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Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! It’s time, it’s time for Kendo to fulfill her dreams. Eraserhead, calm, cool, collected, a cool hero. Midnight, a bit freaky but admirable. Endeavor, a bold figure, the hard-nosed and non-compromising torch of crime-solving extravaganza. Not to mention, the beacon of hope, industrial icon, the smile too nice, the symbol of heroism, All-Might! Right now, she’s standing where they all started their amazing journey towards giving people hope! U-A academy accepted the girl into its hero course, with a whole pack of other talented individuals to boot.
It wasn't far until the class would begin to gel together, running as one and understanding each other fairly well throughout the first few days. Some fun tests were conducted to gauge just how talented the hero hopefuls are, standard stuff, swimming, sprinting, sending balls as far as possible, normal stuff. Just with the unique factor of quirks being involved.
Kendo fared fairly well for herself, but she was amazed by the showcase of one or the other. Tetsutetsu for example, during a weight lifting exercise he started with 15 reps uninterrupted, but then his body gained a metallic complexion. After that, it felt as if he could go on for days without being tired. 20, 25, 30, 35…. At 50 Vlad-Sensei told him that it was good enough, and he kept going anyway. (Some say he got motivated to perform this well because Monoma egged him on before.)
Monoma showed off his theatrical inclination after, bowing to the crowd of bored students like a true theatre kid, before doing the same as Tetsutetsu. To make it clear, he wasn't going to lift nearly as much without the metallic quirk, he struggled to stand straight after the first few.
And another one that stood out to her showed more than just peak physical conditioning. She did all of the disciplines with a smile and circumvented rules most cunningly. During the race, her feet didn't even leave the starting block. She continued to stretch, while single pieces of her body floated over to the finish line. And like measuring tape, the rest of her body soon followed. 100 meters in less than 10 seconds and she didn't even break a sweat.
Setsuna Tokage, the recommended student with uncomfortable ease around her. Safe to say, Kendo respected the other's ability. If she were a villain, she'd hate to encounter any of those three. But growing stronger with those few… that sounds amazing! Kendo will be looking forward to any challenge posed to them. As Heroes, they'll have to put up with anything. There's no option but to go all out. Plus Ultra!!!
At least that's what All-Might used to say, and who's Kendo to deny advice from the greatest to ever slip into spandex? The best part is that he's a teacher at U-A now, and she's super excited to hear what he has to say! Whenever she gets the chance to talk to him… she's going to pick his mind, on all kinds of stuff!
Sadly, he won't be their homeroom teacher… but Vlad King is also a great teacher from what she's seen so far! As of now, he didn't feel like he wasn't strict, neither was he a push-over, and he's a dog-person from what she heard around the rumor mill during breaks. His voice, despite not being on the level of Mic's, can be quite fearsome and commanding. The perfect teacher.
It was a regular day, not much has happened in lessons yet as they served as more of a get-to-know round with the teachers and the different classes. The burly male at the desk twirled his thumbs, staring daggers into each student for no apparent reason. Gradually everybody got more uncomfortable, as Vlad refused to elaborate. It's as if he's waiting for someone to do something, somebody to move just a muscle so he could call it out… How terrifying.
"Don't worry, none of you did anything wrong."
It seems that finally, he picked up the uneased vibes, reassuring the class that none of them would be suspended where they sat. Over time his gaze wandered over to the main door, letting out an agitated sigh as it became way too apparent something missed their cue.
"... Whatever, class! You may view this as an extended break! You may talk amongst yourselves, but don't you dare leave your seat!"
Vlad commanded the class to chill, and the point was taken. Kendo was relieved, but far from relaxed yet… she's not sure why, but it feels like somebody is unknowingly close to her… The girl observed the people around her. Two girls looked as if they're frozen in time, one with short-white hair, the other with a shoulder length-black bob cut. Those two looked like they might need friends, so perhaps it wouldn't hurt if Kendo approached them? They did look at peace with themselves, together in their silent bond...cute.
Infront? A familiar clown, already in the process of chatting it up with anybody willing to listen. Some guy with a headband, another with goat-eyes, even Tetsutetsu seemed friendly towards him! Which was strange, as she initially thought that Monoma would be the one who’d be the hardest to get along with. Go and figure he’s a social butterfly.
All of a sudden, Kendo perceived a stinging sensation against her side, felt through the uniform jacket. To tell the perpetrator off, she swung her head over to the direction she felt the touch from. Right next to her, a knowing smile, scheming further of these little pranks in the near future. Green hair flowing down to her shoulders, a single wavy bang shielding her forehead. With a nub wrist beneath her chin, and a friendly wave with the other. Looking down, she noticed that the cause was a disembodied hand. That… was kind of weird. But Kendo wished not to make any enemies, Setsuna could try to agitate her if she wanted to, but she might find more success elsewhere.
With a calm gesture, she pushed away from the hand with an awkward chuckle. “Yeah? Tokage, am I right?” Kendo merely asked, remaining polite and showing her maturity in this situation. “Bang on, Kendo-San~. What do ya think the wait is for?” Setsuna replied, lifting her chin from the fleshy pedestal. At a moment's notice, her hand zoomed right back to the wrist, re-attaching seamlessly before bending back, the ball of her hand nestling her chin as she kept looking at Kendo. Despite the creepy beginning, this seems to lead towards a rather normal conversation.
