turned his attention towards Momo with an apologetic expression.
Momo sighed with a small smile and said, "I understand, Midoriya. I'll help with the traps and distractions."
"I'm guessing that I'll be the lookout then?" asked Kyouka.
Izuku nodded before he asked, "How good are your sonic attacks?"
-Meanwhile…-
"I'm going to say this once," said Angron who looked at her team as she added, "Do not, under any circumstances, underestimate Izuku."
Eijirou raised and eyebrow and said, "It's not manly to underestimate someone but why do you need to remind us?"
"He's quirkless but he's got solid fighting skills," said Togaru who honestly wanted to spar with him.
"It's because he has five minutes to make a plan with what might possibly be one of the best defensive teams anyone can ask for," said Angron.
Satou grimaced as he realised the implications and said, "Between Yaoyorozu's ability to make things and Jirou's keen hearing and sound attacks… I can imagine why." He could still remember how Momo was able to put up a respectable fight with Ferrus by trying to blind her with a high-lumen flash-light, which literally popped out of her forehead thanks to her ability to create things, so that she could strike Ferrus on the head with a staff that she created from her left hand. Although Ferrus won in the end, Momo's creative use of her quirk, never mind its possible applications that would make her a godsend to the entire support course, was deserving of praise. As for Kyouka, besides her keen sense of hearing, the vibrations from her earphone jacks were strong enough to make Guilliman's bones rattle. Although Guilliman ultimately defeated Kyouka, she admitted that the vibrations reminded her of Hizashi's own sonic attacks.
"Not that I'm going to disagree, but Kodai and Tokage are not going to make things any easier either," said Tetsutetsu. Setsuna, who could split herself into multiple pieces, lost to Dorn who simply grabbed a piece of her and forced it to touch the ground outside the ring. However, given the current rules of the match, Setsuna's quirk would be a lot harder to counter. As he thought about Yui's match with Corax that involved throwing a lot of shrunken objects, his eyes widened and said, "Wait a damn minute… if Kodai can make things smaller while Tokage can split herself into pieces too small for us to hit…"
Angron grimaced as she concluded, "Then we can assume that Tokage will either be entrusted with the actual box or be a very convincing distraction to keep us away from the actual box that can be hidden just about anywhere with Kodai's quirk, never mind Yaoyorozu's ability to make anything from firearms to… duplicate 'key objects'."
A moment of silence passed before Togaru asked, "This is going to be a 'needle in the haystack' scenario, with fake needles added to the haystack, isn't it?"
Angron nodded and said, "Unless our teachers are fine with us tearing down the whole building, yes."
"Please don't. Cementoss will have our heads if we allow that to happen," said a voice that clearly belonged to Toshinori.
"And yours too," added Shouta.
As the time limit reached its end, Angron took out her axes, which were covered in specialised sheaths as stated previously, and said, "I'll take the lead. The rest of you, follow me and provide support as you deem fit. Be prepared to look into places small enough to fit both shrunken objects and Tokage's pieces."
"Understood!" said the rest of her team who instinctively understood two things: she was the strongest and smartest of them all and her plan was arguably the best one they had.
Just before the start of the match was announced, Angron thought, "Those three better have those helmets built before we go out into the field."
-At the viewing room…-
After receiving word about the matches from Nedzu, Eri and Inko decided to drop by and watch the matches with Toshinori, Shouto, Sekijirou and the other students. Eri was visibly excited as she watched Angron's team enter the building. Although she knew that Angron was strong and smart, she also knew that Izuku was smart as well and had good team mates. In fact, Momo had made four more boxes that looked like the original one, at least one fake wall and a variety of traps. Both Yui and Setsuna used their respective quirks to help set up the decoys and traps at a rapid pace.
Denki was wide-eyed as he stared at the screens and said, "Am I the only one who's REALLY glad that the rest of us don't have to deal with Izuku's team?"
Kendou shook her head and said with a grimace, "Nope. This level of planning is something that most people will have trouble dealing with."
"It's obvious that Izuku's goal is to delay as much as possible until the time runs out," said Russ who then added, "No one in Angron's team has detection abilities and the short time duration is actually in the defenders' favour so his plan makes sense."
"There's also the fact that Yaoyorozu is allowed to use her quirk to make objects during the five-minute planning period. Had she been forced to only start using her quirk at the start of the match, Izuku's team would have been forced to improvise a lot more," said Sanguinius.
"Angron's team may be ill-suited for the match but it looks like she's making the best of the situation," said Corax.
"The real question will be if Izuku's plans will be enough to slow the other team down," said Jaghatai who then turned her attention towards Curze and Icarian to ask, "Do you two have anything to add?"
"Not going to give any spoilers," said Icarian while Curze, who was hugging Eri, nodded in affirmative.
Sekijirou took notice of how the other students were paying attention to what the former primarchs were saying and whispered to his two colleagues, "Is it just me of are those girls starting to do our work for us?"
"Given their circumstances and their charisma, such a scenario is bound to happen to some degree," said Toshinori.
"As long as they do not do anything irrational or immoral, I have no intention of complaining about that possibility," said Shouta.
Sekijirou rolled his eyes and thought, "Of course you'll not mind something that lets you spend more time napping or taking it easy without any serious negative consequences."
-Back to Angron's team…-
Less than a minute into the first match, Angron noticed the first set of traps that lined a single corridor. Aware that carefully disarming the traps would take too long, she quickly thought of an idea and asked Tetsutetsu, "Remember when I punched out of the building yesterday?"
Tetsutetsu grimaced at the memory as he asked, "Yeah, what about it?"
"Do you mind if I use you as a human projectile to trigger all the traps at once so that we don't waste time disarming them?" asked Angron.
It took a moment for Tetsutetsu to realise what Angron was planning and smirked as he replied, "As long as you promise to at least try to get me out of whatever mess you're about to make, I'm in."
Angron nodded before she tucked one of the two axes into her belt and offered her free right hand to Tetsutetsu while saying, "Ready when you are."
Tetsutetsu did not hesitate as he grabbed onto her hand while transforming into his metallic state and said, "Plus Ultra!"
Angron smirked before she threw Tetsutetsu with all her might as though he was a large shuriken. As Tetsutetsu flew to the other end of the corridor at high velocity, his hardened body triggered nearly all of the traps which included a net, a few balloons filled with paint, a bucket of slippery slime, an empty metal basin and a literal flash grenade.
Eijirou whistled and said, "That certainly saved us a lot of time."
Angron nodded and, while taking her axe out of her belt, said, "Let's keep going but watch your steps. I doubt all the traps have been triggered." No one questioned her as they walked along the corridor to reach the other end and meet up with Tetsutetsu. Thanks to his durable body, he was unharmed by both the throw and the traps but he was not only stuck in a net but was also coated in paint and slime.
When they got close enough, Angron turned her attention towards Togaru and said, "Cut him loose."
