Chapter 96 - 57-58

Chapter 57: Issue 56 - Exam Final Destination!

At the gates to U.A, Izuku turned and beamed at his partners. "Well, this is it, isn't it? Your Practical Exams?"

Melissa beamed at him. "Yeah - it really is!" Mei just sighed despondently.

Melissa shook her head fondly and continued, "Honestly, if you told me a year ago that I would be standing here at U.A, ready to go into finals like this… I would have called you a liar."

His pink haired partner sighed. "And if you told me that I would give up on inventing Babies for the Support Practical…"

"Exactly! There's no way to predict everything that's going to happen in the future!" Izuku just grinned.

Mei's customary smile made its way back onto her face, scaring some students making their way in. "I sure didn't think that I'd be in a relationship with you or Melissa, that's for sure!"

They laughed at that, Izuku especially. No, he really hadn't intended to jeopardise his secret identity by entering a relationship like this, after all.

As they left, Izuku watched them go anxiously, before chuckling to himself, a darker grin on his face. "...Man, I can't believe that they're gonna have all the fun today!"

Cackling to himself, Izuku's Double went to Izuku's Support exam, ready for whatever came there. After all, there's no way to predict exactly what was going to happen. U.A might surprise him!

—

Melissa looked over the rest of her classmates as they assembled on the bus, some more confident than others.

"Just beat a couple of robots, and then we're going to summer camp!" Ashido whispered excitedly.

"Oh man, there's no way we can possibly fail!" Kaminari nodded with a happy grin on his face.

Case in point, Ashido and Kaminari were over the moon about destroying robots.

Others did not share their enthusiasm.

Jirou just sighed loudly when they said that. "And like that, you've doomed us," she snarked to their dismay.

"Attention everyone! Line up in class order!" Iida shouted, gesturing to the parking lot. As they started getting on, he provided gentle encouragement by tweeting his whistle and frequent gestures to a diagram of the bus' layout.

Still, Melissa couldn't help but agree with Jirou's statement - if half the things Uncle Might said about Nezu were accurate, then there was no way it was going to be that easy. An uneasy feeling in her gut told her that things were about to get more intense.

The rest of the busride was uneventful, mostly calming her nerves and making sure that Mei didn't tear the bus apart from the inside to build a new piece of Support Gear. And soon enough, they were at the exam site, where they were greeted by the teachers.

"Welcome to your practical exam," Mr. Aizawa said blandly, sweeping a flat look over all of them. "Now it is, of course, possible to fail this exam. If you want to attend the summer training camp, then don't take this lightly and give it your all."

Flanking him, Thirteen and Snipe stared at them with attentive stances, while Present Mic and Midnight grinned at them. Melissa's mind spun - what was going on here?

And she wasn't the only one wondering about the current circumstances.

"Huh, there's nine teachers here," Jirou commented. "...And also one old guy in a Hero costume."

Melissa blinked, before looking. Indeed, there was a small old man in a white and yellow Hero costume, leaning on his cane and giving them all a happily confused look. "Who are you whippersnappers?" he quavered.

For some reason, an icy dread filled her stomach upon seeing him.

"That's Sorahiko! What's he doing here? Wait, don't tell me that he's involved with the Practical exam?" 

"Nedzu let that deranged lunatic back into his school?! What was he thinking?!" 

"I know, right?! We never trained with the guy, yet I've still got phantom pains just looking at him!" 

Melissa shook her head to try and get rid of the buzzing while Eraserhead continued talking, his scarf twitching as he stared at them with tired eyes. "Now, since I know you hellions, I can guess that you asked around, and as a result of that, you think you've got an idea of what's coming."

Melissa and most of the class tensed at those words. They could pick up on the subtext, after all.

"Heck yeah we do - it's a robot rumble like the Entrance Exams!" Kaminari crowed, making what he thought was a cool pose.

"Fireworks! Curry! Truth or dare!" Mina cheered, energetically pumping her arms.

A few of her classmates, obviously, did not pick up on it.

Eraserhead's scarf squirmed, wriggled, and then the Principal popped out. "In a technical sense, yes!"

