Goal: (183/200 Power Stones)
THIS IS A LONG ASS CHAPTER!!! I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY!
*Points Gun* "Smile, bitch!"
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Within moments a dispenser emerged from nothing beside Drecarios, the sunlight paling a touch with the use of his powers. The class watched on in awe at his powers whilst Momo was bouncing up and down in excitement and fascination.
"ONE BY ONE, EACH OF YOU COME FORWARD AND PRESS THE BUTTON TO GET A LETTER CORRESPONDING TO YOUR TEAM!" The class, under direction from Momo, Izuku and Ida, lined up at the dispenser after All Might's words.
"Once you have your letter you'll gather off to the side and group up with your teammate." Drecarios confidently stated whilst waving over Kaminari. The electric boy hit the button and immediately received his lettered ticket.
One by one the class stepped up and got their letters until they were all arrayed in separate groups of two. Drecarios looked out over the groups and inwardly smirked at the combinations...
TEAM A: Kaminari Denki and Ida Tenya
TEAM B: Izuku Midoriya and Mina Ashido
TEAM C: Shoto Todoroki and Fumikage Tokoyami
TEAM D: Mezo Shoji and Koji Koda
TEAM E: Kyoka Jiro and Momo Yaoyorozu
TEAM F: Hanta Sero and Toru Hagakure
TEAM G: Katsuki Bakugo and Yuga Aoyama
TEAM H: Rikido Sato and Ochaco Uraraka
TEAM I: Eijiro Kirishima and Tsuyu Asui
TEAM J: Mashirao Ojiro
Drecarios frowned as one student was separated from the others. Mashirao Ojiro, Ojiro for short, was standing there awkwardly looking at the teams whilst rubbing his neck. The teacher smiled and quickly walked over to All Might.
"Hey, big guy, do you think I can join the exercise as Ojiro's team mate? Maybe give them an example of how a proper hero would actually do things?" His words made the muscle-head grin a little before he frowned.
"ISN'T THAT UNFAIR TO THE OTHER TEAMS? OJIRO WOULDN'T LEARN ANYTHING EITHER..." The man tried to whisper but failed pathetically, causing the left out student to wince in embarrassment.
"Hmmm, how about we ask two of the other students to volunteer. If one can't join his team because their opponents then the other volunteer can do the exercise twice. Then afterwards we could do a single match between us; with them standing in the waiting room watching us."
All Might slowly nodded at his fellow teacher before turning swiftly and flashing his trademarked smile.
"EXCELLENT! NOW, I JUST NEED TWO VOLUNTEERS TO OFFER TO BE OJIRO-KUN'S TEAMMATE!" Every single class member raised their hand at once.
Both teachers chuckled.
"Izuku, Kaminari, Momo and Ida will do rock-paper-scissors until one of you wins." The listed people quickly finished their game in record time, all of them losing directly to Izuku as he used his power over vectors to change the direction that his opponents' fingers and hands moved. Was it cheating? Yes. Did he, or the teachers, care? Not really, no.
The losers pouted about their losses but eventually refocussed on the lesson. Because Kaminari was the last to fall to the cheater he was the second volunteer.
"GREAT! YOUNG MIDORIYA AND KAMINARI SHALL BE THE VOLUNTEERS FOR OJIRO-KUN'S TEAM!" Drecarios stepped in after All Might's exclamation, his fingers snapping as the dispenser quickly morphed and collapsed into a wheel of fortune; with all their team letters displayed.
"First up, we have..." The wheel was suddenly jolted and began spinning, the arm in the centre clicking against every single metal nail that designated each option. It was slowed down until stopping on the result a few moments later.
"TEAM A!" Kaminari and Ida grinned triumphantly before zeroing back in on their teacher.
"Their opponents will be..." It spun once more. "TEAM G!"
Bakugo grinned maliciously whilst popping his explosives constantly all the while Aoyama posed dramatically, speaking about his sparkles or whatever. The two groups began speaking amongst themselves for a few second before All Might spoke up.
"TEAM A SHALL BE THE HEROES AND TEAM G THE VILLAINS! BOTH TEAMS GETS 5 MINUTES TO PLAN. VILLAINS WILL FIND THEIR BOMBS INSIDE ON THE FIRST FLOOR. YOU ARE FREE TO MOVE THE BOMB AT ANY TIME." The hero boomed out before gesturing to the building right next to the class, a relatively small office complex that had five floors.
