Chapter Summary: The battle exercise continues and the victors are determined.

A/N: And here we are! We have reached the second part of the two parter! Hope you enjoy!

After all the years Izuku spent watching Kacchan, he might have thought that he had a grasp on what to expect from him. That turned out to be his mistake, considering that Kacchan looked as though he wanted to murder him then and there, exercise be damned. He stared Izuku down with that same level of vitriol that he did the day that he confronted him outside the school about making it into U.A.

So, Izuku did exactly what he did that day when push came to shove: he ran away.

It wasn't the bravest or even the most strategic move, but he wasn't about to be risky. They were in close quarters and Izuku wasn't about to let himself get caught between the wall and one of Kacchan's blasts when he was growing wilder by the second.

'Not to mention he's got to be breaking a sweat now,' Izuku thought as he rounded a corner while Kacchan chased after him, 'that makes him even more dangerous.'

The longer a fight went on, the more Kacchan sweat, and the more he sweat, the more powerful his explosions were. Izuku knew that from experience; he found that out one day when they were tussling together and Kacchan wound up making an explosion that knocked both of them back off their feet. Needless to say, Auntie Mitsuki hadn't been pleased about that.

A loud growl echoed through the halls. " Damn you! You've been tricking me for years , haven't you, Deku?"

Hearing that almost gave Izuku pause as he continued down the hall. "W-What? What are you talking about, Kacchan?"

"Don't play dumb!" Kacchan snarled. A round of explosions sounded off somewhere nearby, causing Izuku to pick up the pace. "You've been pretending to be weak and probably laughing behind my back this entire time!"

Izuku just managed not to trip over his feet as he continued running. He couldn't let Kacchan rile him up by trying to provoke a reaction out of him; Uraraka had already gone to look for the weapon and he wasn't going to ruin their chances of winning just because he couldn't control his emotions.

'Focus,' he told himself, 'you can do this, Izuku.'

"Where's that flashy power of yours now? " Kacchan demanded, his footsteps echoing throughout the hallways. Another blast alerted Izuku that he was drawing closer. "You spent all these years hiding it! Might as well show it off now!"

'So that's what this is about,' Izuku realized, 'he's mad that I didn't tell him about my Quirk.'

Izuku paused to take a breath and hid behind a corner while Kacchan stormed down the halls. "I wasn't hiding it!"

"Bullshit!" Kacchan rebuked. Izuku flinched when he heard concrete crumble with another explosion. "Auntie Inko said the doctors told you that you'd never get a Quirk! You saying she's a liar? "

"She didn't lie!" Izuku replied hastily, only for him to wince. "I-It's just that it came in late! It's rare , but it can happen!"

"Oh, yeah?" Kacchan taunted. He banged his fist on the wall that likely left a crater in its wake. "How long have you had it then? A few years? That why you wanted to try out for U.A. all of a sudden?"

Izuku growled. "It didn't come in until a couple of months ago!"

A laugh rang out through the halls. "Get real! You just don't want to admit it that you lied so you could show me up and make a fool out of me by trying out for U.A.!"

"I wasn't lying to you!" Izuku argued as he got up and began running again. He needed to find a plan, something, anything to get him away from Kacchan. Fighting him could prove to be too much a risk. "I was going to try out for U.A. before my Quirk ever came in! It never had anything to do with you!"

"Oh, that's rich! " Kacchan barked out. "In what world would U.A. have accepted someone like you when they could have someone like me? "

Just like that, Izuku found himself frozen. He stood in the hallway for a moment, unable to move as Kacchan's words sank in. All those months ago, back on the day when everyone found out he was going to try out for U.A., back when Kacchan burned his notebook and tossed it in the fountain, back when he faced off against that sludge villain and his life changed for the better, he had heard Kacchan say almost those exact words to him. He had been shaking and afraid, cowering beneath Kacchan while he held up his hands that could so easily tear his world asunder.