Mina and Kaminari froze. "T-technical sense?" Mina said weakly.

The Principal just nodded, a huge grin on his face. "Well, if this was a regular school year, then we would have tested you with the robots from the exam! However, various circumstances have demanded that we change the exam format! Rest assured, we take your education quite seriously!"

Yaoyorozu held up a hand as Nezu used Eraserhead's scarf as a rope ladder to land on the ground. "Is this change a result of the League of Supervillains' actions?"

Nezu cackled at that. "Oh, you are good, Yaoyorozu!"

Then he sobered up. "Indeed, it is! As a result of the League of Supervillains, counter-Villain activity has quadrupled in the past year, and as long as they and the similarly named League of Villains are active, it will continue to increase! Unfortunately, this means that our normal practical exam is no longer so practical."

As one, 1-A shuddered at the look in Nezu's eye. "So from now on, our focus will be on fights against flesh and blood opponents as well as machines! Our teaching will simulate real life conditions as accurately as possible! As such…"

He threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "For this exam, you have been placed into small groups in a simulated Villain encounter!"

Melissa blinked. "We're fighting the teachers?" Looking around, everybody else was similarly anxious - after all, they were just studying to be Heroes, while their teachers were experienced and respected Pro Heroes in their own rights. Even teaming up, it seemed a bit unfair.

Nedzu giggled. Then he chuckled. And finally, burst into manic laughter. As one, the teachers and students backed away from the ambiguous mammal.

Eraserhead pinched the bridge of his nose. "In a sane world, yes. Unfortunately, the Principal cares more about chaos than sanity."

Iida was about to ask what he meant when loud music started playing, along with a loud grinding sound. Melissa's eyes widened, as did everybody else's as a familiar sea green and red car rose from an opening in the ground.

"No," Iida whispered. "It can't be!"

Eraserhead gave Iida a tired, despairing look as the Principal's laughter doubled. "Unfortunately, it is."

"MWAHAHA!"

Green smoke poured from the vehicle as Mastermind burst out, flanked by Gentle Criminal and Inkblot. On the other side, Lady de Winter and Golden Grin came out in a similarly dramatic fashion, flower petals being launched into the air on their exit. Finally, with a puff of purple smoke Mr. Warp and Twice appeared, taking a theatrical bow.

Mastermind posed dramatically with the rest of his group, his combined cowl and hood fluttering in his trademark artificial wind, waistcoat and shirt freshly pressed. "PREPARE YOURSELVES, 1-A, FOR THE LEAGUE OF SUPERVILLAINS IS HERE…"

He then gestured to the Principal, his metallic grin seeming even more manic than it normally did. "BY REQUEST FROM PRINCIPAL NEDZU!"

At that statement, everybody froze. Iida and Mei's faces in particular looked quite comical, as if they were unsure whether Mastermind and the League of Supervillains was actually there. Melissa's gaze latched onto the Principal, who seemed quite cheerful about this. Her mouth opened and closed, trying to form words.

Eventually, she found her voice. "...What."

In her subconscious, the vestiges stared at the Villains as well, mystified. "...Well, this is a first," Yoichi muttered.

"Indeed," Shinomori nodded. "Danger Sense isn't being triggered either." 

He paused. "Strange as it is to say, he doesn't seem to mean any harm at the moment. "

The Second sighed. "And we don't have any choice but to watch things play out. That's rather frustrating."

"Better him than Shigaraki, at least," Nana sighed. The rest of the Vestiges couldn't help but agree. 

Everybody else was frozen as well, staring at the impossible display before them. Then Mei, a fighting smile on her face, tried to sucker punch Mastermind with her robot arm.

—

Mastermind couldn't help but grin behind his mask when Mei tried to attack him. Even though it was directed at him, he couldn't help but love that energy of hers! "Now, now, there'll be time for that later!" he cheerfully dodged her robot arm, before turning to the Principal. "Could you explain, please?"

"Oh, certainly!" Nedzu replied, managing to get a hold of himself. Turning back to the Heroes in training, Nedzu gave Mei a Look. "Would you kindly refrain from attacking Mastermind? You will have a chance to fight him today, after all."

