12 Contention pt 2

Once the whole group was in the observation room, All Might continued with the lesson.

"All right, well done, Heroes. You had a win without any fighting, one of the best outcomes of any battle. Now, who can tell me who the MVP of this fight was?"

Everyone was quiet, pondering the fight.

Izuku was quiet, as it wasn't his place to say anything. He glanced at Ochako, who was thinking, while looking at him, absentmindedly.

She realized that he was looking at her, and a smile and a blush sprung up on her face.

He gave a small wave, which she returned.

Then Momo spoke up again.

"Sensei? The MVP of this battle was Shinso. His execution of the plan and ability to make the opponents stand down immediately brought a decisive end to the battle. While Midoriya did come up with the plan, he caused property damage while securing the weapon. Shinso's ability made this a very one sided fight."

Izuku smiled broadly and nudged Shinso giving him a pointed look.

"Told you so," he muttered.

Shinso nodded and smiled.

All Might turned from Momo and appraised the Hero team next to him.

"Excellent analysis, Yaoyorozu. I would add that the Heroes excellent analysis of the field of battle enabled them to devise a cunning strategy."

He turned back to Momo and gave her a thumbs up and giant grin, then turned back to the main screen.

"Right, up next! Ashido and Tokoyami versus Jiro and Yaoyorozu. Go to the assigned building, and get ready!"

Momo nodded to Kyoka and the two women walked out of the room quickly, followed by Tokoyami and Mina, who waved good-bye to the other girls.

"Same exercise as before, class. Which is favored to win, and what challenges do each team have."

No one was surprised to see Izuku's hand shoot into the air immediately.

"Yes, Young Midoriya."

"Sensei, Jiro and Yaoyorozu are favored to win. Jiro has greater range of attack, and Yaoyorozu has a virtually unlimited ability. She'll be able to counter almost anything the Heroes can bring against them. As for the challenges, Ashido and Tokoyami are at a significant disadvantage. They don't have a good way to scout out were the villains are, or were the bomb is stored. Both Heroes are close range attackers, but it won't matter if they can't get close."

The whole class stared at Izuku. 'What a fan-boy!'

He continued, "I suspect that Yaoyorozu will utilize Jiro's ability in some sort of sonic attack, something that keeps the Heroes away as long as possible."

He didn't even need Avalonn to figure that part out.

'It's almost too easy. Momo and Kyoka will wipe the floor with them.'

All Might stared at his successor, a smile growing on his face. 'This kid…'

"Excellent points, Midoriya. We'll have to see how the battle unfolds." and he turned back to the main screen.

Ochako moved next to him, and leaned in, "So...I like the suit. It really suits you." She giggled and smiled broadly, while Izuku groaned and rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"Thanks! It's crazy what Mei was able to fit into it. She even added some things that I wasn't expecting."

Katsuki looked over the suit again and notice the tubular device on Izuku's lower back.

"Deku, what's that? It wasn't in your original design," as he pointed to the reactor.

Izuku looked over, and smirked.

"Uh, yeah...it's...uh...well. It's something new that Mei came up with," he said sheepishly.

Katsuki looked at him pointedly.

"It's an experimental fusion reactor…", Izuku's voice trailing off, Katsuki and Ochako's eyes growing wide.

"She strapped a WHAT to your back?!" Katsuki looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.

The rest of the class looked over at his outburst, curious eyes watching them now.

"Easy, Kacchan, it's safe. It can't go critical. It's fusion, not fission. As long as there is a supply of water vapor, the reactor gives me all the power I need."

Izuku patted it, just for good measure.

"And Mei wouldn't put anything really dangerous in my suit. I know her well enough for that."

Katsuki didn't seem soothed by this, just clicked his teeth and turned back to face the monitor.

Izuku turned back to Ochako and raised his eyebrows, chuckling. Ochako looked at him like he was crazy, but just shook her head and laughed.

Eiko walked over and began appraising Izuku's suit, calling the rocket and shield "manly" before discussing his strategy for Izuku's battle.

The rest of the group listened as Izuku went over the ideas he had, and why he chose to use scare tactics instead of just dominating.

"Before the battle of the fist, comes the battle of the mind." Izuku quoted.

"Being inside the mind of your enemy, understanding them better than they understand themselves is the fastest way to win."

'This guy is a monster; scary smart and scary powerful,' was a common thought throughout the whole class.

The second group reached the designated building and started prepping.

As soon as they locked themselves inside, Momo and Jiro started planning.

"We should utilize the power of your quirk and attack with sound. I can create large speakers to blast them with."

Kyoka was thoughtful for a second. 'What would Midoriya do?'

"What if...hm..What if we set up some sort of sonic deterrent? I read about a device that can focus sound waves and amplify them to make them painful, even to the point of disabling someone," Kyoka looked at Momo with a hopeful, questioning look.

Momo thought for a second, then poked her vambrace tablet. It sprung to life, the small light illuminating Momo's face.

