Madam President watched on as a pair of agents circled a bloody man. The man was beaten and bruised, his hands tied up and holding onto a hook above him. It was high enough that the man's feet barely touched the ground. She could only sigh in annoyance looking at the man, and the stained MSF skull patch on his arm.
"Hit him again," she ordered, with one agent shifting his hand into that of a sledgehammer. He swung his hand forward, smashing against the man's chest. He coughed out blood and cried out in pain. Yet the agent didn't stop, hitting the man a second time and a third. He had no ribs to break, but the hits never stopped.
"All of this can stop if you tell me what I want." Madam President stated, slowly walking up to the man. He loudly coughed more blood, his head slumped forward tiredly.
"Where is the MSF's main base?" she demanded grabbing the man's face and forcing it up. The action elicited another groan of pain from the man. But when she looked into the man's eyes, Madam President couldn't help but glare.
"Go fuck ye'rself," the man replied, a thick Scottish accent accompanying him. The agent with the hammer reacted quickly, hitting the man in the side. The man then cried out in pain again, flinching back as something inside him broke.
"Is that aw ye've got? Ah've hud exes hit harder than ye." the soldier mocked, before spitting in the agent's general direction.
"I'm being gracious today. You will give us the location of your base. How many pieces you remain in until then, is up to you."
"Weel, ah'll save ye the time, lassie. Gae ahead an' send me tae hell, 'cause ah'm no tellin' ye onythin'."
Madam President could only grumble as she let go of the man's face. She quietly walked away, before giving the agents with her a single look.
"You heard what he said," she stated, hoping it would scare the man into compliance. A final attempt to break the soldier. It didn't. Instead, she saw him in the corner of her eye, smugly looking back.
"Ah'll save ye a spot in hell." the man remarked, as the two agents grabbed him, and began to carry him away. Angrily, Madam President walked out of the interrogation room heading straight for Tartaurus's exit. When she made it outside and spotted her limo, she quickly climbed in and pulled out her phone. In seconds it was ringing, with Techno picking up.
"I assume things went poorly?" Techno inquired.
"Unfortunately. How many prisoners do we have left?"
"Not many I'm afraid." Techno replied, using his quirk to send her the files, "The warlords are finding it difficult to gain ground. Thus it has made taking prisoners much harder."
"We sent them a hundred Type-99s," Madam President muttered surprised. Sure she knew the warlords were getting desperate, but what happened to all the arms they gave them?
"They report those tanks as destroyed, captured, or they lack the parts to fix them," Techno told her, "Some report they've taken drastic measures and are now using centuries-old equipment dating back to the world wars."
"Damn it," Madam President again muttered. They had already sent hundreds of tanks, guns, helicopters, and other equipment to the warlords, and the costs kept ramping up. It was bad enough that they had to cut the pay of several HPSC agents, causing quite a few men to quit. And if Mera's complaints of being understaffed were anything to go by, then the number of people quitting was becoming a problem.
"Send them another aid package, I don't care how much it costs," she ordered, before motioning for her driver to get moving. Here's hoping another thousand tanks will fix this problem, Madam President thought.
One of the many things the AIs had done in their home, was explore. While much of their realm was still basic Minecraft, the vast majority held unknown content. It was like someone loaded in thousands of mods, turning it into an entirely new game. So they found dozens of new biomes, ores, mobs, plants, and even tools. This made their world feel lively and largely unknown. However, it also meant it was massive, and though they had defeated the ender dragon, elytras were ludicrously difficult to get.
Not because of actual difficulty, but because of scale. There were one hundred and fifty AIs on the realm, thirty of which had elytra. And when one Realmer AI discovered a mountain loaded with rare ores, a mountain that was far away, they looked for new methods of transportation. Some tried the nether, only to die to massive lava leviathans. Some had built planes, however those needed more cargo capacity. Some built airships, but those were massively complex and took time to build.
Then there were trains, which Midoriya's character was now riding on. His character sat inside a small passenger train, in a rather nice compartment. It had a few chests for extra luggage, some seats, a table with some flowers in a pot, and a pair of beds behind them. It felt like something out of the 1800s. Next to him sat Rody's character, as the two talked about honestly anything, while Victoria was walking about the train.
"I'd probably eat myself if I were a donut," Midoriya commented, with Rody nodding in the real world.
"It'd be hard not to," Rody replied, holding out a finger for Pina to stand on. The quirk bird did so quietly, raising one of its wings to its beak as if thinking about something.
