Here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Izuku was feeling much better after Recovery Girl's treatments- at least this time, his injuries weren't self-inflicted.
"This feels better..." Ochako said, resting on the bed in the tent. This was soooo much nicer than her mattress back home.
"Thank you, Recovery Girl..." Kirishima groaned, rubbing his healing arm.
Recovery Girl stopped puckering her lips. "Are you capable of holding back, Toshinori?" She scolded All Might- he was standing over Bakugou, making sure he was okay.
"I was!" the top pro countered, "I had the bands the whole time!"
"Oh, so this is you holding back? Really?" Recovery Girl raised a brow at that, unconvinced.
"Honestly!" All Might insisted.
"Oh, please. You were rampaging harder than Vilgax ever did." Recovery Girl scoffed. "if you hit them any harder, there'd be no way for them to recover! Especially for Ochako- you slammed her through a building!"
"I-I survived." Ochako said, weakly.
Recovery Girl rolled her eyes. "Bakugou will be unconcious for a while though...but the rest of you? Rest up."
"We're the first group to finish." Kirishima grinned. "I'll take it."
"How...how are the others faring?" Izuku asked.
"They're doing well." Recovery Girl said. "There's still 50 minutes left of the exam, but they're still in progress-"
"We fought All Might for just 10 minutes?!" Ochako gasped. "Why'd it feel so much longer?"
"Because it was All Might," Kirishima answered.
The Omnitrix wielder paused. "That's fair." She sighed.
"Do you mind if we watch the others?" Izuku asked. "There aren't that many chances to sit back and watch everyone fight against pros."
Recovery Girl hummed. "...hm, I suppose. Though you'll have more chances for it than you think."
"It's his hobby." Ochako said, smiling a bit.
"I mean...yeah, yeah, it is," Izuku said, almost like he was about to defend his hobby.
"It's been a while since I've seen everyone go all out...especially Nedzu. I can't recall the last fight I saw him in." All Might noted.
"Um...if I can ask...what even is the principal's Quirk?"
"Is it like Tsu and the animal features are his Quirk?" Kirishima suggested.
"The principal's quirk…is called High Specs. It boosts his intelligence to genius levels." Recovery Girl smiled.
"So, he's more of a support and tactical fighter?" Izuku asked.
"Fighter? More like mad engineer," All Might said, "Where he a villain, he'd be the one every other criminal goes to for base designs. Traps, security systems, he would make them impenetrable."
"Sounds pretty intense." Kirishima hummed. "I can't imagine what I'd do with all that intelligence if I had that quirk…"
Ochako coughed. "Me neither. But, I'm curious- is Principal Nedzu's quirk tied to how he's…y'know, an animal with a quirk? That's not a common thing."
"Wait, what?" Kirishima asked.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Izuku asked, "Principal Nedzu is a rare example of an animal with a Quirk."
"I thought…well, you know, he was just like that because of his quirk." Kirishima said.
"Nope! 100% animal! Though we don't know what sort of animal he is." All Might said. "H-he's sensitive about that."
"Wait...you...you don't? I thought he was a mouse or something," Kirishima said.
"Oh, he hates that guess."
Meanwhile, in his respective exam arena, Nedzu sneezed, breaking his concentration for a moment.
"Someone guessed I was a mouse again, I feel," U.A's principal hummed.
Nedzu's arena was interesting- the entire arena was a city-like labyrinth of construction, best resembling a power plant. Nedzu had comandeered a giant crane with a wrecking ball. In other words, poor Iida and his group were being easily out thought and 'cornered'.
"It's incredible...every plan we've thought up, he's managed to counter it to even the smallest detail," Tokoyami said. He and the rest of his team had, for the moment, found safety away from the principal. Safety didn't much though when their goal was to escape.
"So how do we plan around someone...who can outhink any plan?" Kaminari asked.
"I can't imagine we can." Iida said. "Our principal has tapped into a nefarious mindset, and probably has multiple contingency plans set up, each that focus our own weaknesses. Like right now."