Kendo acted thoughtful, looking up towards the ceiling as she leaned closer to the other for a moment, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Not sure, I doubt that it’s for Senseis' dog… Perhaps another teacher?” The redhead suggested, shrugging. Setsuna chuckled, leaning in as well as far as their seated position might allow. It’s hard to understand, considering 18 other people are currently speaking to their heart’s contempt. (Give or take, the quiet pair of girls sort of just remained quiet)
The next words out of the girl's mouth released such warmth within her chest. Kendo tried not to smile ridiculously hard. “What if it’s All-Might, he was always fashionably late! Couldn’t be that much of a stretch, right?”
“I would… I don’t know what I would do, I never thought I’d ever get that close to him. But C’mon it’s not as if I’d be the only one to fangirl.” Kendo tried to be as honest as possible like only All-Might would be. People shouldn’t put Celebrities on a pedestal, or something like that, however, All-Might should be a clear exception to that rule. She wants to be like Might, simple as that.
All of a sudden, the attention of the class was grabbed. Chit-Chat went on mute, rapid, heavy steps sounded outside their classroom. Vlad let out a sigh of relief, and most of the class remained confused at this current predicament. … The Door opened.
“WORRY NOT, I AM HERE!!!”
And immediately after this all-time-great phrase, a crowd of cheers erupted, not only was there the pillar that holds up society as they know it, but he’s in his full glory. Silver age costume, red to make his figure even more eye-popping than it already is. His cheerful laughter reminiscent of Saint Nicholas, All-Might burst onto the scene.
Strutting in front of the blackboard, ever flamboyant and enthused in his antics, All-Might faced the class with his usual smile. Strange how his face remained so heavily obscured in shadows, but what gives it looks cool. Sticking out his chest, he placed his fists upon the sides of his hips and looked over the class.
“Class 1-B, welcome to UA academy once again! I hope all of you are ready for your first taste of first-class heroics! Because today, students, we are going to put all of you through an amazing experience! Vlad King, take these fine young men and women along for the ride and follow me!”
And with that short but entertaining statement, he pressed two fingers to his brow and saluted to the room before immediately turning on a dime and sprinting out of the room. Some might consider this confusing, or even like something out of a fever dream, but to the mentioned students it was barely fathomable. All-Might talked to them, indirectly, but he saw their faces!
Vlad picked up on the excitement, briefly dropping his stone-faced snarl, a warm smile came over him as he watched his class turn towards each other. They’re excited, with such youthful energy in their eyes yet… He’ll let them have their moment, just this once. He stood up and began to walk on out in All-Mights’ fresh trail.
“You heard the man, you will be filled in soon enough.”
As 1-B got transported through the UA compound, they had a chance to get dressed into their costumes before emerging from a tunnel to see a road of identical buildings. All of which have been mutilated in some form or another. One was covered crystalized in multiple layers of ice growing towards the sky. Another had all but a few windows looking normal, as a specific room got boarded up neatly. And another? Completely lacked an entire floor, debris littered out on the street. The varying degrees of destruction were concerning.
All-Might was there, and he wasn’t shaken up about the scene behind him. “As you can see behind me, it looks as if a few Villains made their way onto campus and had a reaaaal grudge against these specific buildings, hm? But that’s the thing, dear students, class 1-A was in here before all of you! They formed teams, one which would act like villains and protect a bomb in these buildings, and the other team would act as heroes and try to save the day! Now, it is your turn!”
All-Might gleefully broke down the game, holding out a matted black Bowler hat with a bunch of paper snippets. “Go on, take one! You’ll be teamed up with the same combination of numbers and letters!”
Long story short, eventually the teams were formed. Everybody else ought to prepare for quite the show for each round.
Round 1: Reiko and Yui vs Kamakiri and Shishida
As opposed to Reiko and Yui, who instantly clicked, two of the tallest classmates struggled to get along off the bat. Before they even entered the building, Kamakiri would threaten Shishida with a drawn-out blade on his forearm. Harsh words were slung, Shishida trying to calm him down. Allegedly, Shishida wanted to make sure that Kamakiri would swear not to use sharp weaponry in this training. The request was denied.
In the meantime, Yui had a bright idea. After boarding up the room with enlarged furniture, floated into place by Reiko, Yui would shrink the targeted bomb to the size of a pinhead. Kamakiri’s patience had the length of a pinhead too as he snapped and attacked Shishida on a flight of stairs. Even with All-Might trying to contact them, Kamakiri must have had a problem with Shishida trying to tell him what to do.
With their Opposition being more focused on fighting each other, both Reiko and Yui did not need to engage in combat within the ten-minute time limit.
Winners: Reiko and Yui.
After the fight, Kamakiri lunged at Shishida in a rage, Kamakiri got put in a headlock, Shishida got multiple slight wounds, the two are due for counseling. Reiko and Yui shared an awkward high five as the black-haired girl exclaimed in her monotone cadence: “I… rule.”
