Out at the training ground, the entire class gathered in front of All Might. He stood proud and patient as he waited for everyone to trickle in.
"Now that you're ready, it's time for combat training." All Might began.
"Sir," Iida asked with a hand raised, "this is the training ground from the practical exam. Will we be fighting robots today?"
All Might replied cheerfully with a peace sign. "Not at all! You will be facing off against each other instead!"
The class began nervously checking their classmates. Several of the students had immensely powerful combat Quirks, others wouldn't fare so well in a one on one fight.
"Don't fret my students! You will be put into teams!" He smiled at them. "Many of the fights you see on the news take place outdoors, they're ones that get the most media coverage." All Might waved off the thought. "However, many villains operate indoors. Lairs and lackeys compose the backbones of major fights. Powerful villains, the intelligent kind, will rarely be operating in broad daylight."
Tanya grew excited upon hearing this. Not that she would be practicing fighting indoors, but that most fighting would be taking place somewhere she wouldn't be expected to be.
The number one hero held up three fingers. "For this exercise you will be split into teams of three. Every team will go twice, once as the heroes storming the lair, and once as the villains defending their base."
Next to Tanya, Tsuyu asked "Isn't this a little advanced?" while shaking her head to the side. She was nervous about the scope of this exercise.
All Might flexed into a combat pose. "The best training is the kind you get on the battlefield! Getting your hands dirty is the fastest way to improve! Fighting actual people rather than robots is the best way to learn to adapt. Real villains adapt and shift tactics midfight, repurposing existing skills, something only a human could do!"
Tanya put her hand up before the other students began posing their questions.
"Sir, will you be deciding who wins?" Asked Momo.
Tanya glanced at the scantily red clad heroine. '... Who else would be the judge?' Her opinion of Momo only lessened further.
"How much can we hurt the other team?" Bakugo asked with a furrowed brow.
'He's concerned about the threat his Quirk poses.' Tanya noted to herself, her hand still raised patiently. 'A Quirk that fires off explosions can easily be fatal. Knowing when to drop the fight is important.'
Laced with worry, Uraraka asked, "Do we need to worry about the losers being expelled again?"
Despite Iida having his hand up, he blurted anyway. "Will you be splitting us up based on chance or comparative skill?"
The image of Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki being on the same team flashed across Tanya's mind. Needless to say, it scared her.
"Isn't this cape fantastique?! " Aoyoma asked while posing under his ridiculously sparkly cape. His entire costume was an eyesore to Tanya. His armor was so painfully bright.
In an attempt to end the onslaught of questions, All Might pointed at Tanya's raised hand. "Yes Young Tenikari!"
Tanya cleared her throat as she slipped her hand behind her back, as she stood at ease. "Will our fights be restricted to indoor combat or may we engage our opponents outside?"
The next sentence that came out of All Might's mouth nearly destroyed Tanya on the spot. "These fights are restricted to indoors only. Heroes want to keep the fight's scale to a minimum, and Villains don't want their face on the news."
Despite her stone face upon hearing this, her wings acted on impulse and drooped. Being forced to fight indoors was out of her comfort zone, but she was sure she could find a way to make it work.
"Now!" All Mights spoke up as he pulled a folded up piece of paper from his pocket.
"Here's the deal!" The number one teacher read from his script. "The villains have hidden a bomb somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. The heroes win either by subduing the evil doers or recovering the bomb. However, the villains can either defend until time runs out or subdue the heroes."
Tanya's wings perked back up upon hearing this. 'So it's attack/defend? The villains can set up however they'd like indoors, likewise the heroes can gain information from the outside. After that, the strategy revolves around the objective. Depending on where the bomb is placed and who is on the teams will drastically change the dynamic of the fight.'
All Might zipped out of sight before reappearing with a box. "Time is limited so I'll be drawing lots!"
"Certainly there must be a better way to go about this?" Asked Iida. He feared the possible team imbalances that can come from this.
Midoriya excitedly spoke up with a raised finger. "Well it makes sense. Heroes have to work with whoever is available and villains don't necessarily get to choose their partners."
Iida gasped. "I should have figured! Please forgive my rudeness!" He cried as he bowed.
All Might pointed his hand towards the box's opening. "Now! Let's Get To It!"