Kaminari blinked. "Wait, how?"
Iida pointed at Kaminari. "You can't exactly control your lightning powers just yet. They're unrefined, and you can only shock your surroundings, including your own allies." He swiveled his head towards Aoyoma. "You could easily clear this with your navel laser, but that's what he wants- he wants you to overuse your powers so you'll be out of the fight later on."
"The only weakness that would provide him with some sort of issue would be Dark Shadow," Tokoyami said, "At least, when it comes to light-levels. That's not to say he doesn't have any plan in place..."
"And he could have more than one for my speed..." Iida thought it over, trying to make a plan that could at least give them some kind of edge. As it stood right now, they were boxed in by the principal's tactics.
"What's our plan then~?" Aoyoma asked, a bit worried. "If we don't do something, we'll surely fail~."
"A good question." Iida said, humming to think. The gears in his brain were turning at full speed right now.
Nedzu, meanwhile, simply took a sip of tea as he sat in the driver seat of the crane. He wasn't perusing the team, knowing that they would come to him.
"Ah, to be the villain. Not the best role for me, but I shall play the part to my best," U.A's principal said to himself, before clearing his throat, "Now, come to me 'heroes.' See if you can get past my ingenious strategies."
Iida looked around the wreckage. He hummed, looking around the place. "There's a reason the teachers chose us to work together, and a bigger reason why they chose to place us here."
"It's an interesting team up, I won't lie." Kaminari said. "We don't really have any 'synergy'."
"Well, unless you count the light my laser gives off," Aoyama interjected.
"Quick flashes of light to keep Dark Shadow under control. Interesting take, I'll grant you, but it doesn't really apply here," Tokoyami admitted.
"Hm." Iida looked around. "Is there a mirror around here, then? Or anything reflective?"
"What do you need a mirror for, dude?" Kaminari asked.
"We could possibly set up a way for us to aim Aoyoma's laser at the crane." Iida said. "That's my best idea for right now…"
"it's a good idea, but Principal Nedzu no doubt took that into account," Tokoyami said.
"Of course he did, but..." Iida trailed off, unsure of how to tackle this obstacle.
"He's practically invincible in that crane." Tokoyami said. "With any sort of path blocked, we can't even cut the lines to the generator."
Iida huffed. "The clock is ticking, and I fear that's what he wants to do. Stall us out."
"Shame Todoroki isn't here- he'd be able to make a path over this stuff." Kaminari sighed.
"A path that would no doubt be shattered by the wrecking ball," Tokoyami said.
"Think, Iida, think," the speedster muttered to himself, "what can we do?"
"…maybe we just need to be wildly erratic?" Kaminari guessed. "He's going off of logic. Maybe we just need to act…illogical?"
"Wildly erratic..." Iida mused, "...maybe we can apply that to my original idea."
A plan was starting to form.
Nedzu looked down at his empty teacup. "Ah, good earl gray. Always helps my mind focus…"
Nedzu took a deep breath. "Well, back to messing with these kids."
The principal started up the crane again and began scanning the urban maze for the team of students.
"Now, where are they..."
Suddenly, something bright caught Nedzu's eyes. Aoyoma was firing a navel laser, directly into the sky.
"Hm? Interesting." Nedzu said. "What is he doing?"
"Ok...now!" Iida said, signaling to Tokoyami and Kaminari.
Tokoyami and Kaminari began throwing rocks at the laser, destroying them with ease. Nedzu raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting move…"
With that, Iida sped off. Thankfully, the principal's crane wasn't mobile, so finding him wasn't a problem. The problem was getting close enough to deal any sort of real damage.
Nedzu was so focused on the laser, that he never noticed Iida run off.
Perfect! Iida raced off, navigating through the various streets and alleys, getting closer and closer to the crane.
"There's...that's no plan," Nedzu said, "It's...just nonsense?"