Mei froze, then with a reluctant whimper she pulled her arm back. "Yes, Principal Nedzu…" She mumbled, customary energy swept away from the Principal's presence.

He clapped cheerfully, looking over at Mastermind. "Good! Now, as I was saying, this exercise is a simple one - the League of Supervillains will face you in combat, and you will play the role of Heroes trying to capture the League! To make things fair, we have chosen to divide you into six teams of three and one of four."

Eraserhead shook his head but continued. "We will grade you on how you respond to your opponents - though if you do manage to incapacitate Mastermind or any member of the League of Supervillains, then that will automatically give you a pass for your combat lessons for your entire education here at U.A."

Mastermind couldn't help but feel a bit nervous when he saw Kacchan's face light up like that. And he wasn't the only one - Kaminari and Ashido were giving him the same look that a drowning man gives a lifering. Next to him, Gentle and Inkblot looked uneasy, before hiding it behind their typical confident smiles.

Still, he put his hands on his hips, looking confident to the world. "Well, of course! You're going to have a hard time taking down me and my friends, after all!"

The Hero students collectively shuddered. A couple of them glared at Ashido and Kaminari as they looked dismayed. "You had to tempt fate, dumbass," Jirou sighed, shooting the electric blonde a flat glare.

While Kaminari whimpered, the Principal pointed to the projector behind him. "Now, let's find your opponents!" He cackled gleefully.

Hatsume Mei, Bakugou Katsuki and Melissa Shield VS Mastermind

Todoroki Shouto, Satou Rikido and Kirishima Eijirou VS Lady de Winter

Koji Koda, Iida Tenya, Sero Hanta and Ojiro Mashirao VS Gentle Criminal and La Brava

Yaoyorozu Momo, Jirou Kyoka and Uraraka Ochako VS Inkblot

Kaminari Denki, Ashido Mina and Mineta Minoru VS Mr. Warp

Aoyama Yuuga, Asui Tsuyu and Shouji Mezou VS Golden Grin

Shinsou Hitoshi, Tokoyami Fumikage and Tohru Hagakure VS Twice

Mastermind bowed theatrically. "While we only know what you can do based on the Sports Festival, these teams have been chosen to be tried and tested against the best we can offer! Since Gentle Criminal and La Brava work together very closely on our jobs, we felt that they should team up and that the team of four should fight them."

Shinsou winced, patting Ashido on the back. "I'd say good luck, but I think I need it more than you do."

"Traitor," she half heartedly grumbled, before flashing a smile. "You'd better win, alright?"

While Shinsou wordlessly nodded, Kacchan gave him a menacing grin as small explosions danced on his palms. "I'm going to FUCKING destroy you, Mastermind!"

Aw, he does care!

Inkblot idly tapped her communicator while the Hero students fretted over their chosen groups. "I just hope your plan to get out works," she mumbled.

"We wouldn't be here if I didn't think we could do it," he nodded. Sure, bad ideas hadn't stopped him from surviving and thriving. Though he had to admit, this one was definitely the worst he had ever had.

And it had all started with a letter dropped near their base.

Two weeks earlier…

Izuku looked at the letter addressed to the League of Supervillains, printed with Nedzu's cheesy logo. "Where was this found?" 

"In the Docks of Musutafu, near the warehouses." La Brava handed it over to him slightly shakily. "No bugs or trackers of any kind, and I've been checking it all over for hours." 

"Oh, that's reassuring!" Golden Grin practically screamed. "Come on, even I know that Nedzu's terrifying!" 

Gentle Criminal nodded, pale faced. "Principal Nedzu isn't somebody I would cross unless I had no other choice, Mastermind. Though breaking into U.A would be a truly impressive crime worthy of our name, it's unlikely I or La Brava would have been able to stay out of prison long enough to enjoy the infamy."

Izuku shook his head. "Oh, I doubt that, Gentle!" 

Then he winced. "But I do agree that Nedzu is not a Hero who I want to mess with." 

