Chapter Text
The sirens blared as the class of 1-A suited up. Boots were tied, buckles were latched, and headgear was secured within the ten minutes they were allowed. This might have been a simulation but with UA’s signature Plus Ultra attitude, they would treat this as the real deal.
In fifteen minutes they were already at the site in Ground Beta where the Agency Simulation would be held. It was immediately obvious that even the school was going Plus Ultra in this exercise. The streets were littered with people, bystanders, living out their lives and going through schedules as they mimicked the workings of a normal city. Crowds stood behind the blockade around City Hall as they gawked at the prospects of a hero fight. Police in uniform kept order as they awaited the promised heroes.
The heroes Null and Ingenium lead the pack as the team approaches the scene.
“The Hero Agency has arrived!” Ingenium announced.
Heads turned and the crowd stirred with excitement and anticipation.
“Oh good! The heroes are here!” Said a woman in the crowd.
“Are they new?”
“I’ve never heard of them before”
“Anyone know their names?”
The cameras flashed and Null watched as Chargebolt and Can’t Stop Twinkling noticeably posed for pictures as they passed. Though, Null didn’t feel the need to get onto them as they did so while still moving at a hurried pace.
Police opened the blockade for them and the large team of heroes passed through.
“Excellent! You’ve arrived!” All Might said as he hurried towards them.
“All Might?” Deku said, now standing beside Null as the team stopped in front of the tall skeletal figure.
“All Might? No no, though I’m flattered,” ‘Not’ All Might said, “I’m the Police Commissioner.”
“ Right… simulation ,” Deku muttered before immediately straightening up, and putting on his biggest smile, “Hello Police Commissioner! We’re The Hero Agency and we’re here to help!”
Null glanced back at the Commissioner, he knew the teachers would no doubt have been participating in The Simulation but it was odd seeing All Might in such a different setting. He wore a button down shirt and tie covered by a police issued bullet proof vest with the letters CAPD printed on it. On his belt was the visible holster of a standard police firearm with a baton and radio on the opposite hip. Even if that wasn’t strange the fact that he held himself different was what stood out most. No longer was he hunched over, but with his shoulders drawn back he had a much larger presence then he did just moments ago in the classroom.
The Commissioner looked around at the team of heroes, “Twenty of you? Do you think that’s necessary for an operation like this?” The man said with something tense in his town.
“It would be foolish not to utilize everyone’s abilities ,” Null replied through an augmented tone, though he noticed something a little tense in the Commissioner’s voice and he didn’t seem satisfied by that answer, though he hid it well. “ My team is capable, and our goal is to handle this as swiftly as possible. It is my understanding that someone was reported injured?”
“Yes, the Deputy Mayor. Reports say she was shot in the wing and fell down the stairs in an attempt to escape, it is believed she might have a concussion, though with what little we could gather from the Villains’ phone call she’s still unconscious. The head injury could potentially be worse,” The Commissioner replied as Null turned his head towards the City Hall building.
“What were the villains’ demands?” Ingenium asked.
The Commissioner scoffed, “You could probably guess. They were after a hundred million dollars and safe passage out of the city. They currently believe we’re gathering the money and getting a helicopter.”
“Is that it?” Deku said with some confusion.
“Not all villains have dastardly plans ,” Null said absently before he paused in a second of thought, “ but this is rather dramatic for such a motive. A heist would have proven to be just as lucrative.”
The Commissioner looked between Null and Deku with a raised eyebrow, “You think there might be more to their plan?”
“It could be a possibility,” Deku said as he raised a knuckle to his chin.
“You can ask the bastards after we kick their ass!” Bakugo (because he has yet to come up with a suitable hero name) all but shouted.
“Agreed, we need to deal with this problem first ,” Null said as he looked over City Hall. He wished his thermal vision could see through a building’s structure, but unfortunately one that powerful wasn’t practical to have in something the size of Null’s helmet. Instead he was mapping his own squad's course and visualizing what the rest of the other heroes would be doing. “ Com checks, everyone!” He said after a second.
Null heard three check-ins with his squad mates through his helmet but with the addition of:
> Chargebolt present! < The lightning hero said through the coms.
>Wrong channel Chargebolt,< Null said, his voice not escaping through his helmet as he spoke into the coms
> Oops, sorry Toto .<
Null resisted a sigh as he debated about reminding Chargebolt about using hero names.
