Here we are, back to a story about two franchises I certainly don't own.
THEGHOSTOFSPARTA100: We're getting there. And all's good
Omnipotent X: Sorry, but I can't please everyone. Like I said, the explanation is right here.
A10riddick: Thanks
livesinshadows19: You got my message. Good detective work!
Shiro981: Thanks, and continue it I will
Blaze1992: Either way, I hope you enjoy.
Tryndamer95: Thanks, and you're welcome.
"Bakugo, right?" the brown-haired girl asked.
Kirishima noted Izuku's almost offended look while the girl's face blushed as she realized she had made a potentially huge mistake.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you! It's just… after what you did in the practical exam, I just figured you were the one with the highest overall score," she offered meekly.
The mostly green-haired boy let out an unamused scoff, but otherwise maintained a pleasant enough attitude.
"No, I'm Izuku Midoriya. I guess I can see how you made the mistake though. But didn't the rescue points in your acceptance video suggest that maybe I wasn't Bakugo? You know, because he barely had any?"
"Sorry. I figured you would have been given loads of villain points for the zero-pointer, like it was actually worth a lot and they wanted to see who'd run and who'd fight if they thought there wasn't anything to gain," the girl explained as she scratched the back of her neck. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka, by the way."
"I'm Eijiro Kirishima," the redhead jumped in to lighten the atmosphere. "But what's this I hear about the zero-pointer?"
"Oh, he stopped the falling zero-pointer by himself and then pushed it back! All on his own! You should have seen it! These red, gooey strands shot from all over his body and grabbed onto the buildings and pulled him in!"
"Wait, so that was you everyone from Center B was talking about?" the redhead asked with a look of shock aimed at his new friend.
Izuku snickered at how wide the boy's eyes were, then responded. "Yeah, that was me. But I only did it because I saw two people stuck in the path. Otherwise, I never would have tried to take that on by myself."
Just as he finished his comment, the three had arrived at the large door labeled with '1-A' in thick red paint.
"Nice style," the other remarked at the colors.
"Wow. U.A. must have had some pretty large students in the past if the doors are this big," Kirishima thought aloud before pushing the door open.
"Get your feet off the desk! Don't you see how rude that is to the alumni of U.A. who made and used those desks before you?"
"Shut it! If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it, Four Eyes!"
The blue haired boy Izuku and Uraraka recognized from the presentation was currently engaged in a battle of wills against the one and only number one scorer in the practical exam.
"That is unnecessarily rude. If you do not know my name, you could have asked. I am Tenya Iida of Somei Private Academy. And you are?" the boy asked, not quite grasping how little formalities would affect the explosive teen.
"About to beat your ass if you don't piss off," Bakugo sneered. A hint of green flashed in his peripheral vision, and he turned to see three more students in the doorway.
"Of course Deku would end up in this class,"
"That's Bakugo, if you're still wondering," Izuku whispered to the other two before walking into the classroom. Unfortunately for the trio, any empty seats were far apart, so they had to split up to sit down.
Ochaco took the back seat in the first column, Kirishima sat in the middle of the next row over, and Izuku found himself on the far side of the room.
Right behind Bakugo.
"Absolutely nothing can go wrong with us sitting this close to him," the other sarcastically commented. If they had their own eyes, Izuku knew they would have rolled them at least four or five times.
Taking a quick look at his new classmates, Izuku noted a floating uniform in front of Bakugo. Behind himself was a short boy with purple orbs for hair, then a tall, black-haired girl whose quirk was not made obvious by any physical features.
In the next row over was a large, six-armed boy with a mask, a girl with earphone jacks extended from her earlobes, a boy with some kind of cylinders in his elbows, another boy with what appeared to be a crow's head, and one more boy with hair that was red on the left half and white on the right half.
And he was staring at him.
"Uh, can I help you?"
The boy gave a final glare, then turned to face the front of the room, where he just stared as if watching the teacher that was not yet present.
"Again, all kinds of weird."
The green haired teen only got basic notes of the first two in the next row before a sleeping bag with a face walked into the room.
"Oh, you're all seated already. Not bad for a bunch of kids."