He took a deep breath, snapping on a pair of gloves. "Still, if he is trying to get in touch with us…"

Opening it, he started to read, eyebrow raising further with each word.

Hello League of Supervillains, this is Principal Nedzu. I am reaching out to you to ask for your help for U.A's Hero Course Final! Due to your goal to improve Hero Society as a whole, (Izuku and the League exchanged uneasy glances upon reading that)I feel that you and your League of Supervillains would be the ideal opponents for my students to face in simulated combat.

If you are interested in a frank discussion about the future of Heroics, meet me in two days in Musutafu Park. I prefer to do business with people face to face anyway.

Yours respectfully, Nedzu the Principal of U.A!

With a stunned look on his face, Izuku lowered the letter. 

"...How is this not a trap?" Izuku muttered to the Aiba and the rest of the League. 

Coming back to the present, Mastermind bowed politely to the teachers. "I hope we can work alongside you!"

Eraserhead glared at him. "You're still a Villain, Mastermind."

"Super Villain, thank you," Mastermind politely corrected.

The dark haired Hero just gave him a tired glare. "I don't care."

He then turned back to his students, a surprisingly contrite look on his face. "It would be more logical for us to have the teachers test you directly like originally planned, but Nedu thought this would be more educational."

Nedzu grinned cheekily. "And this is more amusing!"

While Eraserhead let out a long suffering sigh, Iida held up a hand. "So would the teams be different if we were going against the teachers?"

The Principal nodded, still smiling. "Oh, yes! You would be paired up and go against us teachers and our advisor here, Gran Torino!"

Iida shuddered slightly when Nedzu beamed directly at him. "Do you wish to try fighting us teachers instead?"

Mastermind turned to the old man, who seemed to be looking at him with a wide grin. "I don't mind if you do, sonny… Who are you again?"

Watching the old Hero, Mastermind found himself getting ready for a fight. Truthfully, Mastermind would have dismissed the little old man, and would have been truly concerned about his health. However, he knew that Nedzu would not have asked for him to be here if he was weak.

1-A looked among themselves, before the vaguely familiar guy with a tail shook his head. "Oh, no. I'm taking my chances with the Villains, if it's all the same to you."

The others in his class gave him odd looks. "Why would you want this, Ojiro?!" Kaminari screeched.

Oh, that was his name! Ojiro! 

Ashido nodded frantically. "Yeah! We could be fighting the teachers-"

"You and Kaminari would be going against me if you do not wish to fight Mr. Warp," Nedzu said cheerfully.

"-but it's completely understandable why you would want to fight the Villains!" Ashido finished without missing a beat.

Kaminari nodded frantically. "Yep, fighting the League is A-Ok with me!" He laughed shrilly while Nedzu gave him a knowing smile.

"It's the first rule of karate," Ojiro said, a bead of sweat dripping down his face. "Never fight a small, smiling old person if you can help it."

1-A stared at him as if he'd spontaneously grown a second head. He crossed his arms defensively. "Trust me, you learn that rule very quickly." 

"You betcha, young fella!" The old man in question grinned. The tailed boy shuddered, retreating.

…I should definitely watch out for Gran Torino, Izuku decided, the sense of imminent danger not leaving. From the wary glances his comrades shared, he wasn't the only one.

Nedzu looked over at the students, then clapped his paws together. "Splendid! Now, get on your bus and get ready for your exam. Break a leg!"

—

Kyoka grit her teeth as the bus drew close to the combat site. "This is going to be hell, isn't it?"

"Hey, maybe it won't be so bad!" Uraraka piped up cheerfully. "I mean, the League isn't so bad - they've helped a lot of people. And it's not like the USJ - the teachers actually planned for the League."

"That's very true - we're also more prepared for what's coming, since we know who we're fighting," Yaoyorozu said with a charming smile. Then she turned to Kyoka directly. "By the way, Jirou, I was just wondering… After Finals are over, do you want to go see a movie with me?"

Kyoka froze, before managing to recover some of her composure. "S-sure! That sounds fun!"