"You know I think I'd be strawberry flavored, maybe chocolate." Midoriya continued, only for Rody to give him a so-so motion.
"Eh, you seem more of a vanilla donut," Rody remarked, with Midoriya giving him a curious look.
"How come?" Midoriya asked.
"Well, no offense dude but you're kind of plain-looking," Rody answered, to which Midoriya stopped to think for a second.
"Wouldn't that make me chocolate then?" he countered.
"No," Rody said, before pausing slightly. His hand went to his chin before he opened his mouth again.
"Actually yes. Chocolate is the most basic donut type,"
"Told you, but the question is, would I or would I not have sprinkles?"
"Ooh, ok, let me think for a moment,"
"Why are you two talking about donuts?" Victoria asked, both boys looking back at the game. The AI was walking through the door to their compartment, a couple of cookies in hand.
"No reason really, just boredom," Rody answered, watching as Victoria sat down across from them.
"Honestly Vicky, it's been an hour. How far is this mountain?" Midoriya asked, checking his phone in the real world. Victoria sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, while taking a nibble out of a cookie.
"Oh, just… three hours away," Victoria quietly replied. It caused both boys' eyes to widen in response, with Pina falling off Rody's finger in shock.
"Three hours!?" Midoriya exclaimed, "Vicky I've got training in three hours!"
"Ditto," Rody added, still shocked by the amount of time.
"Wait really? Training for what?" Midoriya asked, looking over at Rody somewhat confused and surprised.
"Well, I've been learning how to fly some helicopters with Pequod," Rody calmly answered.
"Oh, that's cool- nope! Back on topic!" Midoriya stated, his character now punching the air in Victoria's direction.
"I did say it would take a while," she replied still rubbing her head.
"Yeah, you didn't specify what a while meant." Rody countered.
"In my defense, I didn't want to sit on this train alone," Victoria explained, "That, and I needed help mining… which now that I mention it, is probably going to have to wait for tomorrow."
"...You didn't think this out did you?" Midoriya inquired, with Victoria slowly nodding in reply.
"No, I did not,"
Midoriya sighed, slumping back in his chair and moving his character to look out the window. As he did so he said, "Ah well, not like we have anything better to do."
Looking out the window, he found the train moving through an enchanted forest biome. Most of the biome was filled with mythical creatures of European folklore, with a lot of them being hostile. The forest was a large mesh of purples, light blues, yellows, and pinks, on skyscraper-sized flowers and trees. Farther away Midoriya spotted a couple of flying islands.
"Still, what exactly did we need a three-hour train ride for? There's like, a dozen mines closer to town." Midoriya told her. Victoria answered, by pulling out a very blocky gem. She placed it on the table, and it flew into Midoriya's inventory. There it was now 2D.
"That is an enchanted ruby. It's needed to make special ammo for guns," Victoria answered.
"I prefer when Minecraft didn't have guns," Rody quietly grumbled. Sure it was cool for the AIs, as they effectively experience real life in a more unique environment. But for him, it just seemed like overly modded Minecraft, even if the technology level was in the 1860s.
"Then you should have played base Minecraft," Midoriya retorted, looking over the ruby in his inventory.
"Touche," Rody replied, the boy moving to look at Midoriya's computer.
"Why not just enchant the guns? I mean the repeater you gave me has infinite ammo and flame." Midoriya then asked, returning his attention to Victoria.
"Well, one, we don't have that many enchanted books with infinity on them, two, the ones we do have are breaking pretty quickly, and three, I was hoping to make some gold selling it," Victoria answered.
"You should have said it was for money from the start," Rody told her, now very much interested. It was in-game money, but money nonetheless to him.
"Just wish it didn't need to take six hours,"
"Six?" Victoria asked confused, before immediately feeling stupid.
"Three there, three back," she then muttered, realizing another thing she had overlooked, "I don't know what it is, but I am just off today,"
"We all have off days," Midoriya comments, still looking out the train's window. As time passed the train would finally arrive at the mountain, there they would get off and quickly find a camp to log off at. With that, both boys booked it out of the room, determined to make it to training on time.
This was a mistake, Midoriya realized as he crouched behind his only source of cover. Today's training was not the usual training. Because this time, Nagant had gotten involved. Now Midoriya couldn't see her, and couldn't look over his cover to find her, but he knew she was somewhere on the R&D platform's roof. Next to him was an unconscious DD, tranquilized by Nagant.