Round 2: Shoda and Tsuburaba vs Rin and Pony
After the riveting battle before, this one amped the excitement up a notch or two. Shoda looked like Humpty Dumpty's awkward brother as he sort of just nestled himself in the corner of the bomb room. Kosei knelt next to him and gave him a pep-talk to get him ready for the combat that might occur.
Sadly, due to Shodas nerves getting the better of him, the Villain team had little time to set up the target's defenses. Kosei decided that he’ll try to intercept them, and Shoda should stay and guard the objective. After the fight. Kosei admitted that he didn’t want to expose Shoda to a situation he didn’t want to be in.
Rei and Pony had communication issues, as Pony’s Japanese was mixed crudely with common English phrases that Rin wasn’t aware of. To complicate it further, Rin didn’t have perfect Japanese himself as he’s an exchange student from U-A’s sister school in China. Luckily, he was a quick thinker. He resorted to gestures, quick signals to silently communicate while inside of the building. They took a creative approach, Pony living up to her namesake as she had Rin ride on her back like a cowboy while Pony sprinted inside.
Kosei was taken by surprise, and as the opposite team rode by Rin would do a picture-perfect flip off of pony, gesturing Pony to just go ahead without him in mid-air, whilst he takes on Kosei.
Kosei would put up a good fight, but he was out-matched by Rin’s scaled-fist techniques.
After Pony arrived in the room, she made a bee-line straight for the bomb, only stopping once she noticed Shoda in front of it, giving a stuttery villainous monologue as he aimed his fist towards her. It looked as if Pony would just jump over him, but strangely enough, she just engaged in a dialogue with the male. That conversation would proceed for up to five minutes.
Rin came up to the room, ready to engage in combat as he assumes Pony was taken down by Shoda. He was surprised to see the two sitting down and talking about Anime. After that, he made a bee-line for the bomb and simply shot a green scale into the paper mache model of a high-grade bomb. Not an effective method to clear up a real situation, but sufficient enough to win the battle.
Winners: Rin and Pony.
Round 3: Manga and Ibara vs Kinoko and Shihai
Beautiful showing, two teams where one man was the polar opposite of their partner, despite that great teamwork was shown with the prowling Kuroiro and fantastically attention-grabbing Komori. Right out of the gate, a head-on collision between the combatants. Pre-faced by an overly dramatic dialogue between these storytellers. Here is an exempt of their exchange, Kuroiro and Komori were still outside, as the stumpy Manga stuck his speech-bubble head out of an open window, talking down to them from above.
“You are too late, Heroes! We have already collected the powers of Jesus of Nazareth, the holy spirit, and most importantly GOD!! Guess what we did, we’ve put them all into a big old bomb!” Right after a high-pitched yelp could’ve been heard, as his team-mate flogged him for insinuating Ibara would do such a thing.
“ You fiend, Fukodashi… You abuse the faith of dozens, you leech off of their deepest desperation, and now you scheme to strip them from the roof above their heads. Pray to tell, what is it you gain from this. Is it for your twisted pleasure? Nay, your cause alludes to me no longer… your insecurity betrays you. For once, wandering this cursed plane of existence, you desire a higher position… Utter fool…”
“Give us OUR baby back!”
Following this altercation, Shihai excreted an odd, light-absorbing liquid from his nose. It looked like a liquidated black hole, without creating a vicious vacuum. Kinoko was chuckling, and thus the battle proceeded. Manga and Ibara used their quirks to efficiently trap the corridors within a minute. Single vines are strewn about, rendering any doorway leading to the bomb-room booby-trapped. If she were up against any other opponent, that would have been game-over. Impressively, Shihai managed to use his quirk to avoid any trap, melting into the shadows and taking the defendants by surprise. Primarily just dodging and weaving, drawing attention from Manga and Ibara, leaving Kinoko to asphyxiate their opponents with relative ease.
Kinoko danced over and tapped the prop, Shihai and Kinoko won. Shihai was very much flustered.
NOTE: Afterwards, traces of fungal spores were picked up from Shiozaki and Fukodashis’ throats. Keep Kinoko under watch.
Round 4: Awase and Sen vs Juzo and Bondo
And here, the first recommended student of 1-B shows just why he was so highly recruited. With Awase setting up barricades, welding doors shut, placing rebar pipes across windows, Sen used this time to warm himself up to do some stretches.
Bondo asked his team-mate how they should go about this, Juzo waved him off and told him to just watch him. “Bondo-kun. I apologize.” And so, the building which survived four whole rounds of combat got demolished within a moment's notice. As Juzo placed his palm against the facade, the walls began to melt.
It was a humbling experience. An entire building is rendered uninhabitable through a single touch. The flood rained down upon the attacking students, the tall and broad Bondo getting carried away with the liquified cement and steel. Soon followed, by the defenders helplessly stuck in the mud. The Bomb was practically destroyed, so the judges had no choice but to deem this a victory for Juzo and Bondo.
The cleaning staff will have the worst day of their lives.