In a flash of movement his hand went in and out. "Team A will consist of… Izuku Midoriya."
As he continued to repeat the process, something struck Tanya. 'He can move faster than the untrained eye. If he wanted to, he could draw a slip, read it, and try again and we wouldn't know. He's hiding his choice behind random chance.'
She watched carefully with senses sharpened from the frontlines. Her eyes bored holes into All Might's fingertips as he reached into the box. Time felt like it was slowing down to a snail's pace, creeping along. His hand emerged from the box, he read the little slip of paper, and then she saw it; All Might's fingers twitched and the paper changed positions.
A frightful pulse shot through her core. 'H-he can move faster than I can see!' She forced her wings to stay in posture, her tension had almost made them open. While All Might read off the names of his choice, she glanced around. No one else seemed to notice, or if they did, they weren't showing any signs.
Team A was Izuku, Ochaco, and Mina Ashido.
Izuku was shaking in nervous fear as Ochaco got too close to him. She was hyped they were on the same team. It wasn't to say he wasn't excited, he was just too bashful to form a coherent sentence yet.
Meanwhile Mina popped up behind the pair, pulling them both close. "We're going to do great! Between the three of us, no one's going to stop us!"
Izuku almost shut off. At least he stopped shivering.
"Team B shall be…" All Might announced as he drew from the box of many choices, "Young Tenikari."
She couldn't help but wonder who her teammates were going to be.
"Rikido Sato." He read off the next slip.
Rikido walked up to Tanya. "Pretty sweet, we're on the same team huh."
Tanya gave a small nod and hum of approval, not entirely paying attention to her recruit. She was more concerned with who their third was going to be.
She watched as All Might swapped through several options. "Katsuki Bakugo."
'Fuck.' Both of the blondes thought in unison as they locked eyes with each other.
'I would have taken anyone else.' Tanya thought to herself as Bakugo stomped over to team B. 'I'd even have taken Kaminari, I could have used him. Despite being an idiot, he'd at least try to listen to my orders.'
'Any other team!.. Except Midoriya's!' Bakugo thought to himself as he forced himself towards his new teammates. 'Bitch beat me yesterday and now I have to fight with her! How am I supposed to show I'm better if I'm chained to her side!'
Rikido Sato just smiled, head completely empty. Or at least, he wished it was. Given the strength of this team, they were likely to be put up against some strong opponents and his gut wasn't liking the storm on the horizon. Or the storm Bakugo brought with him. Sato could feel the sweat forming under his mask.
Bakugo growled at Tanya. "Angel Bitch."
'Ok, ok, I can salvage this. He offered a greeting, we can start from there.' Tanya reassured herself. "Hello Bakugo." She said in the gentlest voice she could manage, with a small, forced smile.
He gave an accusatory point at her, he was almost vibrating with rage. "Don't you get smug with me! After the shit you pulled yesterday, you should count yourself lucky we're on the same team!"
Tanya threw her arms wide open, "I'm not even trying to be smug!" She shouted in an attempt to match his energy.
"Then explain yourself, Angel Bitch!" He barked back.
"I was trying to be courteous! Apparently that voice doesn't work with you!"
Rikido could only stand and watch as his teammates all but broke out into a fight. Not even a minute in and they were already butting heads. He knew Tanya was a bit awkward, but it wasn't helping that Bakugo couldn't chill out long enough to see past it.
As the two blondes clashed for dominance of the group, he watched the class get into groups. There were some menacing groups like Todoroki, Shoji, and Momo. Some were less threatening; like Ojiro, Hagakure, and Sero or Koda, Jiro, and Kaminari.
The teams that truly scared him were Iida, Mineta, and Aoyoma, because his strength wouldn't help against them, and Uraraka, Ashido, and Midoriya. Sato knew what the greenette was capable of, he's heard the rumors and he's seen what that powerhouse was capable of with a single finger. That kind of power was on par with All Might, even if it could only be used once.
"And our first fight shall be!" All Might announced as he shuffled lettered cards. "Team A vs. Team B! Young Midoriya, Uraraka, and Ashido vs. Young Tenikari, Sato, and Bakugo! Team A will be the heroes and Team B shall be the villains!"
Midoriya whimpered as he looked over to his high school bully. Bakugo was currently preoccupied shouting at his classmate, who was paying him no mind as she glared into Midoriya's soul. She had dropped out of the argument the moment All Might had announced her fight.