"No problem!" said Togaru who then grew a pair of blades on his forearms and cut the net into pieces to free Tetsutetsu.
"Thanks, being stuck in a net isn't exactly how I want to spend my first hero lesson," said Tetsutetsu as he wiped the paint and slime off his body.
"Let's keep going," said Angron. Suddenly, she sensed an incoming attack and raised her axe to block the attack with its flat side. Her eyes narrowed as she realised that the attacker was Izuku and asked, "Are you trying to delay us?"
Izuku, whose sheathed spear could not pierce through the flat side of Angron's battle axe, simply grinned in response.
Well aware that Izuku would not recklessly attack a group of five by himself, never mind the earmuffs that Izuku was clearly wearing, Angron quickly pushed him away and yelled, "Defend yourse-!"
Suddenly, a loud sonic attack that sounded like a heartbeat struck Angron's group. As the group instinctively covered their ears, Izuku proceeded to attack Angron again while a pair of detached hands that clearly belonged to Setsuna flew past Izuku towards Rikidou.
Although affected by the sound waves, Angron was able to power through it and block Izuku's next attack with one arm. She smirked at Izuku and growled, "Cunning git!"
Rikidou was barely able to see Setsuna's hands snag his packets of sugar, which he needed to activate his quirk like when he faced Dorn in a match the day before, and swore aloud, "Shit!"
Eijirou and Tetsutetsu, who could harden their eardrums with their respective quirks at the cost of temporarily weakening their sense of hearing, quickly charged forward towards the source of the sound waves. Kyouka, who was standing at the top of the flight of stairs, frowned as she saw the two boys rushing up towards her. Momo, who was armed with a launcher, appeared from behind Kyouka and shot a net at the two boys, effectively entangling them both as a result. Eijirou's quirk granted him sharp hardened edges but he could not cut through the tough fibres of the net.
In spite of the apparent advantage for Izuku's team, it did not last long as Angron easily overwhelmed Izuku with her superior strength and speed. Even with his skills and training, never mind Kyouka's "support fire", he could barely keep up with Angron who was still using just one arm. He also knew that Angron was holding back to avoid accidentally maiming him with her axes.
Angron, who knew that she needed to end the fight quickly, suddenly charged forward while pushing Izuku's naginata aside so that she could slam him against the wall as though she was a "Blood Bowl player". Izuku was barely able to activate his personal energy shield so that it would take the worst of the body-slam. However, despite the shield and the fact that Angron was holding back, Izuku felt as though a truck had rammed into him as he was slammed into the wall behind him. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to stand but a quick head-butt from Angron was enough to knock him out.
As soon as Izuku was rendered incapable of fighting for at least a short while, Angron immediately turned her attention towards Kyouka and Momo and charged towards them. Unlike before, Kyouka and Momo were unable to stop Angron from attacking them as she distracted them by throwing her axe at them. Understandably, the two girls panicked to get away from the spinning projectile thus giving Angron a chance to knock them out with a few quick strikes to the back of their heads with her free hand. After a few tense seconds, Angron called out, "Everyone who can still stand and fight, say 'Aye'!"
"Aye!" said Eijirou, Tetsutetsu and Togaru.
Rikidou wore a bitter expression and said, "Tokage, has taken all of my sugar packets so I can't use my quirk."
Aware that Rikidou's quirk allowed him to become stronger by consuming sugar, at the cost of lowered cognitive function and drowsiness after a certain duration unless more sugar was consumed, Angron nodded and said, "Help us tie them up with 'capturing tapes' and take them out of here. We'll deal with the rest."
"Understood," said Rikidou who quickly did as he was told. In spite of being unable to use his quirk, he was still a large and strong boy so he easily took Izuku out of the building after tying him with some capturing tape. He would later take Kyouka and Momo out of the building by carrying each girl on his broad shoulders. Understandably, Rikidou would find the experience with Momo and Kyouka rather embarrassing while Minoru, Denki, Hanta and Kousei got jealous of him.
Togaru easily cut Eijirou and Tetsutetsu out of the net they were trapped in and growled, "Let's hope we don't have to deal with more of that nonsense later."
Angron grimaced and said, "Knowing Izuku, we probably will."
Although Izuku, Momo and Kyouka had been taken out, Yui and Setsuna were still present and there were still a few more floors to explore with possible traps to deal with. Not wanting to waste any time, Angron said, "I'm heading to the top floor and will work my way down. The rest of you, work your way up and keep your eyes peeled."
"You got it!" said Tetsutetsu while giving Angron a thumbs up.
Although Angron and her team tried their best, they were unable to find the actual box. Between the fake boxes, which were booby-trapped, and Yui shrinking the actual box so that Setsuna could easily hide it at a random location inside the building, Angron and her team ultimately lost the match.
-A short while later…-
"Excellent work, all of you," said All Might who then turned his attention towards Angron's team and said, "In spite of facing such unfavourable odds, the five of you performed admirably and did not give up until the very end."
Shouta turned his attention towards Izuku's team and said, "As for you five, you have done quite admirably in spite of the… limitation we have placed upon you."
"What's the limitation?" asked Eijirou.
Izuku chuckled sheepishly and said, "We were planning to take the actual box out of the building and hide it in another building from you guys during the match."
While Rikidou, Eijirou, Togaru and Tetsutetsu stared at Izuku with comically horrified expressions on their faces, Shouta nodded and said, "Such a trick can be considered as a useful logical ruse in real life but letting the defending team do just that during a training exercise will be too unfair for the attacking team even by my standards."
"You think?!" asked Togaru who had the displeasure of having his face smacked by a squeaky rubber chicken after stabbing a fake box that had been placed behind a fake wall.
"Now, before we proceed to the second match, does anyone wish to declare the MVP of the first one?" asked Sekijirou.
Tenya raised his hand and said, "I think most of us will agree that either Midoriya or Yaoyorozu is the MVP. While the effectiveness of Midoriya's strategy is without question, it can also be argued that it heavily relied on Yaoyorozu's quirk." Many of the other students nodded in affirmative to Tenya's statement.
"I don't mind letting Yaoyorozu-san being the MVP," said Izuku who then admitted, "Without her, winning the match would have been a lot more complicated for my team at the very least. Plus, she's really smart herself so I'm quite sure that she would have come up with a similar strategy even without my input."
Momo blushed at Izuku's honest praise before she bashfully argued, "I would have considered making at least a couple of fake boxes and traps but I don't think I would have gone to the same extremes as you have, Midoriya."
Toshinori's smile was genuine as he spoke, "While there is nothing wrong with being humble, there is no denying that you have played a key role in securing the victory, Yaoyorozu-shoujo."
"Well, if everyone is all right with it, I am willing to accept my status as the MVP of the first match," said Momo while bowing to the three teachers.