There was a faint ‘ click ’ signifying Chargebolt’s switch in channels. The links had two channels, one dedicated to your squadron and the other broadcasted to the whole team. Chatter kept to a minimum yet still able to reach out to the others.
“Smart to invest in com links,” Creati said to his right.
He tilted his head to look at her out of the corner of his visor, “I was not a fan of our lack of communication at the training camp,” Null said bluntly.
Shouto watched a look of sympathy cross Momo’s eyes as she gave a small nod of understanding.
“Eta, Zeta, take the east and west wings. Get ready to make some noise,” Null ordered.
“Finally,” Bakugo said as he rushed forward with an excited cackle.
“Aye aye!” Ingenium replied dutifully.
Both teams of six followed their leaders towards the opposite ends of City Hall.
Null’s attention was immediately drawn back to the Commissioner, “Wait, wait! Aren't you going to explain yourselves?” he said quickly. Seemingly startled at the fact that the heroes were ready to mobilize.
“Earphone Jack will explain,” Null responded. >Epsilon, move out.<
Null pretended to not hear more of the Commissioner's protests as he, Creati, Tentacole, and Neuro Shock took off in a run towards the City hall, but instead of going either east or west like the others they veered off and approached a portion of the buildings with few windows.
> Eta in position ,< Ingenium announced.
> Same, < Bakugo announced.
Null considered that the class might need a lesson in communication etiquette before responding, >Hold, Epsilon on route.<
Null’s squad stopped at the wall as they looked up at the two story building, though it was more like three considering the fact that the roof was heavily stylized. “Think you can climb that with a passenger, Tentacole?”he asked, despite knowing it would be an easy yes.
Just as Tentacole was about to respond, the purple hero interrupted.
“I can get up there myself,” Neuro Shock said broadly. Shinso had announced his hero name to the class a few days prior when the other students grew curious about it. It was appropriate yet vague enough to keep people wondering.
Even though Neuro Shock was wearing a mask, Null could almost hear the sneer. He had not forgotten Shinso’s personal dislike towards Shouto. He just hoped it wasn’t going to show up in training like this.
“Even so, Tentacole would be much quicker at it. We have the hostages to think about after all,” Creati said. It was probably a better delivery of an explanation then Null would have. While her’s was warm and informative, Null’s would have been cold and commanding, not that he meant to be rude but it was just instinct in a situation like this. No time to think of voice tone and delivery when information needed to be given quickly. Every second counted.
But that was probably not something that would be well received by Neuro Shock in this given moment.
Luckily Creati’s approach was more successful. Still not fully satisfied, Neuro Shock didn’t resist as he climbed onto Tentacole’s back before the heteromorphic scurried up the side of the building effortlessly with the use of his morphed appendages.
“Thanks for that,” Null said as he leaned down slightly so Creati could basically sit on the forearm of his metal prosthetic. She looped her arms around his neck as he picked her up. He took a second to make sure she was secure in his hold.
“He’s only known us for a few weeks… but I thought maybe he would warm up to us quicker than that,” Creati said with a small sigh.
“He’s the closed off type, it’ll take time… Admittedly I haven’t been doing enough as class president to include him,” Null mumbled as he aimed his grapple at a decorative outcropping on the slanted roof.
Creati firmly hit his shoulder while still keeping her arms secured around his neck, “It’s quite illogical for you to think this is all on you, especially since you’ve been recovering.” She said sternly.
In lieu of responding to that, Null carefully tightened his grip on Creati’s legs before launching his grapple with a muffled bang! that startled Creati enough to cause her to yelp before they were yanked upwards. They shot past the other two heroes just as they were reaching the roof's edge. They probably flew up twenty feet higher than the grapple's anchor point, it released and retracted as they passed. Null used his cap to slow their descent enough that he could land silently on the ridge of the slanted roof. He was careful to make sure Creati could get her bearings on the roof's ridge before he completely let go.
>The skylight is this way,< Null said to the others as Epsilon moved its way towards the glass ceiling just above the building's large staircase. Sticking low to the building and keeping light footing, Tentacole used one of his arms to form an eye that could peek over the short ledge that separated the glass from the rest of the roof.
“Hostages spotted, all five of them, but I don’t see any villains,” Tentacole reported.
