Chapter 18
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
A thin strand of mana, invisible to the inexperienced humans in the room, was connected to Izuku's palm like a wire. It ran out of the monitoring room, through the hallways, and into the fake city.
Air clones were something he'd worked out with Loki, modeled after her abilities. They weren't as good as Loki's clones; they were actual beings that could think and function while Izuku's were more like drones. Still, the advantage of numbers was undeniable.
Cloudy was effectively just manipulated mana. To work long-range, Izuku needed a camera set up on Cloudy's forehead to see what was happening.
"What do you think that the first team did wrong?" Izuku asked. He would have liked to go over it while the team was here, but somehow, all of them had ended up unconscious.
Yaoyorozu's hand shot up. "This exercise is based on teamwork, correct? Team 1 seemed to...struggle with that." Jirou snorted. "Bakugou-san abandoned his team at the start, and while Iida tried to lead the remaining members, his plan was too simple and directly clashed with Bakugou. Neither of them could fight in a team."
"And Kaminari-san messed up pretty bad at the end, kero," Asui said bluntly.
Izuku hummed. "That's all true. But what about Tokoyami? What could he have done better?"
Yaoyorozu wavered. "I thought Tokoyami did well in the exercise. He listened to his teammates, and carried out the plan."
"Dark Shadow is weak to light," Izuku explained. "Being on a team with Bakugou was terrible luck for him, yet Tokoyami never told his teammates about that; as a result, Dark Shadow couldn't function well. Of course, Bakugou didn't even plan with them, but Kaminari's quirk produces light as well."
"Fighting with someone means that you cover for their weaknesses; not just work with their strengths."
"Atlas-sensei was pretty cool back there!" Kirishima Ejiro exclaimed. Teamwork was so manly! "If the four of us work together, we can totally beat this exercise!"
"We get five minutes to plan, right?" Ojiro said. "Can't believe that the first team wasted that..."
Tsu tilted her head in thought. "From what we saw, I doubt we can knock Cloudy out; he seems super durable, kero. To win, we'll need to use the capture tape."
"Our quirks are both good for capture, right Asu-"
"Call me Tsu." Tsu interrupted.
"-Tsu." Sero corrected. "If Kirishima and Ojiro hold Cloudy off, the two of us can wrap him up. From there, we'd just need to get the capture tape around him."
"We can't afford to underestimate Cloudy, though. The skill he showed against Bakugou was still incredible." Ojiro noted.
Cloudy's body looked like some kind of purple stone, strong enough to tank a giant explosion with ease.
Would his Hardening be enough?
Izuku's phone connected to the camera on Cloudy's head. He reinforced Cloudy's body, fixing up the minor damage Katsuki left, before making the clone stand up.
It was oddly similar to playing a video game; just with a very difficult controller. It had taken a lot of practice to make complex movements with Cloudy; moving each part of his body precisely. Now Izuku could control the clone easily, even from this far away, to the point that Cloudy was like an extra limb.
The planning period ended, and Cloudy took off in a sprint. Izuku decided to run through the streets, this time keeping off the rooftops. The camera on Cloudy's forehead was holding up well, and the empty streets came through in perfect quality despite the fast pace. He'd have to thank Power Loader for helping with that, again.
Minutes passed, yet strangely, nothing happened. The students should have attacked by now, he was in plain view, yet he hadn't seen a single one.
Asui, Kirishima, Sero, and Ojiro. They didn't seem like the kind of group to slack off an exercise, so they must have a plan of some kind.
Cloudy twisted his head side to side as he ran, scanning his surroundings. He didn't need to go looking for the students; he would win if he just kept running till the exercise ended...
Huh. There was some kind of resistance as Cloudy moved, barely noticeable. Was Izuku not using enough mana?
Cloudy glanced down, only to see many, many white stripes wrapped around his legs. He must have been running for several minutes, only getting progressively tangled without even noticing.
Cloudy's only had two senses; the vision and audio coming from the camera. Izuku couldn't detect the additional weight of something as light as tape .
"Now!" Someone yelled behind him. Sero. Cloudy was suddenly flying backward, and his head dragged across the concrete.
Cloudy turned just in time to block a thick tail, knocking him off balance. Before he could counter something pink wrapped around his arms, keeping them in place as Kirishima leaped forward, his capture tape in hand.