Nedzu shook his head. "Take care of the sense and the sound…and they will take care of themselves."
Nedzu began to think. This was a distraction of some sort, right? Where was Iida in all this?
Iida smirked, reaching right where he wanted to be. He stopped at the back of the building that Nedzu's crane was situated atop of. If he could race up the side of the building and close the distance, he could throw the principal clear of the crane's controls.
"…I see. This was a waste of my time, then. He'll surely try and deactivate the crane." Nedzu stood up.
"…hmmm. Clever. But not clever enough." Nedzu laughed.
With that, Iida activated his engines and raced up the side of the building. The sudden burst of speed caught the principal's attention as the engines echoed out and Iida raced up the side of the building.
Nedzu simply locked the cockpit to the room, and sighed. "Does he not realize how reinforced these doors are? He should have brought back up…"
Iida smirked. Right on cue.
"TOKOYAMI, KAMINARI!" the speedster yelled.
"Get ready, man. This could be the dumbest thing we'll ever do." Kaminari said.
"Don't worry." Tokoyami said, as Dark Shadow deployed.
The shadowy construct grabbed onto the electric student and reared back its arm. It lined up the shot, looking back to Kaminari in the giant open palm. The student gave a thumbs up, he was ready for this. With a nod and confirmation from Tokoyami, Dark Shadow threw Kaminari with every single ounce of strength he could muster.
Kaminari flew through the air, yelling all the way over. Nedzu looked over, confused.
"What the hell?!" Nedzu gasped, befuddled.
"A series of distractions took your attention away," Iida smirked.
Sparks began to coalesce around Kaminari's hands.
"HERE! WE! GOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kaminari yelled as he closed to the distance towards the crane and Iida.
Kaminari crashed through the windows of the cockpit and tackled the principal. Nedzu was caught in Kaminari's tight grasp. He squeezed his principal tightly.
"Two choices, sir!" Kaminari said, struggling to keep his principal in his arms. "Either get electrocuted, or go quietly. Your choice!"
"...this is very much a first," Nedzu blinked, "Full marks for that one. So...I surrender."
Kaminari grinned. "Good choice. I feel like you'd expel me if I shocked you too hard."
Kaminari opened the door to the cockpit, allowing Iida to come in. "I'm shocked that worked," Kaminari admitted. "Dark Shadow should look into joining the baseball team, he's got a cannon of an arm…"
"I'm not sure Tokoyami would let him," Iida smirked.
"...why do I feel like they're talking about me?" Tokoyami asked no one in particular, still with Aoyama far back where the group started.
Aoyoma was curled up in the fetal position, shivering like a wet dog. "D-did we win?" He sputtered, weak.
"From the looks of things, yes. The mastermind's veil of darkness has been vanquished…" Tokoyami said, ignoring Aoyoma's anguish. Mainly because he didn't know what to do.
"G-great," Ayoma raised a hand and gave a weak thumbs up.
"…do you need assistance?" Tokoyami asked.
"C-carry me to the nurse's office…" Aoyoma said.
The raven-headed student sighed and looked to Dark Shadow. The shadow construct looked to Ayoma and sighed itself, moving over to pick up his teammate.
Izuku, Kirishima and Ochako were all lost for words when Iida's group came back. Kaminari was limping a bit.
"…you guys see that?" Kaminari joked.
"Yeeeeeep." Kirishima asked.
"Was it cool?" Kaminari grinned.
"If you can call it that." Ochako said. "Pretty dangerous to do that."
"Yeah, I'd expect you to be more cut up." Izuku said. "What happened?"
Kaminari winked. "Special technique taught to me by the Thunderstruck Valkyrie."
"That...lines up with her, actually," Izuku admitted. The Thunderstruck Valkyrie was one of the more dramatic heroes out there. She leaned into the hero role with the same commitment as everything else she did, which is to say, she poured a lot of energy into it.
"Interesting," Recovery Girl said, looking at Kaminari's injuries. "You just look a bit cut up- no serious injuries whatsoever."