But Izuku was not that boy. The boy who cowered beneath Kacchan didn't know that later that day, he would meet his idol and be told he could become a hero. The boy who stood above the fountain and tried not to cry while he looked down at his soiled pages didn't know that just months from then, his mother would look at him with teary eyes and take him into her arms to say that she couldn't wait to see him become a hero. The boy who helplessly clawed away at the sludge villain while it tried to make its way into his throat and thought he would die alone didn't know that on just his first day at U.A., he had made two friends who went out of their way to greet him at school and would surely miss him if he was gone. That boy didn't know any of these things because he didn't have the gift of foresight.

"Young man, you, too, can become a hero."

"Well?" Kacchan exclaimed. He let out another explosion and Izuku knew he was just around the corner. "What do you have to say to that, Deku? "

Normally, hearing his nickname would have made him wince. However, as Kacchan shouted it out loud and clear, he found himself thinking back to what Uraraka said:

"It'd made for a great hero name!"

Her smiling face appeared in his mind, causing Izuku to clench his fist. He still may not have foresight, but he had hindsight working in his favor this time around and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.

'Uraraka is depending on me,' he thought, 'I can't let her down.'

"I don't know, Kacchan," Izuku finally replied. Then, he tucked his capture tape into his belt. "But I do know one thing…" He crouched down to the ground. "You remember what I said that day when you found out I was trying out for U.A.?"

Kacchan scoffed and his steps drew closer. "You mean besides you crying like a little baby?"

"No," Izuku responded, and his tone was far too calm for how his hands shook, "I said that I wasn't trying to compete with you. But now…"

In a flash, he leaped into the hallway, right beside Kacchan. He blinked with surprise upon spotting him in his peripherals and he turned to raise both of his gauntlets, his eyes burning with fury. Izuku raised his own hand up and Kacchan's fury was underlined by a flicker of confusion.

"I take back every bit of it!" Izuku screamed.

Then, he flicked his finger and a big gust of air burst forth from it. Izuku fell backwards onto the ground due to the pushback while Kacchan could only stare with wide eyes before the large gust sent him reeling down the hall and into the opposite wall, leaving a crater in the shape of his body. Izuku could hear his breath knock out of his lungs upon impact and Kacchan's crimson eyes widened. Then, as his body slumped forward, they rolled back into his head and fluttered shut. He fell facefirst into the ground in an unceremonious heap while Izuku struggled to gather his bearings.

With shaking legs, Izuku stood up from the ground and grabbed his wrist, bracing himself for the wince. However, when he wasn't greeted with pain, he blinked and stared down at his hand, his eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"The egg didn't explode," he whispered, and for a moment, he thought his voice would break. Then, he raised his fist and let out a rallying cry. "The egg didn't explode!"

God, Izuku felt like he could cry . He hadn't intended to use his full power on Kacchan, not at all, but now that the moment had passed, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself for not losing control. Had it been because he was too focused on trying to attack for him to get nervous about it? Or had he subconsciously held back because he knew he didn't want to hurt Kacchan?

"Deku!" Uraraka's voice cut in through the comms in a harsh whisper. "What the heck was that sound? I could hear it from all the way up here!"

"My Quirk!" Izuku replied. He could feel his eyes start to burn and closed them to stop the waterworks. "I-I just used it and—" He let out a broken laugh. "The egg didn't explode!"

Uraraka gasped aloud. "Wait, really? That's crazy!"

"Who goes there?!" barked Iida, and instantly, Izuku blinked. "Is that a Pro Hero, trying to sneak their way in?" He let out a cartoony cackle. "You fool! You think you can stand up against me on your own? How pathetic!"

"Oops," Uraraka whispered, "do you, uh, think you can get down here? We're in the middle of the fifth floor."