Cautiously Midoriya stuck his head out, only to duck back quickly. He did so in the knick of time, as a tranq round whizzed over him, followed by the crack of Nagant's rifle. Seeing his moment, he jumped out of cover and sprinted out to a nearby set of shipping containers. Diving into a gap, he came to a stop. Now, Nagant only had a bolt action rifle for this training mission, same with Midoriya.
His main goal was to either reach the opposite platform or eliminate Nagant. Nagant was of course going easy on him, as she could have most definitely reloaded faster or used her quirk for a more powerful shot. But to be fair, there was only one Lady Nagant. Not every sniper he was going to face could ricochet bullets off walls to kill twenty people.
That said, reaching the opposite platform was all but impossible without smoke grenades. The entire walkway connecting platforms was wide open and empty. So he decided on the second approach. An approach that was only becoming harder. Peeking around the corner of the shipping container he couldn't see her yet. He then ducked back, waiting for an audible whizz and crack. When nothing came he crouched down, and peeked again, checking if he had been seen.
He hadn't so, he decided to try and find the ex-hero. With binoculars in hand, he began to search the R&D lab's exterior. Quickly Midoriya eliminated the most exposed areas, before coming to the more obscure spots. Now Nagant could have been hiding at the lab's rooftop helipad and was ducking back between shots. However, she could also hide in plain sight. That realization made Midoriya search the more open areas a second time.
Nothing seemed off at first, but then he spotted something lying on an outer ventilation system. It was orange, blending in the base's walls, but it wasn't the right shade. At first glance, it was barely noticeable. When Midoriya saw it then, he instinctively ducked back, narrowly avoiding another tranq round. He mentally swore, realizing he had pushed his luck somewhat. His opportunity to run was also wasted, as Midoriya counted the seconds needed to reload.
Thinking for a moment, a thought then struck him. It was a tranq round, little more than a glorified paintball. If Nagant wanted to knock him out, the round needed to hit the skin. That would be a bit difficult if she didn't know where he was specifically. With a small plan, he pulled out good reliable and set up a cardboard box. Now he didn't hide under it, instead, he held it up as a shield.
Sure enough, Nagant fired again. The tranq round flew through the thin cardboard like a knife through paper, but it only hit Midoriya in the chest. Right where his sneaking suit was protecting him. Sure it hurt and caught him off guard, but it proved him right. With his cardboard box shield, he moved forward to a better cover, a large section of random equipment. Most of the equipment was old abandoned drilling equipment the MSF never got around to throwing out, and Midoriya was happy about that.
It was set up like a small maze, full of different corners and angles he could hide behind. And it made it next to impossible for Nagant to guess where he would poke his head at. So ducking behind one large piece of machinery and throwing his box away, Midoriya got his rifle ready and made sure a round was chambered. With a deep breath and a final check of the scope, he peeked around his cover and looked back at Nagant's hiding spot.
She was still there luckily, whether it be because she was holding back or because she didn't know she was spotted, Midoriya wasn't sure. He didn't want to lose his chance, though, and aimed at Nagant. Another deep breath, and a few adjustments, and he pulled the trigger. The second he did, he ducked back behind cover. Waiting with bated breath, he was tempted to crawl away to a different spot, but then Nagant spoke over the radio.
"That's a kill. Gotta say you've been getting better." Nagant complimented. Cautiously Midoriya turned back around the corner and found Nagant standing up from her far-off position. Most of her was a bright orange, except for her face which was now a shade of green. She had built up an immunity to most tranquilizers in preparation for training. Did I say training? I meant she lost a bet with Ocelot.
"Thanks," Midoriya replied a wide smile on his face, "Mind if we go again."
"Afraid not. I'm almost out of ammo, and I'm pretty sure the guys down at the armory would kill me if I came for a seventh restock," Nagant told him, "That, and I've got a mission in an hour."
"What's the mission?" Midoriya asked, somewhat hopeful he could tag along. His hopes were quickly dashed, however.
"Nothing big, just eliminating an enemy colonel on the front," Nagant answered, with Midoriya sighing out of the radio's mic range. It did however catch what he muttered.
"Wish I could do contract work,"
"No, you don't," Nagant stated firmly, "Trust me when I say this kid, but this is a dark life. If I knew what I do now at your age, I would have avoided this life entirely. It isn't easy to take a life."