Given the state of the building that was used for the first match, it was decided that the second match would be held in another building.
-Second Match-
"How good can you see in the dark?" asked Curze.
"I believe my ability to see through the gloom of the darkness is adequate," said Reiko who had a habit of reading scary stories in dark rooms.
"As one who becomes one with the pitch blackness of the dark, I can see reasonably well," said Shihai who showed off his ability to merge with anything black in colour on the day before by literally hiding in Curze's long black hair to avoid getting defeated by her. The match ended before Curze made the decision to cut her hair short in an attempt to drive Shihai out of it.
"I can grow additional eyes and ears to improve my senses," said Mezou.
Hitoshi grimaced and said, "Probably no better than the average person."
"I intend to destroy the lights in the lower levels and attack them from the shadows," said Curze.
Shihai raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why not destroy all the lights in here?"
"Three reasons," answered Curze who then explained, "One, Corax is just as good at stealth as I am. Two, Fumikage's Dark Shadow grows stronger in dark places. Three, Tooru, Juuzou and Kinoko may be able to use the darkness to their advantage as well."
Left unsaid was that Curze saw one possible future that involved destroying all the lights and facing a losing battle with a pair of powerful crow-shaped shadows.
Shihai nodded and said, "Mushrooms tend to grow well in shady places."
"Not to mention that both Juuzou and Tooru will be even harder to find while shrouded in darkness," said Reiko.
"Do you think Juuzou can make the walls soft and swim his way up here?" asked Hitoshi.
"I do not think so. I never saw him try. Making a wall soft might make it collapse like a wall of soft mud," said Curze who recalled Juuzou's performance during both the recommendation exams and his match with Sanguinius. The fact that she never even saw a possible future of him using his quirk to make a wall soft and then swim upwards made her more certain that he would not do it.
"That makes sense," said Mezou.
-Meanwhile…-
Juuzou shook his head and said, "I can't use my quirk to swim up a wall. Even if I don't have to worry about the wall, and possibly the rest of the building, collapsing, I don't exactly have the ability to quickly swim upriver like a salmon."
"Being unable to cause a lot of damage to the building without suffering severe penalties is certainly a strict limitation," said Corax who recalled Toshinori, Shouta and Sekijirou grimacing at the idea of Angron's group tearing down the previous building.
"I can fill the building with mushrooms, shroom," offered Kinoko.
"Let's safe that as a last resort," said Corax who was quite certain that Curze did not have anyone who could destroy the mushrooms quickly. Granted, Corax knew that Reiko had a telekinetic quirk, which she had demonstrated by stripping Vulkan of her flames in spite of her own pyrokinesis, but she was quite certain that plucking several dozen or hundred mushrooms at once would not prevent Kinoko from simply growing more.
On a side note, Vulkan won the match with Reiko due to her superior physical strength but she almost tripped a few times due to Reiko using her quirk on her shoelaces.
"I heard that Konrad-san once sparred with Midoriya inside a dark building with no working lights. Will she attempt to replicate that dark deed?" asked Fumikage.
"If she had not known about your quirk, probably," said Corax who then added, "However, since Dark Shadow grows stronger in the darkness, it is safe to assume that she will not destroy all the lights in the building at the very least."
"She might even consider using the lighting against us by forcing Dark Shadow to submit with it," said Fumikage.
"That is possible," agreed Corax.
"That would suck," groused Dark Shadow.
"I… might be able to help with that," said Tooru.
Corax raised an eyebrow and asked, "How so?"
"My quirk makes me invisible by letting light go through it. I have not tried it in a fight yet but I recently found out that I can control how light goes through my body," said Tooru.
A moment of silence passed before Corax asked, "How strong can you make a flash of light?"
-A short while later…-
Curze, together with Shihai who was currently inside her long black hair again, hid in the lower levels after destroying the lights. She knew that giving Fumikage a potential advantage was risky but she also knew that Dark Shadow was harder to control when allowed to grow stronger. Even if Curze could not disable Corax or Fumikage, she could at least attempt to disable the other three before they could become a problem for her own team. In fact, based on her visions of possible futures, eliminating Tooru and Kinoko from the match would be vital to defeating the rest of the team.
Before long, Corax's team entered the building with her team mates following her lead. Curze did not hesitate for even a second as she attacked Kinoko as soon as she saw the opportunity to do so. However, Corax was able to react in time by transforming into her wraith-like form and blocking Curze's attack before it could knock out Kinoko.
A single grunt from Curze served as a signal for Shihai to act as he suddenly leapt out of her hair and into Dark Shadow. Aware of Shihai's ability, Fumikage yelled, "Dark Shadow, resist his hold!"
"I… I'm trying, damn it!" growled Dark Shadow as he struggled to prevent Shihai from attacking the rest of Fumikage's team. Although Shihai was unable to take control of Dark Shadow, he was able to prevent the quirk from assisting anyone.
Corax gritted her teeth and yelled, "Tooru! Juuzou! Kinoko! Get to the upper levels and find the box! I'll keep Curze from taking you three down!"
Little else needed to be said as Tooru, Juuzou and Kinoko followed Corax's orders and rushed ahead. As they made their way out, Curze smirked at Corax and said, "You and I both know that I can see the future. Those three may be vital for winning this match but my visions have shown me that only you will be able to reach that box."
"Perhaps, but even you must realise that the future is never set in stone," said Corax who then assumed a fightings stance and said, "Shall we continue?"
No more words were said as Curze and Corax fought each other in a dance of blades and darkness. Fumikage, Dark Shadow and Shihai, who could see well enough in the darkness, felt genuine awe as the two tall girls who were once literal demigods fought for supremacy.
-With Kinoko, Juuzou and Tooru…-
After getting out of the lower levels which had no working lights, the three members of Corax's team breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sight of light. As they regained their breath, Kinoko swore, "Holy shiitake, I think I'll have nightmares of Konrad's face for a week at least, shroom!"
"Midoriya's mental fortitude must have been something else for him to still possess courage even after sparring with her on her terms by himself," said Juuzou.
"Well, we better get started with the mushrooms strategy," said Tooru.
Kinoko nodded at Tooru and Juuzou before spraying them with a fungicidal spray so that mushrooms would not grow on their bodies. Both students blushed as they realised that the fine spray had left a clear outline of Tooru's rather… attractive figure.
Tooru knew that her blush would be clear for all to see if she was visible as she covered her breasts and crotch and said, "I'm really going to have to ask for a proper 'stealth suit' after this."
Suddenly, a voice called out, "Who-hoo! Sexy invisible titties and ass!"
Shocked by the voice, which clearly belonged to Minoru, Kinoko yelped, "W-wait a minute! Why is…" Her eyes then went blank.
Realizing what had happened, Juuzou swore, "Shit! It's Shinsou!"
Hitoshi, who had used his support gear to copy Minoru's voice while hiding in a corner, smirked as he spoke, "Run down to the ground level and stay there!"