Izuku sniffled but nodded nonetheless. "Y-Yeah! I-I just gotta tie up Kacchan real quick…"

As soon as he turned back to Kacchan, a frown tugged at his lips. He didn't like that he had to resort to sneaking up on Kacchan in order to incapacitate him, but in the end, he knew that it was probably his only shot of making sure he wouldn't be a problem for the rest of the exercise. However, he also knew that once Kacchan woke up, he was going to be in an absolute world of hurt; he always was more wily when he caught his second wind.

"I'm sorry, Kacchan," he whispered softly as he slipped his gauntlets off his wrists. Izuku set them aside and carefully wrapped the capture tape around them. Once Kacchan was tied up, Izuku set him against the wall and stood upright. He fixed his gloves up and readjusted his mask; those were definitely going to need to be repaired.

Then, Izuku took off in a sprint down the hall. As he made his way down the labyrinth of hallways and up the stairs to the higher floors, he could feel his heart getting lighter and lighter with each step. A smile tugged at his lips and he let out a small laugh. He wasn't sure what his plan was for when he finally met up with Uraraka upstairs, but with time still left on the clock, he knew that things weren't over yet.

'I meant what I said before,' Izuku thought as he made his way up, 'like it or not, you can't stop me.'

Despite how intimidating Iida was on his own, Ochaco couldn't help but find it hilarious that he leaned so hard into the villain schtick. Everything from his mannerisms to that silly voice he put on was enough to nearly send her into a laughing fit. Sadly, it wasn't nearly as funny when she realized that he already prepared for the possibility she'd be on her own by getting rid of anything she could use to fight him with. She supposed she should have been grateful that she was only facing off against him and not Bakugou.

'He seems like such a butthole,' Ochaco observed quietly as she stared Iida down. He continued on with his monologue while he stood on guard, poised for any potential attack. 'I kinda feel bad that Iida had to team up with him.'

"My dastardly tricks have rendered you helpless!" Iida proclaimed. He pointed at her with a flourish. "You've blundered , dear hero!"

Ochaco choked back a snort. 'Well, at least Iida's committed…'

Still, it didn't make her situation any less dreary. Even if Midoriya were to make his way down to the room, Iida would see him come in and try to take them both on. The power of numbers alone might not be enough to compete with his speed and control.

"Uraraka," Midoriya whispered into her comm, "I got Kacchan handled. Do you think you can keep Iida occupied while I make my way up?"

"I can try," she replied quietly, not taking her eyes off of him, "just try to hurry, okay?"

Iida's head snapped up. "What's this? Is your teammate having trouble dealing with my partner?" He let out a cheesy villain laugh that made Ochaco purse her lips. "I should have figured! That blast sounded like it was a doozy! "

Ochaco blinked. 'Wait… he thinks Bakugou did that?'

Then, it hit her; Iida couldn't hear Midoriya on the comms. As far as he knew, Midoriya couldn't control his Quirk that well and was probably at a disadvantage with Bakugou. That meant…

Holy crap, they could still win this.

"Deku, you gotta get out of there!" Ochaco exclaimed, trying to sound panicked. She tried to remember how it felt when Bakugou first charged at them both and forced herself to tremble. "Bakugou's gonna hurt you!"

"Huh?" Midoriya replied into the comms. "Uraraka, what're you talking about? I'm just fine."

Ochaco gasped aloud. "Oh, no! Deku, get down before he sends another blast your way!"

"What?" Midoriya blurted out. "Uraraka, that wasn't—"

"Hehehe!" Iida cackled. "I should have figured! Bakugou is a loose cannon! I bet he has your partner shaking in his boots after that blast!" He struck a dramatic pose. "You two will never defeat us!"

"Ohhh," Midoriya drawled into the comm, "he doesn't know what's happening with us, does he?"

"Nooo!" Ochaco exclaimed, bringing her hand to her face in false panic. "He's gonna get you, Deku!"

A snort crackled through the comm. "Right. You want me to make another blast so I make it sound convincing?"