A zipper in the front of the yellow cocoon-like bag slowly unzipped to reveal a tired, disheveled looking man in all black clothing, save a light gray scarf around his neck.
Once he was fully out of the bag, he stepped up to the podium at the front of the desk and scanned the twenty students in front of him.
"My name's Shouta Aizawa. I'll be your homeroom teacher this year," the man unenthusiastically offered while pulling a blue, red, and white uniform from his bag.
"Everyone go change into these and head to the field out front."
"Hey, isn't that first day orientation supposed to be happening around now?" a blonde boy with a black lightning bolt in his hair asked as he and the other boys changed into the provided uniforms.
"Maybe this is part of it. After all, U.A. is known for doing things differently. Perhaps we'll all show off our quirks without assistance from any gear we may have brought ourselves," another blonde suggested. While he spoke, he struggled to get his tail into the hole that had been cut into his uniform, much to the amusement of the boy with cylinders in his elbows.
"You extras really think we're changing just to go sit in some dumb room to get orientated? We're obviously going to be tested or something!" Bakugo shouted before storming out of the changing room.
"Jeesh, what's with him?" the short boy asked.
"You guys will have to get used to that. He doesn't exactly have an award-winning personality," Izuku stated without so much as a second thought.
He too had finished changing and stepped out to the field, where some of the girls and the man known as Aizawa stood.
A few minutes later, everyone else filed outside, prompting the teacher to begin.
"Now that you're all here, we're going to have a quirk assessment test."
"A quirk assessment test?" most of the students shouted in unison.
"But what about the entrance ceremony and the orientation?" Uraraka asked.
"You all are training to be heroes, right? You shouldn't have to waste time with such irrelevant activities. The unrestricted traditions of the school are a large factor in why so many graduates become well known heroes."
Aizawa pulled both a baseball and a phone from his pockets, which he held to his students.
"All middle schools use physical fitness tests without quirks to evaluate their students. But doing so makes it hard to actually judge their true potential. To prove my point, would you stand in that circle, Bakugo?"
Katsuki shuffled into the circle, already excited to show those extras how far ahead he was.
"What was your best in middle school?" the teacher asked, tossing the baseball towards the ashy blonde.
"Sixty-seven meters," he replied, getting a feeling of where the discussion was headed.
"I see, Now, throw the ball, but use your quirk as you see fit. Just stay in the circle."
Bakugo rolled his shoulders and stretched his muscles as he contemplated how much of a blast to use. If he used too much power, he would end up blowing up the ball and invalidating the throw. Too little power and he wouldn't get it as far as he wanted.
Timing was another issue. Adding the explosion too early or too late would send the ball off course.
Once he got the details figured out, he winded back, launched his arm forward, and threw the ball at a forty-five-degree angle with an impressive explosion to boot.
"DIE!"
Everyone watched as the ball flew through the air, farther and farther away.
"By allowing you to use your quirks, you can experience your own maximum firsthand and feel yourself improve over time."
The device bleeped when the ball hit the ground.
"721.3 meters?" everyone shouted.
"Man, that's almost three quarters of a full kilometer!" the lightning bolt boy remarked.
"This is going to be exciting!" an all-pink girl with pitch black eyes squealed.
"Not only do we get to show off our quirks, we get to watch others use theirs!"
The excitement died down the moment their homeroom teacher's mouth curved up into a grin.
"Fun, you say? While I understand you all are children who tend to be rowdy, you cannot afford to have that attitude for all three years of your hero studies. But if it's fun you want, then the one who comes in last after all eight tests will be expelled."
Aizawa's grin grew into an unpleasant smile that only got bigger upon his students' complaints.
"Hold on, this is our first day! Isn't that a bit extreme?" a well-built boy with large lips questioned.
"The world is full of extremes. Natural disasters that carve away towns and cities. Villains that level blocks at a time and take dozens, sometimes hundreds or thousands of lives. Can you tell those to stop for being 'too extreme'? No, the world is an unpredictable place, and the heroes are there to try to reverse these events. Now tell me, would you be happy with a large association sending a hero that nearly flunked out of high school to save you and your family? Or would you prefer to be saved by someone more qualified?"
Truthfully, the students could not even argue that their teacher was overexaggerating the situation; such events still happened on a regular basis.