"I mean, my legs kinda hurt." Kaminari said.
"You'll live." Recovery Girl said, as Dark Shadow set Aoyoma down on a bed. "Ah, my second most common patient! Over exert yourself?"
Aoyoma weakly nodded.
"I'll get your remedies." Recovery Girl said, looking through her drawers.
Iida took off his helmet, and walked over to Izuku and Ochako. "I take it your fight with All Might went well."
"Better than expected." Izuku said.
"Bakugou actually cooperated! Mostly." Ochako said.
Iida looked around as if he was looking for some sign.
"No, the building still seems to be intact. No apocalypse event as far as I can tell," the speedster joked.
"You are so lucky he's out cold right now," Kirishima chuckled.
"They put up quite the fight!" All Might said, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. "I'll be sure to mark them fairly."
"As you should! I'm impressed with the display the students are putting up today." Nedzu said, as he unlocked his cuffs. He tossed them aside. "Gives me hope."
"Wait, you could've broken out of the cuffs at any moment?" Kaminari frowned.
"Mr. Kaminari, who do you think helped design them?" U.A's principal asked.
"Oh. Oh," the student realized. Well, that would've been unfair huh?
Recovery Girl returned with Aoyoma's remedy- tea. "Chamomile can be used to soothe an upset stomach and may aid in the management of spasms. Since Aoyoma's quirk comes from his navel..."
"I'm assuming that Aoyoma's navel works like the energy pump of a laser- the belt he wears projects the energy and allows him to weaponize it. Too much emission and..." Izuku said.
Ochako watched him ramble for a bit. She didn't understand a thing he said, even though it was on her exams.
As Ochako watched Izuku go on, one of the other teams was having a bit more difficulty with their opponent. Unlike All Might and Nedzu, this team had to worry about, technically speaking, more than one pro. Ectoplasm was...somewhere in the massive colosseum-like arena. The only reason somewhere was used here was because of the fact that, currently, the colosseum was practically filled with Ectoplasm clones.
Ectoplasm's quirk was called "Clones"- it allows the user to spit forth a viscous liquid and mould it into clones of oneself Ectoplasm may generate up to thirty clones at a time by vomiting what looks to be a luminous fluid (thirty-six if he's in a good mood).
...and they were particularly adept at overpowering small groups.
Ojiro's tail slammed into another clone. It quickly faded away, but it wouldn't be long before another one spawned in. "Sero! We need to reinforce your tape barrier! We've got a breach!"
"On it!" Sero said, swinging on over to block off the opening.
Kouda found himself at something of a disadvantage. His power was totally useless here due to the enclosed nature of this arena. Tooru was trying to figure out which clone was the real deal without throwing herself into the horde.
"C'mon, c'mon...what's something that gives him away?" the invisible girl asked herself.
"Well, obviously-" Sero taped up the barrier again. "The real one wouldn't blow up in one second!"
"Well, obviously-!" Tooru pouted, before noticing something on the ground. Normally, she would've stepped on it, but it could be useful…
"Hey, Kouda! You can talk to animals, right?" Tooru asked.
Kouda shyly nodded.
"Does that extend to bugs?"
Tooru held up a small insect- she didn't know what it was, but whatever it was, it made Kouda scream. Kouda was quiet as a mouse, so hearing him scream like that was...jarring.
"A-ah, not a fan of bugs?" Tooru said, tossing the insect aside. "It's okay! We'll...figure something out."
The real Ectoplasm, lost amongst the sea of duplicates, raised a brow when he heard that scream. That was...not something he was expecting for this. Couldn't have been his clones that caused that.
"We're gonna run out of time if we just sit here!" Sero said, looking up at the clock. 30 minutes were left in the exam.
"And I'm starting to run on fumes." Ojiro said, wiping sweat from his brow. "What's our plan!?"