All of Cloudy's limbs had been immobilized with quick work from Sero and Asui, Izuku noted. Ojiro had set up the perfect chance for Kirishima to capture the enemy. An impressive show of teamwork from the start, absolutely nothing like the first team.
Izuku couldn't make it too easy for them, though.
Cloudy leaned backward, unnaturally so for a human. Kirishima's grin vanished as he missed and Cloudy's wrapped legs hit his head in an uppercut. He hadn't hardened his face; sloppy.
Cloudy used the motion to flip back, landing away from the four awkwardly, like some kind of purple burrito. Kirishima smiled in excitement, hardening his fists. Asui said something that was muffled by her tongue, Ojiro was in a karate-like stance, and Sero still had his arms out, keeping Cloudy contained.
Cloudy swung his foot forward, yanking the tape- and by extension, Sero- towards him. His other leg slammed into the boy's side, and Sero tumbled across the street.
He moved towards Asui next, to break her grip on his arms-
"Red...Gauntlet!" Kirishima shouted, and a hardened fist drove straight into Cloudy's gut, making him bend from the impact. Ojiro followed up with a leg sweep, knocking Cloudy to the ground.
Cloudy reacted instantly as he fell, rolling to the side. He aimed a kick at Ojiro as he stood up, only for Kirishima to proudly step forward and tank the blow.
"Thanks, Kirishima!" Ojiro used the opening to attack, and his tail swung in a fluid arc.
"Anytime, bro!" Kirishima yelled back as his rock-like arms blocked Cloudy's next kick.
The three fought together well; with Kirishima stopping Cloudy's kicks while Ojiro pressed the attack. Asui's tongue was still tightly wrapped around Cloudy's arms, not letting him get far or throw any punches. He was worried about damaging her tongue at first, but it seemed to be durable.
Ojiro was well trained, smoothly flowing into blow after blow. He was obviously dedicated to karate, and his mutation made it into something unique. His tail functioned like an extra arm, yet it had even more flexibility and range. Most interesting though was the red mana tinting his limbs before every strike; basic enhancement magic.
Kirishima was a brawler, swinging his fists without any type of martial art. There was talent though, and his quirk could be amazing in hand-hand combat. From what Izuku could tell, his upper body was entirely hardened at the moment, holding strong even as the fight stretched on. If Sero recovered fast enough to help them, Cloudy would probably be captured.
The issue with their approach, though, was that it only worked because Asui was behind him. With Asui holding him from the back, Ojiro and Kirishima were free to pressure him without getting in the way of her tongue.
Cloudy sidestepped Ojiro's tail, letting it crack the concrete next to him, and twisted into a low roundhouse kick. Kirishima stepped in front of it, abruptly realizing that his legs weren't hardened as Cloudy's leg struck his shin. The redhead toppled to the ground, and Izuku heard several of his students hiss in sympathy.
Ojiro was now left standing between Asui and Cloudy, and she was forced to let go of the clone. Cloudy used this chance to turn and sprint away in the other direction, purple footsteps ringing through the fake city as Ojiro cursed behind him.
There were only a few minutes left on the timer, after all.
Ojiro was close behind him, using his enhancement to push his legs further. He was panting, but still closing the distance.
"You're not going anywhere, kero." Asui swung around, as her long tongue wrapped around a streetlight, before landing a powerful dropkick that whipped Cloudy's head to the side. She landed in a crouch, and Cloudy ducked as her tongue punched past his head.
Cloudy took her by surprise by picking Asui up by the shoulders and tossing her at Ojiro, forcing the poor boy to stop running and catch her. That should hold those two, now where was-
"Improvised Move: Red SLINGSHOT!" Cloudy turned just in time to see a massive amount of tape between two poles, pulled taut with Kirishima at its center. With a yell, the boy slammed into the clone like a missile.
Sero's tape lashed out as soon as they hit the ground, sticking them in place, as Asui wrapped the capture binding around Cloudy's body.
Huh.
The rest of class 1-A cheered behind Izuku as the second team won as the four of them stood Cloudy, tired yet victorious. The cameras picked up them walking back together, Sero complaining about his...dry elbows?
He hadn't expected that last move or that twenty-year-olds could adapt that well. Izuku smiled. It seemed that whether they were humans, or gods, his students always managed to surprise him.
