Naturally, UA still offered general education courses, though for the Hero Course, these classes were held in the morning. Serpenshia noticed Midnight as she walked to her class.
"I thought you had a young villain to track down."
"When Foresight checked the file she got a vision of the villain in question. She said the villain was female and had a blood-based Quirk. So I took myself off the capture team since my Quirk isn't as effective against women, and suggested Vlad King go instead due to his Blood Control Quirk." Midnight explained. "So I hear Sho hasn't expelled anyone in his class yet. He usually gets at least one expulsion on the first day."
"Apparently he sees a lot of potential in his class this year," Serpenshia explained. "But I hope those kids are ready for the real deal. All-Might may be a gentler teacher, but even he won't pull any punches if it means bringing out the best in them."
"I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
All-Might strutted into Class 1-A's classroom, decked out in his hero uniform, specifically his Silver Age costume, getting the class excited.
"Welcome to the most important class at UA High; Heroics 101! This is where you learn the basics of being a Hero, and what it means to fight in the name of good!" All-Might announced. "Now while this class will be a serious one, there is one fun aspect of it that I know you're all looking forward to..."
"OUR HERO COSTUMES!" The class shouted as one.
"That's right! While not the most important aspect of a Hero, looking good for the crowd is not something that should be underestimated. Recognition is important because when you stick out in the minds of the people, you give them hope every time you appear on the scene!"
"Who knew commercialism would serve a purpose for heroics." Ben shrugged.
"Now you all submitted your early costume designs along with your Quirk registration prior to your enrollment here, and the Support Course has worked to make those designs a reality!"
Mayumi smirked. "And I helped out in that regard with my class."
"And you're about to see the fruits of your endeavors ripen, Young Goto!" All-Might beamed as he pressed a button and several lockers popped out from the nearby wall, each with a number and name on them. "Get suited up, because our first lesson is combat training! After all, with how dangerous villains are, more often than not the only way to stop them is to knock them out!"
Katsuki grinned wickedly. "Hell yeah! I've been looking forward to this!"
"Why am I not surprised?" Morimoto dryly noted.
The students were now all decked out in their costumes. Izuku wore a dark teal full-body jumpsuit with a red belt, light beige shoulder pads, black elbow pads and knee pads, and light beige gloves with blue stripes, along with his signature red boots. He also wore a metal diamond-shaped respirator with eight miniature holes and a pull-up hoodie that could go over his eyes and had long ear-like protrusions that resembled All-Might's haircut.
Katsuki wore a tight, black, sleeveless tank top, with an orange "X" across the middle, forming a V-neck. There were two black dots along the left line of his collar and he also had a metallic neck brace worn with rectangular ends that had three holes on each side. His baggy pants had green straps and knee guards and were held up by a green and orange belt with small grenades attached. He sported black, knee-high combat boots with orange soles and eight eyelets, and straps on the top. His mask was jagged and black, and as it went around his eyes, a large, orange-rimmed flare shape protruded from each side.
Ben wore a black hooded cape, a black mask that covered his mouth and nose, blue-lensed goggles over his eyes, a black and white tunic with a belt that had the Wu Xing symbol as a buckle, black and white gloves, armored black pants and black and white boots with red soles.
Morimoto wore a sleeveless fullbody spandex suit that was colored purple with green trimmings. He also had black fingerless gloves and red boots. His costume was made from his genetic material, allowing it to shapeshift with him.
Mayumi wore a black unitard, black skintight gloves and boots, and a grey scarf. She looked to see Tsumi wearing a black suit, a red tie, black dress pants, a purple belt with bunny shaped buckle, a skirt with black vertical stripes and green and purple slanted stripes that had an opening for her tail, a white mask with a scar pattern on the right eye and little ears, and white dress shoes and gloves that had pads reminiscent of Principal Nedzu's paws
Tooru was wearing a silver top and shorts made from her DNA so that it could turn transparent when she used her Quirk, Invisibility. After the last of the students came in, All-Might looked on with approval.
"They say clothes make the hero, and you're certainly proving it today. From this point on you are all heroes in training!"
The class started talking with each other about how cool each other's costumes were.
