Chapter Text
“They what? ”
Ren put away the last of the dishes for the night. He closed the cabinet and leaned on the kitchen counter, where Hitoshi was wide-eyed on the barstool. “Yep. They wanted to do it today, but they knew you’d all be tired.”
“So merciful.” Hitoshi said dryly. “How much on everyone losing their minds when they see you at Ground Gamma tomorrow?”
“You really think so?” Ren tilted his head, amused. “UA pulls ‘unexpected’ exercises often.”
Hitoshi smirked. “How about infinite coffee refills until Sunday?”
Ren clicked his tongue. “Fine.”
*-*-*
Aizawa couldn’t figure out why Shinsou was staring at Joker with a shit-eating grin while the rest lost their minds.
He saw everyone else’s reaction coming, though. Cries of “No way!”, “This is so unfair!”, and “He’s going to kick our asses!” came from all sorts of different directions (Kaminari, Sato, Testutestu, to name a few). Some expressed their excitement (Mina, Hagakure, Awase-), and some even went silent with stars practically shining in their eyes (like Midoriya and Bakugo, for completely different reasons).
More importantly, none of them met the announcement with fear or uneasiness, and that was enough to actually proceed with the exercise.
Since Joker would be fighting on his own, there was no point in dividing the teams by class: there would be seven teams of five, and one of six to count in Shinsou.
Those who’d been given teams waited by the spectator’s area and chatted amongst each other.
“Do you think they'll finally tell us the deets of Joker’s quirk?" Mina stage-whispered to Hagakure. "They gotta tell us before the matches start, right?”
“They have to!” Hagakure wildly waved her arms around. “He has a huge edge over us already-”
“And what, you’re just going to ask a villain what their quirk is before you fight them?” Joker walked up to them with an eyebrow raised. Whether he was oblivious to everyone shutting up to eavesdrop or just didn’t care was impossible to tell.
“That’s-” Hagakure tried to object, but she couldn’t find an answer. Mina tried raising her finger to do the same, but instead bit her cheek with a similar result.
Joker’s eyes softened. “It’s not like it’s going to be completely uneven matches anyway. I only know the bare-basics of your quirks, and I haven’t seen the majority of them up-close in battle either. You have that much in your favor.”
Mina blinked and grinned. “Oh yeah, that’s right!"
Midnight called from the speaker. “The first match will be starting soon!”
Joker smiled and saluted as he took the cue to go. “Good luck!”
*-*-*
Deku and Shinsou were practically honorary commentators. They were the ones with the largest grasp on Joker’s abilities, so if anything it gave people information for the following matches.
For example, when Bakugo barreled towards Joker with a borderline bloodthirsty grin, and was stopped abruptly by a pink mist from Titania’s part. He was instantly sound asleep, followed by howls of laughter from the spectators.
“Dormina?” Shinsou murmured.
“You know what that was?!” Sero cried as he wiped a tear off his face.
Or when poor, poor Kaminari had his own bolts thrown back at him with a swing of Orpheus Picaro’s lyre.
“Joker’s summons tend to have inherent strengths and weaknesses to elemental stuff like fire and ice, it’s likely he had a complete immunity to electricity, or could even repel it! What an advantage!” Deku cheered.
Even when Cu Chulainn cut through a wall’s worth of Shiozaki’s vines with a trio of flying swords fast enough to look like orange blurs.
“Showoff.” Shinsou huffed, smiling to himself.
“Deku, you’re muttering again!” Kirishima called.
“Sorry!”
*-*-*
Joker walked the metal playground for the fifth time that day. He was impressed by everyone’s organization until now, even more so with all the crazy stunts everyone pulled with their quirks. There was a proud flame in his heart when he saw the improvement in everyone he’d seen fight before – hell, Todoroki’s team almost got him.
Almost.
“You're very hee-welcome, ho!”
He rolled over the names All Might gave him before he entered. Only one from 1B, surprisingly, though he guessed those were the consequences of putting both groups in one bucket.
- Kyoka Jiro, Earphone Jack. Quirk: Earphone Jack. Long distance hearing? Her boots had speakers, maybe she could project sound like Present Mic could.
- Ochako Uraraka, Uravity. Quirk: Zero Gravity, activated on touch. Could she move the objects like Emily could, or did they just float?
- Fumikage Tokoyami, Tsukuyomi. Quirk: Dark Shadow. Basically a Persona, he could manage.
- Eijiro Kirishima, Red Riot. Quirk: Hardening. He probably had a limit, but he had a feeling it'd be easier (and safer, overextending was not fun) to avoid fighting him entirely.