The chill of a dissecting tray ran up his spine under her gaze. Every one of his flaws were being picked apart by eyesight alone. In defiance, his courage ignited as he clenched his fists. 'No! It's not going to turn out like high school! I'm not going to be pushed around anymore!'
Bakugo turned to see his opponent. Deku, the punk that defied the odds despite what was best for him. The bastard who pulled a powerful Quirk out of thin air after years of neglect. He was here now, and for the first time, Bakugo couldn't see fear in Deku's eyes.
All Might pointed over his shoulder at the training building. "Teams, split up! The Villains will have 5 minutes before the Heroes are set loose. The battle will start when the Heroes enter the building."
"Yes sir!" Tanya replied before leading her squad into the lifeless husk of a building.
Before they could get in the door, All Might appeared beside them in his heroic pose. "Young Heroes, the key to victory in this fight is to become bad guys. Think like you're villains whose lair has been breached."
Rikido Sato gave a small wave. "Yes Sir!"
"If things go too far, I'll step in."
The 'lair' was a series of tight hallways devoid of character. The lighting was a pale white, produced by cheap ceiling fixtures. Each building segment could be seen in the walls as the entire thing was built from pre produced pieces. Like a scale model building set. The walls were a crisp white, the floors a dark gray tiling. The service hallways which comprised the bulk of the space didn't even have a paint job, fully showing their modular structure.
Each floor was designed like a horseshoe. There was a main room inside the horseshoe, with a series of hallways and stairs composing the outside. Each floor's main room was littered with random props, mainly various boards and oil drums.
They had chosen the second to top floor. It was the furthest from the ground and yet not the top floor. They didn't want Mina to melt in through the roof and fall onto the bomb.
Bakugo growled in frustration, his fingers were twitching with anticipation. "Do you really think Deku has a Quirk?"
Rikido looked at Tanya, who could only sigh through her nose. "There's no point in denying what the boy can do. I saw him in action during the practical, he could level this entire building if he felt like it."
As Bakugo grunted, Rikido could only gulp in fear. There was power beyond reasonable measure contained in those bones.
Before Bakugo got the chance to spout anything about his fury at Deku, he was cut off by Tanya.
"We need to take him out of the picture as early as possible." She said with complete calmness, a hand firmly placed on her hip. Her wings couldn't hide her thrill of the coming fight, already stretching, flexing, and getting warmed up.
"You… you can't be serious?" Rikido began to shake. "The guy can oneshot us!"
"The damned nerd isn't going to do anything!" Bakugo shouted as he spun around to his teammates.
"I want to make sure of that." Tanya replied. She turned to her recruited brute muscle. "And you're going to handle him."
Rikido paled at what was being asked of him. To go toe to toe with the one shot wonder, this was suicidal.
Tanya waved her hand in dismissal as Bakugo looked confused. "There's a crucial difference in your strength. You get it consistently and he gets it all at once. If you apply pressure, he'll never get the chance."
The rage machine gathered his thoughts. "I'm going after Deku! I'm putting him back in his place!"
She tilted her head at him, she finally knew what to use Bakugo for. "Then go for it. I'll take Ashido and Uraraka on my own. We'll blitz the enemy and win. They'll be expecting a defensive tactic, we'll flip it and put them on defense."
'If the rageaholic wants to target the enemy's most dangerous asset, let him. He's intelligent enough to know who to target on their team.'
Sato took a step back in shock. "That's a two on one! You can't be serious!?"
Tanya smirked, a familiar and comforting feeling of power returned to her. "Completely. I can blow away Ashido's acid, and if Uraraka uses her Quirk on me, I only become more mobile. Besides, it's only two on one till Midoriya goes down."
She stared at Sato. "Oh and Sato, his Quirk breaks his bones. Don't be afraid to do him a favor and break them first. Recovery Girl is on standby and Midoriya is going there anyway."
Rikido Sato was a dead man standing. Not only was he being asked to take on someone with All Might levels of strength, he was being encouraged to break bones to ensure he won.
Bakugo gave a grin. "Aggression. I like your style, Chicken Wings."
Over the loudspeaker, All Might's voice rattled through the building. " The heroes have entered the building! The time starts now! "