"Heh, going with the All-Might tribute, Deku?" Katsuki asked with a snort.
Izuku blushed. "Hey, All-Might is my favorite hero right next to my Dad. I also see you managed to get that grenade license."
Katsuki rolled his shoulders as he showed off his grenade-based gauntlets.
"The old man was able to call in a few favors. I'm not allowed to throw them and can only use them in conjunction with my Quirk, but other than that the Ministry of Defense saw no problem since I was able to prove I had the training for it."
"And Mayumi's costume is meshed in with her Gyrfalcon." Morimoto chimed in. "As for my costume, it's coded to my DNA so that it can shapeshift with me."
"Ben certainly wants to look like the Dark Avenger-type hero." Mayumi joked as Ben blushed behind his mask and looked away.
"Tre chic, mes amis. You certainly put a lot of thought into it." Yuuga noted as he looked around. "Everyone seems to have gone with a style that suits them. No clashing whatsoever."
"You sure a cape is a good idea?" Tsumi asked with an arched eyebrow.
"I made sure to design it to be removable if it gets snagged. I knew a cape would compliment my sparkling style so well, but I've read far too many horror stories of heroes who got their capes caught on the wrong thing to just throw one on without thinking." Yuuga said.
"Yeah...poor Dyna-Guy," Ben muttered.
"Oh wow, your costume looks so cool, Deku!" Ochako said as she came over.
Izuku saw Ochako's costume and was immediately thankful his respirator covered his nose because he was pretty sure it was bleeding slightly since her outfit really highlighted her curves.
Minoru admired all of the different female costumes, even appreciating Tsumi's sharp-dressed appearance as he gave a thumbs-up to nobody in particular.
"Heroics is the best!"
"Now then, here's how the battle training will commence!" All-Might called out as the students turned their attention to him. "Right now we're in the urban simulation, which you should be familiar with. However, this environment is two-fold. While the villain fights you see on the news take place outdoors, statistically speaking it's more common to have fights with villains indoors. Abandoned buildings, home invasions, backroom deals, banks or other robbery scenes, and even supervillain lairs. The truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows!"
"So all of these buildings are not merely facsimiles, but actual building simulations both inside and outside," Tenya noted.
"That's correct, Young Iida! Now for this exercise, you'll be separated into good guys and bad guys, fighting in two-on-two simulations."
Katsuki raised his hand. "Question; how badly can we hurt each other in this simulation?"
"You'll be allowed to cause injury with full contact, but under no circumstances are you allowed to deliberately kill your opponent, no matter which side you're placed on," All-Might explained. "For the good guy team, the reason should be obvious, but in the case of the bad guy team... While it is true that in real life villains can and will try to kill their opponent regardless of age, allowing that sort of thing here would be a travesty on multiple levels!"
"Is the bad guy team required to lose in this simulation, Sir?" Momo asked.
"Not at all! The point of being placed on the bad guy team is to get into the mindset of a villain. If you understand how they would conduct an operation, then you can more easily outmaneuver them when facing the real deal. So both sides should strive for victory. Now then..."
All-Might began reading through a script, making Izuku, Katsuki, Ben, Morimoto, and Mayumi privately snort to themselves.
"Here's how the scenario goes. The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere, and it's up to the heroes to foil their plans. For the good guy team, you must either capture the bad guy team or secure and recover the weapon. The bad guy team wins by either protecting the payload or capturing the heroes." All-Might read out loud.
"Sounds like something out of James Bond," Denki noted.
"Admittedly it is, but this sort of scenario is also common in our current society," All-Might said as he brought out a yellow lottery box. "Now many times you won't have the luxury of picking your teammates out in the field, so for this first exercise you'll be paired up randomly."
Izuku found himself flustered again when he was placed on the same team as Ochako for Team A. Shoto and Shouji were on Team B, Momo and Minoru were on Team C, Katsuki and Tenya were Team D, Yuuga and Mina were Team E, Rikidou and Kouji were Team F, Denki and Kyouka were Team G, Fumikage and Tsuyu were Team H, Oujiro and Tooru were Team I, Eijirou and Sero were Team J, Ben and Tsumi were Team K, and Morimoto and Mayumi were Team L.