Null frowned under his mask, “just at the top of the stairs?” Null asked.
The hero nodded.
That was an odd place to hold hostages like that, especially since flying heroes could come in from above. Leaving them unguarded was even more bizarre. “Either these villains are not very smart or they’re up to something. Let’s see what happens when the other squads act.”
“ What happened to thinking about the hostage? ” Neuro Shock said under his breath, Null only heard it through the aid of his helmet. His hidden frown only deepened.
“I’ll give the signal,” Null finally said.
-
> Epsilon in place. <
“It’s fuckin’ game time,” Bakugo grinned sharply as he rushed from his hiding spot from behind the short decorative wall that stood ten feet from the east wing’s side entrance. He slammed his palm against the door just before letting off a large explosion that launched the door, along with portions of the wall, down the hallway. “Hey villain bastards! Get the fuck over here,” the explosive hero grinned widely as he stepped though the demolished doorway.
“ Sacre bleu ! Was that necessary?” Can’t Stop Twinkling said as he carefully stepped over the scattered rubble.
Bakugo leaned back with a smirk as he spotted one of the hooded figures from the briefing step out from behind the bend in the hallway, they seemed to glance down at the destroyed door at their feet and let out a long sigh. “It got them over here didn’t it?” Bakugo said proudly.
“But that didn’t make it necessary,” said the low, steady tone of the villain. He stood hiding under his hood and his face unseen, his shoulders dropped slightly with uncertain body language. On his dark cloak was the large letter ‘Y’ printed in white. “I would have known you entered without the unnecessary property damage.”
Bakugo just scoffed, “Skip the lecture, and let's fight already.”
Villain Y let out another heavy sigh, “ok...” suddenly a large pair of wings sprouted from the villains back, along with one arm forming into a swarm of tentacles and the other into an oversized clam shell.
“It’s Amajiki,” Tsukuyomi said to his left, “This will be a difficult fight.”
“Surely they made them wear restraints like in the finals, kero ,” Froppy stood back by the door.
“We can take him!” Sugarman said as he grabbed on off his capsules off his belt, downing it in an instant.
“I thought we were done talking,” Villain Y said, suddenly his tentacles swung towards them. Despite the distance, the tentacles stretched out in attempts to hit the group of heroes in a single swoop.
With an energized war cry, Sugarman rushed forward, grappling all five tentacles in his arms, pinning them together. With the tentacles restrained, the other heroes were able to dodge the attack, but at the cost of Sugarman getting swept off his feet by the force and flying through the air with the appendages. “Pinky!” he called.
“On it!” Pinky said, rushing into the building where she had been standing just outside the broken doorway. She used one of the decorative marble statues to vault up to the flailing tentacles that were now curling around Sugarman. Reaching out she splashed acid all across the tendrils, shocked by the attack, Villain Y lost his hold on Shugarman who was able to wrap his legs around the tentacles to keep them restrained then grabbed onto the nearby support pillar to virtually immobilize the appendages.
Villain Y made a surprised noise, but was in no way distracted enough to not notice the next attack.
While Sugarman and Pinky dealt with the tentacles, Bakugo blasted forward, with excessive explosions causing smoke to fill the area around him. He attempted to kick Villain Y in the face but was blocked by the clam shell. Hidden under the cloak, Villain Y had turned his foot into chicken talons, he grabbed Bakugo by the leg and threw him across the hall. Bakugo hit the wall with a harsh thud, he was quick to blast himself toward the villain again before he even hit the ground.
“You’re fighting is too reckless,” Villain Y mumbled.
Bakugo smiled sharply, “Don’t pout when you lose,” he said, attacking again with another smoke producing explosion.
Villain Y was about to defend against Bakugo’s next attack with his clam shell, but suddenly a bright sparkling light shot through Bakugo’s smoke from the direction of the doorway. Villain Y quickly switched stances, kicking Bakugo in the chest with his chicken talons, then blocking Twinkling’s navel laser with the clam shell, clamping his talons to the ground to prevent him from losing his footing.
But what Villain Y didn’t realize was that it was yet another distraction. Froppy and Tsukuyomi had stuck behind him while he was busy with Bakugo. And with his tentacles still restrained by Sugarman and Pinki’s efforts, and his focus on Twinkling and Bakugo, he was unable to defend against the combo from the frog and shadow hero.