Winners: Honenuki and Bondo.
And so, all of the fights have concluded. This means that soon enough, it was their turn to shine. It will be hard to even come somewhat close to what the previous team...well, student, put up. A new Building was picked, considering the condition of the last one, and for one final time, the two final teams would meet up outside.
Kendo, Monoma, Tokage and Tetsutetsu.
Get ready for the next battle.
The Hero team watched as their opponents went into the building first. Setsuna seemed to be relaxed, a certain smugness about her as she bombarded the gold-hearted man with a metallic gleam into a conversation. For once, in the short time, Kendo knew of him, Tetsu seemed to waver. For such a bold individual, with a lack of smarts, what could have possibly made him unsure? Was it something she said? Later, this would have to be brought up.
“Tokage has a crush on Tetsu.”
That snide remark out of nowhere drew Kendo out of her focused stretches, furrowing her brows as she looked up to Monoma. He still wore that arrogant smile, a finger curled up against his chin, visibly scheming for the encounter to come. Already, she felt herself getting annoyed by the blonde's behavior. They were about to conduct a trial by combat to see how talented they were, and here he was, gossiping like a schoolgirl to her clique.
“Monoma, not now, we’ve got to focus! We’re up against a recommended student, have you seen how the last round turned out?”
The redhead tried to convince the other to drop the fun, not having the guts to straight up tell the flamboyant male beside her to zip it, it’s just so tempting to give a swift picture-perfect judo chop from the school of Austin powers for Monoma to be silenced. The worst part is, they just started to have a conversation. Even worse? They would have to work together.
“Oh come on, she’s not going to bring the entire building down upon us. She’d lose if she did, Honenuki just was fortunate that he was on the attacking team.”
“What makes you so sure those two couldn’t plot out some structural damage? We have to be careful, we have to take everything into account, we can’t be- are you yawning?”
NOW it’s even more tempting to forcefully hit the off-switch on this man. Reaching his hands out into the sky, arching his back, and yawning loudly to purposely drown out Kendo. His light blues opened up slightly, winking at the other as a hand covered his mouth… a fairly large one at that. Almost as if he…
What a prick. It took her entire willpower to not let out an appalled gasp, choosing to settle for a stern warning by leaning forward, fists resting against her waist. She gave him a disappointed glare, such disrespect… somehow she feels as if he and Kamakiri are going to seriously taint the image of their class.
“What? You said we should get ready, pretty sure we’ve got to go now soooooo~”
His theatrics were on point, with the expressiveness of a cartoon character he shrugged at Kendo’s attempt to set him straight, strolling right into the building, ahead of Kendo. She seriously wished she could tune out his tee-heeing. Such nerve-grading…
No, she mustn’t get mad. Closing her eyes, Kendo would clutch at the mask that’s in her hand. Carefully, the black fabric was stretched over her eyes, reaching behind the back of her head and beginning to tie it down. Her movements came by heart, muscle memory took over. First, she’ll find Monoma, she’ll calm him down, and then they will set up a plan. It will all work out eventually, it has to. Taking one final breath through her nose, nostrils briefly flaring up, Kendo finished the knot with a rough tug. Her eyes opened, newly masked up and she went to try and catch Monoma.
The interior showed little more inspiration than the brutalist architecture of this cement block. Empty halls kept in monochrome tones, really making Kendo and Monoma stick out like Poison dart frogs in a Terrarium.
As they passed, Kendo kept track of security cameras, plastic dark orbs hanging from the ceiling, a single black lens in the middle evoking an uncanny eyeball-ish feel to them, which were used to broadcast the events for the rest of class. If one of the two defendants were able to hack into them they could be intercepted right behind the next corner.
No cover was provided, they just had to hope that Tetsutetsu or Setsuna wouldn’t ambush them, or else they would be screwed. Kendo recognized that, holding off their scouting phase and placing a calm hand on Monomas blazer. “Alright, Monoma, I know you-” Suddenly, she felt her hand get smacked away.
With an appalled expression, a finger aimed right at her face, his over-dramatic voice echoing heavily. “HOW dare you??? Do you know how long it took to make this sleek jaquette look spiffing?” … These are going to be a hard few minutes, won’t they? Kendo, aware of how verbal de-escalation has little effect, just rolls her eyes and motions for him to calm down.
“Please, I understand. You look good in your suit, now can we focus on what’s important? They probably planned for us to head straight towards them. Tetsu could act as a guard dog, he could be posted up at a crossing near the bomb.” Kendo began to explain the situation, lowering her voice while keeping a stern watch on the blonde. Despite his disgruntled, sassy attitude, she’s pleased to see him at least half-assedly listening to her.
Monoma scratched his chin, peeking back over his shoulder, pursing his lips in thought. A drawn-out hum left the blonde, gears churning inside his head. “Indeed, you got a point. Tetsu does seem easy to manipulate, and I could see Tokage wanting men to act as dogs for her… Lord knows I would.” Monoma sneered, attempting to lighten the mood and lift the stressed veil off the two. Such a shame Kendo just tilted her head, glaring at him.