- Shihai Kuroiro, Vantablack. Quirk: Black, allows the user to merge their body with anything dark-colored. If it meant traveling in the shadows, he hoped Third-Eye held up.
And finally,
- Hitoshi Shinsou. Quirk: Brainwashing.
"I hope we'll be able to catch Joker." Uraraka's voice resounded next to a second pair of footsteps. "He was pretty slippery in the other matches."
"Yeah, same here." Kirishima said. "You gotta admit he was freaking awesome, though."
"Oh, totally –"
Blue flames blinded the two students as Joker landed in front of them. Titania filled the place with pink smoke in seconds.
THWIP.
He dodged the scarf just in time. It nearly grazed his ear.
Kirishima was asleep, but Shinsou had a hand on his mask and another on the silk.
Purple eyes pierced through the fog.
"Didn't think you'd actually fall for it." Uraraka's voice taunted, "I thought you weren't one to use the same trick twice."
Joker simply grinned and reached for his dagger. Titania picked up Kirishima and graciously bolted.
Below a pipeline roof several meters away, Jiro unplugged one of her jacks. "Titania got Red Riot," she pointed in the direction the fae queen was headed, "you'll be able to catch her if you run over there." She unplugged the other jack and stood, ready to run. "Good luck guys."
"You too!" Uraraka said, and with that they split off.
Titania weaved between the pipes. The makeshift Palace was impressive, but she could see daylight a few meters away. She was surprised the redhead hadn't woken up yet –
Her train of thought was interrupted by echoes.
"RED RIOT!"
Titania swerved the ball of pink launched her way. She spotted the catapult immediately: Dark Shadow and Tokoyami were already approaching. The girl got back up and jumped, syncing perfectly with her teammate.
White scarves covered her nose and mouth. Tokoyami's beak was covered by Dark Shadow.
Smart kids.
Titania backed away with Kirishima still in hand. She waved an arm. "Well played, you two!"
Uraraka's eyes widened as blue orbs made a wall between them. She quickly reached for Tokoyami, Zero Gravity pulled them away as the clearing filled with cerulean explosions.
"You okay?" Uraraka asked mid-air.
"Yes, thank you." Tokoyami said. "Though I'm afraid the same can't be said for Red Riot."
The Nezu-trademarked cage came into view. Titania placed an awake Kirishima inside, giving him a two-finger salute before disappearing into blue wisps.
Uravity and Tsukiyomi landed back down. Uraraka resisted the urge to run towards the cage.
"I'm so sorry, Red Riot!" She called.
Tsukiyomi nodded. "We failed to get you back in time. I apologize."
"Hey, it's okay! We got Titania away from Joker, the bait worked!" Kirishima pumped his fists. "Just make sure it was worth it for me!"
The two exchanged looks. They firmly nodded back to him. "Right!"
*-*-*
Kuroiro traveled within the underside of a thick pipe. Every now and then he looked below to check if Jiro was still there.
She was a good distance behind him, but still running without signs of wearing out. She readjusted the cloths Shinsou gave to them over her nose and mouth.
"How does Aizawa-sensei use these every day…" He heard her say.
He focused back on getting to Joker. They'd gone pretty far, he could see him and Shinsou dodging each other right below where the pipe next to his ended.
Kuroiro popped his head out to alert Jiro, where she stopped until she saw where he was pointing. He didn't stay long enough to see her reaction, and soon he was right above them –
Joker backflipped to avoid a scarf throw, and time seemed to slow. Joker's grin turned wicked as fogged golden eyes met his.
"Well, it looks like we have company!" Joker landed with a hand on the concrete, the glowing sheen returning with full force as he spared a look behind him – Jiro wasn't far off. "I can't stay for long. See ya!"
Shinsou growled as he grappled away. "Get back here!" He looped a scarf over a pipe and swung, away from everyone else and giving chase.
The wind whipped his hair. Despite being here just yesterday, he couldn't contain his awe at how big this false city was.
It didn't distract him from the black blur falling and rising, though. He was steadily starting to catch up.
Shinsou's focus broke when the fabric suddenly snapped mid-swing. He fell, ungracefully but not far enough to break anything. He landed star-fished on his back.
"Shinsou!"
Jiro caught up to him. "Are you injured?"
"Nope." Shinsou sat up, looking onwards.
He tsked when he didn't see Joker.
Jiro gave him a hand, and pulled him up. "How'd you fall off?"
"Dunno." Shinsou rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I'll have to train more." He looked left and right. "...Where's Vantablack?"
"He's still giving chase. He came up with a plan that could counter Joker."
"What is it?"