Their silence was the only response he needed.
"Show's over, now it's your turn."
The group of students, understanding the seriousness of the situation, prepared themselves for the tests to come.
"On your mark…. get set...go!"
At the recording device's command, Iida and a girl with frog-like features took off. Iida crossed the finish line in just over three seconds with the girl right behind him.
"Of course, he would excel in this test. Next."
Izuku and the black-haired girl that sat in the back of the same row as him stepped up to the starting line. Two dark red cords emerged from Izuku's back and prepared to launch forward. The girl's feet, which Izuku just noticed were bare, shimmered a bright purple with multi-colored spots as a pair of rollerblades literally grew from her skin.
"On your mark…. get set...go!"
Izuku ran and used the tendrils to grab the ground just past the finish line and pulled himself forward, getting a time of 5.12 seconds whereas the girl passed the line after 6.31 seconds.
"Tentacles?" the short, purple-haired boy muttered as he watched the limbs' precise control.
Izuku felt rather good about this. Even after Bakugo flew down the track with 4.13 seconds, he was confident he wouldn't get last place.
"Of course, mister hotshot had to beat us," the other griped.
"Let it go. He's free to use his quirk just like everyone else," Izuku reasoned, admittedly peeved that he had the slower time.
Soon, the students moved on to the grip test. Just by changing his hand into a red and black claw, he was able to get the highest score of 572 kilograms, nearly crushing the device in the process.
"You got 540? What kind of muscles are in those arms?" the boy Izuku had learned was named "Hanta Sero" exclaimed in awe.
The goliath named "Mezo Shoji" just explained that he always had an unusually high muscle density in his triple sets of arms.
Next was the standing long jump. While he couldn't cover the same distance that Bakugo's explosions did, he managed to clear the sandbox just like his ashy blonde friend and the laser boy from the entrance exam.
The repeated side steps was the only test he couldn't really use his other's abilities, but he didn't come in last. But he still didn't get a high score like Mineta, who bounced like a bullet between two clumps of his orbs.
For all the displays of ingenuity in the earlier tests, none could compete with Uraraka's ball throw.
After all, who else could come anywhere near infinity?
"No way anyone can beat that!" Kaminari shouted, which many agreed with.
"Come on, Deku, you have yet to actually show what you're capable of. Prove that you're still below me," Bakugo urged internally as the green and red-haired teen stepped up for the ball throw.
The teen once again used a tendril like the others had seen and grabbed the ball. The red limb quickly extended and fell to the ground like an over stretched spring.
With a quick spin and a whip of the arm, the ball was sent flying like he had thrown it from a sling and soared through the air.
With all the attention on him and his incredible throw, not one student noticed the teacher's confused and moderately irritated glare at the student, who ended up with a score of 513.6 meters.
"What the fuck is up with that power?" Bakugo gasped at "Deku's" result. Sure, he had seen the "quirk" once before, but even then, the most it did was throw a few kids around.
Not slingshot a baseball over half a kilometer.
Bakugo clenched his fists hard enough to leave fingernail marks in his palms and grit his teeth. There were so many things he needed to know. When did Deku's quirk actually manifest? Was it always there and he just played him for a fool ever since they were four years old? How did it get so powerful all of a sudden? And what right did that nerd have to constantly keep just behind him after being hardly noticeable for years beforehand?
But he couldn't ask him now. Doing so would make a scene, and even Bakugo knew not to mess around too much if doing so could put his enrollment in U.A. at stake.
But he would get answers. Soon enough, he would know what was up.
By the time Katsuki's inner turmoil subsided enough for him to focus, nearly everyone else had gone. All that was left was the black-haired girl, the all-pink girl, and Iida.
Midoriya was quickly put into fourth overall when Momo Yaoyorozu, the girl he raced in the 50-meter dash, created a CANNON from her torso and shot the ball just shy of a full kilometer.
The last three went, and the class blew through the last three tests.
(A/N: Sorry, just got a little tired at this point.)
Half an hour later, the students had recollected on the field.
"Okay, here are your scores. Your total is simply the marks you got for each test." Aizawa tiredly declared as a scoreboard projected in front of the students.