“Fine, no jokes! Ugh… Isn’t her quirk just the ability to make body parts float away from her body? If we attack her, we’d probably be pounding the weak point in their defense. So let’s avoid Tetsutetsu at all costs, and if we manage to only encounter Setsuna, this will be a piece of cake!”
He made it sound as easy as taking candy from a baby, in reality, this baby was trained in the ancient arts of the assassins’ fist and the candy was an active warhead. They’ve got some sort of plan now at least, the only thing left to see was if it’d work out for the two heroes. Venturing forward, Kendo kept a lookout for any oddities springing into view. Cameras looked bland as usual, tiling is as bland as ever, metal repeatedly clashed in the distance. . . Wait a minute.
During full momentum, Kendo put a foot down, skidding along the floor and grabbing onto Blonde's shoulder, yanking him off his feet and crashing flat onto his back. With the rug figuratively swept from beneath him, he was quite mad, fighting back onto his feet with a venomous glare towards Kendo. “Not only did you touch my blazer again, no, but you also had to throw me down too! If I didn’t know any better I’d assume you want to annoy… me?” Seems that he took notice of Kendo’s eagle-eyed view down the hall.
Stepping away from her troubled partner, Kendo took a deep breath, steadied her posture, and awaited combat. “You… you’re not going to try and get away?”
No, she wasn’t. If Tetsu did smell blood in the water, she is the better combatant. Monoma could make a break for it, hopefully… to be fully honest, she hadn’t thought this one out thoroughly. Not that there’s a chance to backtrack now, the steps are getting closer. They’re speeding up, determined to break through the hero team. Yet, the hall in front of Kendo remained empty. Slowly, Kendo lowered her guard, confused. She was so certain that the enemy approached. Was she just imagining things?
“ Monoma, you do hear those footsteps, right? “ Kendo asked, turning back to face the blonde. He held a focused look upon his face, head aimed to gaze past Kendo’s side.
“Sure do, sounds like he took the wrong turn. Keh, can’t be helped~ Such a klutz.” Monoma shrugged, beaming with confidence as he went to walk onward once again. They shook the enemy off their trail, why worry then? Or something like that must have gone through that big old brain of his, posh prick. “C’mon then, we’ve got bigger fish to fry!” The blonde kept yelling, even as he’s right next to Kendo. Who just sort of had to deal with this rotten egg plopped into her lap.
Just like before, she dropped her neck into the back of her neck, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. ‘Calm down, don’t let him get to your head. Think about how the Martial Arts club would laugh him out of the building after flipping him onto his bum for that pompous strut.’ She thought to herself, breathing out through the mouth. Then, she opened her eyes. The Ceiling was dark, the security cams stuck out like a sore thumb, one just blinked, and- Wait a minute.
Unlike the usual cameras, this one had a green center, not only posing as a figurative eye, an actual one. Meeting its glance, a delightfully condescending glare was returned, was there more to Setsuna’s quirk than just being able to float limbs? What if she were guiding Tetsu? Although, wouldn’t she lead him to a head-on… It dawned on the ginger brawler. “Monoma, Stop!” Kendo cried out, sadly it was too late.
Monoma stopped, looking back overly annoyed at Kendo. Before he could say anything, a metallic figure emerged from the drywall right beside him. Dust quickly filled the hallway, pieces of rubble shot against Kendo who could only hold her hands up in defense. Tetsutetsu arrived, his shoulder buried into Monoma’s gut as he ran the male through the opposite wall like a freight train. With the blonde launched through the next room, he seemed to be out of it for the rest of the round. Now or never, Kendo had to strike.
Determined, Kendo shrugged off the spectacle, enlarging her hands as she approached the metallic male. A quick stomp was attempted against the back of his knee, which felt like running up a ramp. He stood steady, and his head began to turn towards her. Sharp fangs, razor blades used to mince and tear flesh from bone, shone in the light's reflection. Kendo couldn’t get distracted, instead, a quick palm thrust was delivered against the boy's sturdy square chin. 99.9% of the Population would get dazed by this move.
Kendo was the one who was hurt the most through her brave strike. Hopping off of him, Kendo furrowed her brow as she shook her hand. That’ll leave a bruise in the morning, fun. Tetsutetsu looked delighted, cracking his neck before slamming his knuckles against each other. It sounded like a blacksmith's workshop here. Excitement lit up in his chrome eyes, he is pumped up.
Like an Elephant Bull in musth, but without sexual desire. Only the heat of combat may satiate him.
“Well done! I- I mean…-” After shouting out to Kendo in such a positive manner, he shook his head, throwing a violent haymaker against his cheek, sparks shooting off to the side after impact. With a new attitude, a vicious scowl on his face, a finger pointed right at her.
“How dare you, hero?! You’re pretty stupid for doing that! Shoulda ran off to your mommy while ya could !!!”
Truly, a silver-aged villain line, working all too well with his current appearance.
This could get rough.
If only Monoma were still here, the least he could do was take Tetsu’s attention off of her for just a moment. Could he get Mike Tysoned within little more than five seconds? Definitely, but if it’s for a victory… Kendo couldn’t plan any further, in a matter of seconds Tetsutetsu was right in front of her, arm pulled back before quickly shooting forth to punch her in the gut. The force of which, sending Kendo right into the hole her attacker entered through.