Before Juuzou and Tooru could stop Kinoko, she ran down the stairs as ordered by Hitoshi. Realising the risk of going after Kinoko, Juuzou said, "Tooru, you and I will have to keep going! Also, avoid responding to people!"
Tooru gave Juuzou a thumb's up before the two remaining students started to press on. However, their progress was soon impeded by a barrage of floating debris that included broken floor tiles and pieces of cement. While Juuzou was able to soften the ground beneath him to avoid the barrage, Tooru was not so fortunate as she was soon pelted by the pieces of debris. In her panic, she forgot to consider blinding her admittedly unseen assailant with a bright flash of light.
Reiko, who was manipulating the debris with her quirk, asked Mezou, "Is Juuzou travelling through the floor?"
Mezou, who had grown several additional eyes and ears, nodded and said, "You might want to go a little easy on Hagakure. She's basically naked an unprotected."
"I understand. It is uncouth to cause grievous harm to a fellow hero student during a training exercise," said Reiko who adjusted her attacks so that Tooru would be less likely to suffer any serious injury.
Suddenly, Mezou leapt out of hiding and punched the floor. Juuzou, who was barely able to avoid the punch, emerged from the floor and said, "Well, there goes any hope of dragging you two into the floor and keeping you two there."
Just as all hope of winning seemed lost, a literal wave of mushrooms suddenly flooded the entire floor and beyond…
-After the end of the Second Match…-
"So… does anyone wish to say anything about the match?" asked Toshinori while pointing at a certain building which currently resembled a massive mushroom culture block.
Kendou raised her hand and asked, "Is Komori going to be in trouble for causing… that?"
"If she had opted to go that far at the very start with no concern for possible collateral damage, then yes," said Shouta who then sighed and added, "However, given the desperation of the situation and the panic she must have felt while under Shinsou's brainwashing, it would be wrong to reprimand her harshly for doing it."
"It's also a good learning experience for Shinsou to realise that his brainwashed victims can, while under great stress, use their quirks against his will if he does not specifically forbid their use," said Sekijirou.
Hitoshi grimaced and said, "Considering that I almost drowned in mushrooms just now, I'm definitely not forgetting THAT lesson any time soon!"
Toshinori laughed boisterously and said, "I'll be worried if you do, Shinsou-shounen!"
Kinoko blushed as she meekly apologised, "Sorry about that, shroom."
"That's all right. I'd rather discover this problem during a sparring match than while dealing with an actual villain," said Hitoshi.
"Speaking of using quirks, did you REALLY have to use my voice for brainwashing her?" asked Minoru who was a little miffed.
"Well, I had to make them respond to me somehow and no one would expect you to take part in the match," said Shinsou who then smirked and added, "Plus, yelling about sexy ladies is something you'll probably do if given the chance."
Minoru's scowl deepened as he argued, "Touché, but, in my defence, I won't be noisy while sneaking around."
"Arguments about possibly inappropriate topics aside, who do you think is the MVP of the match?" asked Shouta.
"Komori may have paved the way to victory but I believe that Corvus should be the MVP," said Momo.
Kendou nodded and said, "Corvus held back Konrad from taking out anyone and did not hesitate to take advantage of Komori's unexpected wave of mushrooms to quickly secure a win by getting to the box while everyone else was, quite understandably, distracted."
"Not only did she use her quirk to slip through the gaps between the mushrooms, she also avoided Kuroiro who was going after her," said Tenya.
"That being said, credit should be given to Kuroiro for trying to stop Covus while letting Konrad handle Tokoyami," said Izuku.
"All of you have raised good points and all three of us agree that Corvus should be the MVP of the match," said Sekijirou.
"So, without further delay, we will hold the third match… in another building, again," said Toshinori who knew that Kinoko's mushrooms would take a while to naturally die off. He almost grimaced as he thought, "Hopefully, we won't need to move to another building after the next match."
Unfortunately for the teachers, that hope was in vain.
-Third Match-
Russ grinned as she spoke to the rest of her team, "I'm going after Lion while the rest of you deal with the others."
"Wait, shouldn't we discuss our strategy first?" asked Hanta while Kouji nodded in affirmative.
"Sure, but trust me when I say that me keeping Lion occupied is the only way we can possibly win this match," said Russ. She then turned her attention towards Kouji and said, "I know you don't like using bugs but be ready to use them as a last resort. In the meantime, I want your animals friends to keep an eye on the opposing team and, other than Lion, slow them down." Kouji gave Russ a thumbs up while she turned her attention towards Hanta, Kojirou and Kousei, "As for the rest of you, I want you three head down to the floor below with me and then completely seal it off with as many traps as you can manage as soon as I proceed to the floor below it. Once you are done with the traps or the match begins, return to this floor and help Kouda protect the box. Lion will certainly focus on me but the rest of her team will likely press on so be ready to fight them if they somehow reach this floor."
Kojirou, who had barely won against Icarian during his sparring match with her on the day before, nodded while Kousei said, "You got it!"
It should be noted that Icarian had to withdraw from the remaining matches after losing to Kojirou due to needing to clean off the glue that was stuck onto her clothes, skin and hair.
Russ' toothy grin widened as she looked forward to having another match with Lion.
-Meanwhile, with Lion's team…-
Manga was intimidated by Lion as she glared at him and asked, "Can your words be used to clear a path for us without blowing a hole in the building?"
"Y-yes," Manga squeaked in response.
"Then be prepared to use your words for that. Knowing Russ, she will want to face me in combat, again," said Lion.
Mina, who had faced Ferrus in a sparring match on the day before, asked, "You know that I can made acid, right?"
"And my navel laser can clear the path in a most sparkly manner!" said Yuuga.
"Yes, but I also know that Russ has Kouda with her. If he attempts to slow us down with animals, we will need someone to clear a path while the rest of us drive them off," said Lion who then wore a bitter expression and added, "Unless you're fine with Fukidashi stinking up the place badly enough to drive away even vermin."
Recalling how Russ and Lion lost to Kouji and Manga respectively, no one disagreed with Lion's plan. Even so, Hiryuu asked, "What makes you so sure that Russ will focus on you?"
Lion sighed and said, "Let's just say that we have a bit of a… rivalry and leave it at that."
"Something tells me that it's the kind of rivalry that Kirishima would call 'manly'," thought Mina.
Before long, the third match began and, as Lion had predicted, Russ appeared before the group with a broad grin and said, "You certainly took your sweet time, sister!"
Lion sighed and said, "The rest of you, keep going as planned." The rest of Lion's team did not have time to respond when Russ suddenly charged forward to attack Lion. Unsurprised by the attack, Lion simply glared at Russ's grinning face and said, "You could have at least allowed them to leave this floor before starting."