"I'll explain the rules while the rest of the class and All Might make their way to the observation lounge." Drecarios stepped up to the two teams and began explaining the basic rules.
Izuku felt that this match was going to get interesting.
~~~
(Izuku's Point of View)
The rest of the class were arrayed in the observation lounge, watching a massive television screen that All Might was connected to via his computer and the microphone on his head. The screen showed Drecarios-sensei and the two teams conversing before All Might tapped a button.
I was mightily excited for this class. So far the teachers had been far more competent than Aldera High and had made the lesson fun. I gripped my Analysis book in my hand whilst spinning my pen in mid-air using my quirk.
"Hey, Midoriya, how do you think the match will go?" Sero walked up and asked whilst looking awkward. It seemed I wasn't the only one who was somewhat socially inept.
"H-hmmmm... It's kind of hard to say. Baku-bitch has powerful explosions and is a natural at combat. His support equipment is all based off of my early designs for his hero costume when we were kids. If they work the same way, he could take out an entire floor of the building..." Sero blinked a few times before coughing into his hand in concern, it appeared he wasn't expecting a genuine answer to his question. I continued anyway.
"Then we have Aoyama-san who has problems shooting out his beams. From what I saw in the entrance exams he gets gut-cramps when he overuses his quirk. His personality is unknown to me in all honesty and his constant talk about being shiny makes me think that he'll be more prone to showing off than actually fighting..." I took the pen out of the air and began writing in my notebook again, writing down the deductions I had just made.
"Finally we have Ida and Kaminari... Both of them are powerful in their own ways and have amazing quirks. Kaminari-san seems to be able to generate electricity and control it to some extent, an awesome ability for shorting out electrical systems in buildings and possibly create an electromagnetic field that could interfere with technology." Sero was utterly serious now, a few beads of sweat dripping down his forehead as he listened to me explain my ideas... It was weird because not many people actually cared for my opinions.
"Moving to Ida, well, he has extreme mobility and could possibly use his speed indoors by merely running across the walls and ceiling... Maybe not for an extended time but he could easily use third dimensional combat tactics to fight his opponents two dimensional norms. This is all dependent on how fast he can go from nothing to his fastest speed but it is an ability that is a possibility for him." The entire class was listening in now and all of them were considering what I was saying, though some of them looked a little scared at how I was breaking things down.
All Might also seemed to have heard and stepped in to ask a question.
"IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE WHO WOULD WIN, WHICH TEAM WOULD IT BE... THIS QUESTION IS OPEN TO THE WHOLE CLASS." His query made the entire class start speaking...
"Bakugo's team, obviously!" Mina shouted out before Tokoyami spoke up.
"Bakugo's team revels in the darkness more, they shall win." His antics made a few people chuckle whilst the rest of the class just shouted out their beliefs. Momo and him were the only silent party until All Might ushered the rest into quiet as well.
A lot of their assumptions were biased and didn't take into account the quirk, terrain, experience or personalities of the teams' members.
"I would say it favours the Villains in this context." The entire class turned towards me, All Might included.
"The rules make it easier for the villains to win. The Heroes have to consider damage to the building, potential civilian casualties in relation to their quirk usage, they also have to use reasonable force against the villains whilst actively trying not to maim or injure them. The Villains' only concern in this match would be to secure the bombs and or, take out the heroes." Sero gulped whilst Momo nodded slowly, seeing the angle I was working from.
I continued. "Beyond that, Ida and Kaminari have quirks that can work long range and short range, as far as I can tell... Ida can use his speed to hurl objects and outpace Bakugo and Aoyama... Kaminari can taze someone in close range but I also saw him use a blast of lightning in the entrance exam. Both of them are versatile and have less objective to be concerned about in comparison to the heroes."
Mina interrupted, flustered a little for some reason. "B-But! Isn't Bakugo's explosions really powerful and could wipe out an entire floor of the building?" I inclined my head for a moment to acknowledge her parroted question.
