On our third day of the training camp, Aizawa-sensei was busy ripping into the five who had failed their practical tests while the rest of us continued our training.
As he finished reprimanding Uraraka and Aoyama for barely passing, Pixie bob excitedly said, "Nya Nya Nya~ Allow me to change the topic. Let's talk about tonight's plans! We're doing an inter-class test of courage! After training so hard, you get to play hard! See? Carrot and stick!"
We all had various reactions.
"Great... More terrifying activities..."
"A Bacchanal in the darkness."
Um, really?
"I'm rather interested in the 'Inter-class' aspect of this."
Aizawa-sensei jolted us out, "With that said, train your hearts out!!"
"Yes sir!"
(BNHA)
Later that night, after we ate our self-cooked dinner, all the remedial bunch were dragged away kicking and screaming by Aizawa-sensei.
Everyone from 1-B was already in position.
Pixie-bob began explaining the rules, "So, there we have it. 1-B will be first up at scaring people. Students from 1-A will leave in pairs of two every three minutes. In the middle of the route, there'll be a card with your name written on it. Bring it back with you as proof!"
There was no visible reaction from us. I sure did hear, "A bacchanal in the darkness," from my beaked classmate who had a flare of dramatics.
Pixie-bob continued, "The scaring group is not allowed to directly touch anyone. But scaring tactics using any and all available quirks is permitted."
"The winner will be the class that not only makes the most of their creativity but also makes the most people piss their pants with fright!!"
'Aren't they a charming bunch?'
And so, we drew lots to decide who paired with whom. Since we were fifteen, one of us was bound to stay behind. Coincidentally, it was me.
As everyone from 1-A, except me, took their turns to go for the seemingly simple game, a sudden sense of foreboding invaded my mind. Gulping down an uneasy blob of saliva, I decided to us 'Will of Observation', just to ease myself and confirm that nothing was wrong.
I felt everyone's presence in the entire valley. Nothing was amiss. Just when I was about to deactivate it, I felt nine presences unfamiliar to me. No, there were eight, the ninth one, had a will not of its own.
Someone with no will of its own...
Nomu...
I was about to alert the Pussy-cats when two of them jumped out of the forest and ambushed Pixie-bob. I wasted no time and tackled her away from a blow to her head.
My action alerted the rest who were still there and hadn't left for the scaring game.
The one with a big clothed weapon spoke, "Tsk, damned brat. You all are an eyesore."
As everyone registered what was happening, Mineta began shaking in his boots and exclaimed, "Why... I thought all the necessary precautions were taken... So why... Why is the enemy here?!!"
Mandalay wasted no time and informed everyone about the villains through her telepathy.
As Pixie-bob, Mandalay and Tiger instinctively moved in front of us, guarding us against the villains, the green lizard-like villain exclaimed dramatically, "Greetings UA Academy!! We are the League of Villains' first strike team!"
The one with big lips and the huge weapon continued after him, "It would have been wonderful to see little miss kitty's head bashed in."
Tiger retorted, "Over my dead body you shit!!"
The lizard stepped forward and said, "Whoa, whoa, Mag... hold your horses toots! And you too tiger, chill out. The right over life and death is decided by the word of Stain."
My eyes kept getting colder as they spoke. I immediately used 'Will of Observation' and confirmed where else had the villains attacked.
While I was looking, the lizard man continued, "Oh, I just remembered, you, the one with the glasses..."
Was he referring to Iida?
"... You were the one who brought Stain's reign of terror to an end back in Hosu city, right? I don't think I've formally introduced myself..."
He grabbed the hilt of a large weapon on his back.
"... My name is Spinner..."
Swinging the weapon forward, the cloth around it was undone, revealing a mess of knives, machetes, daggers and katanas tied together in a haphazard way by chains and belts.
"... The one who carries on Stain's dream!!"
The dude was trying to act all cool until I heard Tiger say, "Tell that to someone who gives a shit!"
'Encore!' I inwardly applauded. Or, that's what I wanted to do. But, my powers were acting up again and I was fighting hard for control. Anger, it was trying to dominate me. I didn't want to go berserk as I did in Hosu city and kill someone.
I could bare hear Mandalay telling to avoid fighting and rounding up all students to safety. Then, on a lone cliff, I felt a presence near Kota. Its intent was utterly malicious.
I growled towards her, "Mandalay, Kota's in trouble."
Her face immediately lost colour. Panic-stricken, she talked to Kota and asked him to get back to the camp. But I could feel the malicious presence closing in on him. There was no time.