Ochaco was at the top, obviously due to her infinity score on the ball throw. Bakugo was right behind her, then Izuku, then Yuga Aoyama.
"No no no, this can't be," the floating uniform desperately moaned. In last place was Toru Hagakure.
(An important note: I based the final scores on what I personally feel should have happened. Some of the characters, like Bakugo and Aoyama, were able to use their quirks in multiple tests where others, like Jiro and Kirishima, probably couldn't at all. My reasoning for putting Hagakure in last is her quirk gives no advantage in any tests, and in the sports festival arc, we see her struggle to do a pullup. I know that she could have been tired from doing more, but for all we know, that was the first one she was trying, so I'm just assuming she has a very light muscular build. Honestly though, it was a tie between her, Jiro, Mineta, and Koda. However, Mineta had the side steps to boost his score and probably used his orbs to bounce around in the distance run, while Koda was strong enough to run while carrying Jiro, and could probably have a bird carry the ball, putting him in a better position than Jiro or Hagakure. After that, it was just a coin flip.
Please don't hate me for this; it's just what I think after a quick brainstorming session.)
"Just so you all know, the part about being expelled was just an incentive for you to give it your all." Aizawa turned off the display and began walking towards the building. "There are copies of the curriculum and such in the classroom."
Hagakure let out a very, very relieved sigh as she and the others returned to the classroom.
"Man, I was so scared for a second! How would I tell my parents I got expelled on the first day for something I didn't even do?" the invisible girl ranted to Uraraka and Yaoyorozu.
"Wow, that was nerve-wracking. But still, I love a challenge!" Kirishima blurted as he, Kaminari, Sero, and a reluctant Bakugo walked into the room.
As promised, each desk had a freshly printed stack of papers on top. Overall, there was a lot to take in. Art History, Mathematics, and English, for some reason, were just a few of the classes in the future.
On the way out, Izuku waited for a certain crow-headed classmate.
"Tokoyami, right?" he asked as the teen in question walked through the main doors.
"That is I. How may I be of assistance?"
"Well, I was wondering about your quirk. From what I can tell from the tests, it's sentient. Was it always like that, or was it more of a puppet before developing its own awareness? And do you two share a mind?"
A large, bird-shaped shadow emerged from where Tokoyami's navel would be under his shirt.
"Heya! Dark Shadow here! To answer your questions, I have always had my own free will. And we do not share a mind, but we do have similar thought processes from being connected for so long," the entity explained.
"If I may ask you a question, why do you want to know?" Tokoyami questioned. Dark Shadow quickly nodded, signaling his agreement.
"Well, I also have a second being in my body. Only, they and I share a mind to an extent, and they practically live in me. But that's how I get my tendrils and other powers, I simply draw from their power," Izuku replied.
Tokoyami gave him a questioning look and Dark Shadow quickly got up in his face.
"No offense kid, but I find that hard to believe. Sentient quirks are just about nonexistent, after all."
Izuku quickly looked around, doing his best to make sure no one was too close. Apparently satisfied, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow watched as the full left side of Izuku's face took on a more menacing appearance.
"Better watch your mouth, Chicken Breast," the other threatened. Dark Shadow returned the name-calling, and the two hosts just watched in silence.
Izuku's right eye rolled, disturbing all three of them, as that was the first time he realized his eyes could rotate independently when the two shared his face. Izuku watched Dark Shadow's behavior and noted the way he had his own body stemming from Tokoyami.
Izuku pushed the other back long enough to roll up his left sleeve and extend a mass of the red and black sludge from his shoulder.
The stalked, bulbous growth receded in some spots while others grew or stretched. A mouth-like hole quickly filled in with narrow yet long teeth that looked sharp enough to puncture through a tire.
Two white splotches swirled into crescent moon shapes before stretching towards the top, eventually curling up at the points. The black veins thickened around the eyes as lines like roots crept a mere half inch into the white pools before coming together to form randomized, jagged edges inside the eyes.
The toothed mouth grinned evilly at Izuku's classmates. "Well, I kind of like this."
"Believe me now?"
"While the odds of two sentient quirks being in the same class are astronomically low, I must admit that I believe you now," the crow-headed teen offered, wary of the growth from Izuku's shoulder that lengthened and approached Dark Shadow.