The vambrace was an idea she got from her father. Her original idea was a large book full of formulas and engineering designs, but it was heavy and got outdated fast. The vambrace constantly updated itself, communicating to servers her father's company owned, part of his manufacturing business.

She scrolled through several blueprints until she found what she was looking for. A device from one of her father's military contracts. A sonic "wall". A flat directional speaker that outputs a screeching sound intense enough to cause physical discomfort, and at close enough range, incapacitation.

She looked over the design, and memorizing the schematic, she made a test device on her thigh. A bright sparkling light, and a couple seconds later, and the device was ready.

"Here, Jiro, let's set that up immediately in front of the door so they walk right into it," as she passed the device to Kyoka.

Momo then spun out a length of audio cable so Kyoka could power it from a distance.

Kyoka mounted the device on the wall, facing the front door, and then unwound the cable, carrying it up the stairs with her, then passed it through the doorway into the room they were to guard.

"Device is setup. What else should we do?", asked Kyoka as she turned to look at Momo and the weapon.

Momo thought for a second, then made a frame for steel reinforcement plates for the door.

"Let's use these to prevent them from getting through. I don't think even Ashido's acid is going to be strong enough to get through this."

She started making large steel plates that were perfectly reflective.

"Yaoyorozu, these are chrome plated. What gives?", Kyoka looked at them, puzzled.

"They're chrome-plated to prevent acid erosion. Ashido won't be able to affect them."

"Good idea!"

They started stacking the plates into the frame.

"Ok, by my count, we have about 2 minutes left. What else should we do?" Momo asked, turning to the rocker hero.

"Well, we accounted for Ashido, what about Tokoyami?", Kyoka said with her head tilted, thinking.

"I don't know much about his quirk, do you?", Momo asked.

"Not really, he just called it Dark Shadow. I thought he was just brooding at first," Kyoka said with a laugh.

Momo chuckled, and then looked around the room.

"Let's move the weapon to the far corner, so they can't just rush in," Momo said, as she walked to the fake bomb.

After they had moved the weapon, All Might's voice was heard over the intercom.

"Second Round Exercise: Begin!"

"Jiro, as soon as you hear them enter the building, hit the sonic wall. Let's see what they do from there."

"Roger!", came the reply as Kyoka stuck her jacks into the floor and wall, listening for any movement.

Mina and Tokoyami had talked very little up to this point, the avian being very reserved and Mina, well, not reserved at all.

When she tried to strategize with him, he merely nodded with her suggestions, and offered one or two bits of suggestion. He was not someone to force his ideas onto others.

"I think it's best if we just rush them as fast as possible. I can skate in, and get in close, then they won't know what hit them. You can then use Dark Shadow to attack anyone near the weapon."

Tokoyami nodded, much to Mina's frustration, but she turned towards the door, getting ready for the battle to begin.

A couple of seconds later, and All Might's signal sounded.

Mina raced to the door, and finding it locked, started melting the lock with her acid.

As soon as the lock was a mess and the door opened freely, Tokoyami followed her inside.

They got a couple steps into the foyer, and then all at once, a terrible, ear-drum shattering cacophony hit them, both of them clapping their hands to their ears.

As they tried to push forward, the sound waves got more and more intense.

Mina frantically searched for the source of the sound, and spying the black square device on the wall, she started to move closer to it.

The sound was head-splitting loud, giving them both the worst migraines of their lives, but they had to keep going.

Mina's eyes were starting to cross from the pain, as she struggled to put one foot in front of the other. She looked back at Tokoyami, eyes opened wide at the man behind her.

Tokoyami wasn't faring any better, the noise driving both him and Dark Shadow crazy.

He tried to focus on getting through the sound but Dark Shadow had stopped listening to him, the noise overwhelming the shadow bird. He was losing his battle with his inner beast, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

Mina was about 15 feet from the device and could feel the edges of unconsciousness start to wash over her, the sound forcing pressure wave after pressure wave over her, assaulting her senses.

'JUST...A... LITTLE...FURTHER…'

She felt a small tremor in the floor, and looked back, Tokoyami splayed out on the ground, knocked out, Dark Shadow growing in size, moving erratically, swiping at nothing.

Mina turned back to the speaker in front of her, and desperate to stop the noise, she lunged forward, and threw some acid onto the speaker.

The noise started to wobble and then filled with static. The speaker popped and died, its internals melted.

Mina breathed and then collapsed down to one knee, head pounding, sick to her stomach.

She was able to contain her breakfast, and after a couple of deep breaths, she staggered to her feet.

'That was brutal, way overkill.'

She turned, and ran over to Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, now calmer.

She checked to make sure he wasn't too hurt, but he was still out cold.

"Guess I have to do this myself." and she turned to run up the stairs.

"Now, where are they?"

Kyoka was still listening to the vibrations of the building, and let know Momo know that only one set of footfalls was moving around.

