Battle Trials (1)
"WELCOME TO GROUND BETA!" All Might's voice boomed all over the area, the attention of the students fully focusing on him as the larger than life man continued. "THIS LITTLE PLACE WILL BE YOUR TRAINING GROUNDS FOR THIS CURRENT SESSION."
"Sir, are we conducting urban warfare like the entrance exam?" Tenya raised his hand, his suit of armor garnering the attention of everybody in the area. Even Izuku, who was torn between liking the suit of armor for its aesthetic or abhorring it due to the same aesthetic.
"Will we be fighting robots again?" Ochako raised her hand meekly, her already blushing cheeks turning a shade darker when the focus of the students, as well as All Might turned to her.
"Robots?" Momo whispered, confused. Everybody in the area didn't hear her question, save for Izuku, and probably Kyoka, if Izuku was correct in assuming she has enhanced hearing thanks to her quirk.
Turning towards Shoto, Izuku realized he was as cold as ever. He didn't even know if the bi-colored teen even had any other default emotion other than indifference.
"NOT QUITE, YOUNG IIDA." All Might wagged his finger at the teen. "ROBOTS ARE FINE AS TRAINING TOOLS, BUT NOTHING IS AS BLOOD PUMPING AS REAL-LIFE COMBAT!"
"Isn't this quite advanced, kero?" Tsuyu raised her hand, her tongue poking out under her lips. "This is just the second day, kero."
"EXPERIENCE IS THE MOTHER OF LEARNING." All Might's grin grew even wider as he continued with his impromptu discussion. "HUMAN BEINGS LEARN AND ADAPT FASTER WHEN PITTED IN REAL LIFE SCENARIOS. AND WHAT BETTER LEARNING IS THERE TO BE HAD THAN A REAL LIFE COMBAT SIMULATION BETWEEN YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATES IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT?"
"If that's the case, sir All Might, then will we be conducting open warfare with each other?" Momo was the next to ask her question, her revealing costume garnering more stares at her barely concealed assets, which didn't bother her that much.
"IN A WAY, YOU COULD SAY THAT." All Might hummed, his fingers tapping on his waist all the while. "AS YOU ALL HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THIS SUPERHERO SOCIETY OF OURS, VILLAIN FIGHTS TEND TO BREAK OUT IN PUBLIC, WITH HEROES IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED TO COMBAT THE GROWING CHAOS. HOWEVER, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, MOST VILLAINS LURK BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. KIDNAPPINGS, BACKROOM DEALS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, ALL OF WHICH HAPPENS OUT OF PUBLIC SIGHT."
"So, what? We gonna do some indoor fighting, then?" Izuku assumed with a grin, to which All Might answered with a nod.
"THAT IS CORRECT, YOUNG MIDORIYA." All Might pointed towards the erected buildings within the training grounds. "AS YOUR FELLOW CLASSMATE HAS SAID, WE WILL BE CONDUCTING INDOOR FIGHT EXERCISES. NOW, BEFORE WE GET TO THE MEAT AND BONES OF THE EXERCISE, ANY QUESTIONS?"
"Will we be transferred out of the course if we fail?" Toru shyly raised her hand… glove… Izuku's eyes nearly bugged out when he saw what the invisible girl was wearing.
'Just gloves? I know her clothes don't go invisible with along with her main body? Is she naked right now?' Izuku pondered for a moment, before letting loose a gleeful smirk. 'Finally! Someone who understands me!'
"What she said." Ochako pointed towards the invisible girl with trembling arms.
"How rough can we get?" Katsuki said calmly with a glare, body tense and coiled like a bomb waiting to go off.
"Will this be individual, or in a group?" Tenya raised his hand once more, back ramrod straight while he adopted a standard military pose.
"Isn't my cape fabulous?" A blond teen wearing what looked to be a sparkly costume and cape with a visor over his eyes posed elegantly like he was the MC of a fantasy novel. Izuku also disliked the costume, it being too gaudy.
At least the sparkles could blind your enemy for a moment, but the tight looking suit with little to no armor? Yeah no, Izuku was sure he wouldn't survive Undead Burg.
"CALM DOWN, ALL OF YOU!" All Might nearly shouted when the barrage of questions came in an unending tide. "MY QUIRK IS SUPER STRENGTH, NOT SUPER HEARING!"
The class settled down and adopted a sheepish look while they looked at All Might to continue.
"ANYWAY." All Might coughed and brought out a piece of paper from his costume's pocket, causing some of the students to raise their eyebrow at the action. "I'LL TRY TO ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS. FIRST OFF, NO, YOU WON'T BE TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER COURSE IF YOU FAIL THIS EXERCISE."