All-Might then placed five lettered balls randomly into two more boxes for heroes and villains, then blindly picked one from each.
"And our first fight is... Team A for the Heroes versus Team D for the Villains!"
Izuku and Katsuki looked at each other, their expressions neutral but internally, they were a little unsure due to this being their first time officially fighting each other instead of just sparring.
"I never imagined I'd have to think about things from the other end," Tenya said, tapping on the weapon. "Fake, of course. There's no way they'd let a real nuclear weapon in this school."
"Don't forget to take this seriously, Four Eyes. There's one other element to this simulation... Both sides are working with known variables." Katsuki said. "Sometimes villains can see the heroes coming, and plenty of times the heroes will know which villains they're going up against. That's why the fights were set up like this."
"I saw a little of Uraraka's Quirk during the Entrance Exam, but what is the true extent of Midoriya's Reactive Adaptation?"
"It's pretty much the same as his old man, Regenizard," Katsuki explained. "His body can adapt to just about any situation on the fly, sometimes even giving him new powers to help counter what's attacking him. However, the drawback is that he has to be aware of it in order for him to properly react and adapt."
As the match began, Katsuki made his way for the door.
"I'll take Deku head-on and hold him on the lower floors. You're no match for him, so keep near the weapon in case Round Face comes flying in."
Down below, Izuku and Ochako had slipped inside.
"We'll case the first floor, then you check the windows above on each floor. I'll move up as you give the all-clear." Izuku said.
"Got it."
"If Kacchan shows up make for the nearest window and head for the weapon. You'll have a better chance of getting past Iida."
Ochako nodded. "The hallways are kinda narrow."
"Not to worry. I took a lot of notes on indoor battles and tight spaces." Izuku said.
Suddenly, the green-haired lad felt a stabbing sensation in his brain as if trying to warn him. He quickly pushed Ochako out of the way as Katsuki suddenly came flying in, his explosive fist hitting the wall where Izuku had been seconds earlier.
All-Might noticed Izuku's movements from the monitoring room.
"That level of premonition... Knowing where the threat came from mere seconds before the attack... There's no doubt about it... Young Midoriya has unlocked Danger Sense, the Quirk used by the fourth user of One For All!"
Katsuki tried another jab, only for Izuku to grab him by the wrist and use a judo throw to fling him to the ground.
"How'd he know what I was gonna do? Deku's good, but he's not that good!"
"I can see Kacchan's moves before he makes them. Sense how he's going to attack. Was this what All-Might and Asahi were telling me about? On how the previous holders of One For All's Quirks can be inherited by the successors?"
Katsuki managed to get up before hearing Tenya contact him.
"Bakugou, where are you?"
"Second floor. I'm tied up with Deku. Round Face broke off, so keep an eye out and defend the weapon. I'll try to hold Deku down here. If I get a chance I'll hurry back up."
"Who's Bakugo talking to?" Eijirou asked. "I'm not hearing anything. Isn't there any sound with this video?"
"Young Bakugo and Iida were giving radio earpieces before the mission, as well as a map of the building and a roll of capture tape," All-Might explained. "They either have to maintain control of the weapon for fifteen minutes, or wrap up the heroes in the capture tape."
"And the heroes don't even know what floor the weapon is on? Doesn't that put them at a disadvantage?" Mina asked.
"Real heroes are frequently at a disadvantage going up against villains, so they have to learn how to outwit their opponents." All-Might pointed out. "Take a look at how things played out so far. Young Bakugo played it smart. He knew Young Iida would be no match for Young Midoriya, so he headed down first to try and intercept the heroes, using confusion to throw off what direction he might have come from. But Young Midoriya also made an intelligent decision, making an opening for Young Uraraka to use her Quirk to scan the outside of the building."
"And now Katsuki and Izuku are caught in a fight together. It's the ultimate battle of an unstoppable force and an immovable object." Ben noted.
"Take a look at how Midoriya's moving, though!" Minoru said. "It's like he can sense what move Bakugo is going to make as he makes it!"
Katsuki aimed a blast-powered kick to strike Izuku, who simply blocked before wrapping up the leg in the capture tape. This gave him the leverage he needed to get out of the way as Katsuki tried punching again, blasting the wall.