"That's not what I meant. I don't want to kill anyone actively, I just want to help in some way," Midoriya quickly corrected. He never wanted to take a life, was it inevitable? Probably, considering how often Snake told him. In all honesty that was the only part of contract work that he truly dreaded. That he would one day have to take a life. But so long as he stayed on preservation contracts-
"The problem is a lot of our work involves killing. We're assisting in the evacuation of refugees and might have to kill off some enemy combatants trying to take advantage. Administering humanitarian aid and we might have to protect that aid from some terrible people. Rescuing endangered species, and we might have to fight off some poachers." Nagant told him, with Midoriya slowly pausing in realization.
He never considered that those contracts would involve killing. Midoriya always thought more about the helping people portion, always covered in some glamorous idea of saving lives. Even those missions weren't safe from the possibility of getting blood on his hands. His options seemed somewhat limited now, but… he didn't feel like backing down. Maybe there was some way he could go without taking a life. Was it naive? Maybe, but he could at least try.
"It's really not that impressive," Uraraka tried to explain to Iida and Asui who simply looked at her dumbfounded. The rest of the class simply murmured around them, waiting for the next teacher to arrive.
"Uraraka, you immobilized a zero pointer," Asui bluntly pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but all I did was jam its treads. All Might was the one who stopped it," Uraraka quickly reasoned. She thought the answer would work, but then Iida raised his brow somewhat surprised.
"You jammed its treads by charging straight towards it, picking up an intact three-pointer, leaping up several stories, and then accurately throwing it at the exact gap between the zero-pointer's treads," Iida quickly countered. And that statement made Uraraka pause for a second as she fully took in the full list of things she had done.
"Oh… I, I guess when you put it like that it's impressive," she relented now rubbing the back of her head.
"I don't know why that was so hard to accept, kero,"
"Well, I mean look at me. I'm the unassuming poor girl from Mie, with a weak zero-gravity quirk. It's nothing flashy compared to Iida's," Uraraka told them pointing over at Iida. The teen brought his hand to his chin in thought then, thinking over Uraraka's statement.
"That may be true," Iida began, "But I could not have immobilized the zero-pointer like you did. I may be able to throw a storm kick, but that is nothing compared to that robot,"
"Same for me, kero," Asui added, "I can jump high, and swim well, but I'm not strong enough to stop it."
"And actually, why was All Might there?" Iida suddenly asked. Both out of pure curiosity and because while he wasn't the best at social cues, he knew when to change the topic. Especially if that topic was of a friend depreciating themselves. His question, however, did make Uraraka wonder.
"That… maybe he was in the area," Uraraka reasoned, though she wasn't entirely sure. UA had a very advanced security system, one that wouldn't allow All Might inside without authorization. That, and how did he know the zero-pointer had gone rogue?
"Wouldn't he have broken into UA then?" Asui pointed out, with Iida quickly gasping.
"Tsu! All Might would never commit such scrupulous actions!" Iida quickly told her, his arms chopping robotically. They moved pretty fast as he did so, with Uraraka wondering what would happen if they held a wooden plank in front of them.
"To even assume the number one hero would be a trespasser at his own alma mater, is unthinkable!" Iida continued, although now Uraraka and Asui found it funny.
"It would corrupt the very points All Might stands for, and-" Iida quickly came to a stop in his speech, as he saw both girls tried to hide their laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing," Uraraka quickly replied, putting her laughter to an end, "Still though, why was All Might here that day?"
"I did hear rumors he was becoming a teacher, kero," Asui stated, bringing a hand to her chin in thought.
"Really?" Uraraka tried to inquire, only to see Iida look at the clock and start chopping the air again.
"As curious as this question is, I think that may have to wait, class should be starting back up soon," Iida instead stated. And Uraraka was about to protest, saying they still had time, but she then remembered she had no clue who their heroics teacher was. With a dreaded thought, she feared the possibility of it being Mr. Aizawa. So just in case both Uraraka and Asui went silent, not wanting to suffer their teacher's wrath.
But to her surprise, a different voice yelled out loudly through the halls.
"I am here…"
The door shot open as the hulking figure of All Might leaned through it, a wide smile plastered on his face as his voice echoed around the room.
"Coming through the door like a hero!"
And in three solid seconds, the class got loud. Uraraka almost covered her ears as the loud cacophony of voices exclaimed in surprise. She couldn't blame them as she was one of those voices.
"That answers that question, kero," Asui commented, "Hey wait, is he wearing his silver age costume?"
All the while the number one hero walked to the front of the class his cape following behind him.
"Welcome to the most important class at UA High, think of it as Heroing 101." All Might loudly began, "Here you will learn-"
"They already know what they're here to learn," Ocelot interrupted, quickly dragging the class's attention away from All Might. The cowboy stood in the doorway, spinning one of his revolvers as always. However, behind him stood the men in balaclavas.