The class visibly sighed upon hearing that. Izuku chuckled at their worry and tenseness.
"SECONDLY, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T TRY TO PURPOSEFULLY MAIM YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS, WE WILL NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS. BUT PLEASE, DO BE CAREFUL, EVEN WITH RECOVER GIRL ON STANDBY, LETHAL ACCIDENTS ARE STILL POSSIBLE." That got Katsuki, along with the rest of the students to clam up. The thought of accidentally killing someone during a training exercise was something they didn't want to happen.
And Izuku knew Katsuki out of all of them, knew what it did to a person.
"THIRDLY, WE WILL BE GROUPING ALL OF YOU INTO PAIRS." All Might then nodded to Yuga with a thumbs up. "LASTLY, YES, THAT IS A FABULOUS CAPE."
"Merci beaucoup, monsieur All Might." The blond teen bowed with a flourish, a plucked rose resting neatly between his teeth. Izuku was confused at this interaction. Where did he get the rose?
"But sir, how will we split the pairings?" Momo stepped forward, hand on her hips as she strutted towards the front.
"I'M GLAD YOU ASKED, YOUNG YAOYOROZU. WITH THIS!" All Might grabbed a box behind him and gave it a good shake.
"Sir, isn't this a bit irresponsible?" Tenya was the next to step forward, his figure cutting an imposing sight within the throngs of students. "Deciding teams through happenstance?"
"Well, Iida… It was Iida, right?" Izuku hummed for a moment as he got the attention of everybody. "Out in the field, you have no idea who you're going to find assistance from. I think All Might is trying to replicate that."
"IT IS AS YOUNG MIDORIYA SAYS!" All Might laid the box on the ground, the fabric of his fit costume stretching slightly as he bent down.
"I see… Forgive my naiveness then, sir All Might." Tenya nodded and went silent.
"WELL THEN, EACH OF YOU GO AND PICK A BALL." All Might gestured towards the box and gave it a tiny kick. The box skidded forward and stopped just right before Izuku, who gave All Might a grin. "WHAT YOU GET WILL DECIDE WHO YOU'LL BE PAIRED WITH."
Izuku dove down onto the box and quickly inserted his hand through the hole, making out with an orange colored ball with the letter G on it. He then moved away to let the other students do the same so they could get their teams done.
A few seconds later and everybody finally got a ball each.
"EVERYBODY HAS ONE? GOOD. NOW PAIR UP WITH YOUR CLASSMATE WITH THE SAME LETTER ON THE BALL." All Might's instruction clear, Izuku looked around and spotted one student wearing a gi with a large tail holding a green colored ball with a letter G on it.
"Hi. Letter G?" Izuku zoomed towards the plain-looking teen, surprising him a bit as he noticed his tail went rigid for a second.
"Y-yes. You?"
"Yep. So, name's Midoriya Izuku. You?" Izuku pointed at his partner, who shrugged and followed the armored teen's flow.
"Mashirao Ojiro. So, you fight barehanded too?" Ojiro made a fist then shadowboxed for a brief moment.
"Not really. No formal training with fists." Izuku shrugged then threw a punch sideways, causing a slight sonic boom due to how fast it was. The sight momentarily shocked Ojiro, mouth agape as he stared at the outstretched arm of the heavily armored teen. "More used with weapons, but I don't have them here with me… So…"
"… So you punch people." Ojiro assumed and Izuku beamed underneath his helmet.
"Yep." Izuku then felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to look back at a teary-eyed Kyoka who was holding her ears. "… It was the punch, wasn't it?"
Kyoka wordlessly nodded and Izuku cringed. He may be lacking in social awareness and interactions, but even he knew when to apologize.
"Sorry about that." Izuku bowed to the punk rocker, whose only response was to sigh and retreat slightly.
"It's fine. Just don't do it again, tin can." Kyoka then returned back to her partner who was the frog girl Tsuyu.
"Tin can?" Izuku tilted his head at the retreating figure of the punk rocker, who only looked back at him for a moment and continued forward to the frog girl. He then looked all over his body, banging his chest with his gauntlets, causing a metallic gong to sound. "Well, I do sound like one."
"You are really weird, you know that, right Midoriya?" Ojiro approached him from behind, a face of indifference staring right at him.
"Eh, it just comes with the Izuku package." Izuku grinned and motioned for Ojiro to follow him. "Anyway, All Might's probably gonna decide who fights who now, so let's not waste any time."
Ojiro just shrugged and followed the armored mini-behemoth to th gathering group of students.