Froppy leaped into action as she kicked Villain Y in the back of the head with a powerful strike, stumbling forward, Villain Y turned just in time to see her attempts to duck down and sweep him off his feet. He quickly jumped in response but now airborne, was grabbed by Dark Shadow and slammed against the wall. He was pinned in place.
“Guess you’re not as reckless as I thought,” he grunted out.
Bakugo laughed as he approached the restrained villain, “What are you gonna do about it? Cry?”
Villain Y just narrowed his eyes through the hood. “I’m just not going to go easy on you anymore.” Suddenly his restrained tentacles were yanked out of Sugarman’s grip, Pinky was thrown across the hall with a startled yelp, and a barrage of armored tentacles exploded from Dark Shadow’s hold, knocking all the heroes to the floor. “ Chimera Kraken! ”
-
Ingenium could hear the explosions from Bakugo from the opposite wing. It was safe to assume that the Eta squad had encountered a villain, though the announcement from Tsukuyomi only confirmed that.
> Eta has made contact with the enemy. We’re fighting Villain Y who we recognized as Amajiki. <
> It would be safe to assume the other two are also part of the Big Three ,< Null respond.
>Zeta has yet to see a villain, we’re clearing the west wing , < Ingenium said into the team channel.
> Epsilon spotted the hostages. No sign of any villains. Standing by until Zeta makes contact. < Null announced.
>Understood!< Ingenium said before switching back to the squad channel.
“We’ve almost made it to the main hall, why haven’t we seen any villains yet?” Deku said as he ran beside Ingenium, his full cowl activated so he could keep up with the engine hero’s speed.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Ingenium said as the two of them checked another set of rooms. There was no sign of tampering or commotion so they quickly moved on, with no immediate sign of the villains the squad split up to inspect the area. The west wing was a rather large section of the city hall with many halls and corridors so Ingenium made the call as squad leader to have them split up.
“Clear!” Deku called.
“Clear-” Ingenium began but was immediately interrupted by a panicked shout from the squadron coms.
>Aack! Villain W spotted, she’s- oof…. ouch... < Uravity groaned. >V-Villain X…< She managed to force out.
Ingenium and Deku could hear the commotion from a few halls down, they quickly turned on their heels heading towards them, >Zeta has contact with Villains W and X!< he said quickly into the T-channel. Then to the S-channel, >Tailman, Red Riot. <
>We’re on our way!< Tailman responded.
-
Null easily spotted the opportunity.
“Now’s our chance,” He said quickly as he stood up. “With the villains distracted, we should be able to get the hostages out.”
“And how do you suggest that? Walk them out the front door?” Neuro Shock snarked.
“Now that’s an idea…” Null said, considering it. The hostages were at the top of the building's grand staircase, the door was just past the bottom step of the first floor. “Yeah, that could work.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Neuro Shock mumbled.
“Creati, how fast can you make a stretcher?” Null asked.
“I can pull it out anytime, when I heard of the injured Deputy Mayor I started immediately,” Creati replied.
“Excellent. Then we’re ready,” Null suddenly shot his grapple onto the roof at his foot then stepped off to the small ledge beside the skylight before jumping up. He used the propulsion from his spring boots to gain the necessary high to smash through the glass when he made contact.
With the anchor from his grapple he landed safely before detecting the cord from his gauntlet for the other heroes to use it to repel down. The hostages gasped from shock at the sudden sight of him. “Remain calm, we are heroes here to help,” Null responded.
“Oh thank god,” A man said in utter relief.
Null walked over to the group as he heard his squad mates slide down the cable behind him, he approached the winged woman laying on her side with her head in another woman’s lap. “How’s she doing?” He asked as he crouched down to look over the Deputy Mayor. Her exposed feathered wing had blood near the base, someone used their jacket in attempts to put pressure on the injury. He was impressed with the effort UA was putting into the simulation, though he could tell it wasn’t a real injury by the lack of continued bleeding.
“She hasn’t woken up since she was shot,” The woman next to her said frantically.
“She’ll be taken care of, I can assure you.” Null said as he pulled out his first aid kit, pulling out a roll of bandages before taking the ruined jacket away and securely wrapping the bullet wound. He glanced over to the other heroes to see Creati gathering the other hostages and explaining the situation while Tentacole took the stretcher that was materializing out of her thigh.