"Uh, ok, ok...uh, plan, plan, plan...what can we do, what can we do?" Tooru panicked, wracking her brain for the possibilities. How did Ectoplasm's Quirk work again? If she could remember, she might have something...
"There has to be some sort of limit…" Tooru hummed. "What's his drawback?"
Tooru's mind started to go into overdrive. She looked for the real Ectoplasm in the crowd- and she found him rather quickly. He was in the middle of the room, spitting out clones.
"…his mouth." Tooru said. "His mouth!"
"Tooru, please tell me you have-" Ojiro began.
"Oh I got one! Kouda, handcuffs!" the invisible girl tossed the handcuffs to the resident animal-whisper of Class 1-A, "Sero, you got enough for at least one last big job? And Ojiro, think you can cover Kouda?"
"...what are you planning?" Sero said, raising a curious eyebrow.
"Trust me! I think I can hit two birds with one stone! No offense to birds, Kouda!"
Kouda still looked confused about everything.
"A-alright. Even if I have no idea what you're planning, I can cover Kouda." Ojiro nodded.
"Two words!" Tooru said, reaching for a pack on her belt and pulling out a flashbang, "See where I'm going with this now?"
"W-where the hell did you get that!?" Sero asked.
"Let's just say Miasma Miss hooked me up with some good tech." Tooru grinned.
"Your internship gave you-" Ojiro was about to say.
"Don't say it! You'll ruin the plan! Now, on three!"
"Alright...If you're sure about this." Ojiro said, prepping himself for battle- this was gonna be rough.
"One...two..." Toru smirked.
The rest of her team turned away just in time. Ectoplasm raised a brow, trying to piece together their plan, his eyes widening when he saw the device get thrown into the air. But he was just a second too late.
"THREE!" the invisible girl called out, adverting her own gaze as the flashbang detonated, bathing the room in a bright light.
The clones were all blinded by the light. Ojiro opened his eyes and quickly began to tear his way through the clones. Sero shot out some tape and wrapped it around Ectoplasm's mouth, to prevent him from making more clones.
"GO!" Tooru yelled.
Ectoplasm staggered back when the tape warped around his mouth, his hands shooting up to try and tear it off him. Ojiro and Kouda were rushing through the horde of clones, the former swatting aside clone after clone to make way for the latter. Without any animals to really talk to, Kouda held onto the shackles with dear life. He knew his part of the plan now and he was determined to fulfill that role.
Ectoplasm struggled to rip the tape off of his mouth- it was wrapped tightly around his mouth. Looks like he'd have to whip out...the big guns.
Ectoplasm opened his maw as wide as he could, and exhaled.
"Wait what?!" Tooru yelled after seeing that and avoiding another clone trying to restrain her. The invisible girl landed a roundhouse kick to that unlucky clone, letting the duplicate dissipate.
Ectoplasm kept on exhaling- the fluid he was spewing was growing larger and larger, before it started to gain his features. Tooru, Ojiro and Sero looked up at the massive Ectoplasm clone that towered above them.
"Ohhhh come ON!" Tooru comaplained, "Since when could he do THAT?!"
"I don't use it often, but it's a VERY useful ability." Ectoplasm said. "And this is a test to see how you'll react in any situation…"
"Well...I mean fair but,,,seriously, a kaiju?!"
The enormous Ectoplasm clone slapped its palm on the ground, scattering the gathering. Sero fired his tapes at the behemoth, who seemed unmoved. Aside than that, the tape was useless- no way it could hold him back.
Sero was snatched up and tightly clutched by the clone. "No more bothersome traps from you,"
"Crap! He's got Sero!" Ojiro yelled.
"A little help!?" Sero yelled, struggling in the teacher's massive palms.
Tooru looked to her pouch, seeing how many flashbangs she still had in there. The light did work on the smaller clones, so there wasn't anything to suggest the colossus duplicate was any different.
Tooru was about to pull out some more, when the Ectoplasm giant opened his mouth- he spat out two clones, at the cost of losing some size. The clones immediately grabbed Tooru's arms and held her against a wall.