With the wind knocked out of her lungs, Kendo understood full and well why Monoma was radio-silent after that huge tackle. Coughing up a fit, the fighter struggled to get back up. Again, heavy stomping filled the room as Tetsutetsu charged in once again. This time, she knew what was coming. With the last energy she could muster up, she dove to the side, rolling out her momentum and turning towards the attacker. A heavy thud sounded, the male running against the wall, recoiling and grabbing onto his head. Perfect opportunity for Kendo to dash off, leaving him in the dust, taking advantage of every last opportunity she could grasp. It’s a strategically wise move. As soon as she’s out of Tetsu's sight, Setsuna would be left as the last bastion of defense. The recommended student would no doubt be a challenge, but she’d rather fight a skilled fighter instead of an actual Terminator sans murderous intent.
She should have run away, yet she couldn’t get herself to leave. In a strange turn of events, she felt like a mother who went to catch some plates from the kitchen, only to realize that she accidentally smacked the devil out of her toddler while opening the cupboard. She shouldn’t feel bad, Tetsu did it to himself, but she picked the boy up and used him as a battering ram.
Kendo just had to briefly check upon him, it feels like the right thing to do.
“Tetsu, you alright?”
“Argh! Ironhead, remember the name, Hero!”
“Right, yeah, you doing alright there Ironhead?
“Hehe, to be honest not really! But once I train more, I’ll be a god damn train!”
“Looking forward to that one.”
A warm smile on her face as she slowly began to sneak back down the hall Tetsu arrived from. How long was it until the bomb would blow? How far away is it? So much time had passed and no progress to show! In any other situation, she would love to stick around and have a chat, hopefully, Monoma could forgive her for dipping on him.
All of a sudden, another metallic glimmer grasped Kendo’s attention from the left, catching the dazed Tetsutetsu off-guard with an unsolicited piggyback ride. A chokehold was attempted on the acting villain, you’d need a crowbar to break such a hold. Miraculous Monoma returned into the fray with stoked anger. A flame burning within, determined to make Tetsu pay.
Just a shame that it looked to have no real effect on the brutish figure, who shifted his attention to this new threat. Sticks and Stones do nothing, but words are mean and wounding, as is Monomas’ usual tactic for vastly superior opponents.
“Eat that, meathead! Got a screw loose up there, huh?! A wall, man?! A damn wall?!”
“IRONHEAD! NOT MY FAULT YOU STOOD THERE!!”
He defended his action, turning around on the spot frantically, twisting his torso left and right, throwing sharp elbows against Monomas sides, occasionally trying to use his head like a mace against the blonde. The spectacle was fun to look at, sparks flying with each hit, her partner's legs kicking about during his heroic last resort, and Tetsutetsus imprecise but impactful strikes were a treat on the eyes. Such a shame she couldn’t help. . .
“Just run, fat-fingers!- BWAH?!”
Monoma called out, seeing Kendo hesitate for a moment, getting caught off through rapid backpedaling into a wall behind the wrestling foes, sandwiching him in between steel and a hard place. Kendo was confused by his choice of words but the message was duly noted.
In the distance, clashing metal sounded again and again,
Off Kendo went to find the brains behind this vile scheme, a head-on collision of fate, final round, let’s rock.
… mayhaps, she should probably find the main target of this operation before hyping herself up.
After a minute or two, at last, the cylindrical case of doom was shown to her. In the middle of an expansive room, a high ceiling, knowing she’s being watched by All-Might and the rest of class, memories of hard-fought tournament bouts rushed to her mind. She’s got a crowd to please, there are no obstacles and a goal to achieve.
With a confident stride, she stepped forth from the shadows.
“You didn’t think it would be this easy, right?”
Why did she expect a straight-forward, Hermana e Hermana slugged out brawl. Hearing the voice, uncomfortably close to her ear, she snapped to face a floating, lower part of a certain schemer's face. A playful grin was shown, flaring sharp teeth towards her prey. Startled, Kendo backed up to gain distance, scraping out just a little more time for her to deduce a plan.
Then she found that a pair of boots buried themselves into Kendo’s shoulders at ludicrous speeds for a dangerous dropkick. Stumbling forward, she watched as a torso began to form out of different chunks forming a whole. Then, the newly formed shape sped up, holding out her arms for Kendo to fall into. Leaving no moment to let her opponent breathe, Kendo felt the ground going out of reach. Gradually, Setsuna’s torso floated up, the recommended student staring deep into her soul all the while.
If it hadn’t been clear by now through Juzos immaculate showing, there was quite a difference between a recommended student and the ones who had to pass an entrance exam. Within seconds, she could potentially be taken out of the fray entirely. Was this how Monoma felt when Tetsu first attacked? Such a sneaky attack was equally upsetting and demoralizing. Setsuna? She’s just having fun. It doesn’t feel as if the girl in blue took this practice seriously at all. Her playful manner soaked her very being, Kendo could tell from the moment she saw her on the first day.