"Hey, get your own personal space, Slimeball!" Dark Shadow flew around to Tokoyami's other side, followed by the collection of red, black, and white.
Izuku sighed and pulled something from his pocket. Tokoyami observed his classmate unwrap what appeared to be a piece of chocolate, which the growth chomped out of Izuku's fingers just fast enough to leave a slight afterimage.
"So, you and I each have partners of the shadows."
"Not quite how I would put it, but I guess," Izuku shrugged. The other inside him retreated, leaving just Tokoyami and Dark Shadow.
"Man, that is some freaky stuff. And that's coming from me," Dark Shadow commented.
The dark purple and black entity returned to Tokoyami.
"This is where I must part. I shall see you tomorrow," Tokoyami said as he left Izuku. The two waved, and Izuku walked in silence all the way back to the train.
It was only the first day and he already made more friends than he ever had at Aldera. U.A. was going to be great!
Most of the second day was surprisingly uninteresting. Sure, all of the classes were taught by professional heroes, all of whom were more than willing to sign Izuku's notebooks, but that hardly made up for the fact that there was only one class everyone actually looked forward to.
"I am…"
Everyone turned to the door, already knowing just from the voice who was about to appear. Five large, meaty fingers wrapped around the edge of the door and pushed it open.
"...entering the room like a normal person!"
All Might himself, the Symbol of Peace and number one hero in all of Japan, walked across the front of the room in an extremely exaggerated fashion.
"That's not a very normal way to enter a room," most of the students thought after their comments about him ceased.
"As you can probably tell, I will be your Hero Basic Training teacher. Many of your credits both this year and your future years will revolve around this class and any related classes. But enough chit-chat. Today we have…" the muscular man announced, holding out a card with "BATTLE" written in bright, bold font.
"Battle training? Right off the bat?" Jiro questioned.
"I guess it makes sense. This is a better way to get to know each other's quirks than the assessment test, and we can see them put to better use," Kaminari suggested.
"Don't think that's all! I'm sure you've all been waiting for these! Please change, then gather in Ground Beta!"
Four shelves extended from the walls, revealing suitcases labeled from 1 to 20.
Nearly all of the students rushed to grab their gear and ran to the changing rooms. A few, like Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, were calmer and more "rational", as Aizawa likely would have put it.
However, Izuku soon discovered that there was no suitcase numbered 18. He slapped his forehead in realization, as he had never actually sent in any kind of costume request. He had gotten so carried away training and practicing that it had never crossed his mind.
"Who needs a suit when you and I have each other?" the other asked. A point was made; Izuku could harden the skin he changed, or use Red One if necessary.
He traversed the grounds, eventually coming to an area that looked remarkably similar to where his practical exam had been held.
"There's an old saying that goes, 'The clothes make the man'. With that said, keep in mind that by donning your costumes, you are officially hero trainees."
As All Might looked upon his students, a sense of fatherly pride welled up in his chest.
"You all look awesome!"
At least half of the class either blushed, cheered, or did both at the praise.
Izuku, who had stuck to the back, inspected the costumes and made mental notes that he would transcribe into his notebook later.
Some, like Iida's half knight half racecar design, looked cool and had some apparent functionality. But others, like Mineta's diaper and Yaoyorozu's leotard and belt left much to be desired.
"So, let's get started."
The large man pulled a clipboard from behind his back and flipped through a few pages.
"You didn't get a costume?" Ochaco asked, leaning close so she could whisper. Izuku blushed a little at the closing distance between them, but forced his mind to focus.
"Well, no. I honestly never sent in a design, and I think my abilities should be enough as they are."
"You're lucky that you don't have to worry about clothes. Mine was somehow redesigned to be skin tight, but I didn't find out until I changed into it just a few minutes ago."
Ah! Here we go!" All Might said, drawing everyone's attention to him. "As I stated earlier, you will be conducting battle training today. Specifically, indoor scenarios. While large scale battles that happen in the open get more media attention, there is actually a higher rate of indoor occurrences. Naturally, the smartest villains would hide in the shadows. So that's why you'll be split into groups of two and-"
"Aren't we going to be given basic fighting lessons beforehand?" Asui, the frog-like girl, asked.