"Sure. If he goes all out and doesn't consider the meaning behind the exercise then he could easily wipe out a floor." She grinned just before I broke her illusionary win. "However, if he were to do so he would make the match null and void, he would most likely be stopped by Drecarios-sensei or All Might-sensei and lose the match for his team... Heroes aren't meant to destroy buildings in order to stop villains, they have to save the buildings and people inside them from the villains." All Might was grinning from ear to ear, his face practically shining in pride.
I finished my analysis. "Team A will most likely win, given Bakugo's likelihood of using that tactic Mina. If he doesn't, they still stand a 60% plus chance of winning over Bakugo and Aoyama considering time limits, their quirks, their ability to work in a more cohesive team structure... Bakugo will most likely go solo and abandon Aoyama whilst trying to target Kaminari as quickly as he can."
Everyone in the class was staring at me now and all I could do was grin at how flabbergasted they all were. All of that time analysing Hero fights and rescues was finally coming into effect!
"WONDERFUL EXPLANATION MIDORIYA SHOUNEN!" All Might exclaimed in an overabundance of excitement. He also noted down his analytical ability in his teacher journal and notes, with a side-note to speak to Aizawa about supplementing this ability with lessons after school or something.
"LET US GET STARTED! DRECARIOS-SAN?" The TV flickered as the perspective changed. Drecarios-sensei clapped his hands and the Villains ran into the building. The Heroes were stood outside the entrance and yelling at one another, thanks to Baku-hoe.
I snickered at the apoplectic expression on the blonde-haired nuisance. He looked like a Pomeranian that was halfway between yapping at someone and choking on a dog biscuit. This was apparently also humorous to my classmates as Mina was bent forwards, holding her stomach, whilst laughing. Sero had his face turned to the side and was chuckling into his right fist. Momo was biting her bottom lip in an attempt to stifle her own laughter.
I looked over towards All Might and found Tokoyami snorting whilst his sentient quirk; SO COOL, was cackling like a madman. Ochaco-san was beside All Might and was turning bright red as she held back her own giggles. All together the class was barely holding together in the face of such a funny picture.
"S- START!" All Might stuttered out his command before turning of the mic and coughing several times. I don't think it was because of his limit either...
The Hero team ran into the building and immediately split up, Aoyama yelling towards Baku-hoe as he zoomed off with his explosions. Mina and the rest of the class turned to me for a few seconds before watching once again.
The Villains, Kaminari and Ida, had installed their bomb on the fourth floor. They had decided to gather a large amount of crates from around the floor to fill doorways and stairwells. The Bomb itself was being guarded by Ida as Kaminari overcharged the main breakers of the building. Tactically speaking it was a blunder. There was no need to bathe the building in darkness if you weren't using it for an ambush... It would just make things harder for you when you fought; unless you hade night vision, which neither of them had. My pen was zooming over my notebook as I kept my eyes locked in on the screen.
Baku-hoe made it to the second floor just as the lights cut out. Immediately he slammed into a wall in the pitch black and began constantly creating explosions so he had some light. That was a good side-effect of the lights inside the building being off, not an intended one though; most likely. The pomeranian was slowly exhausting himself as he searched and burned off his sweat at a constant rate. Aoyama was doing slightly better by sticking to rooms on the first floor that had windows and slowly working his way into the centre-most rooms.
It was a sad display though. Baku-hoe would be utterly useless in five minutes or less and Aoyama was playing too cautious, risking a time-out win for the Villains. This trend continued for a while, the Villain group having regrouped and pooled their strength in the hallway just outside the bomb room; which had no windows.
Ten minutes later Baku-hoe finally reached the floor that the bomb was on and ran into a massive issue. He was exhausted. He had used his quirk so much that he couldn't use his explosions for more than a puff.
'Performance issues are common amongst men!' I internally snickered at my joke before watching the pomeranian trying to move the crates. Aoyama was currently a floor below him and taking the slow approach. There was only two minutes left in their match.
'Perhaps their strategy to turn off the lights was smart against Baku-hoe and Aoyama... Very risky though... If it was a team with better communication and planning they would be having some significant issues currently.' I mused mentally whilst writing down my evaluation of their tactics and theoretical usages of their quirks.
Two minutes later Baku-hoe reached the hallway and finally confronted Ida and Kaminari. And that was when the time limit hit and All Might interrupted the match.
