Battle Trials (2)
"Spacey room." Izuku observed while he hummed a tune, to which Ojiro winced and took a step away from the humming armored teen, as did the rest of the students following All Might.
The room was dark, save for the only source of light being the various screens adorned on the walls showcasing the areas where the two teams were going to do battle.
One of the screens showed Ochako and Denki conversing with each other with slight frowns on their faces. As for what they were talking about, Izuku didn't hear. It seemed the TVs didn't come with audio.
Another one of the screens saw to Tenya blabbering something to Mina, who had a grimace on her face as the tirade continued. There was no audio, something that All Might probably had a hand in to make sure their conversations are kept silent. A stupid idea, if you asked Izuku.
How were the others supposed to learn from their mistakes when they can't even hear what their tactics are? But hey, he was just a student here, and no matter what Nezu says about him being his favorite, he doubted he could just take control of the class and have them go battle royal in one of the buildings.
Chaotic fights were more fun, plus, the more you participate in one, the more your awareness and skills grow. Can't survive for more than a few seconds if all you did was focus on the enemy in front of you while ignoring one from the back.
That's how Izuku learned in Lordran. Always be aware of your surroundings. He still hadn't forgotten how many times he rolled off a cliff or ledge while dodging an attack from a measly hollow, resulting in his demise via gravity, the strongest boss in Lordran.
Now there's a thought. Izuku would have to run it by Nezu, but knowing the rat's tendencies, it was a guarantee. He couldn't wait for their next practical exercise.
With a grin forming underneath his helmet, hiding the sight from the rest of the class, Izuku's eyes widened when he realized that the fight was already ongoing. Shaking his head from the stupor, he analyzed the heart-pounding action being shown on screen.
Mina was skating around both Denki and Ochako, the former of which was trying, and failing, to shock the grinning pink girl, due to the fact that Denki was too scared to even touch the acid-themed girl. Also, friendly fire.
Ochako, meanwhile, was the same as Denki, too scared to approach due to the sizzling liquid that was melting through the floor, but she had a look of determination riding on her face.
Looking to another screen, Tenya was standing still, alone inside the room where they placed the bomb prop. Izuku was a bit confused, but hey, if they had a plan, then they had a plan. At least it seems to be working.
Glancing back at the other monitor, Izuku's eyes widened once more because of what was on screen. Ochako was straddling Mina and trying to get a grip on her wrists. Behind her, Denki was rushing forward with the capture tape in his hand.
"What? What just happened?" Izuku asked the one right next to him, who happened to be Tsuyu.
"Uraraka tackled Ashido to the ground, kero." Tsuyu put a finger under her chin and hummed. "I don't know why it worked, but it did, kero."
Izuku was now confused. Wasn't the pink-themed girl skating circles around the two?
"Ashido Mina is captured." All Might's voice boomed across the room, his finger tapping on the transceiver fit snugly in his ear.
On the screen, Mina pouted while Denki and Ochako shared a high-five. On the other screen showing Tenya, he was making some very weird gestures which involves making hand signs and curving his back.
It was silly, which caused Izuku to snort, along with the other students.
The room was lit abuzz by chatter going on between students with the action seemingly done for now. Ochako and Denki were making their rounds through the floors and rooms while those watching were busy discussing things about what the two did, how awesome Ochako was for tackling Mina to the ground, the purple pervert saying something about yuri hentai causing Tsuyu to slap him with her tongue, how dangerous it was for Ochako for performing the tackle in the first place, or even just saying that Denki was near useless in that scenario.
Harsh words, but true, nonetheless.
It was after a few minutes that the two finally happened upon the room where Tenya was guarding the bomb prop, and the first thing he did was… monologue? At least, that's what Izuku thought when he saw Ochako bursting into laughter at the act.
Denki was also nearly chuckling, but Izuku raised a brow when he saw the teen step forward, a face full of determination on his face. Judging by Ochako's action by hiding behind the door, he probably said something to the brunette.
Tenya, wasting no time, quickly rushed towards the seemingly unprotected teen. Denki then smirked, before throwing a finger gun at Tenya.
And then the robot-themed hero in training got the shock of a lifetime, causing near everybody to wince at the sight, that also included Izuku. Getting shocked like that wasn't a pretty feeling. Those stupid Titanite demons made sure of that.
Now that Tenya was down for the count, it was time for Denki to wrap the capture tape around Tenya's arms and be done with the exercise… only for him to go all idiot mode and Denki'd around the room.
Which also brought the students watching reeling with laughter at the funny sight. One of the screens also showed Ochako busting a gut as she watched Denki throwing thumbs up at everybody and everything.
He also approached the bomb and booped the thing with his nose, causing a buzzer to sound.
"HERO TEA- HERO TEAM WINS!" Even All Might wasn't immune to the frankly, ridiculous sight, the man himself throwing a snort in or two.
All in all, not that bad of a first fight. Very sloppy, though.
[][][]
"ALL RIGHT, BEFORE WE SEND IN THE NEXT TEAM, ANY INPUTS YOU CAN GIVE TO THE FOUR?" All Might asked the class directly while the four students who were in combat not a few minutes ago lay slump against the wall, two of which looked a bit depressed while the other two were trying to get said two to cheer up.
"Sir, if I may." Momo raised her hand, and All Might gave her a nod. "The villain team made a huge mistake. Ashido was doing all the work while Iida stood back and defended the bomb. Not a bad idea in hindsight but taking into account that the hero team went in together and didn't split up, you can see why it was such a bad plan."
"And I fully take responsibility for it." Tenya raised his hand, his face revealed as his helmet was laid neatly right next to him.