"Well… that is a fair point. But they don't know the exercise for today!" All Might loudly proclaimed, holding up a rather large card in his hand. Well, it was large in comparison to All Might's hand, which was already pretty big. The word battle was covering the card in thick red letters.
"Today's lesson will pull no punches!" All Might told them, "But, we can't begin without one key aspect of heroism, looking good!"
All Might then pointed at the wall, several compartments now moving forward. The sight caught the class off guard before a look of realization hit them. Unknown to the class, All Might stopped to think about what he said. You know, he thought, now that I say that out loud, it sounds kind of narcissistic. Then again, a good-looking costume creates an inspiring symbol, he reasoned. Ocelot rolling his eyes only confirmed his first thought though. He decided to continue forward.
"These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started."
The hero then stepped to the side, as the class rushed forward to retrieve their costumes. Quickly Uraraka searched for her seat number, before grabbing the case assigned to her. As she did so All Might continued to talk, while walking out the door with Ocelot.
"Get yourselves suited up, and then meet me at training ground beta!"
This, was not what Uraraka ordered. Looking in the locker room mirror, her eyes looked over the hero costume she wore. Don't get her wrong she was grateful to get a hero costume in the first place, but did it have to be skin-tight? She could feel the fabric in some rather uncomfortable spots that she hoped wouldn't tear. And compared to Yaoyorozu or Hagakure's, hers was leagues ahead. But it worked, that's all that mattered at the moment.
Then she stepped outside with the rest of her class, where she changed her mind.
"I love this school,"
Uraraka looked down to find the voice came from a short student next to her, who she remembered as Mineta. The midget was very publicly staring at her butt. She turned red with embarrassment quickly and decided she'd make changes to it later. At the same time, she walked away to the other side of the class. Shaking off that annoyance, Uraraka looked forward to finding All Might standing with a box at his side.
Ocelot and his men meanwhile, were sitting off to the side. Two had their masks raised slightly, taking a brief smoke break. Ocelot, however, seemed somewhat displeased, with both his revolvers holstered.
"Now that you're ready, it's time for combat training." All Might loudly announced and pulled out a script to Uraraka's surprise. Very quickly he explained how the exercise was going to work while answering a few questions. Two teams of two were going to a building. One team would act as villains and defend a bomb hidden somewhere inside the building. The others would act as heroes and attempt to capture either the bomb or the villains. If neither the bomb nor the villains were captured in a given time frame the hero team loses. Once he completed the explanation, All Might held out a box to draw lots from. When Uraraka was up she drew team A.
"Now then, find your teammates and we can begin." All Might told them. Very quickly the students spread out into pairs. Now, it didn't take long for Uraraka to find her partner, as the second she started looking around, a student with electricity for hair began walking toward her. His costume was rather basic, being a dark blue spandex with yellow lightning bolts going up his legs, and two going diagonally across his chest.
"You Uraraka?" he calmly asked.
"Yep! Glad to be working with you," Uraraka replied happily, "And you are?"
"Fudaki Shigai," he answered, only to go silent for a while. He didn't speak again until All Might drew what teams were competing. There Uraraka found she and Fudaki were going first, against Iida, and Bakugo. After a few minutes of walking, they were now standing outside their building. It wasn't anything special, mostly an everyday office building. And while Uraraka was somewhat nervous looking at the building, she was also excited.
Their first lesson for what it means to be a hero. Yet her teammate remained oddly silent.
"You think they expect us to memorize this building's floor plan?" Uraraka asked, hoping to start a conversation. It didn't work, and Fudaki continued to stay silent. Undeterred Uraraka continued though.
"You know, All Might's just as cool in person as he is on television!" Uraraka said, "I'm glad he's not threatening us with some kind of punishment like Mr. Aizawa. We can relax-"
"Shut up," Fudaki interrupted.
"What?" Uraraka asked surprised.
"I said shut up. I'm trying to think damn it, and your yapping isn't helping," Fudaki told her, a bit more aggressive than the first time.
"Wha- I was just trying to be friendly!" Uraraka exclaimed. This only seemed to annoy Fudaki more. He barely even looked at her, sparing only a glance before focusing back on the building's blueprints. All the while Uraraka stood there confused and shocked.
"And yet you keep talking," Fudaki remarked.
"Well, how else are we going to make a plan!?" Uraraka countered, only to leave her mouth agape as Fudaki responded.
"What plan? I run in, take out the exploding one and the knight, and that's it. So shut up, and stay out of my way."