"That's what this is for! To find out the best application of your individual quirks and skills under the specific conditions. Now then, the scenario for today is as follows: two villains have hidden a nuclear weapon inside a hideout. The heroes must catch the villains or touch the weapon to retrieve it to win. The villains only have to catch the heroes first or wait for time to run out. Any questions?"
"Will we form our own groups or will they be decided for us?"
"Isn't this cape magnificent?"
"Will we be punished with expulsion like with Mister Aizawa?"
"Are we still allowed to beat our enemies up?"
"Such a range of questions! They will be decided by drawing lots. That cape is very sparkly. Not at all. I am not a fan of expelling students unless absolutely necessary. And yes, but only to an extent. Now then…"
A box labelled "Lots" was procured from who-knows-where and given a gentle shake.
"Isn't that unprofessional? To pair us up so haphazardly?" Iida asked.
"Actually, pro heroes tend to form groups with anyone who's around and other agencies. It could be preparation for future teamwork," Izuku interjected.
"That makes a lot more sense now that you mention it."
"If that's all, let's begin."
(I put the names in a random team generator and mixed until two certain people were in groups that I thought would work best with the story)
Team A: Ojiro and Ashido
Team B: Mineta and Koda
Team C: Asui and Sato
Team D: Jiro and Todoroki
Team E: Shoji and Sero
Team F: Izuku and Tokoyami
Team G: Yaoyorozu and Aoyama
Team H: Uraraka and Kirishima
Team I: Iida and Hagakure
Team J: Kaminari and Bakugo
"Now, let's see who's up first!"
All Might dug around two boxes labeled "Villain" and "Hero". He grabbed one ball from each and pulled them out, keeping both hidden for a dramatic reveal.
"The first teams are… these two!"
Bakugo and Kaminari were to play the villains whereas Mineta and Koda would be the heroes in the exercise.
Izuku already knew Bakugo could win alone. Koda had yet to say a single word to anyone in class, and Mineta probably wasn't prepared for Bakugo's aggressive fighting style.
After that would be Izuku and Tokoyami as heroes against Jiro and Todoroki as villains. After them would be Ojiro and Ashido versus Asui and Sato, then Iida and Hagakure versus Shoji and Sero, and lastly Yaoyorozu and Aoyama against Uraraka and Kirishima.
"Great! Everyone except for the first two teams, please head over to the monitor room. I shall join you after a few words with the first two teams."
As requested, sixteen of the students left the teacher and their four classmates. Once they were gone, All Might led both teams to the building that the exercise would take place in.
"Villain team, head on in and get ready."
Bakugo quickly stormed into the building with Kaminari on his heels.
"So, what's the plan? Your explosions and my electricity are a powerful combo. Do we wait for them to come to us, or rush in and try to take them down as soon as possible?"
"Just guard the weapon, you damn extra. I'll do the fighting," Bakugo sneered.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Kirishima asked Izuku as he stared intently on the screen.
"I think Bakugo's going to immediately leave the weapon to take down Mineta and Koda. He's always been a natural combatant, and has aggression to spare. I don't know about Kaminari, though. But if he stays and guards the weapon just in case, they should win easily.
Just over a minute later, All Might dashed into the monitor room and plugged an earpiece into his ear.
"Alrighty! Let's get this show on the road! Teams B and J, begin!"
To say the first exercise was quick would be an understatement; Bakugo single handedly found, fought, and wrapped both "Heroes" in capture tape in five minutes thirteen seconds flat.
"You really called that one," Kirishima said in awe of the blonde's natural combat ability.
"Yeah, wish us luck," Izuku replied as he, Tokoyami, Jiro and Todoroki all left for the same building the previous two teams used.
When the two crossed paths, Bakugo shot Izuku a glare, which the green and red-haired teen promptly shrugged off.
"Good luck, guys," Izuku said to Jiro and Todoroki. The girl gave him a thumbs up and returned the favor. Todoroki just glanced over his shoulder for half a second before walking away like nothing happened.
"It must be fate. Two hosts of darkness in a battle to the end," Tokoyami declared. Dark Shadow popped out from under the teen's cloak.
"Yeah, let's do this!"