" Hurry , Deku!" Ochaco replied, and that time she was trying so hard not to laugh. "Before it's too late! "

Iida banged his fist against his chest. "You heroes truly are incapable! Thanks to your incompetence, we shall be unstoppable! "

Then, another loud bang! left the floor shaking beneath them, nearly making Ochaco and Iida topple over with surprise. She tried not to smile as Iida straightened up and brought a hand to his comm.

"Bakugou, take it easy! " Iida snapped. "You're threatening the integrity of the stronghold!" After a moment, he let out a huff. " Answer me, damn it! What's going on down there?"

As he let out a litany of grievances against his teammate, Ochaco took off in a running start towards the weapon. 'Now's my chance!'

Iida quickly turned back to her as she drew closer and charged towards her. "Not so fast , hero! I've got you now!"

With a smile, Ochaco tapped her hands together and leaped into the air. Iida stared for a moment in stunned silence as she floated over him and sailed towards the weapon.

'I just have to touch the weapon,' she thought, keeping her eyes locked onto it, 'one move and this will all be over!'

As she drew closer, she practically beamed. "Release!"

However, just as it was within her reach, it quickly disappeared. In a blink, Ochaco found herself spiralling into the floor and crumpled in an upside-down heap. She peeked her eyes open to peer at Iida with a groan, her blurry vision taking in the sight of him and the weapon on the opposite side of the room.

" Admirable attempt!" Iida adulated. "But your Quirk's no threat if you can't touch anything!" Oh, that villain voice was grating on her now. "I can easily keep this weapon out of your reach until time runs out!"

Ochaco sat up with a grimace. "This isn't over…"

Iida cackled. "I'm afraid it is! There's absolutely nothing you can do now! You're helpless on your own!"

"I guess it's a good thing you aren't on your own, then," said Midoriya, causing Ochaco to go still. She had to force herself not to smile so as not to alert Iida. "I'm right outside, Uraraka. Where's the weapon at?"

With a flourish, Ochaco shot to her feet and pointed at Iida. "If you think that I'm done for, then you're crazy! Just because you're by the entrance now doesn't mean that this is over!"

"Nice," Midoriya replied, "think you can get him to run towards you?"

Iida threw his head back with another cartoony laugh. "Oh, how foolish and naive! Can't you see I have the high ground, dear hero?"

Ochaco grinned. "If you really wanted the high ground, then you would have tied me up when you had the chance! I'd say that was a rookie mistake on your part!"

"'Rookie'?" Iida blurted out, dropping the voice. Then, he straightened up and clenched his fists at his side. "Antagonizing me won't do you any good!"

"Then what are you gonna do about it?" Ochaco taunted. "If you want to stop me, then come and get me!"

She brought her hands together and felt the familiar tug of weightlessness overcome her body. With a single leap into the air, she floated up towards the ceiling. She knew it was a risky move to do the same move twice, especially when the first one hadn't been successful, but it was a risk she had to take if they wanted to win.

"The same move again? " Iida exclaimed. Then, he wrapped his arms around the weapon and kicked his jets into gear. "My, you just don't learn , do you?"

Ochaco couldn't help but grin. Oh, but she had learned from her last mistake; that was why she wasn't aiming for the weapon .

"You wanna know the funny thing about buildings like this?" Ochaco exclaimed as she drew closer to the ceiling. She reared her foot back in preparation and watched as Iida started to take off across the tile floor. While she may not have been going into construction like her parents, she still remembered all the things her parents taught her during visits to their worksite. That included the fact that most buildings, even the practice ones at U.A., came with a specific addition:

"They all come with sprinkler systems! " she finished. Her foot came into direct contact with the sprinkler head and just like that, water came spraying from it. She knew that it took a lot of force to activate it this way, but it was a gamble she was willing to take.

Too late, Iida kicked his jets off and his feet slipped into the water. He struggled to regain his footing and let out a loud yelp of surprise, his heels trying desperately to gain some traction on the slippery floor. The weapon came tumbling out of his arms and clanged against the ground beside him while he tried not to slip.

"Deku, now! " Ochaco exclaimed.