That… was his plan!? Uraraka couldn't believe what she was hearing. That was her teammate!? What was his problem!? Uraraka silently hoped this was an act, but no. Looking at him she could see Fudaki believed every word he said.
"Look, we need to work together if we want to win," Uraraka tried to reason with him, and only now did Fudaki turn around. He gave her one look, it wasn't anger, it was annoyance.
"For fucks sake, are you disabled? Or can you not get it through your thick skull to shut up?"
"Besides, what can you do? Make them float around? It's a miracle you passed the exams in the first place," Fudaki muttered. Uraraka was about to protest but paused. What was she going to do? She had to get close and touch the living bomb or the human car to do anything with her quirk. What good was zero gravity- No. Uraraka shook her head, silently lambasting herself.
It wouldn't help her to think so negatively. Was her quirk all that flashy? No. But she would think of something, even if her teammate refused to work with her. She would think of a way to win… maybe. Nope! No negativity, she could do this!
"All right! Let's begin!" All Might announced over the radio. It caught Uraraka off guard, had they already run out of time? She didn't have long to think about it, before Fudaki kicked in the building's door, and charged forward. Uraraka almost called out for him to wait, but stopped after thinking it over. That seemed to be the right move though, as mere seconds later she heard explosions echo throughout the building.
They went on continuously, one after another. The noise didn't let up before the crack of thunder added to its chaotic melody. At the moment, charging in after Fudaki didn't seem smart. Especially with what sounded like pure chaos occurring inside. So Uraraka looked around the building's exterior. She could float herself up to a window, but she ran the risk of throwing up if she did it too long.
There was a fire escape luckily, which Uraraka quickly began to climb. In a few short seconds, she reached the second floor and looked through the window. Only to duck back as an explosion shattered the nearby windows. Smoke poured out of the building, with Uraraka hearing the sound of something falling onto the ground. She also heard someone talking loudly.
"Can't shut the fuck up can you four-eyes!" Bakugo exclaimed, placing the capture tape on Fudaki's unconscious body. The explosive blond seemed entirely unaffected, having only a small burn on his costume. Fudaki meanwhile, was charred and a little bit bloody. The top half of his costume was burnt away, and his hand was a worrying shade of purple.
"Bakugo, we're supposed to be protecting the bomb!" Iida exclaimed though Uraraka was unable to hear him clearly.
"The fuck do you think I've been doing!? The energizer extra is unconscious because of me!" Bakugo loudly shouted, dragging Fudaki's body to a nearby closet, before opening the door and unceremoniously tossing the boy in.
"While leaving me alone at the top floor, and with no information on Uraraka's whereabouts!" Iida reasoned loudly, forcing Bakugo to yank the radio out of his ear briefly. It ensured that this time Uraraka heard Iida speak. Only the words top floor were audible. Everything else was too muffled to make out. But it was good enough.
"Who the hell's Uraraka?" Bakugo then asked uncaringly, with Uraraka quietly gasping in surprise.
"Our other opponent!" Iida again yelled, causing Bakugo to groan annoyed.
"Then I'll find that extra, and beat 'em into a bloody pulp! Happy!?"
"We have capture tape for a reason, there is no need to do any of that!"
Seeing both teens were somewhat distracted, Uraraka continued her ascent to the top floor, moving slowly but surely. Constantly she checked the nearby windows, ensuring her path wasn't blocked by anything. When she finally arrived at the top, Uraraka stopped. Through the window, she could see Iida standing next to the bomb. Aside from that, the room was empty.
Uraraka looked around for something to try and get a plan, but there was nothing. Iida was fast, much faster than her, and she knew this. If she went in and was spotted he could blitz her in seconds. And even if she were to fight, there was nothing she could use to help herself. Uraraka quietly swore to herself, angry Fudaki had charged in so recklessly. They should have made a plan! But Uraraka quickly calmed herself and focused on the situation at hand.
Looking at the room she could see its ceiling was pretty high. Maybe she could float to the top and then sneak to the bomb. It wasn't much, but there wasn't anything else she could do at the moment. So cautiously Uraraka moved and began to slide open one of the windows, only doing so when Iida was looking away. Once it was open she stepped inside and quietly closed it behind her.
She ducked behind a pillar in the room, right as Iida turned around. Uraraka then waited for Iida to turn around again, only for him to start… monologuing? No that couldn't be it.