"Next team;" Izuku called out. "Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, and Hagakure!"
Yaoyorozu Momo was up next and she was quite nervous about it.
After getting the chance to learn magic for five years(it still hadn't sunk in), she returned from her impromptu vacation to fulfill her dream of being a hero. Despite what her parents had said, she passed the recommendation exam and got into U.A University, one of the best hero schools in the country, and she couldn't be more excited about it. She had even got elected class president!
Once Yaoyorozu was here, though, something started to change. She worked hard to get this far; mastering her difficult quirk, fighting the best trainers.
Yet most of her classmates seemed to be leagues ahead of her. Bakugou's combat ability was incredible; he almost took on Cloudy completely on his own. Todoroki's quirk was ridiculously powerful. And then there was Midoriya; the girl who protected the entire class while all Yaoyorozu could do was watch, terrified of the monster. Creation was cool, but did she have the power to match up to the rest of them?
"Yaomomo? You okay?" Yaoyorozu was jolted out of her thoughts as a gloved hand waved in front of her face. "You were kinda staring into space there."
"Yes, I'm fine-Hagakure-san, did you just call me 'Yaomomo'?"
"Yep!" Hagakure replied brightly. "Mina thought of it this morning. It's pretty cute, right?"
Yaoyorozu blinked. Was that a nickname? She'd never been given one of those before.
"Do you have an idea for this exercise, Pres? You reviewed the other two teams and their plans pretty well." Jirou asked.
She loved analysis, so she'd been happy to go over the fights she saw in the monitoring room. Looking back, she might have come off as prideful or blunt when detailing their mistakes...maybe she needed to apologize to them?
Yaoyorozu forced herself to focus. All of that wasn't important right now, she needed a plan.
Creation gave her a lot of options, including capture. Yaoyorozu was certain that Jirou's quirk gave her a better sense of hearing; something invaluable for capturing a target. Aoyama's Naval Laser would be the perfect sniper, and the invisible Hagakure could set the perfect ambush.
The biggest issue they faced was that they lacked firepower. They probably couldn't take out Cloudy with sheer force and precision like the second team did.
But maybe their team could do something different.
"It seems that our m agnifique leader has thought of a plan," Aoyama noted.
"I think I do...though it's more of a strategy." Yaoyorozu made four earpieces as she talked, handing one to each team member. "Hagakure-san, your quirk and magic are light-related, right?" She looked at where she assumed Hagakure's eyes were, but it was nearly impossible to tell.
One of Hagakure's floating gloves lifted, and a small sphere of white formed on the palm. When her hand moved, the light drifted with it. "Yeah, why?"
"Do you think you could manipulate Aoyama's lasers?" Yaoyorozu asked.
Hagakure hummed. "I'm not too sure if I can with my magic, but with Invisibility? Definitely."
"With my quirk, I'll be able to boost all of your attacks. From there, we're going to wear Cloudy down until we have a chance to capture him-Hagakure-san, that'll most likely be your job."
"Sure!"
"What's my task, mademoiselle Yaoyorozu?" Aoyama asked.
"We'll be splitting up into two groups. Could you stay with Hagakure? Her abilities would be perfect for strengthening and redirecting your lasers."
Aoyama beamed. "A chance to show off my beautiful quirk to its fullest extent! Wonderful!"
"Wait, we're pairing off?" Jirou asked. "Are you sure that's a good idea against someone this strong?"
"The goal of this exercise is to catch Cloudy, instead of a straight-up fight," Yaoyorozu said. "Chasing him with two groups is the best option."
"When we force him to stop running, though, we take him on with all four of us."
Jirou's ear jacks plugged into the ground, and the purple-haired girl closed her eyes in concentration. She listened for a few more moments before opening them again.
"He's up ahead, running straight through this street," Jirou said. Yaoyorozu nodded, pressed against the other wall of the alley. Just a few minutes had passed, and Jirou had already found Cloudy. Her quirk was amazing.
"How long till he passes us?" Yaoyorozu asked. She let her formulas come to the front of her brain, and her quirk tickled her stomach.
"A few seconds...now." A purple blur ran past their little alley.
Yaoyorozu unzipped the back of her costume, imagining the metal and gunpowder and the exact structures she needed...there. She stepped out onto the street as the creation finished, pulling the contraption from her exposed skin and setting it onto the concrete.