It was strange. Dark Shadow, a literal shadow being, had a rather carefree attitude whereas Tokoyami was the one with the dark and serious attitude. Izuku really figured it would have been the other way around.
"If you get in our way, I will cook you and eat you for dinner." Izuku's other grew from the host's shoulder and got right up in Dark Shadow's face with the comment.
"Ah, shove it up your own, Spitball!"
"That doesn't really make sense,'' Izuku said with an eye roll. But at the same time, his other… man, he wished they would just choose a name already… already had a competitive bond with Dark Shadow.
"What the…?" Bakugo thought to himself as he watched the goo speak to Crowface and Crowface II.
Luckily for him, his confusion was matched by the others around him.
"What is that? Do they both have sentient quirks?" Raccoon Eyes asked.
"It would appear so. But judging from its appearance, it doesn't look too friendly," Four Eyes commented.
"It certainly lacks glamor," Sparkles commented with another fancy gesture.
"Damn it Deku. Did you hide that from me since we were kids? But there's no way a nerd like you wouldn't show off a quirk as soon as you got it. There's clearly something else going on."
"Next round, begin!"
"So, how shall we proceed?"
Izuku thought it over, not there was a lot he could use. Given Jiro's extended earlobes with jacks, he was pretty confident that she had some kind of hearing quirk.
Then there was Shoto Todoroki. Chances were he was related to Enji Todoroki, better known as the number two hero, Endeavor. But that didn't explain the ice covering his entire left side. However, he still had to expect both powerful ice and fire attacks if they wanted to win.
"Okay, I think I have an idea. You and Dark Shadow will go around the left and check the side and back windows. I'll check the front and right side. Whoever finds them will tell the other where. If they're towards the middle, we sneak in the top and make our way down. Sound good?"
"Excellent. Let's go, Dark Shadow. Our foes await us."
"Roger that!" the large shadow replied with a mock salute before flying ahead and scanning the upper windows.
Izuku decided to use his fingertips and covered shoes to climb the wall, rather than the tendrils. If he was right about Jiro's quirk, a quieter approach would be better.
They weren't on the first, second, or third floors from what the teammates could tell.
"Midoriya, Dark Shadow has found them. They're on the fourth floor, towards the back of the building."
"Good. I'll be right there." Izuku dropped and caught himself with three tendrils. Once his feet hit the ground, he ran around to the back, where the two beings were waiting.
"They are right above us. However, I do fear they may have caught a glimpse of Dark Shadow and have prepared to fight."
"Sorry,"
"It's all good," Izuku assured the black bird. "If they're ready for us, it'd be rude to keep them waiting."
"They're coming! From the hallway!"
Todoroki immediately prepared to freeze the "heroes" in place with a controlled blast of ice. Something red poked into the doorway, and was instantaneously frozen on the spot.
"Wait! They're… outside?"
Todoroki turned to Jiro. Confusion was written all over her face as she glanced around the floor.
"No wait, there's a few signals inside with a lot more outside. I can't accurately locate them." She pulled the earphone jacks out of the wall and ground.
"Sorry, but they're using my own recon strategy against me."
"Seems like they're trying to distract us. Keep your eyes open and tell me if you see anything."
"I must say, this is a pretty good plan for something whipped up on the spot."
Izuku grinned at the compliment as he scaled the outside walls, using tendrils to tap wherever they could reach. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, on the other hand, were approaching the "villains" from the inside. Dark Shadow's job was to rush around and make as much interference as he could by tapping, scraping, and bumping into the walls and ceilings.
"Thanks. But don't get distracted. We haven't gotten the weapon yet."
Izuku opened a window on the fifth floor and crawled in.
By focusing on his hands, he was able to change them into crimson claws sharp enough to attack and defend, but not sharp enough to deal any serious cuts.
"Just remember, don't hurt them too bad." The head grew from his upper arm and smiled at him.
"Come on! Let's just have some fun!"
"Fine," Izuku sighed. The grinning glob morphed into Izuku's own face, resulting in what looked like a demon trying to pass as a human.
A hellish laughter broke out from within the building, sending chills down more than a few spines.
A/N: And here we go. Did you like the build up? What do you think? Anyways, take care of yourselves.