"I don't hear Tokoyami, so either he is down, or he's doing something with Dark Shadow," she reported to Momo.

"Ok good. Let me know if anything changes."

But a minute later, Kyoka looked up at her suddenly, and motioned at the door.

"She's moving down the hall towards us," she hissed towards Momo.

Momo nodded, and with practiced ease, form a bow staff for each of them, ready for a close quarters fight.

They both got ready, and tensed when they heard the doorknob jiggle, followed by a sizzling sound, dampened by steel barricade.

After a couple of seconds, the door swung open, and they heard Mina's frustrated groan.

Momo smirked, nodding at Kyoka, who shared the small smile.

"What the hell is this made out of?! I can't melt it!" came Mina's voice from the other side of the barrier.

"Oh too bad, hero! It's chrome-plated steel! It's acid-resistant," came Kyoka's taunting response.

"Damn it!"

Mina needed a solution and fast. She was pretty sure they were getting close on time. Tokoyami was still unconscious, which bothered her, but this steel plating in front of her was more annoying right now.

'Okay, Mina. Think. What to do? What should I do? What would Izuku do? He flew around and went under them in his battle. He didn't go straight against them. He went around them.'

And right then, a light bulb popped and went out above her, throwing that section into darkness.

She screamed at the sudden sound and darkness, and jumped at the wall, her hands hitting the plasterboard.

She took a couple of deep breaths and looked around.

The flickering from the other lights threw odd shadows over the walls.

She looked back at the door she need to go through, and thought some more.

And then her eyes locked onto her handprints on the wall next to the door.

'Thanks for the idea, Izuku. I'll have to pay him back later.'

She put both hands up against the plasterboard and focused on making a runny, strong acid, and ran her hands along the wall making a Mina-sized doorway in the plaster board. Once the melted section was pulled away, and Mina tore out the insulation, she stood back and bounced on her feet.

'Just gotta burst in there and touch the weapon.'

She charged at the wall, and broke through the other side, right into Momo's staff, ready for her entrance.

The wind knocked out of her, she collapsed onto the floor, heaving, as Momo pulled out the capture tape and tied her up.

"Sorry for that, Mina, but you were a lot tougher than I first assumed."

"VILLAIN TEAM WINS! Both Heroes are incapacitated!"

Momo and Kyoka looked at each with happy smiles, and then pulled Mina up, and helped her get her breath back.

All Might had rushed out of the observation room to check on Tokoyami, who woke up a little later, his head splitting with a tremendous headache. Once everyone got back to the observation room, Mina and Tokoyami both sat down against the cool concrete walls and rested their heads.

"Good job, students. Excellent effort put forth by the Heroes. Now, class, who can tell me who was the MVP of that exercise?"

Everyone immediately turned to Izuku, expecting him to shoot his hand up.

He looked around sheepishly.

"Really guys? Doesn't someone else want to try?"

The group laughed and then Iida put his hand up.

"Sensei, Yaoyorozu is the MVP of this challenge. Her quick thinking and decisive commands ensured their victory. The villains set traps and obstacles that affect most people at long range, and specifically set up an obstacle to combat a known quirk."

All Might nodded, "Very good analysis. It's very true that villains will sometimes have the upper hand. As Heroes, your abilities will be public knowledge, so villains will have the opportunity to plan for it. Keep that in mind, and think of other ways to fight."

All Might then turned to the two heroes on the floor.

"Young Ashido and Tokoyami, you must learn that there is a time and place for rushing into a situation, and that not all of them can be rushed. You learned that there are limits to what your body can take, and even something as simple as sound can be very dangerous."

They both nodded, clutching their heads. He turned back to the rest of the group.

"Always be cautious, and on the lookout for unusual traps or obstacles. You never know what someone has thought up."

All Might turned to Momo with a bright smile and a nod.

She blushed and nodded her thanks.

Momo turned back to the rest of the group and noticed that Izuku had a notebook out and was writing feverishly. She caught Ochako's eye, and raised an eyebrow.

Ochako just grinned and shrugged.

'He's doing his nerd out again. Where did he even get the notebook from?'

Izuku was lost in his own world, and barely felt Ochako's hand rest against his arm softly. She was smiling at him, taking in his fanatical look as wrote hurriedly, committing it to memory.

'He's so passionate and curious. It's amazing.'

He finished writing, and then reality slammed back into place, and he looked up from his notes.

Ochako had a sweet smile on her face, one that he loved seeing.

"Hi Deku. Welcome back," she said quietly, chuckling.

"Hi Ochako. Sorry…" He rubbed the back of his head, sliding the notebook away.

"Don't be," she said as she shook her head, "I know how much you like to learn about quirks."

"More like obsess over them," Katsuki injected, with a smirk.

Izuku chuckled and smiled at Ochako, and turned back to the monitor.

"Ok, Next up, Todoroki and Sero versus Bakugo and Iida! Go get ready!"