In a flash, the door to the room opened and Midoriya came sprinting inside his. His mask was still torn and his gloves were now missing some fabric around the fingers. Had Bakugou done that?

"I got it!" Midoriya proclaimed as he slid over to the weapon. The tile floor allowed him to quickly make his way over and he landed in a heap on top of it. "I got the weapon!"

" Noooo!" Iida cried out. He finally slipped to the floor and nearly faceplanted before he caught himself. His hands continued to slip on the tile floor as he tried to reach out towards the fake bomb. "The weapon! "

Ochaco couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Release!"

As she landed, she fell into the spray of the sprinkler and nearly slipped. Ignoring the way that her stomach churned, she grabbed the capture tape from her belt and wrapped it around Iida's raised hand at the wrist.

"And now you've been caught!" Uraraka added. She tightened it around his wrist with a laugh. "Guess it's time for us to call the cops and have them take you in!"

"You monsters! " Iida bellowed, shaking his fist dramatically. "You've foiled my plans!"

A crackle echoed over the intercom and soon, Principle Nedzu's voice came on. "Congratulations to the hero team! Team A, you've won the exercise!"

"We won," Ochaco breathed. She made a running start towards Midoriya and slipped down to her knees to meet his level so she could wrap her arms around him in a hug. She didn't care that they were both wet and cold; she was just so happy . "Deku, we won! "

He went still as she squeezed him. " O-Oh! I-I guess w-we did…"

"All students who are capable, please report to the observation room," Sensei Yagi's voice drawled out over the speakers, "we will be reviewing your performance in the mock battle." He cleared his throat. "Also, we'll be sure to provide towels so you all can dry off."

Ochaco pulled back to look at Midoriya. "Oh, how exciting! I wonder what they'll have to say!"

Iida let out a ragged huff. "Well, I suppose there's always something I can take from this… I can only hope that I can apply whatever critiques they give to future performances."

"That's a great way of looking at it," Midoriya commended. He leaned over and began to unwrap the capture tape from his wrists. Once the tape was undone, he offered his hand to him. "Although, you didn't really do anything wrong. You did the best you could with what you had."

Iida blinked, then smiled at Midoriya. "That's kind of you to say… Your performance was commendable as well, Midoriya."

Ochaco let out a small squeal. "Oh, this was so fun! I can't wait to see what other exercises we do!" After she stepped out of the sprinkler's spray, she shook her hair out to get rid of the excess water. "Come on, guys! Let's go see what they have to say!"

"O-Oh, s-sure!" Midoriya stammered. He nearly slipped and fell into her when he tried to take a step. "Oh, that's slippery!"

"I sure hope that we don't track water everywhere," Iida said as he tried to follow them both out. He held his arms out to keep his balance. "That'd be bad for the custodial staff."

Ochaco couldn't help but laugh as Midoriya and Iida tried to keep up with her on the way down to the observation room. Man, what a way to start off the school year. She hadn't expected the exercise to go the way it did at all, but at the same time, she couldn't deny that it had been a fun experience. Things were a bit touch and go at the beginning and she worried that they wouldn't make it out on the other side, and yet, there she and Midoriya were, about to take a victory lap down to the observation room.

'I guess you were right, Deku,' she thought, barely able to contain the bounce in her step, 'our egg isn't cooked yet.'

A/N: Something that I wanted to say is that this re-imagining of the battle exercise is not meant to dog on the canon one. It's merely an interpretation of how things could have gone differently. I think the original battle had some powerful moments for both Bakugou and Izuku, but in this AU, I will be exploring those a bit differently. I'm aware that Bakugou encountering a loss against Deku is one of the big wake-up calls he gets about how things are going to be at U.A., and since things are going differently than in canon, that's going to occur alternately.

A hint: that talk between Toshinori and Bakugou won't go in the same direction as the one between All Might and Bakugou in canon. All Might had a time limit to worry about; Toshinori does not.

Until next time~