I put a hand on Mandalay's shoulder and said, "Let me go and bring him here. I'm fast and I can fly. Iida can round up all the students in my place."
Mandalay sighed and calmed herself before nodding.
I nodded back and without giving a second glance to the villains in front of is, I shot up in the air. My throat rumbled with barely controlled emotions as I sped towards Kota.
A few seconds later, I saw a huge cloaked figure tower towards Kota. The little kid was scared out of his wits. He ran away from the figure but the tall man jumped and blocked Kota's path. The cloak came off and I saw a muscled blond man taking a powerful swing at Kota. Desperation filled me as I flew faster towards them.
Once again, it happened. At one moment, I was dreading if I would be able to reach Kota in time and in the next, I stood right in front of him. My instincts kicked in and I immediately pushed my arms forward towards the man. A bundle of green coloured shields shimmered between his fist and me.
The man's fist collided with the shields but only managed to break the first few. In the meantime, I managed to take Kota away on the other side of the cliff. The little kid was shivering from fright and kept mumbling about his mom and dad.
When I took another look at the villain, it all suddenly clicked. The villain was none other than Muscular, the one who had killed Kota's parents.
I looked down at Kota and said, "Kota, I want you to run all the way to the camp while I'll stay here and stop him. Mandalay is there, she'll keep you safe. Do you understand?"
But Kota was too shaken to respond.
Muscular was towards us with swagger and said, "You'll stop me while he runs away, you say? Hahahaha... As expected, the feel of a true hero candidate. Ready to parade the face of justice anywhere, anytime."
As I was guarding Kota behind me, the villain continued, "You're the one called Midoriya, aren't you? What perfect timing. I had been ordered to start things off by killing your sorry ass."
Muscle fibres began sprouting out of his body. I guess that's where his alias came from.
"The boss really hates your guts for scarring his face during USJ attack."
Then, in a mad rush of craziness, he shouted, "I'll kill you, right after I take my time torturing you that is!!! Let me see you bleed!"
It didn't even take a moment for armament to ripple around my body, covering me from head to toe, making me look like a man carved from jade.
His fist descended to the left side of my face and I wrapped my arms around my head to endure the blow.
Muscular was strong. His punch made my arms tingle with dull pain as I was thrown towards the rocky mountainside of the cliff, slightly embedding me into it.
"Ah, whoops..."
The mad villain said as he dashed towards me.
"I almost forgot... If you know then tell me, where is that Bakugou kid? After all, I've got a job to finish!!"
He punched me again and threw me to the other side of the cliff.
'They are after Katsuki?! Why?!'
"You can just say, 'I don't know'. That okay with you? Well then..."
While I was still in the air, Muscular slammed his leg into my gut and sent me crashing down. He was strong and his attacks hurt a lot. But I had his attention. That's all that mattered, keeping him away from Kota.
As I struggled to get back on my feet, Muscular gawked at me and asked in annoyance, "Huh?! Why aren't you bleeding?! I want to have some fun and watch you bleed!! What did you earlier? That you'll stop me?! Get up and try it then!!"
I coughed and tried to catch my breath. If he wanted a fight, then a fight he will get.
Roaring with determination, I jumped towards him and grabbing the sides of his face, I rammed my knee into his mug. His head snapped back as spit and sweat showered off of him. I flipped in the air and slammed my fist into his nose, that was already broken from my knee strike.
Muscular fell down with a thud and I landed a few feet away from him.
"How does it feel when you're the one who's bleeding?" I asked in a menacing voice.
Muscular began cackling, "What an annoying brat you are!! Makes me wanna rip you apart!!!"
Enhancing his body with his 'Muscle Augmentation' quirk, Muscular swiftly dashed towards and punched hard.
'One for All: 50%'
I countered his punch with my own. The muscles around his arm kept on adding as he pushed forward.
"Hahahaha... You are strong! But not strong enough!!"
With a final push, he sent me tumbling across the cliff.
"My quirk is 'Muscle Augmentation'! Enabling me to augment the muscle fibres that sit beneath my skin and enhance my speed and strength!! What do you say to that?! Hrm?! Nothing!! You are weak! Seeing your fallen state makes me laugh! You'll stop me?! How exactly?! Don't go spouting off hollow words because you think they sound right!! You should worry abou...!"
I didn't let him finish. His voice was so annoying that it was starting to give me a headache.
I practically teleported in front of his face and stuffed a big piece of rock in his mouth while saying, "You talk too much!!"
Spinning upwards, I kicked under his jaw and sent him flying.
