"Show me."
Bakugo took the Green Goliaths challenge with a cocky and angry scoff. Palms outstretched behind him, the explosive boy let out popping explosions as he propelled forward at great speed. The Hulk was surprised slightly at the speed of the forward assault but prepared to counter yet again.
However, before the boy could make contact, he quickly changed directions with another explosion. In an instant he was on the Hulk's right side, catching him off guard. With a smirk he let off another powerful blast. The Hulk winced in annoyance, but thrust a fist out in a counter attack. Once again, the beast hit the air. Bakugo had moved again to the beast's back and let loose a double palm explosion as he blasted away from the goliath. Safe to say, Hulk was getting annoyed as he brushed some cinders from his back.
"Grrr…"
"What's the matter, can't you keep up Deku?" the blond mocked.
'Knew it. The beast is strong but slow. I'll wear him down!'
Hulk let out a yell as he charged toward the blonde, his steps cracking the ground as he ran. Quickly, he thrust a fist out in a punch. His opponent was faster though as the blond dodged with more explosions, launching himself overhead above the beast. Hulk's eyes could follow him though, but his vision was clouded by another explosion let loose on top of him.
Bakugo landed across from his opponent, a cocky smirk to the Hulk's hateful glare. The two rivals looked across from each, both knowing this fight was just getting started.
U.A. Observation Room A
The class and their teacher observed the battle between rivals, each one amazed at the display Bakugo was putting on against his much more powerful opponent.
"Whoa! Bakugo's quick!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"Yeah! He's got some sick moves!" Sero observed with a nod of agreement.
"True. He's making up for the difference in power by taking the speed advantage," Momo reluctantly agreed. While she was still cheering on her boyfriend, she had to admit Bakugo was playing this smart.
"Take note young heroes! A key to fighting is to take advantage of an opponent's weakness. Villains will try the same, so make sure to think before you leap."
The class murmured in agreement as they returned to the screens. While Hulk's fight with Bakugo was going on, another screen caught their eyes. All Might lit up and brought it to the rest of the class's attention.
"Seems young Uraraka has found young Iida! How will this matchup fair? Let's see!"
A couple stories up from the current battle, Iida stood guard by the fake weapon. He fiddled with his ear piece once more trying to get Bakugo to respond and work with him.
"Bakugo! Come in! I heard some explosions down below. Have you encountered the enemy?"
"Shut up Glasses! Just protect the weapon!"
'Such vulgarity!' "We need too-"
*Click*
"He hung up on me!"
Ochaco peered over the doorway, her eyes lighting up upon finding Iida and the weapon. She scrambled back a bit and activated her earpiece and contacted her teammate.
"Hulk, I found Iida and the weapon. You beat Bakugo yet?"
"Give Hulk minute. Kacchan annoying."
"All right, big guy. I'll see what I can do for now."
She turned her attention back into the room and saw Iida deep in thought.
'Knowing him, he's probably cooking up some insanely smart strategy. I need to be careful.'
Meanwhile, Iida's thoughts were less on strategy and more on his teammate or in this case lack of one.
'Looks like Midoriya wasn't kidding about that brute's attitude. What to do?'
Then another thought hit Iida's mind. One related to the task currently at hand.
'We are the villains in this exercise. Maybe I need to adopt the appropriate attitude. Yes, that must be it.'
"MWA HA HA! I am the embodiment of villiany!" the engine boy proclaimed as he threw his arms out and leaned back evilly.
A sight that Ochaco could not take seriously for even a moment if she tried.
"PFFT!" 'He's so serious!'
"Ah! Welcome to your doom hero!"
Ochaco cringed as she realized her mistake. Seeing no point in hiding anymore she stepped out and readied herself to fight. She observed her surroundings only for her eyes to go wide with frustration as her opponent laughed.
"I see you've noticed, hero! I know your power only works on things you touch so I've removed everything from this room that wasn't nailed down!"
Ochaco grimaced at that. He had thought this through as she feared. What can she do now?
'I could try to make him float or maybe go for the weapon. But he's so fast! I have no choice!'
Iida looked a bit confused as Ochaco turned tail and ran out of the room.