"It's- wait." Jiro stopped, her eyes darting to look for something he couldn't see. "Do you hear that?"
Shinsou strained his ears as Jiro plugged an ear jack to the ground. It was far away, but he could hear pipes falling and crashing into one another.
"Where…?"
They turned their backs against each other, scanning the area as they fell into fighting stances. The sound was getting closer, and a light scent of ozone tinged the air.
His ears caught the faint, constant bat of a hummingbird's wings.
Jiro jolted beside him. "What the -"
He realized why the scarf broke.
Too-high pitched laughter rang around the clearing as Pixie flew around them like a wasp. She zoomed right in front of their faces with a devilish grin.
"Bet I got you now, huh?!" She said as she twirled a finger in the air and dodged Jiro and Shinsou's batting hands. A white orb spawned behind them, evaporating the middle part of a huge pipe. They paled as its shadow fell over them, jumping away as the CLANG echoed in their ears.
Pixie's cackles reverberated as a similar fate awaited everything else in sight and then some, pops of white appearing as far as they could see.
"RUN!"
*-*-*
Joker watched the destruction from the safety of a tall platform. It reminded him of when Palaces crumbled, only this time he was a witness from afar.
"Do you think there's Palaces based on refineries?" Pixie daintily fluttered back into the mindscape when she was finished. She sat on one of Kohryu's horns, swinging her legs back and forth. "They look like dirty places, but then again, we've been to Shido's ship."
"Who knows…"
The last of the pipes crashed. It was all concentrated to one big area, but still.
Joker furrowed his brows. "You didn't overdo it, right?"
"Oh, please, I'm not a brute. I made sure nothing cracked their paper bones." Pixie leaned back with her arms behind her head. She smirked. "Besides, they'll be easier to pick up now."
"How so?" Titania asked. "The Trickster can't summon five of us to look for each student."
"Oh my stars, what a tragedy!" Pixie fell backward and off the horn. She twirled back up and landed on the bridge of the golden dragon's nose, putting an arm in the space between his eyes. "Who in the world could possibly reach for multiple people at once?"
*-*-*
Kuroiro deactivated his quirk and rolled on the ground. He sat up and clutched his head, dizzy.
"What the hell was that…" He muttered.
He was surrounded by broken metal tubes. He wouldn't have been surprised if a gang of people with Gigantification quirks had used the place to play Jenga and someone just miserably lost.
…Or maybe the "loss" wasn't miserable, and it'd been a tactical move to separate everyone. Kuroiro thought that option was more likely.
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he mentally recounted what happened: he'd seen Joker grapple away and Shinsou go after him, and he'd decided to tail Joker too after telling his idea to Jiro. Then Shinsou fell off, and not much later there was a wasp-sized summon flying around like crazy.
And then all the pipes started collapsing, which lead to now.
He pursed his lips. Should he regroup, or try to find Joker again? If he was on his own, his plan wouldn't work as well-
A rumble interrupted his train of thought. He tilted his head up, and his mouth hung open as a massive shadow loomed over him.
He hid in the closest pipe as the infamous golden dragon, Kohryu , floated onto the city in all his massive glory. His claws swayed lazily as he passed over the playground, and the air seemed to change with his presence.
Kuroiro held his breath as the pipe suddenly started to move. He looked down and startled: he was so high up! Other platforms were being lifted with the dragon's wind, too. He followed where they led, and saw a tiny black dot on a high place above everything.
Joker.
He's using the dragon to find everyone.
Kuroiro looked at the path. If he could make it without falling, he could buy everyone some time.
He counted to three, and took a deep breath. Kuroiro leapt off his hiding place, and his legs flailed as he crossed the distance. He landed on a rectangular platform, it shaking with his weight. Before it could fall, he leapt again for a pipe far above him, enough where he could use his quirk on the shadowed area.
He could do this.
*-*-*
Uraraka gaped as her platforms settled in the sky. She'd lifted a few to help search for the others (she'd kept them up in case Joker showed up. Potential ammunition, yknow?), but they were suddenly dragged away from her. The wind had taken them all to Kohryu like he was the eye of a storm. She wondered what shape they'd all take if Kohryu had the whole place to himself.
She'd been about to deactivate her quirk, until she saw something- someone- moving around them.
Uraraka watched Vantablack for a few more seconds, then tuned back to the conversation. She and the others were hiding below pipes that'd crashed into each other and stayed up like impromptu roofs.
"Sucks that we have to wait this out." Jiro gave the sky another glance. "You sure he can get Kohryu off us, Shinsou?"
The latter nodded. "We start running the second Kohryu sees us. If we get close enough to Joker, we're set."