As I followed his trajectory, he snarled as he spat dirt and broken pieces of rock from his bleeding mouth, "I'll make you pay for that you green shit!!"
I caught up to him and making a club with my hands, I smashed it down on his face, sending him pummeling down into the cliff.
Thinking that he was done for, I walked towards Kota and said, "Let's go."
But before he could grab my hand, Muscular swiped his leg at the side of my body and sent me flying. Because I thought that he was taken care of, I had dropped my guard and relaxed my armament a bit. I was hurt and I could feel the stinging pain from my sides.
When Muscular was about to attack me again, in a sudden bout of courage, Kota threw a rock at the back of his head.
Kota had tears rolling down his face as he asked, "Water-horse, my mom and dad... Did you torment them before you killed them?"
I internally panicked, 'No! The fuck are trying you stupid kid!!'
Muscular recalled for a moment and said, "Seriously? Their kid? This must be fate. Water-horse, those two took an eye from me."
Kota shouted, "It's all your fault!! It's because of people like you that things always turn out like this!!"
Muscular sneered, "Little snot-nosed brats like you are always looking to pass the blame on someone. That's no good. For example, I'm not holding a grudge for my eye. I simply wanted to kill!! And those two wanted to stop me. Our desires intersected and what happened was the result of that. The fault lies with those who try to act even though they're incapable of doing anything effective. That pretty much sums up your pathetic mom and dad!!!"
'Enough!'
I jumped at Muscular and snarled, "The fault is yours!! It's not a matter of what you can or can't do!! For heroes, risking our lives and walking the walk is our job!!"
I mustered all of my strength and punched forward.
'One for All: 75%'
Muscular was sent crashing into the mountainside. This time, I was certain that he was dealt with. But, just to be sure, I checked him with observation... he was still awake!
All the force behind my punch was absorbed by his muscles!
Muscular stood up and looked at me with insane glee, "Starting off with a jab, huh?! Not half-bad, Midoriya!"
White-hot anger erupted in the form of wild 'Conqueror's will' and the very ground began shaking.
'Fuck limitations... One for All: 100%'
Like a shroud, lightning rippled all over my armament covered body.
"Hehehe... Play time's over! You're stronger than I thought. So, now it's time for my serious face."
I breathed out and said to Kota, "Stay back, kid. Not too far from me or he'll come after you. Just seven to eight steps away. When I stop him, run and don't look back."
Kota was shocked and asked, "Wait, you're really not gonna take him head-on, are you?! It's useless! Your attacks didn't have much effect on him last time! And now... He's getting stronger!"
Muscular removed the artificial eye from its socket and pocketed it in his trousers. Almost the entirety of his body was covered by layers upon layers of muscle fibres. Making a mad dash towards us, he said, "Again, you think you can stop me?!"
Muscular tackled me with all of his strength. It felt like I was trying to stop a speeding truck. Straining my muscles, I held him back and shouted, "It's okay... there's no way he's getting past me! So run away, Kota!!!"
"You little shit... This is so much fun!!"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Kota was too shocked to run away. He fell down on his but and asked, his voice trembling with emotion, "Why... Why would you go this far, when you don't know a thing about me, why?!"
I mustered up my strength and roared, "Because heroes are the ones who give a damn!!!"
With a mighty push, Muscular was sent stumbling back.
'Tempest kick!'
I focused my strength into my leg and swung it into a downward arc. The air transformed into a scythe and cut Muscular's muscle fibres apart.
His head was exposed. I wasted no time and focused my power into my fist.
"This is my judgement for all your crimes, Muscular! You'll never hurt anyone ever again!"
Like an ethereal power, a gigantic fist crashed on the top of Muscular's head. My willpower seeped into his skull, targeting the motor area of his brain and destroyed the neurons.
'Because I'm taking your power away from you.'
The cliff under his feet caved in and Muscular got buried under tons of rubble.
He was finally defeated.
I looked back at Kota. I didn't know what was going on in his mind and neither did I care. He was safe, that's all that mattered.
I bent down in front of him and said, "Put your hands over my shoulders and grab on tight. We don't need to give your aunt even more worries."
I had to hurry. This was just the beginning of a battle and I feared something big was about to happen. Something that would affect the lives of many.
(BNHA)
A/N: The longest chapter till now... Hope you liked the fight. Yeah, nowhere near as epic as the anime one. But, I tried my best. I know what the problem is. My vocabulary is lacking. But I can't do much about it. English isn't something I paid much attention to in school.