'I'll have to wait for Hulk and Deku. We can take him together. So win against that bully! I know you can!'
Back in the main floor, Bakugo continued his fast barrage of attacks. Each explosion popped and banged, making the beast more annoyed at his rival's tactic of staying just out of reach. Inward however, the beast's more rational half was paying close attention.
'Hulk! This can't go on for much longer. Uraraka's waiting on us!'
'Hulk know! Puny Kacchan not hurt but annoying!'
'If it wasn't him, I would say he's just trying to run the clock. But I know he won't be satisfied with a victory like that. He wants to beat us.'
'Heh. Like Hulk said he not hurting Hulk!'
Hulk stuck to the defensive stance as Bakugo began another assault. No matter how the Hulk predicted, the blonde's speed and movement were just out of reach of the monster's heavy strikes. However, through the movements, Izuku noticed Bakugo wasn't just using his explosions to blitz around him.
'Explosion, explosion, floor, explosion, wall, explosion, explosion, floor.'
'What you mumbling?'
'Bakugo's pattern. Look closely.'
Hulk did just that and noticed what his smarter half had noted. Upon noticing it he smirked, but still gave a snarl of frustration.
'How Hulk hit him though? He keep dodging…annoying.'
'Simple. We don't hit Kacchan.'
As the duo were internally planning their next move, Bakugo grunted as he prepared for another assault. He flexed his hands as he felt his gauntlets become heavier.
'Almost full. But still…'
He observed the beast he chose to prey on, soot covering its muscular green body. He grunted once more as more explosions popped in his palms.
'To think I haven't laid a scratch. That'll change. I'll prove I'm stronger than this monster!'
With that inward declaration, the explosive boy rocketed to his opponent and let loose another fast barrage flying around the green goliath. However, unlike before, the Hulk made no move to grab the blond after every attack. Instead he struck a defensive pose, covering his head with his arms. Scoffing at the display the blond continued to barrage like he had done so before.
'Explosion, explosion, now!'
"SMASH!"
The very second Bakugo's foot touched the ground, the Hulk made his move. With tremendous force he slammed his fist into the ground, splitting and cracking the ground with the shockwave of his strength. The force threw Bakugo off balance and as he stumbled the Hulk took his advantage.
"SMASH!"
With incredible strength, the Hulk punched his bully in the stomach. Bakugo's breath left him with a grunt as the force of the blow sent him through several walls, bouncing on the ground and skidding to a halt on the concrete. Holding his stomach, the blond looked hatefully at his monster as the beast walked in through the hole. He smirked as he brushed some of the soot from his assault off his giant body. The sight angered Bakugo beyond anything he felt before. Standing back up and weighing his gauntlets, Bakugo gave a smirk of his own.
The two rivals glared at each other, both knowing that it was high time to finish this match. They only had so much time however. Bakugo made the first move as he raised one of his gauntlets and aimed it at his monster.
"The smaller explosion may have not affected you Deku! But, I think you know there was more to my attacks!"
Hulk struck a defensive stance as Bakugo's finger looped the pin on his grenade shaped gauntlet.
"I had these specially made with my Quirk in mind! Let me show you!"
"Bakugo! Don't do it! It hasn't been tested safely and-"
"Well this seems like a great opportunity!"
With that the explosive boy pulled the pin and a massive explosion blasted out in the direction of the green goliath. It tore the ground asunder as it blazed towards its intended target. The Hulk and Izuku stood, stunned at their rivals' power and forethought. Instantly, Izuku's brain tried to think of a counter play.
'I see. So he wasn't just running down the clock. Very clever of him.'
'Hulk can take it!'
'Don't be so cocky. We've already taken a lot of damage earlier. We can't risk it with Iida still in play.'
'Grrr… so what now?'
'We need to counter it. But we can't risk it touching us. Unless we can punch the air-'
At that moment Izuku had an idea.
'Hulk, remember that time All Might fought that villain who couldn't miss and he couldn't get close enough?'
Hulk smiled at the memory of that fight, getting what his other half was thinking of. As the explosion was about to engulf the Hulk, the giant reared his muscular arms back-
"HULK SMASH!"