"Behold! I am the personification of villainy! Mwahahaha!" Iida laughed maniacally, proving Uraraka wrong. It took every fiber of her being to not laugh, small giggles escaping her lips. But Iida just kept talking, and every word made it harder to stifle her laughs.
"Those pathetic heroes thought they could stop us!? It is laughable! To stop such magnificent evildoers such as ourselves is impossible!" Iida exclaimed, and Uraraka laughed. It was loud, dragging Iida's attention to her instantly.
"Hm, Uraraka is that you?" Iida then asked in his villain's voice. Uraraka somewhat panicking, made herself float, hoping to reach the ceiling before Iida could find her. But the moment she did he appeared next to her in a flash. Just as her feet lifted off the ground Iida grabbed her leg and flung her to the opposite wall.
"Not so fast hero! Did you honestly think you could sneak past me? It was foolhardy of you. As you can see I've hidden every object in this room!" Iida continued to monologue as Uraraka floated in the air. For Uraraka though, she was stunned by how fast she had almost lost. Iida could have stuck the capture tape on her and ended the match in seconds. But he didn't. The thought puzzled Uraraka before she heard Iida continue to monologue.
"There is nothing you can do to stop me! For my dastardly tricks have rendered you helpless!"
It suddenly became very clear to her why Iida didn't use the capture tape. He had chosen to act exactly as a villain would, or what he saw as playing a villain. So long mustache-twirling monologue, check. Not eliminating the hero when they have the chance, check. All that was needed was the idiot minion. But Uraraka shook herself out of those thoughts quickly. Stilling floating in the air, she placed her feet against the wall behind her and jumped forward.
The lack of gravity made her soar ahead fast, right toward the bomb. Iida however, was faster than her, running and moving the bomb before Uraraka could reach it. She instead crashed into a nearby pillar, before she gave herself gravity and landed on the ground.
"Admirable attempt, but your quirk's no threat if you can't touch anything. I could easily keep this weapon out of your reach until time runs out!" Iida told her as he started laughing maniacally again. Uraraka then forced herself back onto her feet. There had to be something she could do. Her eyes searched the room desperately for something she could use. Yet the floors were barren of anything useful.
All she could do was try to grab the bomb before Iida could move it. But he was too fast. Uraraka removed her gravity again and pushed herself off the pillar she crashed into. But Iida again carried the bomb away. He did it again and again and again and again. Uraraka knew she was running out of time, both for the exercise and for her own body. She could feel the bile rising in her throat, the unending queasiness becoming worse with time.
She couldn't give up. Determined Uraraka launched herself at the bomb again, only for Iida to move it again. She barely landed on the ground then, stumbling a little as she turned to try and launch herself again. That was until she felt the concussive force and heat of an explosion behind her. It knocked Uraraka off her feet, and she collapsed to the ground. She tried to stand back up but felt someone step on her back, forcing her down.
"For fucks sake, what are you doing!?" Bakugo yelled at Iida. Underneath his helmet, Iida gave the bomber a confused look.
"I'm playing the role of a villain, just as All Might instructed,"
"What fucking villain wastes time not taking down the hero!? You should have blitzed her four eyes!" Bakugo exclaimed, before crouching down and slapping a piece of capture tape onto Uraraka. All the while he muttered under his breath, "Fucking extra, can't handle little miss floaty bitch". Uraraka would have protested what Bakugo said, but now that he was on the ground she could feel exhaustion taking over.
Because Uraraka wasn't heavily injured, and instead incredibly worn out, she was sent back to the observation room with the rest of the glass. However, it was difficult, as she had emptied the contents of her stomach on the way there. Iida was a great help though, sticking with her until they made it back. Also provided someone to talk to.
"I still can't believe him," Iida muttered, "He kept calling both me, you, and Fudaki such crude names. And then he just charged out of the room, without telling me his plan!"
"Same with me," Uraraka replied.
"Fudaki charged in to?"
"Yep. He told me to shut up and stay out of his way, before getting beaten by Bakugo," Uraraka explained, "After that, it was me trying to think of some kind of plan,"
"That is a shame. As much as I trust UA, it makes me wonder how such unscrupulous behavior got past them." Iida told her, and Uraraka nodded.
"But, as much as I hate it, Bakugo made a good point," Iida said, "To think I got so enraptured in my role that I forgot the real purpose of this exercise."
"I was wondering why you didn't capture me when you had the chance," Uraraka commented, with the two now finding themselves in the observation room. Very quickly they went inside and found themselves standing before the class. All Might asked who the exercise's VIP was, and Iida was the one chosen. With that brief segment done, both Iida and Uraraka went over to Asui, to watch the rest of the matches.