Tooru squirmed to get free. "H-hey!"
Ojiro grit his teeth, and rushed towards the two clones. He could easily take them down-
Unless the big one also snagged him up.
The massive clone tried to do just that, but Ojiro managed to jump over the swipe, miraculously. He raced over, still being tracked by the colossus. If it couldn't grab him, it would at least keep him from freeing Tooru.
Again, the giant spat out another clone- this one tackled Ojiro to the ground, being sure to pin down his tail so he couldn't move.
"E-ergh!" Ojiro grunted, squirming and struggling to get free.
The giant Ectoplasm looked over at Kouda.
"You're the last one standing, kid." The giant Ectoplasm said, stomping on over to him. "I doubt you can do anything right now..."
Kouda looked to his teammates, all of them having been restrained by either the smaller clones or the massive one. It was easier to see the real Ectoplasm now, sure, but what could he do? No animals to give him support and he knew he lacked physical strength like the others. What could he hope to do here? He couldn't just give up...
Kouda looked down to the ground- he saw some insect slip into an open crack in the ground. He shuddered.
"Kouda!" Tooru yelled. "I know they scare you but-! We're kinda out numbered right now!"
"We've got no other choice! No time to hesitate!" Ojiro said, trying to shake Ectoplasm off his tail.
Kouda shuddered some more...his hands were trembling like crazy. He didn't want to fail here-
What would his mom think?
It was a strange thing to have on the mind, especially in a scenario like this, but you have to understand. Kouda and his mother were very close. He remembered the love and support she gave him with everything- it was never overwhelming to him. Those words of encouragement helped him get through the most stressful of days.
All he'd been doing at UA and the exam was running- running and hiding. And that wasn't what a hero would do...
The giant Ectoplasm reared back its arm, aiming to grab a hold of Kouda and finish this all off here and now.
"Time to finish this," the real Ectoplasm and his giant copy said in unison.
Kouda dropped down to the ground- and began to chant to the ground.
"LITTLE ONES, PLEASE GO FORWARD. PLEASE OVERWHELM THAT BIG VILLAIN AND HIS CLONES! WON'T YOU PLEASE HELP US?!" Kouda yelled.
Tooru looked a bit shocked (even though it wasn't obvious). "Woah! That's the first time I've actually heard Kouda speak."
"I...think that's a first for all of us," Ojiro said.
Ectoplasm raised a brow, a bit confused but he was ready for anything.
Well, almost anything.
Burrowing from out of the ground, thousands upon thousands of insects began to crawl out of the cracks from the ground. The entire scene was like something from a horror movie, something to make anyone with Entomophobia scream until they were pale.
...Ectoplasm wasn't an entomophobe. But this was going to make him.
"G-gah!" The clones yelled, as they were swarmed by creepy, crawly insects.
"Never thought I'd be so happy to see that many bugs," Tooru muttered upon seeing the swarm.
The bugs were horrifying enough to distract Ectoplasm- the large clone was swarmed by the largest cluster of bugs. Kouda watched in abject horror as the bugs blinded his teachers eyes.
"A-AH! GET THEM OFF!" He yelled.
And that horrifying image was his cue. He raced off, still holding the handcuffs and made a mad dash towards the real Ectoplasm with the insects acting his cover now.
Ectoplasm was flailing his arms about, yelling and cursing for someone to get the bugs off of him. Kouda watched him cower to the ground- and that's when he ended his torture.
Kouda immediately snapped the handcuffs on Ectoplasm, as his clones faded away. The bugs retreated back into the cracks.
"...that was terrifying." Sero said.
"Terrifying but cool!" Tooru cheered.
"A-are they gone?" Ectoplasm said, shaking.
"Yeah. They're gone." Kouda's voice was soft and comforting. "...do you need some water, sir?"
"Y-yes. I do."
Poor Ectoplasm.
Yeah exams are weird
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