On any other occasion, she’s probably one of the better people you could choose to hang out with. In battle, she’s the most terrifying opponent Kendo had to face.
While carrying Kendo up, Setsuna attempted to be sort of comforting, stroking across the other's back as if to pre-emptively remove any fear of their height.
“Don’t want to hurt you, Kendo-san! So how about we just hang out here, you don’t struggle and we can talk about stuff~!”
At this point, Kendo begins to feel like Setsuna takes her as some joke. That peace offer wasn't going to be accepted from the get-go, this apparent disrespect was enough to settle the outcome. Letting out a scoff, Kendo raised both arms straight into the air, slipping through Setsuna's hold.
She's entered free-fall. A sprained ankle, maybe even a dislocated knee were likely outcomes, but that risk was worth hearing that surprised gasp from the Green-headed female. Thinking quickly, Kendo used her quirk to enlarge a hand, smacking the ground and flinging herself toward the center of the room. The Bomb was only a few meters away.
Shame she couldn't have had a real fight with the other, it would have been all too rushing… although Kendo might have just received her gift. Droning in towards her were multiple projectiles, little bits of Setsuna's body she threw to stun Kendo.
Using her grand hands, Kendo was able to react just in time, deflecting one bit after another. Slightly disgusted by the feeling of fresh moist flesh bouncing off of her palm, yet she's determined to soldier through. After each defense, she moved onto the next threat, slowly getting steered away from the Target in plain sight.
What she missed, the body bits came back around to clonk her on the back of her head. Her ribs, her back, strategic targets from Setsuna's side. Kendo began to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of strikes she had to tank within seconds. When do recommended students tire out??? Not all too quickly, as it seems. After a brief pause in the action, she felt something land upon her shoulders.
Strong thighs locked around her neck with lots of momentum, dragging Kendo down with an immense force, her body flipping Backwards before landing face-first in a picture-perfect head-scissors, a la Luchador wrestling. Trying to gain her bearing, Kendo attempted to jump back onto her feet, which was shut down immediately, feeling a strong grip on the back of her head before getting pushed back into the ground.
But she couldn't. Setsuna kneeled on the back of her neck, one hand on the ground, the other on Kendo’s head. A tell-tale sign of the Hero being cornered into a sticky situation and needing some sort of outside help to fight themselves out of this debacle.
"I offer you mercy and you spit me in the face ???" The villain on-top asked, appalled by the concept of retaliation against them. Her voice was full of venom, a sharp grimace showing beneath her blue mask.
During her struggle in attempting to push herself off of the ground, Kendo stopped, shaking her head in confusion. First Tetsutetsu took this shindig a hundred percent seriously, now Setsuna was acting like a high-and-mighty trouble doer as well? It felt like she and Monoma didn’t receive their script beforehand. Disheveled, mostly due to Setsuna pretending she went under such disrespect began to question her: "What are you even- ???"
"SILENCE, HERO!!!" A thundering retort followed up through one heck of a slap, up the back of Kendo’s head, who reacted with mild annoyance at best. “You’d never understand! This building is nothing but… wasted green space! Could you imagine how many funny little critters could be crawling around here?”
She’s really going to dive deep into a pretend motivation for a pretend battle. Feeling her breath get weaker, Kendo had to swallow a tough pill and try to buy into this imagination “This is so silly… Kch- what good would… blowing us up do?”
“Ideal compost!“ Setsuna cheered, allowing herself to let out a chuckle, breaking character for just a moment. This would be an ideal time for Kendo to attempt a turn of the tides. With the blue lizards pressure easing up, Kendo shot a hand out to grab onto Setsunas leg which wasn’t currently pressed against her neck, using her quirk to enlarge the hand, covering the limb from ankle to thigh before violently yanking to the side.
If she could take this one out, she could probably fling the recommended student off of her for a moment, a moment just big enough for her to take advantage of. The bomb was agonizingly close, only a quick dolphin dive should suffice.
The throw was successful, a disembodied shin flew through the air, bouncing off of the floor a couple of times before finally coming to a stop. At first, Kendo felt herself get sick. Did she just cripple a classmate for life? Did she just crush somebody’s dream of becoming a Hero? “O-oh my god Tokage I’m! Ah wait-”
There comes the leg again, floating across the room, back to the girl, reattaching itself seamlessly. However, Setsuna wasn’t cackling. She’s pursed her lips in surprise, eyes wide open and nodding to herself. “You almost got me… good air on that one too! That was pretty sick! If I had any other quirk you’d have probably won huh? Sick!!!”
Apparently, Kendo was now getting compliments from her opponent again. If there’s anything to say about U.A up till now, it’s that she’s had quite a pleasant time with the few classmates she had met. Looking forward to the next couple of years!
Soon, this situation would get twice as complicated to deal with. As announced by the incoherent cursing of a lovable doofus and the strained breathing of a less lovable vaudevillian. Klang, klang, klang, metal clashed again and again and the sounds got louder and louder.
Smash!!