-and with incredible force clapped his massive hands together. The resulting shockwave of air dissipated the rampaging fireball and shook the building to its core. Rubble flew off the walls and floor as the pressure wave knocked the bully back and onto his knees. After the shaking had subsided, all that was left was a stunned Bakugo and a confident Hulk standing tall.
Observation Room
The class stood in awe at the two incredible displays of power they had just seen. Some stared in awe in support like All Might and Momo whereas some were just surprised at the power in the green bean teen and his other half.
"Those two are insane!" Sero exclaimed
"Hell yeah. They're manly as hell!" Kirishima praised with a slight flex of his own muscles.
"Those quirks are amazing! Makes you wonder if we can compete." Hagakure pointed out, slightly worried.
"Yeah they look so unstoppable!" Mineta agreed.
"HA! HA! HA!" All Might's laughter rang out around the room interrupting the current conversation. He turned to his class and continued, "Now yes their quirks are outstanding and strong, however it's not just the quirks that decided this battle!"
"True. Both used strategy to deal with the other. Bakugo made himself hard to hit so the Hulk decided not to hit him. Clever," said Todoroki, surprising everyone by weighing in.
"Right. Neither went into this unprepared," Momo agreed, her happiness evident in her boyfriend's victory shining through.
"Hmm. One must make use of their inner darkness in clever ways," Tokoyami agreed, causing some students to scoot away at his dark wording.
All Might gave a nod and a thumbs up at his students' observations before returning to the screens.
"Excellently put my students! Now let us see this match's conclusion!"
As the smoke cleared the combatants took a moment to breathe and analyze what had just transpired. After a moment, Bakugo caught himself and readied his other gauntlet, making the first move However, before he could even touch the pin, the Hulk began his assault. He threw a piece of rubble, forcing Bakugo to dodge.
Right into the Hulk's waiting palm. Hulk grabbed his arm in a savage hold. Undeterred, Bakugo let loose another explosion and hit Hulk in the face with an empowered fist. Growling he grabbed the other arm and forced them to the boy's side. Adjusting his grip, the beast sought to knock his opponent out with pressure. The two sneered at each other, red eyes meeting green.
In the end, Bakugo was not done yet. He reared his head back and with some slight help from some contained explosions, threw his head forward and headbutted the goliath with great force.
Hulk was surprised and stunned for a moment, before growling and headbutting his bully right back. That did it for the blond as he went limp with unconsciousness in his grasp. The beast dropped him with a scoff as All Might's voice came through his ear piece.
"One of the villains has been defeated! 5 minutes remain!"
It took a moment, but Ochaco's voice came through next.
"Nice job Deku! Now there's just Iida to deal with."
"Thanks. Hulk on way."
As the beast started to make his way to the bomb room, he stopped when he felt a slight wetness on his cheek. Moving to wipe it off he noticed a small smidge of deep green on his fingers. He was bleeding from a small cut that had been made when Bakugo had headbutted him. Rubbing his fingers the beast looked back to his currently unconscious foe.
'All that for a drop of blood?'
"Heh. Not bad Puny Kacchan."
It didn't take long for the Hulk to find his partner waiting for him outside of the room where the weapon was being kept. She lit up when he appeared and signaled him over to the doorway. They looked inside to observe their opponent.
"Listen well Heroes! The day belongs to villainy! You will never-"
The both sweat dropped at his monologue before retreating to come up with a plan.
"Okay, so he's fast and he's made it impossible for me to use my Quirk by removing every object in the room. Maybe one of us can rush the weapon while the other could distract him?"
"Could work. But Puny Midoriya say Iida too fast. Hulk could punch floor again."
"Yeah, but we're on a higher floor. We can't risk the weapon going off from the fall if we're treating this as a real scenario."
"Grrr…Fast quirks annoying."
Hulk observed his teammate and the room, it was then he got an idea.
"Gravity girl, can use power on self?"
"Uh yeah. It's difficult to steer myself though and I can't keep it up for as long without getting queasy."
"Heh, leave steering to Hulk."
'What are you planning? Should I be worried?'
'Trust Hulk.'
'Okay. Just keep it clean. This is Iida we're facing. He's a friend unlike Kacchan.'