"Holy shit." Jirou breathed. "Did you just pull out a fucking cannon from your back?"
"Cover your ears," Yaoyorozu warned in response, though she couldn't help the smile on her face.
Jirou did so just in time, and a shattering boom launched the cannonball at incredible velocity towards the escaping clone.
Usually, of course, artillery is a terrible choice for an ambush. Ridiculously loud, not to mention heavy and inconvenient. However, Cloudy was essentially deaf; the mana construct, though impressive, was only hearing through a camera.
The projectile slammed straight into Cloudy's back with a crack and the impact carried the clone forward into a nearby building.
Jirou's jacks plugged into her legs, and she fired off a vibrational blast into the unstable foundation. The concrete tumbled down, covering Cloudy completely. He burst out of his coffin just a moment later, and rocks were thrown to the side with frightening ease.
Yaoyorozu immediately fired again, but the cannonball flew past the clone's head as he dodged, tearing through the street.
Another wave of sound clipped Cloudy's legs, giving Yaoyorozu an opening. A steel katana formed out of her shoulder, her hand closing around the simple handle and she swung the blade in the same movement-
Cloudy simply raised an arm and the sword stopped short, barely making a dent. Atlas-sensei had said Cloudy was made out of the air, yet the purple, stone-like clone was durable enough to take a cannon shot like it was nothing, and her katana couldn't even slice his body.
Cloudy seemed to switch strategies as they pressured him, counter-attacking to force them to back off instead of merely running away. Her katana chipped against his arms as they fought, dealing little damage and barely deflecting Cloudy's attacks. His blows were held back, but still heavy and fast enough that she couldn't afford to lose concentration. Meanwhile, Jirou supported her from a distance, taking shots at Cloudy whenever she could.
Yaoyorozu sidestepped a punch, forming a boot around her shoe for a metal kick that struck the clone in the chest, knocking him back. She used the breather to make her staff, making wide, controlled swings. She created more and more weapons; daggers and gauntlets and grenades to force him towards-
"Jirou-san!"
Earjacks stabbed near Cloudy's feet, and a shockwave wrecked the ground below. He tripped, vulnerable, and Yaoyorozu pulled a massive greatsword out her back, making the edge as sharp as she could. Her tired arms protested under the weight as she struck down with all of her might.
Cloudy rolled to the side and the sword dug itself into concrete. He moved before she could recover, his purple fist striking her exposed stomach hard enough to make her stumble backward. He was even stronger than she expected! She needed a new plan, something to create-
Yaoyorozu's eyes went wide, creating a metal shield just in time for another punch to slam into it. The impact knocked her down, her mind scrambling to think.
Cloudy's head suddenly whipped to the side from a burst of sound. Jirou plugged her jacks into her arms, and the vibrational jolt of a punch at short range was almost concussive. She used the opening to get Yaoyorozu out of the way, and instead of continuing the fight, the powerful clone escaped down the street.
He was out of sight within moments.
Jirou held out a hand and Yaoyorozu took it gratefully, panting as she was pulled onto her feet.
"You okay, Pres? Took a pretty bad hit, there."
"Yes...I'm fine. We should get moving, he shouldn't have gotten far."
Jirou blinked. "What? We just tried taking him on ourselves, it clearly didn't work out."
"We got a lot of information, though!" Yaoyorozu brightened. "Our attacks affect him, he's just very durable. His vision is limited, just as I thought, and your quirk works quite well despite Cloudy being deaf."
Jirou shrugged. "I don't need to hold back on the vibration since Cloudy isn't human. So, what now?"
"For our next ambush..."
Another bright blue beam struck Cloudy's side, and the clone stumbled.
Aoyama posed from a distance, a shining sniper firing laser after laser. His quirk had its limit, but with stomach medication on hand, that limit was much higher.
Hagakure had ditched her gloves, going for a capture whenever she had the chance. Cloudy couldn't see, hear, or even feel the girl, but since the capture tape became visible when she took it out of her hair, his reflexes were enough to keep getting away. She lacked experience from what Yaoyorozu could tell, but her invisibility was hard to counter and Aoyama was making more and more openings for her.
Fifteen minutes had passed, and Yaoyorozu was starting to see the results of their strategy. Repeated attacks and guerilla warfare were getting to the clone, thin lines of damage visible on his purple body.