"And have even less time to have fun? In your dreams, maybe!" replied Russ who then proceeded to attack Lion with the savage yet tempered fury of a mighty beast of ancient myth.
Easily anticipating each attack from Russ, Lion parried all of them with her sword and shield while striking back with her own attacks. However, in spite of not having the same level of combat instincts as Lion, Russ had her own bestial instincts which allowed her to avoid most of Lion's attacks while staying on the offensive.
"Mon Dieu… I don't think any of us can help El'Jonson win that one," said Yuuga.
"Then let's focus on getting to the objective!" said Mina. Nothing more needed to be said as the rest of the team agreed with her and rushed to the upper floors. However, as soon as they got to the third floor, their progress was impeded by the glue that coated the floor and the many criss-crossing lengths of tape that blocked their way through the corridor.
Hiryuu grimaced and said, "That's… going to take us a while."
"I can shoot the tape down with my laser but we'll need to get past the glue," said Yuuga.
Mina gave the group a thumbs up and said, "Don't worry, my acid should be able to melt a path through the acid."
"Then let's not waste any more time and keep going," said Manga.
Although the group easily made a path through the corridor, their progress was slow due to the need to avoid getting caught in any of the remaining tape and glue. They were also cautious of any potential ambush from the opposing team. Their caution was soon justified when a murder of crows suddenly appeared and started to peck and scratch them. Although the attacks did not inflict any real damage, they were still painful enough to distract the group and slow them down even further. The narrow corridor made it such that Yuuga could not use his navel laser freely while Mina and Hiryuu tried to drive the crows away with acid and scale projectiles respectively. Manga then had an idea and said, "I have an idea but you'll need to cover your ears!"
-Meanwhile, with Lion and Russ…-
Lion and Russ were still duelling when a loud sound suddenly tore its way throughout the building, "TOOOT!"
Surprised by the loud tooting sound of a horn, both former primarchs stopped fighting for a moment to wonder what had happened. Lion then raised an eyebrow and said, "Did Fukidashi just make a sound effect that created even more noise?" While she knew that manga could turn sound effects into actual physical effects with his quirk, she had not considered the possibility of a sound effect being used to make more sound. Then again, Lion never had an interest in comic books and the Imperium of Man was not exactly known for its "geek culture".
"Seems like it," said Russ who then attempted to strike Lion with a sudden punch to the face. Lion barely dodged the incoming attack and wore an unimpressed expression as she continued her duel with Russ…
-Back to the rest of Lion's team…-
"Well… at least it worked," groaned Mina while shaking off the ringing sound of tinnitus in her ears. Although she and the rest of the team had covered their ears, the sound was still loud enough to make their ears ring a little. Thankfully, it also drove away the crows and, quite possibly, any other animal in the building.
"Let's just hope that we won't have to do it again any time soon," said Hiryuu who then added, "We better keep going. We don't have much time left."
Thankfully, the team was able to reach the next floor without further issues. However, as they entered the floor, their progress was suddenly halted by a literal all of solid air which Manga and Hiryuu immediately recognised as Kousei's handiwork.
"We need to blow past that wall!" said Hiryuu.
"Then allow me to do it!" said Yuuga who then shot the wall down with his laser. As the wall broke apart, Hanta suddenly appeared and shot some tape at the Hiryuu and Manga. Mina rushed forward while coating her body with acid to destroy the lengths of tape. Due to her acid-coated state, not even Kojirou's glue could slow her down. However, Kousei was nearby and created another wall of solid air, thus stopping her progress at the cost of blocking Hanta and Kojirou own attacks.
Needing to somehow end the stalemate before the match was over, Manga said, "Everyone, step aside!" He then yelled, "SMASH!"
-Less than a minute later…-
"While we understand your desire to get to the box before the match was over, we must also stress the need to keep collateral damage to a minimum," said Sekijirou who was referring to a hole in the building that had been used for the third match. Although the hole was not excessively large, it still made the building potentially hazardous to use for any further matches.
"In addition, while there were no 'civilians' for the match, you must be always mindful to avoid accidentally harming them especially when you enter the field. Of course, it goes without saying that you should also avoid harming your own allies which, admittedly, you have done your best to do," said Shouta.
"That being said, I think we can agree that Fukidashi-shounen is deserving of being called the MVP of the match for helping the rest of the team to reach the box before the match was over," said Toshinori.
Manga blushed as the other students, especially his classmates, voiced their agreement with Toshinori's assessment.
Russ glanced at Lion and said, "You're not going to disagree with them?"
Lion shook her head and said, "I may have prevented you from attacking anyone else but you and I both know that that alone would not have allowed my team to win the match." She then glared at Russ and said, "Of course, since our duel was interrupted, we will have to continue it some other time."
Russ smirked at Lion and said, "Any time, sister."
-Fourth Match-
"Had Izuku not already asked about hiding the box in another building, I would have probably asked a similar question," said Sanguinius.
Tsuyu nodded and said, "Between Uraraka-chan's zero-gravity and your flight, we could have easily hidden this box at the other side of the whole training ground if we had been given the chance to do so, kero."
On a side note, Tsuyu had faced Curze during the matches on the day before and was soundly defeated in spite of showing impressive speed and agility. Few could blame Tsuyu for admitting defeat when Curze was able to seize her frog-like tongue.
Ochako giggled at the memory of the comically horrified expressions worn by Eijirou, Rikidou, Tetsutetsu and Togaru as she spoke, "It would have allowed us to win for sure."
"That's… sinfully deceptive," said Ibara. Much like Juurouta and Kouji, she had faced Russ in a match on the previous day. Although she ultimately lost, she was able to almost defeat Russ while trying to force her out of the ring with her ability to grow and control the vines on her head.
"So, what we do?" asked Pony who lost to Corax in spite of being able to use her horns to get airborne. As it turned out, Corax's wraith-like form could fly.
"Well, since we can't hide the box in another building, we will have to improvise," said Sanguinius who then turned her attention towards Ibara and asked, "Can you cover the whole box with your vines and then grow more vines to conceal it and possibly make decoys?"
Ibara's heart was close to bursting as she replied, "I… I can certainly try, Angelos-sama b-but I'm not certain that the teachers will approve." Mentally, Ibara thought, "By God Almighty, get a hold of yourself Shiozaki Ibara!"
"Angelos-sama?" thought Pony, Ochako and Tsuyu.
"As long as your vines merely cover the floor, walls and ceiling with no 'rooting', it should not be an issue," said Sekijirou.
Sanguinius nodded and said, "Thank you, sensei." She then turned her attention towards the rest of her team to continue discussing their strategy.
-Meanwhile, with Jaghatai's team…-
"While I personally prefer fighting in an open battle field, this match is going to be indoors so we will have to face the other team accordingly," said Jaghatai.
Tenya's arms were chopping the air as though he was a "dancing servitor" as he asked, "Should we assume that Angelos-san will be unable to fly freely indoors and that her wings may in fact impede her mobility while fighting in tight quarters?"