"As for the hero team, they were lucky." Momo didn't shy away from hammering the four with her brutal remarks. "What Uraraka did was dangerous. If Ashido was a villain, Uraraka would've been out of commission that very moment. You can tell why because Ashido panicked at the last second and didn't fling acid Uraraka's way."
Ochako winced and Mina sheepishly grinned while she patted the brunette's back.
"C-CORRECT! A FINE ANALYSIS, YOUNG YAOYOROZU. ALTHOUGH MIGHT A INSERT A BIT OF WISDOM OR TWO." All Might glanced towards the four students waiting for his answer. "THE FOUR OF YOU FOUGHT WELL, HOWEVER, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THIS VERY QUOTE. 'NO PLAN SURVIVES FIRST CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY.' THE HERO TEAM WANTED TO SCOUT THE BUILDING TOGETHER, WANTING TO BE SURE THAT AN AMBUSH FROM THE VILLAIN TEAM DIDN'T PICK THEM OFF ONE BY ONE. BUT WHAT IF YOUNG ASHIDO HERE DID SOMETHING MOST VILLAINS WOULD DO IN A POSITION SUCH AS THEIRS? DOES THE TERM GUERILLA WARFARE SOUND FAMILIAR TO ALL OF YOU?"
The class nodded and All Might's grin intensified.
"GOOD, BECAUSE IF ASHIDO DID JUST THAT AND NOT HOLD THE TWO HEROES AT BAY BY HER LONESOME IN OPEN COMBAT, THE VILLAIN TEAM WOULD HAVE WON BY TIMEOUT, SEEING THAT THEY HAD ABOUT TWO MINUTES LEFT ON THE CLOCK." At his words, the hero team winced while the villain team made faced that looked like they had an epiphany. "THERE'S ALSO THE FACT THAT THE VILLAIN TEAM HAD A SUBPAR PERFORMANCE. YOUNG IIDA, POINTS FOR THE DEDICATION, BUT THE KIND OF VILLAIN YOU WERE EMULATING ARE ONLY FOUND IN CARTOONS AND TV SHOWS."
And then Tenya had a nuclear blush creep into his face while the class snickered at his "Villain Mode" toggle.
"AND WITH THEIR FEATS LAID OUT, I CAN PROUDLY AWARD THE MVP TITLE TO YOUNG ASHIDO!" Mina clearly didn't expect this when the class cheered her name. Her pink cheeks going a few shades darker while she giggled lightly. "NOW THEN, WHO ARE THE NEXT TO FIGHT?"
Fumikage raised his hand holding a red slip of paper with the number two on it, followed by a shaky arm from Koji with an identical paper. Tsuyu and Kyoka were the next to raise their hands, showing a blue slip of paper.
"ALL RIGHT, HEAD ONTO BUILDING 27-A, JUST A FEW BLOCKS DOWN. I'LL START THE FIVE MINUTE PREP TIMER ONCE YOUR TWO TEAMS ARE IN POSITION." The two teams nodded wordlessly and exited the room with quick steps.
Izuku meanwhile, was just taking everything in with nary a sound. It was quite refreshing, seeing this larger than life man take on a teaching role. He always knew All Might would be a good teacher, what with the amount of experience he had under his belt, but that didn't prepare him for his sometimes laughable actions.
Such as the cheat sheet from earlier, also him not expecting the analysis from Momo. What the teen said had some merit, but there was something she missed, and All Might probably didn't mention to save their ego, no matter how stupid it was.
They just didn't know how to fight properly. Ochako had no combat training, much less experience, Denki was the same. Ashido was somewhat flexible, but all she did was run around them and fling acid or sticky liquid. Tenya had some form of training, judging by his posture, but he didn't know how to apply it properly in combat scenarios.
Just look at what he did when he saw Denki! Instead of gauging the capabilities of his enemy, he rushed forward, and was rewarded by a nasty shock for it. It was stupid. Something the old Izuku would've done and died for it.
Something the current Izuku would never do, having learned over countless agonizing deaths in the process. Izuku knew the four students he saw had potential, but they couldn't be babied.
Not in this profession where death was a likely guarantee with just one bad day. And unlike him, they had nothing to fall back to in case their head goes boom.
'Still need to check whether I can die or not… but with the First Flame in me… I doubt it.' Izuku hummed while he waited for the two teams to get into position.
Maybe he could ask Nezu to hold some combat classes of his own. Teach the rest of his fellow students the ropes in the mental book Izuku made while in Lordran he aptly named, "101 Ways to Not Die a Stupid Death."
He had enough of dying to gravity, okay? Stupid well-placed ledges and cliffs. Whoever thought building a kingdom like that clearly didn't hear of public safety. Then again, most of the people there in its heyday were fucking monsters.
So, to summarize, his classmates were weak and in need of guidance, which Izuku wants to rectify and talk to Nezu about it. Who knows, maybe the RAT GOD would make quite a show for it.
Fun times ahead.
[]
[]
[]
A/N: Gonna release this chap an hour early cuz for some fucking reason, our electricity here keeps on getting blackouts everyday at random times, ranging from a few minutes to motherfucking hours. Hell, it just happened again and it's only been a few minutes since I've booted up my lappy (portable desktop, no battery) to post this chapter.
Anyway, grievances aside, hope you're ready for a somewhat long arc. There's 7 chapters in total, so yeah.
Also, Bannerlords is fun.
Shameless plugs:
patreon.com/IAmGuavaFruitFictionHub (If you want to read 5 chaps ahead for all my currently ongoing fics, head on over)
discord.gg/v9f5kjsfVv (It's quiet... Too quiet...)