With Cloudy running away from Aoyama and Hagakure, it was the perfect time for Yaoyorozu and Jirou to cut him off from the front.
Yaoyorozu leaped out in front of him, activating her little reinforcement magic. She swung her reinforced staff down, and the metal connected with his shoulder. A white ball appeared behind him, seeming to float before the magic struck Cloudy's legs. Hagakure pulled out her capture tape starting to loop it around his arm-
Cloudy twisted away at the last moment, knocking heads with the invisible girl in the process. Jirou's jacks stabbed into Cloudy's camera, but they didn't seem to do any damage to it.
"Ow!"
"Hagakure, are you okay?" Yaoyorozu asked, worried. Did she get a concussion from that?
"Yeah, I'm fine. That hurt a lot, though!" Hagakure made another light sphere as she talked, punching Cloudy in the face. At the same time, one of Aoyama's lasers struck the back of his head. Yet Cloudy was barely fazed. How could a clone even be this durable?
Cloudy caught the end of Yaoyorozu's staff, yanking it out of her grip. It twirled between the clone's purple fingers, lazily spinning in a wheel. Yaoyorozu's eyes went wide. She'd never considered that someone could take one of her weapons before. And then use them better than she could-
The grey metal blurred into motion, somehow deflecting a vibrational blast. The weapon swung in a perfect circle around Cloudy, and there was an audible crack as it knocked Hagakure down.
Yaoyorozu barely had the time to form a new staff before Cloudy attacked, and the blunt end was stopped inches from her face.
The way Cloudy used the staff was nothing like she did. It was graceful and precise, every part of the weapon jabbing and swinging in perfect balance. It was almost like it was an extension of himself.
Cloudy batted away a poke at his head, launching another two attacks that she barely blocked. She didn't see the low arc that swept her off her feet and Yaoyorozu's back hit the ground, leaving her winded.
The clone sprinted towards Aoyama, the only team member left standing. He weaved through the array of lasers effortlessly, getting closer and closer to the boy.
Aoyama panicked, firing off a massive blue beam, only for the clone to duck under it-
The attack flew past Cloudy and into something invisible before the light was redirected back the way it came.
-and the laser slammed into Cloudy's back, throwing him across the street.
Yaoyorozu forced herself to her feet, tapping the device on her wrist and pulling up the formulas she needed.
Cloudy lunged at Aoyama, but he pushed himself far away using Naval Laser just in time.
Yaoyorozu finally pulled her strongest weapon out of her back a few seconds later, bracing the heavy weight against her shoulder as her stomach screamed at the loss of lipids.
"Hagakure-san?" Yaoyorozu called out.
"Here!" The voice responded cheerfully next to her.
Jirou blinked, covering her ears on instinct. "Wait, wait, Pres is that a-"
Yaoyorozu fired, and the rocket moved faster than her eyes could track.
The smell of smoke was almost tangible, and the explosion did more than anything Bakugou had managed, she noticed with satisfaction.
The area around Cloudy had been completely wrecked, the building behind him unrecognizable and the street ruined. Cloudy was still standing, but his arms had a clear dent in them and cracks were running down his body. The stolen staff had been destroyed from the attack.
Yaoyorozu only had enough food left for a metal baton now, and the rest of her team was just as tired as she was. Despite that, she was having so much fun, fighting such a strong enemy, like a real hero.
Her parents would probably call her crazy if they could see her now.
Yaoyorozu reinforced the baton before jabbing his chest. At the same time, a wave of sound pushed him to his knees and Hagakure leaped onto Cloudy's back. The invisible girl wrapped the capture tape around him, letting out a cheer.
"Gotcha!"
Their teacher's voice rang throughout the fake city soon after, signaling their victory.
Atlas-sensei smiled at them as they returned, and the class clapped like they'd won a war.
"That was well done." Atlas-sensei praised, and she smiled back in pride. "So for this team's analysis-"
Then Yaoyorozu's stomach chose that moment to finally voice its displeasure, letting out a rumble loud enough to cut her teacher off. Yaoyorozu flushed, sheepish.
"Um...can I go get dinner first?"
Notes:
Writing these fights was pretty fun! Especially the second one; creation is such an interesting quirk that's barely shown.
Also, Hagakure not being useless!
Discord: https://discord.gg/SVFFP5jXt5