They were all very impressive to watch, but Uraraka soon noticed something. See, Ocelot and the masked men were also in the observation room. They stood close to the screens next to All Might. And as a boy with half-white and half-red hair, who Uraraka remembered as Todoroki, froze an entire building, they could only look on unimpressed. That… was somewhat odd she thought. An entire building was effectively frozen by one kid, and they looked on like it was nothing.
"This is why we should have gone with my version of the exercise," Ocelot muttered Uraraka trying her best to listen in.
"Ocelot I understand your reasoning, but this is just to see what they already know," All Might told him, turning slightly to see the cowboy spinning his revolvers as always.
"It's also to introduce them to what a fight is actually like, something this exercise is failing at," Ocelot countered, watching as Todoroki walked up to the bomb. Not a fist had been thrown, simply quick overwhelming force. Something that won't always be possible.
"You wanted to have real bombs with anesthetic gas, and then detonate them if one of your men saw the students. There would be no combat exercise if we did it your way either," All Might then countered, with Uraraka's eyes widening a little. She looked back at the screens as Todoroki finally touched the bomb, and found he had only froze the other team up to their feet. Meaning Todoroki would have lost this exercise if Ocelot had gotten his way. Now that she thought about it, the same could be said about her round.
Fudaki had gone charging in and would have lost them the round almost immediately. However, she shook the thought away as Ocelot kept talking.
"I did say it could be modified," Ocelot countered, "Besides figured it would be better to get a more important lesson across,"
"That being?" All Might asked.
"For one, kicking them down a few pegs," Ocelot answered, "And you'll know who I'm referring to when I say that's what they need."
"Well, yes. A few of the students do seem full of themselves," All Might agreed, "But I'm sure that could be addressed in later exercises."
"Might be better to nip it in the bud right now, but either way works for me," Ocelot commented, "After your trip to the you know what, Nezu's having me lead a class."
"Oh… I don't like the sound of where that is going."
"Well, it's like I told them yesterday," Ocelot stated. As he did he turned around and looked directly at Uraraka, smirking to show he knew she was listening. He then turned his head again and looked at a different girl with purple hair and jacks on her ears.
"By the time I'm done with them, hell will look like a luxury vacation," Ocelot said, a sadistic look in his eyes.
Even beneath his skull face mask, Night Owl could tell Reaper was upset. Well, that and the screams of the innocent man he was currently tearing apart with his sickles.
"P-please-agh!" the man screamed, his arms chained to the table in front of them. Slowly Reaper carved into the man's chest, marking his body with a skull sigil.
"As entertaining as this is, I need to get going," Night Owl told Reaper, beginning to move for the door. Silently though Reaper pointed one of his sickles at Night Owl, motioning for him to stop.
"Look, I get you're impatient," Night Owl told him, bringing a hand to his face, "but everything is going according to plan. All you need to do is wait a little bit longer,"
Reaper responded by shoving his other sickle through the chained man's chest, eliciting a scream of agony. Reaper never uttered a word, and yet Night Owl could tell what the man was saying.
"Ooh, that is fair. I too would be annoyed if someone bought me a new car but wouldn't allow me to drive it." Night Owl commented, now walking away from the door and back to the table.
"Just… look, I'm going to explain this as clearly as I can. I get you're tired of waiting. I had you train up all your men and gather all these resources for years. But if you want Hokkaido, we're going to have to do this right." Night Owl told him. To which Reaper slowly relented, dragging his sickle out of the chained man's body. It brought out another scream before the man went quiet.
"... Is he?" Night Owl inquired motioning to the man. It would be a shame if he was, they only had an hour of fun with him. Reaper sheathed a sickle around his waist and put a hand on the man's wrist. He then nodded quietly before snapping his fingers. In a few seconds, two of Reaper's men wheeled in a crash cart. They turned it on quietly, before shocking the man back alive. The ensuing scream echoed around the room as the man took a breath. Just as he did so, the chains holding him to the table were loosened, and Reaper's men grabbed him.
"N-no, please! I won't tell anyone I saw this! I won't tell anyone! Please!" the man begged, yet Reaper's men dragged him away, ignoring his pleas. With the man now gone Reaper looked back at Night Owl. Night Owl couldn't see behind the mask but he knew the man was giving him an inquiries look, somewhat demanding an explanation.
"Fine, fine, I've left you in the dark long enough. You see, in a few short days, UA High is going to be attacked," Night Owl began, "And I know where, when, and how…"