It should be noted that Tenya faced against Guilliman on the previous day and all the former primarchs could not help but imagine Tenya as an Ultramarine aspirant. While Tenya was ultimately defeated by Guilliman, he was able to force her to take him a bit more seriously than expected when he used a special move that greatly accelerated his movement speed to attack her with a powerful kick. However, the same special move also rendered him temporarily incapable of using his quirk at all so Tenya forfeited the match after he had failed to defeat Gulliman with it.
"Personally, I'd like to have a go with her in the air again but I can use my quirk to blow her away in tight quarters," said Inasa. Although he lost to Sanguinius during his match with her, he had so much fun during the said match that he honestly did not care that he lost.
"Not everyone can fly, you know," said Sen.
Jaghatai shook her head and said, "Sanguinius may not be able to fly freely in tight quarters but she'll still be far from helpless. Besides, she won't be the only one who will be unable to use her quirk freely while indoors."
"There is that," said Kendou whose quirk allowed her to enlarge her hands which also granted her enhanced upper body strength. Although she lost her match with Dorn on the day before, the former primarch was impressed by Kendou's ability to combine martial arts with her quirk.
"So what's the plan then?" asked Sen.
"I may be fast and agile but I highly doubt Sanguinius will allow me to act freely so the rest of you will have press on to find the box," said Jaghatai who then frowned and added, "However, Shiozaki may prove to be a problem."
Kendou nodded and said, "Her vines will allow her to not only block our way through and attack us from a safe distance but also protect and shift the box around."
"Even if she limits it to just one floor, it'll be more and enough to give us trouble," said Sen.
"Tsuyu may not be the fastest among us but, in tight quarters, her agility will more than make up for it," said Tenya.
"I can just fly us all out of the building and then charge back in from another angle!" suggested Inasa.
"While it is a tempting option, we cannot ignore the fact that we will be vulnerable while being carried into the air by you," said Jaghatai who then added, "The last thing any of us want is being in mid-air while you get distracted or disabled."
"Right, both Angelos and Tsunotori can get airborne and Shiozaki's vines can block basically any point of attack we use!" said Inasa.
"Which also means that trying to sneak in is not an option," said Tenya.
Jaghatai nodded and said, "We will do a direct frontal assault. I will lead the charge until we face Sanguinius. While I'm keeping her at bay, the rest of you will carry on with the assault. However, it goes without saying that all of us must be wary of Sanguinius' team mates, especially Shiozaki."
"Kaibara and I can help to remove the vines," said Itsuka.
"We'll help to locate and destroy the box, assuming that the other team does not get in our way of course," said Tenya.
Inasa grinned and said, "My gales of wind will clear the way to victory!"
Jaghatai smirked as she spoke, "Then let's give them a fight to remember!"
Before long, the match began and, much like before, Sanguinius stood in the way. Jaghatai drew her weapon while saying, "Remember what we talked about."
The rest of Jaghatai's team nodded before they quickly charged forward with Inasa taking the lead while Tenya, Itsuka and Sen followed him from behind. Sanguinius smiled and said, "For a team that has never worked together before, or done a true training mission together before for that matter, they're showing a respectable level of team work and professionalism."
Jaghatai smirked as she spoke, "The matches from yesterday has probably lit a fire in them."
"That, I have little reason to doubt," said Sanguinius before she pointed her spear at Jaghatai and asked, "Shall we?"
Jaghatai did not say a word as she suddenly charged forward to strike Sanguinius with a speed that few could hope to even perceive. Sanguinius easily parried the blow before she and Jaghatai proceeded to fight a mighty duel…
-Meanwhile…-
The rest of Jaghatai's team was on their way to the next floor when Ochako and Tsuyu, who were riding on Pony's detached horns, suddenly charged towards them. Inasa smirked as he created a powerful gale of wind and said, "Let's see you fly through this!"
As the gale of wind blew through the narrow corridor, Ochako and Tsuyu quickly leapt off the horns. Both girls crouched low with Tsuyu, whose frog-like abilities included the ability to stick onto walls, taking the brunt of the gale of wind while Ochako supported her from behind. The horns tried to fly past the first gale of wind but a second gale from Inasa quickly threw them off course which resulted in them piercing the walls and getting stuck.
Tenya, whose hero suit was designed to withstand high velocity winds caused by his own speed, quickly ran past Inasa and charged towards Ochako and Tsuyu with the intention of incapacitating at least one of them.
Reacting quickly, Tsuyu used her long tongue to trip Tenya by aiming low and striking his leg. Due to both his speed and failure to anticipate such an attack, Tenya fell onto the floor face-first and skidded along the floor in a comical manner. Ochako nearly laughed at Tenya's comical misfortune as she got ready to tie his arms or legs with some capturing tape.
Realising that Tenya was in trouble, both Kendou and Sen charged forward to support him. Sen's hands spun like drills while Kendou's hands grew more than twice in size. However, two more of Pony's detached horns flew towards them, forcing them to stop and defend themselves from the incoming projectiles. Just before the horns reached the two, Inasa charged forward and created a powerful gale of wind to blow the two projectiles off course and impale the walls instead. Inasa smirked as he created a protective wall of wind around Tenya and said, "You're going to need to do better than that to stop us!"
Ochako and Tsuyu nodded at each other before they quickly retreated to regroup with Pony and Ibara. With a combination of both Tsuyu's powerful leaping abilities and Ochako's ability to negate gravity, the two of them made a quick escape before the opposing team could stop them. Kendou bit back a curse and said, "We have to keep going." She then turned her attention towards Tenya and asked, "Are you all right?"
Tenya groaned and said, "I'm all right. My helmet, as well as my pride, took the worst of it."
Seeing the scratches and scrapes on Tenya's helmet, which covered his face, Kendou said, "You'll definitely need to have that fixed after this match."
Tenya nodded and said, "Hopefully, those three from the support department will be able to fix it before the next practical class."
Aware that Tenya was referring to Dorn, Ferrus and Vulkan, Sen smirked and said, "I'm pretty sure they will be able to do just that if not a whole lot more."
-A few minutes later…-
Although Jaghatai's team fought valiantly, they ultimately lost the match due to Ibara whose vines covered an entire floor and provided cover for her team mates.
"While there is no doubt that everyone did their best, I think it goes without saying that Shiozaki is the MVP of the match," said Toshinori.
Izuku nodded and said, "Her ability to completely change the terrain like Komori-san and yet be able to control her vines similar to how Yoarashi can control his wind for both small and large-scale effects is nothing to sneeze at."
Inasa laughed and said, "I could barely keep myself out of reach from her vines!"
Kendou grimaced and said, "Asui-san's ability to camouflage herself like certain types of frogs while hiding in Shiozaki's vines certainly did not help." Tsuyu made good use of her ability to hide in the vines by capturing and eliminating Kendou before she could react.