Jiro snorted. "You know, if you told me you'd been taking classes at another hero school before today, I would've believed you."
Shinsou blinked. "...Is that a good thing?"
"'Course it is, silly!" Uraraka smiled.
"I-"
"Ah, there you are."
Intense wind suddenly came from all directions. Their hiding place was shadowed by moving golden scales. Ruby eyes stared them down from above, and the student's forms were ants in comparison. Uraraka would've said Kohryu looked curious, if not for how he dove for them.
*-*-*
Joker stayed on his platform, vigilant of the smudges in the distance, as chaos ensued. He could sense the dark smudge below Kohryu as Dark Shadow, likely lifted up by Uraraka.
His eyes widened when Dark Shadow grabbed two of Kohryu's claws and started to pull, doing pretty much anything to keep him from moving forward.
"Oh, come on !" Titania groaned.
"Wiggle him off, Grandpa!" Alice cheered regardless.
Without a second thought, the dragon took the advice to heart. He started going back and forth like a (triple-mega-plus-sized) serpent and shook like a dog who'd just left the rain. The whole arena rumbled, if it weren't for Pixie's previous Persona-made disaster, whole structures would've gone down.
Joker was crouched to keep his balance. It did nothing to soothe the crawling on his back. The sensation grew, bothersome and growing bigger than a mere bug.
His eyes widened as a voice seemed to almost breathe down his neck.
"Peekaboo."
Joker jumped as Vantablack rested on his back. He kept trying to turn to grab him, but the 1-B student just kept dodging his batting. The laughter wasn't helping either.
"Trickster, is everything alright?!"
"Just fine!" He replied with another failed swipe.
"Anyone got ideas?!"
"Set him on fire!"
"Hypnotize him!"
"Burn off the costume!"
"What?!"
Kohryu was starting to lose focus. "Do you wish for-"
"The coat!" Yatagarasu flapped his wings. "Trickster, the intruder is melded with your coat!"
He understood the signal. He was lucky there was a platform that led to the ground.
Joker grit his teeth before putting all his will into getting Vantablack.
"I hope- you like slides!" He declared, before letting the costume burn to blue ash and hurling the intruder off.
Vantablack slid down like a yelling, dizzy sack of potatoes.
A beat, and Ren took a deep breath to pull himself together. He stood to full height in the UA sports uniform Nezu gave him. By no means his colors, but he wasn't picky.
He should've seen it coming, really. His tailcoat was all black, of course Vantablack was going to try melding with it.
He checked the distance, and Kohryu was no longer there, dissipating back into the mindscape and leaving the sky open. It was a shame he didn't have the old dragon's bond mastered yet.
He walked over to the edge of the platform, peeking over it. Vantablack, though a ways down, was already getting back up.
They locked eyes, and Ren waved like someone wasn't about to get rocked. A beat, and the whole platform Ren stood on exploded.
*-*-* general ouline here: *-*-*
- Jiro BREAKS the battlefield, Ochaco starts making everything float
- Including Joker
-- Joker gets a view of the USJ ('Mona's arriving with the team by the end of the week,
as soon as they're here we'll be heading straight there. We'll be back home before you know it, I promise.')
- Shinso starts approaching
- Joker switches to Alice, who has Null Psy ('No way' and grinning like a madman as he loses the effect of zero gravity)
- Shinso catches Alice and that's basically Shinso getting tied to a rock
- Byakko cushions Joker and Shinso's fall
*-*-*
For a moment, they just stayed on Byakko's' fur. They heaved and caught their breath. They stared at the pretty clouds in the sky, floating peacefully without a care in the world.
Smiles appeared on both of their faces, and they started laughing like little kids who'd just tripped on each other at the park.
It felt amazing.
"I swear you're all crazy." Ren wheezed.
"Yeah, well–" Shinsou was grinning underneath the mask. "Not as crazy as you. Now come here! " He rolled over and tried to grab his arm, failing as Ren dodged with a laugh.
*-*-*
- Joker and Byakko v Shinso
- Joker switches Personas and honestly it's passing the baton between making Joker float and Dark Shadow
- Shinso gets Joker!!!!!!!
- 'Congrats, Hitoshi, you caught me… red handed!'
- because aizawa alleyway parallels are what got me to write this thing
- Small banter gets joker brainwashed
("We're pretty much done.i got water, you want some?"
"Please.")
- Joker comes to at the nezu cage and *beams*
("that, was the most fun ive had in ages" )
shinso opens the cage door (cmon, lets get you an actual drink now. aizawa-sensei said you'd be taking another break after this one anyway.)