Null greatly appreciated her efficacy. She was a capable leader, and he only wished that there was another vice president position she could share with Ida… well… technically it was his agency. He could make one exist within the simulation at the very least.
A thought for later.
Tentacole brought the stretcher over and with careful guidance and the use of Tentacole’s multiple arms, they were able to place the Deputy Mayor onto the stretcher with her wings carefully folded on her back. It wasn’t ideal with her injury but it was temporary. They just needed her mobile with her head and neck secured.
The woman from before hovered around the Deputy as Tentacole used his tentacles to pick up the stretcher. “Got it?” Null asked.
“Yes, I won’t be much use in defense, but I’ll keep senses alert,” Tentacole responded.
“That’ll work, stick to the middle. Creati, lead the group. Neuro Shock, with Tentacole-”
“Why?” Neuro Shock asked with some annoyance.
“Because you’re our first line of defense, you’ll need to know if there’s any sign of trouble,” Null responded.
Creati already started leading the hostages in an orderly fashion down the stairs while Neuro Shock looked rather surprised for a moment before going with the plan. Null took up the back making sure everyone kept pace.
As they walked down the curved stairs of the grand staircase Null couldn’t help but think that this was all a little too convenient, in the back of his mind something whispered that just maybe the hostages were not the real target, otherwise why would they be left so exposed. But that's neither here nor there, the fact of the matter was that these citizen’s safety took priority regardless of their overall worth in a villain’s plot.
Getting to the bottom of the stairs there was no sign of any villains, though they could hear Bakugo’s explosions to their left. Then as they hurried across the entryway there was the sound of Red Riot yelling, that was much too close for comfort.
“Someone’s approaching,” Tentacole said.
“What the- You’re not supposed to get this far!” Laughed a cheery voice far down the right hall. “HA! Guess I really suck at being a villain, I was supposed to be watching the hostages but I didn’t want to let the others have all the fun.”
> Villain X is heading towards the entrance! < A breathless Ingenium said.
Null didn’t know Togata that well, but he knew enough to recognize his voice.
“Damn,” He muttered as he turned to face the right hall. He spotted the hooded figure with a white X printed across the front.
“Villain X!” Creati said with a little more elegance.
Not needing his classmates' past encounter to know how formidable Togata was, Null quickly readied himself and threw a smoke pellet into the hallway entrance to block Togata’s view.
“Oh! That’s nifty,” he heard Villain X say. Switching to thermal vision he could see Villain X still running down the hall.
>Neuro Shock: with me. We’ll have to hold him back. The rest of you keep going,< Null said through the S-channel even though Villain X was some ways away, he didn’t want to risk any communications getting leaked.
Surprisingly Neuro Shock didn’t throw any sass or argue as he took his own readied stance, though Null quickly spotted a problem with his own fighting style in the prospects of working with others. They couldn’t see in the smoke.
The good news was he didn’t plan on this being much of a fight.
>Neuro you’re going to need to get on my back,< Null said with an idea.
> What? Why? < Neuro Shock quickly questioned in return. His own muzzle like mask blocking out his voice to the outside as he spoke into the coms.
>I’m not risking a direct confrontation with him, and my methods won’t allow you to see. But if you’re on my back we’ll be just as mobile as him. I bet I can get him to talk and... you could mimic my voice.<
Neuro Shock narrowed his eyes for a moment, obviously not happy about the idea but regardless he responded with > Fine < before hopping onto Null’s back and locking his arms and legs around the Quirkless hero’s neck and waist. Although Neuro Shock was a little taller, his lanky frame was smaller to Null’s in comparison.
If he was being honest with himself, Null was hesitant to go with this plan. With this being his first hero class since his leg surgery a part of him was convinced that the first step he took with a whole person's worth of weight was going to be agonizingly painful. His whole body tensed at the memory of the licensing exam.
> Good luck, Null and Neuro Shock! < Creati said over the coms.
> We believe in you, < Tentacole and Creati said in unison.
The subtle sting of anxiety in his chest was immediately smothered with some warm and empowering. He couldn’t help but glance back at the heroes as they hurried towards the City Hall entrance before taking his first step forward with his prosthetic leg. A small part of him was surprised at the lack of sharp pain, the rest of him completely expected it.
His friends believed in him.
He wouldn't fall.