"ALL RIGHT, EVERYBODY GOT THEIR TEAMS?" All Might's question was received with nods, causing the man to nod along. "GOOD. NEXT, WE'LL BE PICKING THE TEAMS WHO'LL GO TOE TO TOE WITH EACH OTHER. ALSO RANDOMIZED."
All Might then produced another box from behind him. This got the class to stare with increasing confusion at the pro hero.
"EACH TEAM REPRESENTATIVE, PLEASE COME FORWARD AND GRAB A PIECE OF PAPER WITHIN THE BOX." Izuku and Ojiro looked at each other for a moment, before the bland teen motioned for Izuku to head towards the box. Giving Ojiro a thumbs up, Izuku took at step forward towards the box All Might was holding.
And along with him, the rest of the team representatives followed suit. Ten students in total formed a line, with Izuku being at the head.
Inserting his hand within the box, Izuku felt for the slips of paper inside. Shuffling them about, Izuku grabbed one slip and withdrew his arm from the box. Unfurling the red slip, he found the number 4 written on the slip.
Heading back to Ojiro, Izuku showed him the slip, to which the the tailed teen hummed.
"So, we're the fourth team to fight?" He assumed, and Izuku not seeing any other evidence contradicting his prediction, nodded along.
"Maybe." Izuku made some small talk with Ojiro for a while, exchanging some hand-to-hand insights based on their experience. Izuku with his personal experience back in Lordran, and Ojiro with his own during his time in the dojo.
Izuku may have had more experience with real life fights, but most of them were just brawls. The basics of his foundation was swing fast, and don't get hit. There was no footwork involved, nor martial art forms.
Just quick moves and powerful strikes. Since only a tiny portion of hostile entities in Lordran used punches, Izuku had little to no experiences with using his arms and legs as weapons.
Sure, Izuku and his friends used to brawl to pass the time and stimulate their minds when they were bored, but it was mostly just roughhousing. Punching, kicking, grappling. It was messy.
Which was why Izuku was thankful for some insights from Ojiro. How to strengthen your stance, reinforcing your foundation, and even some basic techniques, to which Izuku could replicate and add to his move pool.
"ALL RIGHT. BEFORE WE BEGIN, SOME RULES AND THE PREMISE OF THE EXERCISE." All Might opened his mouth, before shutting it close and taking another look at the piece of paper in his hands. "THERE IS A BOMB PLANTED WITHIN THE BUILDING SET TO GO OFF IN EXACTLY 15 MINUTES. THE HERO TEAM WILL HAVE TO EITHER INCAPACITATE THE OPPOSING TEAM OR DEFUSE THE BOMB IN THE ALLOTED TIME. DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE BOMB WILL CONSIDER IT DEFUSED, THUS SECURING THE WIN FOR THE HERO TEAM. THE WIN CONDITION FOR THE VILLAIN TEAM IS EITHER INCAPACITATE THE HERO TEAM OR RUN DOWN THE TIME."
All Might then grabbed a pair of tape measures from behind his back, which caused the students to blink. "TYING ONE OF THESE AROUND THE WRISTS WILL CONSIDER THE VICTIM INCAPACITATED AND MUST CEASE ALL ACTIONS. NOW, ANY QUESTIONS?"
"Sir, isn't this a bit… unheroic for those assigned to the villain team?" Tenya raised his hand again, to which All Might's booming laughter was the response.
"IT MIGHT BE SO, YOUNG IIDA. BUT YOU MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER, IF YOU WISH TO TAKE DOWN A VILLAIN, YOU MUST FIRST LEARN HOW VILLAINS ACT. PUT YOURSELF IN THE VILLAINS' SHOES. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?" All Might's question got the bluenette to ponder on the hero's words. "ANYWAY. NO TIME TO DALLY. THE TEAMS WHO GOT THE NUMBER 1 SLIP, HEAD ON OVER TO BUILDING 1-K. RED SLIP MEANS VILLAIN AND BLUE SLIP MEANS HERO."
Ochako and Denki looked at their blue slip of paper, before nodding at each other. Meanwhile, Mina and Tenya stared at theirs, and the acid themed girl grinned. As for Tenya, his expression was hidden behind his helmet.
"BOTH TEAMS HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO PREPARE." All Might then gave the two teams earbuds so they could keep in contact. "USE THIS TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH YOUR PARTNER. I CAN ALSO LISTEN INTO YOUR CONVERSATIONS, JUST IN CASE."
All Might then focused on the students that were left with no instructions. "AS FOR THE REST OF YOU, FOLLOW ME TO THE VIEWING AREA."
Izuku nodded and bubbly hopped, following the larger-than-life hero like a lost puppy, his armor clanking every time he landed.
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