Iida checked the door once more, having just finished another monologue. Still no sign of Ochaco or her big green companion. It was then a voice rang out on his earpiece.
"One minute remains young heroes!"
Iida readied himself, if they were going to make a move it would be coming soon.
'Will they try a frontal assault! No it would take too long! What else can they do in so little time? I know not to underestimate them, especially Midoriya.'
With one minute left to defend, Iida chose to further slip into his villain role.
"One minute until my evil plan comes to pass. You have failed these city heroes! MWA HA HA HA!"
It was then he heard the Hulk's heavy footsteps retreat from the other side of the wall.
"Yes run and hide, but you'll never escape your doomsday!"
However, thanks to his gloating, the bespectacled boy did not hear the pounding footsteps of a running freight train until a large portion of the wall exploded open with great force. The rubble moved a lot faster than he was expecting.
'Uraraka must have touched the wall before he broke it!"
Reflexively, he brought his arm up to block the rubble when he noticed his big green adversary. The Hulk had charged into the wall shoulder first, keeping his right side from view as he stopped. Iida prepared to fire up his engines to dodge and/or rush the beast after he has thrown his attack. He chose the latter as he began to speed towards his opponent. Only to freeze in shock when he saw what was in the beast's hands.
It was Ochaco curled into a ball-like shape.
"Super Move! Fastball-"
"-Special!"
At the duo's proclamation of their new special team up, the green goliath threw the gravity girl at the faux weapon.. The combination of her weightlessness and the beast strength made her a fast moving missile.
Too fast for even Iida to catch up too, but he tried. Engines igniting, he turned towards the weapon. Only for Hulk to start throwing rubble as a distraction. The engine boys' movement was hindered and he couldn't catch up with the debris knocking him about.
"In the name of villainy I demand you stop this!"
Halfway through, Uraraka deactivated her quirk as gravity and wind began to slow her down as she hugged the weapon tight, a victorious and happy expression on her face.
"Got it!"
"The hero team wins!" All Might's voice rang out as ringing and recorded cheers broke out among the ear pieces.
Hulk grunted in victory as he lumbered towards his teammate. Uraraka slid down and gave a thumb's up right before bending over clutching her stomach. Hulk put a hand on the girl's back to help with her nausea. Iida removed his helmet as he approached the duo, though he lost there was a smile on his face.
"Good work! I expected as much from you two."
"Y-you did good to Iida."
"Yeah. Fast quirks annoying."
Eventually All Might made an appearance, his cape blowing in the wind and signature smile brightening the room.
"Well done youngins! Now if you please make your way back to the observation room! I'll join you shortly!"
Bakugo had awoken just in time to hear the announcement of his rival's victory. Breathing heavily, he looked down at his hands, contemplating the fight he had just lost. Though in pain from the wounds he had received, it paled in comparison to his defeat. Amid his thoughts, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he found himself looking up at the current teacher of the class. The Number One looked down with his ever present smile, though his eyes carried an unreadable weight.
"Now, Young Bakugo, you fought well! You should be proud of your progress here today!"
"Tch. Doesn't matter. Still couldn't beat that monster."
"Monster? Is that why you disobeyed a direct order? To beat the monster?"
Bakugo gave a simple nod, his expression still sad and angry.
"Did you mean to kill him?"
"'Course not! I just need to beat him! I'm gonna be the best and strongest hero there is! How can I be that without beating that monster!?"
'What if I can't take him when he loses control again? How can protect everyone?'
All Might let out a hearty laugh.
"Young Bakugo, you have much to learn about being a hero! Now come let us get you to the infirmary!"
Bakugo once again scoffed and began to limp towards the observation room holding one arm as he did.
"I'm fine! Let's get this over with!"
All Might looked on as he gave an equally hearty sigh.
'He has the drive and a little bit of spirit, but he still has a long way to go. Hopefully his heart is in the right place. This generation…'
With that thought, the hero looked on the battlefield once more before returning to his class.
Observation Room
All Might led group A and D back into observation as the rest of the students gave small claps and cheers.
"That was manly as hell Midoriya and Bakugo! We gotta spar sometime." Kirishima exclaimed.
"You've got some moves Bakugo, you could teach me some things or two!" Mina exclaimed
"Pretty cool super move you two pulled off," Jiro observed.