"I'll have to ask my brother about handling bad terrain, especially ones that can be manipulated by an opponent," said Tenya whose speed was rendered nearly useless by Ibara's vines.
Kan smirked proudly at Ibara and said, "You did good, Shiozaki."
Ibara bowed at her home room teacher before she clasped her hands in prayer and said, "I have merely used my skills to the best of my abilities in response to the trial that the Lord has placed upon my shoulders. I will also freely admit that the trial was in my favour for many reasons, including the people I have by my side."
Shouta nodded and said, "You are certainly not wrong about the match being in your favour. It is also important to never forget that circumstances can change at any given moment and that you may not always have the advantage in a given situation."
"I have never intended to allow myself to be claimed by the sins of pride or sloth," said Ibara.
"We will start the fifth and final match… after we move to the next building," said Toshinori who grimaced while looking at the extensive damage to the walls caused by Sanguinius and Jaghatai.
-Fifth Match-
After moving to the final building, it was decided that Angron would take part in the final match. Some would argue that she was chosen because she was the only one who had not fought a fellow former primarch. While certainly true, it was not only reason as she also had the most time to recover from a previous match.
The defenders gathered around the box while Icarian spoke to the rest of her team, "Our chances of winning this match is… a lot lower than I would have liked."
Mashirao sighed and said, "Well, we're facing a team with Todoroki, Monoma and Oenomaus."
"We're so screwed!" moaned Minoru who knew that Todoroki had a powerful quirk which Monoma could easily copy. Yes, Shouto had lost to Vulkan during his match with her but there was no denying that the ice side of his quirk was powerful.
"While I do not wish to admit defeat so readily, even I have to admit that we're ill-equipped to deal with them," said Juurouta.
Nirengeki, who had faced Ferrus on the previous day and failed to defeat her in spite of being able to use his quirk on her, sighed and said, "Kaminari is no slouch either and Monama can copy his quirk too."
"Even if Todoroki is not allowed to simply freeze the whole building, he won't need too to render any traps we can possibly make ineffective," said Icarian.
"Do you think he'll use his fire?" asked Juurouta.
"Hard to say. While Endeavour has been questioned about the way he has raised his youngest son, as well as how he has treated the rest of his own family for that matter, there has been more urgent matters to attend to," said Icarian who mentally thought, "Like a certain League of Chaos Undivided." Left unspoken was that Endeavour's situation with his family was more complicated, as well as "messed up", than initially expected. Icarian almost sighed as Enji's family situation kind of reminded her of how the Emperor had treated some of his own primarchs in the past.
"There's also the fact that Monoma can just copy Todoroki's quirk and use his fire side," said Nirengeki.
"So what can we do to stop them?" asked Mashirao.
Icarian turned her attention towards Minoru, who was clearly trying his best not to panic, and said, "Well…"
-Meanwhile, with Angron's team…-
Angron looked at Shouto and asked, "Are you willing to use your fire?"
Shouto shook his head and said bitterly, "I'm… trying to get over my hatred over my fire but I'm not sure if I can use it in a fight just yet."
Well aware of what it was like to be forced into doing something by a despised father figure, Angron smiled sympathetically and said, "I get it. It's hard to let go of loathing someone who had done harm to you and those whom you love."
"You hated your father too?" asked Shouto.
Angron snorted and said, "That's putting it frakking mildly."
"Speaking of fathers, I've been meaning to ask something since yesterday," said Denki who then asked, "Aside from Eri-chan, how exactly are you girls from Class V related? I mean, unless your mother was a lady who had a quirk that let her give birth to more than ten babies without any complications, there'd no way for all of you are actual blood-related sisters in the same age group."
Shouto, Neito and Yousetsu blinked at Denki's surprisingly relevant question before they collectively turned their attention towards Angron. She sighed and said, "While I can't tell you everything, I will say we do not know of any woman who can do such a thing even though we're all undeniably related as sisters by blood."
"Are you all half-sisters with different mothers then?" asked Shouto.
"That's one possibility," said Angron who was trying to avoid revealing too much of the truth. She knew that all the former primarchs were genetically related to both the Emperor and a fellow immortal perpetual named Erda but none of the students from Classes 1A and 1B needed to know about it.
"As interesting as this talk about shitty fathers and weird family relations is, we've got a match to win," said Yousetsu who had faced Angron in a match on the previous day. Although he lost in the end, it was not due to a lack of trying as he had tried to immobilize Angron by fusing her left shoe to the arena floor. However, a quick pull was enough for Angron to tear the shoe into two before she proceeded to defeat Yousetsu.
Neito, who had faced Curze in a match on the previous day, nodded and said, "We may have a huge advantage on our side but overconfidence will not improve our chances of winning."
It should be noted that Neito, who could temporarily copy quirks, lost to Curze in spite of copying the quirks of Tetsutetsu, Nirengeki and Kousei. Given Curze's ability to predict the future and far superior combat abilities, Neito's loss was far from surprising. Even so his skilful use of quirk combinations allowed him to remain in the hero course.
Angron nodded and said, "I doubt we'll be allowed to simply freeze the whole building, or set it on fire for that matter, so we'll have to go in there like the previous attacker teams." She then turned her attention towards Neito and added, "Monoma, I want you to copy Todoroki, Kaminari and Awase's quirks. I'll most likely have to face Icarian on my own."
"Do you want us to help you take down Icarian?" asked Shouto.
"Unless you're planning to use a large-scale attack that no amount of predicting will help her avoid, such as Komori's wave of mushrooms from earlier, Icarian will likely avoid every attack you throw at her," said Angron.
"I don't suppose my electricity will help much either, will it?" asked Denki.
"I'm quite certain that the teachers will not approve of you potentially shorting every circuit in this building unless there is no other way to win. Besides, we'll need you to take on the other students and compromising your cognitive abilities will not do us any good," said Angron who then added, "Thankfully, most of the other students in Icarian's team are melee fighters so your electrical quirk will be of great use in countering them."
"Do you think Minoru will cover a whole area with his hairballs like yesterday?" asked Yousetsu.
"It's possible but that's assuming that they have a way to prevent Todoroki's quirk from freezing or burning them," said Angron who then added, "More likely, they will use his hairballs to build a barrier to block our path."
Before long, the match began. As Angron had expected, there was a makeshift barrier that blocked their path to an upper level and Minoru's balls were used to hold it together in place. Angron sighed and grumbled, "This is why I wanted a proper axe, not one covered in a blunting sheath that I'm not allowed to remove for this training exercise."
"I can use my ice to pierce a hole through it and then melt it down with my fire to open a way for us," said Shouto.
Angron nodded at Shouto and said, "Do it." Although it was unsaid, everyone understood her unspoken warning of, "Be ready for an ambush."