"Something's different with him...Normally Deku tanks any hits since he'll just recover or adapt to it. But now he's dodging me. That settles it, he had to have unlocked a new power. He's taking all the notes he took on heroes and integrating them alongside his power in a unique fighting style. That knowledge is internalized, part of his very being." Katsuki mused before grinning. "Okay then. Looks like I'll have to use my new trump card."
He then glanced at his grenade gauntlets, which had meters on them that were slowly filling up, currently almost reaching the top.
The other students watched the two friends dodge each other all over the floor.
"It's a game of cat and mouse at this point. But if Bakugo can't find a chance to break away, Iida will be on his own defending the weapon." Rikidou noted.
However, All-Might, Ben, Morimoto, and Mayumi's thoughts were different, since they knew more about Izuku and Katsuki and how they got here.
"They've trained together for so long that they know each other's moves. Which is why they're trying to become more unpredictable now."
Izuku kept running and gunning, dodging Katsuki before ducking a hall, only to blindside him when the explosive blonde gave chase.
"I've got to keep this up long enough for Uraraka to find the weapon. Kaachan's temper may be longer than we were little, but it still has a limit. If I get him mad enough, I can use that against him."
Katsuki felt himself go through one of the walls, which were hardened steel. He picked himself up, grunting angrily.
"Shit, gotta keep calm. If I let Deku wear me down too much I'll get too angry to see straight. I may have power but he has endurance. Maybe I should try to wait out the clock. Keep him on me until the fifteen minutes is up." Katsuki thought before shaking his head. "No, that wouldn't work. Round Face is still searching outside. Which means I can't get help from Four Eyes either."
He quickly ducked into a nearby room before contacting Tenya on his earpiece.
"Any sign of Round Face?"
"Nothing yet. Do you need my help down there?"
"Not a good idea. Deku's been throwing me for a loop and I can't remember where I am in the building. You'd never find us in time." Katsuki said. "How many windows are in the room you're in?"
"Only two, with one door."
"Okay, check out the windows periodically. If you spot Round Face, toss something to try and knock her to the ground, then rush down for the capture. I'll try to hurry up to you."
Katsuki looked down at his grenade-shaped gauntlets, clenching his fists tightly.
"The explosions I create come from my sweat, which has the same chemical composition as nitroglycerin. My gauntlets are designed to collect that sweat, allowing for a massive explosive when I pull the pin. I only get one good shot at it though. If I don't blast Deku out of the building with it, then I'm as good as captured."
Meanwhile, Ochako had been sneaking back inside the building to check the floors manually, having guessed that Tenya might peer out the windows. She was able to find the weapon, and was right behind Tenya, using a support pillar for cover.
'Okay, now what's my next move? Iida might be too fast to try capturing, so maybe I should focus on securing the weapon. With Deku keeping Bakugo tied up downstairs, I shouldn't have any distractions." She thought before pausing. "Wait... Did I just call Izuku by his nickname? ...And then by his FIRST name?!"
The gravity girl quickly shook her head and clapped her cheeks silently to regain her focus.
"Gotta stay focused. It looks like Iida tried removing anything loose in the room to limit my Quirk. But I've got an idea..."
She quickly hopped out, Tenya turning to see her in shock.
"Hey, Iida! Running on fumes, are we?!"
"Shoot, she must have come up from the stairs!" Tenya cursed. "No matter, I made sure there's nothing in this room for her to use her Quirk on."
He took a running stance, not noticing the smirk on Ochako's face.
Izuku looked around, then suddenly sensed something in the nearby hall. It was Katsuki, his gauntlets glowing.
"This is gonna be all or nothing, Deku! I'm all loaded up and ready to blow you away!"
"So enough time passed for your gauntlets to fill up. You know that even at your most powerful it won't damage me enough to render me unconscious."
"Probably not, but I figure the blast wave might be enough to send you sailing right out of this building, buying me time to provide backup to Four Eyes."
"I thought Bakugo was just a dumb bruiser, but he actually knows his stuff," Kyouka said,
"Hey, isn't this kinda dangerous? What if that blast damages Midoriya's brain? Can he even regenerate that?" Momo asked.