"STAND DOWN. VILLAINS HAVE WON DUE TO TIME-OUT!" The number one hero shouted out powerfully as the rest of the class huffed in annoyance. They were all expecting a more fiery match but were disappointed by the result.
Momo spoke up after digesting the round. "The Heroes failed in so many areas it is hard to count them all..." All Might turned towards the class and inclined his head.
"INDEED YOUNG YAOYOROZU! COULD YOU PERHAPS LIST THEIR MAJOR FAULTS FOR THE CLASS?" I looked at the beautiful ravenette girl as she flipped her spiky ponytail back over her shoulder, her posture screaming that she was about to enter into lecture mode.
"They were lacking communication. There were zero attempts from Bakugo-san to even work together or plan their assault on the building. Aoyama-san did attempt to communicate and plan but was shut down, in being shutdown he was less confident and took his time going floor to floor despite the time limit Drecarios-sensei and you yourself, All Might, had stipulated. Alongside incorrect conservation of their quirks and stamina, it ensured their failure." A weird feeling in my stomach made me blush a little before I started observing my classmate's reactions.
Needless to say they were all stunned by her breakdown of their faults. I agreed with them all, by the way.
"DOES ANYONE HAVE ANYTHING ADDITIONAL TO ADD?" He stared out over the class before stopping at me. It was obvious he had some other gripes about the Villain team, so I spoke out.
"The Villain team also made some mistakes." The class turned to me and were slightly taken aback at the fact that I was adding onto the brilliant breakdown of Momo. I strived ahead anyway...
"Kaminari disabled the electricity in the building which, whilst effective in the long-run against Bakugo and Aoyama-san, it could have been their undoing if they were facing a more competent duo of heroes. If they were facing stealth heroes or airborne heroes it would have made it near-impossible to detect or fight them. If Yao-Momo was one of the heroes she could have created night vision goggles and turned the disadvantage into advantage... It was a desperate tactic that, if facing real heroes, would usually fail and most definitely be counteracted." Momo was blushing as I finished, whilst the rest of the class were blown away by the analysis. All Might was apparently really happy about my ability to pick up the small details.
"A TRULY ACCURATE DESCRIPTION YAOYOROZU AND MIDORIYA-KUN! IF THEY WERE ACTUAL HEROES IN THE FIELD THEY WOULD HAVE HAD THEIR LISCENSE STRIPPED FROM THEM, IF THEY WERE NOT DEAD ALREADY!" Many of the class flinched at the last line. I think all of them were getting it now. This wasn't a game of Heroes and Villains, this was an actual scenario that could occur and could happen in their future careers.
Drecarios-sensei's voice spoke out through a speaker in the room. "Team I and Team F, come out to the field. These two teams will head back now." Kirishima and Tsu walked away together followed by Sero and Toru. This next match was going to be rather intriguing it seemed, depending on who were the villains and who were the heroes.
"FIVE MINUTES OF PLANNING AND THEN WE START!" All Might shouted as the next duos reached Drecarios-sensei. I looked over and watched Baku-hoe punch a wall and continue to punch it as he let out all of his feelings. Aoyama was positively crushed and was staring at the ground whilst crouching. Both of them were frustrated with their loss and both were staying far away from one another.
Shaking my head I looked at the two teams on the screen and internally analysed their quirks, as I knew them, and their general dispositions. I may not know them that well but you could tell a lot about people just from how they interacted with other people... I learnt all about that at Aldera... Kaminari and Ida were fist bumping though and smiling over their victory.
Momo began speaking again, "This match up is far harder to tell. I believe Hagakure-san has an advantage in stealth and possibly melee combat but that doesn't match with Hanta-san's tape ability... Where as, with Kirishima-san and Tsuyu-san they are both close to mid-range fighters that are adept at either taking damage or avoiding it entirely." I nodded along for most of the information, budging in when she finished...
"Sero and Hagakure have an amazing potential for teamwork if they communicate and plan properly. Tape traps to contain their opponents, intentional ambushes by Hagakure-san that push an opponent into said traps, the cordoning off of entire floors, the infiltration of the building and information gathering of Hagakure-san... They have a lot they can do they just have to look past the surface levels of their quirks." Momo looked towards me and then smiled, nodding in agreement after I finished.