Shouto created a massive spear of ice that easily tore through the makeshift barrier before he melted it down with his fire to open a path for everyone to walk through. However, as soon as the path was cleared, purple projectiles flew towards them. Although they were able to avoid the projectiles, the purple hairballs became immobilizing hazards the moment they landed onto the floor and walls.
Recognising the projectiles to be Minoru's hairballs, Angron growled, "Those hairballs are a problem."
"Not after I burn them away," said Neito who then created a wave of fire that burnt the hairballs away. Shouto frowned in displeasure but said nothing as the way was cleared once again.
"Monoma, maintain that fire until we get through that hole. The rest of you, stay alert. I doubt this is the only trap Icarian's team has prepared for us," said Angron.
Understanding Angron's instructions, the rest of her team nodded before they walked through the hole in the barrier. However, just as they exited the hole and Neito stopped producing more fire, Juurouta suddenly appeared in front of them and threw a slab of stone which had its front-facing side covered in Minoru's hairballs. The slab of stone was then accelerated further while flying in mid-hair as a result of Nirengeki's quirk which could be remotely activated to create a second impact that had a force several times stronger than the first impact. Realising that the slab of stone was about to collide into them "balls first", Shouto quickly created a wall of ice to block the incoming projectile. The hastily-created wall of ice barely held against the hairballs-covered block.
Angron sensed an incoming attack and raised both of her axes to block an overhead attack from behind by Icarian who had been waiting in ambush by using a single crack on the ceiling as a handhold to hold herself in place. Angron smirked at Icarian and said, "Took you long enough to show yourself."
Icarian stayed silent as she focused on predicting Angron's next attack. Had Angron been a warrior focused on nothing but offensive rage-filled attacks, predicting her next move would have been significantly simpler. However, the current version of Angron was not only able to consider using other kinds of fighting tactics but could also sense emotions and was thus able to sense Minoru who appeared from the side. In spite of his bleeding scalp, which was the result of overusing his quirk, Minoru proceeded to throw a volley of his hairballs at Angron's team while yelling, "Grape Rush!"
Shouto quickly created another wall of ice to block the incoming hairballs. However, Juurouta appeared from the other side and threw rocks at the group, forcing Monoma to create another wall of ice to block the incoming projectiles. Realising Icarian's plan, Angron spoke as her opponent took a leapt away, "You're planning to box us in and hold us in here."
"It's the one strategy which has the best chance of actually working against your team," said Icarian who smiled bitterly while speaking to Angron.
Turning around to face her fellow former primarch, Angron smirked at Icarian and said, "We'll see about that." She then spoke to the rest of her team, "Everyone, change of plans… and think fast!"
Icarian did not need her ability to predict possible future outcomes to know that Angron was about to attack her. As such, she reacted quickly when Angron threw her two axes at her and deflected both of them with ease. However, as she deflected the two axes, Angron suddenly grabbed her whole team in her arms and then proceeding to turn around and smash through the ice wall with a single kick. Everyone was so completely caught off guard by Angron's tactic that no one knew what to do for a few seconds while Angron ran off at top speed.
Minoru was the first to recover from the absurd turn of events and said, "Did she… just ditch the fight with you and carry her whole team, literally, while running away to find the box?"
Icarian blinked once before she replied, "Pretty much." She then added sheepishly, "I… did not even consider the possibility of Angron deciding to run away."
Although Mashirao and Nirengeki, who had been left behind to guard the box, tried their best to defend it, there was simply no stopping the "Angron Train". Not even Minoru's "Field of Balls" could stop her.
-After announcing victory for Angron's team…-
"I think it goes without saying that Angron is the MVP of the match," said Toshinori.
"Considering that she carried the whole team to victory, literally at that, I'm pretty sure few, if any, will disagree," said Kendou. She then turned her attention towards at Neito who, like Shouto, Denki and Yousetsu, was trembling a little as though he had been taken on a particularly wild roller-coaster ride and thought, "Those few probably being her own team mates."
Russ and Lion, who had fought with Angron in their past lives, stared at her before the former of the two asked, "Okay, I have to ask, what made you decide to just run like frak to the box?"
Angron huffed a little and said, "I have been spending the last few matches watching you girls get stuck in stalemates fighting each other while the rest of your respective teams fight to secure the victory conditions." She then smirked and added, "Why should I do the same thing like a dumb berserker when I can choose do something unexpected yet effective instead?"
Russ recalled a time when she duelled with Angron, an event that was known as the 'Night of the Wolf', and smiled bitterly while saying, "Why indeed."
With all five matches concluded, the class was soon declared over. Toshinori, Shouta and Sekijirou agreed that the class was largely a success even though they would have to deal with an irate Cementoss.
-In the primarchs' original universe…-
When visions of the former primarchs facing each other in team matches began to appear, it was inevitable that the various loyalist space marine chapters would start to, for the lack of a better term, argue.
For the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels, who already had a rivalry that had lasted for millennia, the match between Lion and Russ' teams was simply the latest reason to have their usual duels whenever they met. Considering how the Space Wolves had been joking about Lion's humiliating loss to Manga previously, the Dark Angels were quite understandably eager to rub the fact that Russ' team had lost to Lion's into the faces of their Space Wolf counterparts.
As for the White Scars and the Blood Angels, their rivalry was less aggressive but still undeniably present. In fact, they once had a friendly bout of racing that, according to rumours, made a "whole klan of Ork Speed Freeks" shed a collective tear of joy.
Although there was no denying that the Night Lords were traitors and heretics, they still felt offended on behalf of their primarch and made sure to, for some reason, annoy the Raven Guard whenever they could. One memorable incident involved crates that were filled with extremely poisonous mushrooms and a note that basically said, "Try slipping past these!"
The World Eaters were not only furious about Angron losing to Izuku's "cowardly trickery" but also how Angron chose to "flee instead of fight" to win her match with Icarian's team. Of course, since they were worshippers of Khorne who were constantly in a state of rage, their fury was hardly unexpected. What was more interesting though was their recent instinctive desire to attack certain members of the Ultramarines and their successor chapters.
Even in grim darkness of the 42nd millennium, humanity still had petty squabbles that, to an outsider, can seem pretty silly at times.
-End Chapter-
Author's Notes:
In case anyone asks, yes, there is a bit of reference to a certain manga series called 'Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple' when Angron threw Tetsutetsu. XD
About Kinoko activating her quirk, please understand that, in canon, Izuku activated his quirk while under the influence of Hitoshi's brainwashing so the idea of someone else being able to do the same is not impossible.
I would also like to apologise for the late update. My work has been keeping me busy lately and, as you can tell, this chapter is pretty dang long to somehow make up for the disappointing parts of the thirteenth chapter. I am also planning to write at least another light-hearted chapter before we get to the more serious parts of the story. Hopefully, the next update will be faster.
Until next time, go beyond, plus ultra!