"Dude, Izuku can adapt to ANYTHING given the right amount of preparation to react to it." Morimoto pointed out. "We don't have to worry about any potential lawsuits here."
As Izuku saw Katsuki pull the pin on his gauntlet, he looked over to the nearby wall.
"This is my best chance! The volume of napalm will obscure Kacchan's vision! Just like with him... This is all or nothing!"
Pulling his fist back, Izuku's arm hardened as he charged One For All through it before punching through the wall and dodging through the hole he made in the wall just the blast blew out the exterior wall.
"Come in, Young Midoriya! Are you intact, my boy?" All-Might called.
Izuku chuckled. "Never even touched me. And now I have a better idea of where I am."
He looked up. He knew by now that Ochako had likely found the weapon, and with how much that blast shook the building, some debris had to have fallen somewhere. Even if it didn't, Tenya likely forgot that Ochako could use her Quirk on her own body.
Katsuki ran over to check the damage. "I can't waste too much time looking. Round Face had to have gotten up the weapon by now."
As soon as he got to the hole he made, he was surprised as the capture tape started wrapping around him.
"Nice try, Kacchan, but your ultimate move has a glaring weakness in close quarters!" Izuku said as he successfully bound Katsuki's arms behind him, making him unable to reach the pins on his gauntlets.
"You goddamn nerd..." Katsuki grunted before bowing his head. "Guess you beat me this time."
Meanwhile, Tenya had been distracted enough by the explosion that Ochako was able to activate her Quirk, removing her own gravity and leaping over him. Knowing he'd never reach her, he tried to race over and grab the weapon instead.
"Your Quirk's useless if you can't even touch anything! And I made sure there's nothing in this room to touch!"
"Too bad you missed a spot. The second I set foot in this room..." Ochako began as she landed on the wall before taking off her helmet. "There was one thing I was able to grab hold of to use against you!"
She threw the helmet, affected by her Quirk, forcing Tenya to dodge around as Ochako played pinball with her helmet as the ball and herself as the flipper.
"Now she's playing it in reverse. She knows that Izuku likely took Katsuki out of the picture, freeing him up to help her." Ben noted.
"Yeah, but time's starting to run down. Can he make it in time?" Denki wondered.
"I think he can." All Might thought to himself. "Young Midoriya, you're proving yourself not only mighty but intelligent as well. I knew I was right to name you as my successor.'
"I can't keep this up forever," Tenya realized as he moved the weapon for what felt like the twentieth time. "Her attacks keep coming from everywhere. One wrong step and I could twist my ankle."
Just then, he felt another impact, one that caused one of the pillars to topple.
"Now's my chance!" Ochako said, making one final kick before leaping over to the pillar and picking it up. "You were clever in trying to limit my Quirk, Iida, but you forgot that I'm not working alone!"
Tenya looked out the window and spotted Izuku just now coming in.
"Unbelievable! He must have struck the wall in such a way that it knocked loose one of the support pillars!"
Ochako swung the pillar like a baseball bat, the force of the swing sending debris at Tenya.
"COMET HOME RUN!"
Tenya put up his arms for defense, but that only let Ochako leap past him and grab the weapon.
"Sorry, Iida, but it looks like we win."
"NOOOO! THE WEAPON!"
The students watched in awe as time ran out.
"And that's that! Hero Team wins via capturing and securing the weapon!" All-Might announced. "Well done to both teams. You have performed quite well. Return to the monitoring room for debriefing."
"I knew Izu had this in the bag," Mayumi smirked.
"He got the best of both worlds from All-Might and Regenizard after all." Ben pointed out.
Morimoto nodded. "Something tells me All-Might himself is thinking something similar."
"That was an outstanding strategy, Young Midoriya. I couldn't have done better myself." All-Might thought. "The future will be in great hands with you... When it finally comes time for me to retire."
Yeah, turns out that having the same power as a heroic version of SCP-682 mixed with One For All makes someone really freaking overpowered. What are the odds, huh?
Anyway, the next chapter will cover the rest of the Battle Trials as well as some humblings here and there. And yes, Morimoto's costume is kinda like the Impossible Man from Marvel Comics.