Kaminari then stepped in next, awkwardly, but still. "I think Tsu-san has this down! She can do whatever a frog can, so she can climb walls and stuff... This building has a lot of windows so I think she's going to win it for her team." My pen was metaphorically burning through my notebook as I copied down that information. I hadn't seen Tsu in the exam and this information was very important.
"I FULLY SUPPORT THIS ANALYSIS! PLEASE, EVERYONE, JOIN IN AND DISCUSS YOUR CLASSMATES MATCHES... THIS WILL HELP YOU GET USED TO OPERATIONAL MEETINGS YOU MAY HAVE AS A PRO-HERO!" The man was smiling so widely you would have thought he just got married or something, but no, he was just enjoying his role as a teacher I guess... So different to Aldera...
From there on the whole class joined in, bar Bakugo and Aoyama. Ida provided some information on Sero that he'd heard from his middle-school. Mina provided some context on Kirishima's abilities and that he used to have straight black hair before he decided to dye it... Theories and ideas were thrown around as if this were a game show and we were choosing an option up on a board or something.
Most of the class listened when either I or Momo spoke, it was a good feeling, t be recognised for your effort and ideas... Baku-hoe was huffing in the corner though, reminding me how some people valued my abilities.
"START!" The shout startled us all out of our discussion, the screen displaying Kirishima and Tsu getting close to the building.
'Huh, so Kirishima and Tsu are the heroes... Which means Toru and Sero are the Villains...'
I smirked at the match-up. The fact that Toru and Sero had time to setup would give them a huge advantage. Add onto the fact that Sero could have trapped multiple floors and blocked the vision of windows in several places as they strategized... The heroes were really fighting an uphill battle here.
"Who do you think will win Midori?" Mina nudged me a little as she asked her question.
"Villains have the largest advantage, technically, if they can capitalize off of the potential of their abilities. I wouldn't count Tsu or Kirishima out yet but it is looking like they are Hercules and the building is going to be their trials." Tokoyami chuckled under his breath, getting my quote fully, which made me smile. There were even people who got my references!
Tsu and Kirishima nodded to one another, the former quickly jumping up the side of the building and looking into windows. Kirishima walked through the front door and immediately started searching the bottom floor.
Sero and Toru had been intelligent and used their quirks well. Tape was covering several stair wells except a single one at the back left-hand side of the building, probably the furthest away from the next stairwell Kirishima would need to take. It would bleed time from him and slow him down quite effectively. Tsu also ran into some issues with windows as many were taped over or had some form of sheets covering them. She couldn't make a visual on the rooms and thus was fighting against probability in order to find the bomb.
I wrote down some notes in my book, writing general questions and queries about their abilities whilst also stating potential abilities that they aren't using yet.
"Midoriya-san, If I may ask, what are you writing down in your notebook?" Ida was chopping his arms up and down a little as he asked me his question, his pale blue eyes boring into the side my book.
"A-ah, um, you see, I'm a quirk nerd and like to write down my theories on people's quirks... Ummm, I also analyse heroes and stuff in my spare time..." I nearly felt physical pain at the fact I was still stuttering... I hadn't done that since I jumped off that roof and discovered my quirk.
"What a wonderful concept! Your dedication to learning and bettering yourself is truly astounding Midoriya-san!" I smiled wide at his compliments.
"Thanks Ida-kun, please feel free to call me Izuku!" He chopped his arm more in response to my request.
"Then you can continue calling me Ida!" He sat down next to me, on the opposite side of Mina. She was giggling at the interaction by the way, it made her cheeks blush indigo and she looked really cute... And that is where I stop that line of thought! I felt my cheeks burning.
The match was halfway through when Tsu finally found the bomb-room. Sero had actually made a mistake on one of the windows and had allowed a small gap to be present. The frog-girl immediately seized on this opportunity and broke through the window. Unfortunately for her Toru was there and tackled her to the ground, a melee ensuing as they fought to capture one another.
Meanwhile, Kirishima was breaking through a layer of tape with his rocky exterior, using sharp jagged edges as a pseudo-blade. It was actually an aspect of his quirk I hadn't known about and thus it was catalogued, theorised upon and logged in my notebook.