"You were so cool, Midoriya! The way you smashed that bully down~. Amazing! Just like the sludge villain! You're so cool!" Toga said, getting a bit too close before Shinso pulled her back a little. Though his expression was unchanged, he gave a little nod of approval.
"Pretty nice performance there Iida," Shoji noted.
Izuku, Ochaco and Iida all blushed at the praise. The two former smiled nervously while the latter held his head a little higher. Bakugo meanwhile just scoffed at his praises, but even he let a small smile come forth if anyone was looking close enough. Eventually the two teams stood amongst the class, Izuku standing next to Momo who squeezed his hand.
"Good job," she whispered.
"Thanks."/'Thanks'
All Might stood before his students, the match from before playing in the background. Clearing his voice heartily, he addressed the class.
"Now then onto the review portion! Each match we will assign an MVP. Anyone care to guess who it was for this match?"
After some mumbles in the crowd one student dared to raise her hand, which All Might acknowledged.
"Yes Young Yaoyorozu?"
"Thank you sir. The MVP of this match was Iida."
Some of the class was shocked. Iida held his head a little higher at her nomination while some of the class raised their hands, questions on their minds.
"But, he barely left the room," Denki surmised
"Yeah and when Hulk busted in, he dodged well but failed to protect the weapon," Shoji added.
"If we're talking about hamming it up though. I see what you're saying girl," Mina teased
All Might motioned for the Creation Heiress to explain her reasoning, everyone eager to hear what she and their teacher thought.
"It's simple really. Iida planned ahead. He knew his partner would be a nice distraction for a more formidable opponent which left him to face Uraraka. He made her virtually useless in a one on one fight. All he had to do was wait for time to run out and hope for the Hulk to stay distracted. The second Bakugo fell was when he lost, however that was something he could not control. When they came at him as a group he adapted the best he could and lost"
Silence prevailed while the class absorbed the information. Iida brought a hand to his chest and blushed, holding himself even higher at the praise. Bakugo grumbled, though it sounded out of begrudging agreement. Izuku and Ochaco nodded in agreement themselves.
"Well said," the green hair boy complimented
"Thanks," she said with a slight blush
All Might cleared his throat, himself also impressed by the girl's intelligent remarks.
"Well said, Young Yaoyorozu. Iida planned well and adapted the best he could. Let this be known to you young heroes: No plan survives contact with the enemy! Always be ready to adapt!"
The class let out some cheers and claps at the Number One's proclamation. With a flare of his cape, the hero turned back towards the monitors.
"Now then, onto the next match!"
With that proclamation the hero drew two more team names, the members of which tensed with readiness and nervousness at their turn in the spotlight.
It was Team B as heroes vs Team I as villains
"We're up," Shoji observed while his counterpart didn't even seem to acknowledge him. Moving toward the exit to the battle zone. Sighing, the masked boy followed.
"Let's do our best!" The invisible girl cheered. Her counterpart looked slightly annoyed at the perky outburst, but gave a tired smile of his own. Seems he wanted to keep true to his promise to play nice.
"Yeah. Lets win."
She pumped her gloved hand as the two followed the other team towards the exit. All Might followed to get them set up properly as the rest of the class settled in.
Momo stood next to her boyfriend, amazed slightly at the notebook that had materialized in his hands. Giggling slightly, she looked over and noticed he was already writing profiles for the class.
"Ever the quirk nerd I see."
"Just so many interesting ones. Just from the names and well…I'm excited to see Shinso's," The boy said, rubbing the back of his head and blushing.
'Hulk better quirk anyway.'
"Like I said when we met, I think it's cute," the girl giggled slightly, squeezing his hand, "So any theories?"
Izuku put his hand to his chin as he began to really think about it.
"Well, it's not a mutation unless it's a transformation type or is hidden under his clothes. I would theorize an emitter type, though what it does is a mystery. I'm excited to see this match unfold."
Momo nodded along, happy at her boyfriend's quirk love and amazed by his smarts regarding them. The two turned towards the screens, eager to see what the next match would bring. Her mind went to her own upcoming match, nervousness and excitement at the forefront of her mind.