A wall crumbles down because Tetsutetsu just wasn’t able to walk through doors apparently. Tetsutetsu used Monoma as a shield, stopping his charge in the middle of the room, spinning due to the momentum and flinging a metallic Monoma against another wall. The blonde bounced off and landed with a heavy thunk, visibly stunned even through less detailed expression in his new form. He’s seeing stars, looking off into the ceiling. This, is a fortunate opportunity to re-think life. “Shoulda called in sick…”
A punished Monoma uttered, staggering back up onto his feet, resting with hands on his knees and bent over. Luckily Tetsutetsu owned a sense of honor, patiently awaiting the hero to continue their bout.
Ignoring the even number, offering one on one combat, this was all but settled. Setsuna would just need to continue holding Kendo down, Tetsu would just have to continue his aggressive assault upon a delicate Monoma, all just for one more minute.
Then, something confusing happened. Unlike all the other surprises, a glimmer of hope shines brighter. Setsuna’s voice rang out, leaning back and yelling out towards her teammate: “Tetsu? Why’d you bring him here?! We talked about this!”
“Huh?!” Tetsutetsu replied, ever so sophisticated. Briefly, he peeled out of the metallic shine, losing a distinct echo from his voice as it became very obvious he’s thinking back towards the plot. A singular naked brow-ridge raised, thinking machine going into overdrive… all to come to one conclusion:
“ … oh fuck, that’s right! Imma try and get him outta here!”
Monoma, who had attempted to abuse the moment to sneak away, realized that a bull was deadset on manhandling him up and away, and sped up his movements towards the target. He panicked and ran like his life depended on this single sprint, just like all hero missions should be.
He didn’t even need to get that far really, he’s a good enough distraction for Kendo to gain the upper hand. Setsuna was still looking after Tetsutetsu trying to catch a man in a trendy blazer, visibly stressed as single strands from her lengthy wavy mane began to flare up. Kendo goozled the opportunity by the throat, firstly placing her boot to the floor before straightening her knees out quickly, bumping the recommended student off of her, and face-planting to the tiled floor in front. Kendo prepared one last jump, and she dove over to the metallic casing. It looked as if she’d fall short at first until she activated her quirk to just brush her fingertips along the goal.
Monoma got body-checked, Setsuna is in disbelief, and the bomb was at last diffused.
Kendo and Monoma won.
A buzzer sounded out, and Kendo let out a sigh of relief, turning onto her back and sitting up to compose herself. Taking a moment to look at the aftermath of this fight. Her new turquoise battle-dress was stained in dust, which was overall nothing compared to Monoma who had a massive tear in his blazer, a cut on his cheekbone, and his pristine middle-parted blond hair frayed out. If he was upset about Kendo manhandling him earlier, who knows how he’ll react to this once he gained the energy to throw a tantrum.
Tetsutetsu was just about to hammer down fists of rage too, but at least he got off, approaching his partner who sat there on the ground, stunned. Monoma watched as the buff male left him alone, looking up to the ceiling and completely relaxing. “Fuuuuuck… I … want a bath.” Aaaaaaand he’s out of it, taking a quick nap.
Setsuna couldn’t believe what had just happened. Looking down to the floor in front of her, tugging both knees to her chest and resting her chin in between. Tetsutetsu, as reliable as ever, recognized she must have been feeling awful, then approached to give her a pat on the shoulder. An attempt at re-encouragement, which doesn’t look to be panning out. The girl just lowered her head, that alone tugged severely at Kendo’s heartstrings.
What she must do is clear. Standing up, bruised up from her pair of fights, walked over to the two and leaned down, hands on her knees. Finally, close enough, she could hear Tetsus’s words.
“Hey, it’s not your fault! I did the stupid, alright?”
Looks as if it’s time for Kendo to try and do some damage control. Setsuna might just be crying right now and Tetsu couldn’t make her feel much better. . . but maybe if they had a normal conversation?
“Honestly if we had to actually diffuse the bomb instead of touching it, it’d be a lot harder.”
“yEAH! Why was it just touching?”
“Maybe… I don’t know, a regular person doesn’t know how to disarm explosives?”
“Good point! Still pretty stupid though!”
The brief banter between Tetsutetsu and Kendo finally seemed to have brought something out of Setsuna, a small chuckle, tilting her head back up and wiping her two long bangs out of her face. She still felt disappointed, at least she’s able to smile about it.
“Hey… Hey guys? How about it, milkshakes after class?”
Monoma snapped out of his rest, hand raised and calling out to all other students in attendance. Kendo, realizing the shape her partner is in, jogged over to him and offered a hand, dragging Monoma up onto his feet then draping his arm over her shoulders.
“Yes, great idea. You deserve one, how about I pay for yours?”
“Deal, do not… do not fuckin’ back out of this, you!”
Later on, the four relaxed in the common area, after Kendo spent a little more than she would have liked on dairy products for new friends. Lots of banter was exchanged, laughter rang loud, eventually more and more of 1-B filled in and they all had a great time. (Do not worry about Kamakiri, he had been put into a headlock by Shishida.)
Watching movies with classmates as a treat? Now, THIS is awesome.
An eventful first week, all things considered.