Sero took exception to Kirishima's tactic though and crashed through a window, having stuck himself to the exterior of the building and slowly moving around to try and ambush Tsu or Kirishima. It was an excellent use of his quirk and also showed his understanding of the rules... There had been nothing said about villains not being allowed outside after all.
Both teams were neck and neck after a few minutes of combat. Sero and Kirishima were both puffing from exertion, their quirks slowing down and weakening in effect as they pressed against their current limits. Toru and Tsu were in a similar boat with the invisible girl jumping on top of the frog girl any chance she got and constantly throwing objects at her to try and stall her. It was after thirty seconds passed that the invisible girl finally lost her fight and Tsu grabbed the bomb with her tongue...
"GAME SET AND MATCH! WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE PEOPLE! HEROES WIN!" The class was clapping and whistling at the performance of both teams, it was good to see that despite their disadvantage they overcame the odds and won... Like true heroes. I was getting all giddy on the inside about my match.
"NOW WHO WAS THE MVP FOR BOTH SIDES IN THIS MATCH?" Mina put her hand up immediately, followed by Tokoyami and Jiro.
"YOUNG KYOKA!" The ear-jack-girl twirled her fingers in amongst her jacks whilst speaking, embarrassment getting the best of her, something I could sympathise with.
"I think Tsu is the MVP of the round. She was able to scout the bomb and stuff, y'know, and she also ended up capturing the bomb and defeating Toru-san." Her voice quietened down towards the end as she tapped the tips of her goth-style boots on the polished floor.
"INDEED, YOUNG TSU DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF RECONNAISANCE AND OBJECTIVE CAPTURING! HOWEVER, I BELIEVE THERE IS SOMEONE WHO IS SLIGHTLY MORE WORTHY OF BEING THIS MATCH'S MVP!" Jiro looked off to the side and towards the ground, her mood plummeting a little from getting it wrong... Which was immediately stopped by Momo who nudged her shoulder and gave her a calm smile. The young rock-aficionado blushed deeply and quietly murmured something to the ravenette.
"TOKOYAMI-KUN?" The bird man coughed a little and flared his dark plumes a little before speaking up.
"I believe Sero-san revelled in the dark more sensei. He used his quirk very efficiently and made the job of the heroes ten times more complicated. Additionally, he was able to fight Kirishima to a stand still despite his quirk having limited capability in close range..." His quirk shouted out a quick "YEPPERS! " before rescinding back into his plumage.
"THAT WAS THE CHOICE THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. THOUGH YOUNG ASUI WAS ABLE TO LOCATE THE BOMB AND CAPTURE IT, HER JOB WAS MADE ALL THE MORE DIFFICULT FROM SERO-KUN'S TAPE AND TACTICAL THINKING. HE ALSO MANAGED TO TIE UP THE OTHER HERO AT THE SAME TIME!" The class was humming at his words and agreeing with Tokoyami's take. Jiro was also being comforted by Momo and Ojiro so there were no hard feelings it seemed.
I raised my hand, hesitant to be seen as a know it all but the desire to push ahead anyway proving too tough.
"YES? MIDORIYA SHOUNEN?"
"I'd also like to say that Sero was exceptionally smart to provide a possible way up to the next floor. He was trying to funnel his opponents to where he wanted them to be and make them focus solely on getting to the next floor, instead of capturing the objective. He was also smart to use his tape to attach to the outside of the building, allowing himself the ability to ambush. Not to mention that his ability to go outside was never mentioned in the rules and thus he found something to leverage in the scenario..."
Needless to say, All Might was sweating at this point. The rest of the class were mulling over my additional points as well, all of them internally sweat dropping at the prospect of fighting Midoriya at any point in the future.
"E-EXCELLENT POINTS MIDORIYA SHOUNEN! A-ANYWAY! TO THE NEXT MATCH!" He turned to the screen and let the audio be played.
"Team B and E, get down here. These two teams will be up in a jiffy!" I couldn't help but launch off the couch and up onto my feet, Mina following behind me. I looked to her and smiled before running towards the corridor. She followed whilst screaming at me to slow down, which I openly laughed at, much to her annoyance and elation.
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