She means as friends, right? Kyoka thought to herself, before deciding that yes, Yaoyorozu must have meant it like that. Obviously. Because there was absolutely no way that Yaoyorozu could have meant it in any other way. No way in hell did Kyoka think she would get anywhere with somebody as smart and amazing as her.

But the taller girl just smiled sunnily, then tensed as the bus came to a halt. "Looks like we're here."

Outside the gates, Inkblot cheerfully waved, massive mallet at the ready. "Ready to get your exam on?"

Kyoka swallowed, thoughts turning back to the task at hand - managing to thwart one of Japan's most notorious Villains. "Let's give them a show," she muttered.

—

Mei glared daggers at the projected hologram of Mastermind, her robot arms flexing with restrained energy. Next to her, Melissa and Bakugou were similarly tense as they sat at the gates.

The image of Mastermind clapped his hands, giving the impression he was beaming behind his mask. "MWA-HAHAHA! Good to see you, future Superheroes! Are you ready for your exam?"

She glared at him, reaching to her utility belt to grab a Baby. "Why the hologram? Were you afraid we were going to attack you?"

Mastermind tilted his head. "Were you not going to try it?" 

She tsked, looking away. Bakugou just grinned at the Villain's image, drawing a finger across his throat. Mastermind knew her and Bakugou too well. Damn his precautions!

That display over, Bakugou stomped up to the hologram with a scowl on his face. "Enough talk! I want to fight you already!"

Melissa paused. "How is this exam going to be decided if we can't defeat you? Nedzu doesn't expect us to try and beat you…" She gave the Baby Thief a tense glare. "Though I'm pretty sure we could manage it."

The Supervillain laughed at that. "I like your optimism, Shield! Worry not, for U.A and the League of Supervillains have thought of everything!" 

He pulled out a huge sack emblazoned with a yen symbol on it. "The premise of the exercise is that each of us is taking a comically large sack of money to our Evil Lair (trademarked)! You students can achieve victory by taking this away from me, or stopping me from leaving the testing area, or running and calling for help!" 

"No way are we gonna run from your nerd ass!" Bakugou roared.

Mei clapped, robot arms waving. "Hear, hear!"

Mastermind posed, pinky by his mouth. "Yes, that's a very Superheroic stance to take… Truly excellent! Now, you have been provided with Quirk suppressant cuffs to try and slap on me to make a capture… But I doubt it will come to that!" 

His mechanical grin seemed to widen. "So, those are your options! Though I have additional criteria for a pass, I sincerely doubt you will need those!" 

Mei grinned at that. Her mechanical arms readied into combat positions, while she pulled out a couple of Babies. "Don't get cocky, Mastermind! After all, you've never fought me before!"

Melissa stepped up to the plate as well, a determined look on her face sending a shiver down Mei's spine. "Nothing's impossible, Mastermind. Sooner or later, you're going to be defeated."

"Put your money where your mouth is then!" Mastermind waved a hand, and the gates opened.

"You have thirty minutes to try and find me! Just be aware," And here Mastermind seemed to leer, "You're not dealing with an ordinary Villain here. You're trying to deal with a true Supervillain!" 

Bakugou wore a feral smirk on his face as he shot forwards. Mei and Melissa followed a scant moment later, intent on finding the nefarious Supervillain.

—

Eraserhead sighed, looking over at the principal. "Well, sir, you have what you wanted, at least. Though it would have been better if we had actually acted the part of Villains."

Present Mic sighed in despair. "I know, right? I had such a cool evil act planned! I even had a rocking costume ready!"

Ignoring his friend's whinging, he glared at the Principal. "Why have them here in the middle of campus? And for that matter, why are they testing the first year students rather than the second or third years?"

Gran Torino nodded, all traces of senility gone. "True. Mirio alone could have captured Mastermind at least. With Tamaki and Nejire backing him up with the rest of 3-A and B…"

"Several reasons! But the first reason is that Mastermind agreed to meet with me in the first place!" Nedzu's eyes glimmered. "He wouldn't have done it if he wasn't absolutely sure he could get away. Having him test the first years is likely to make them overconfident!"

"I can see the logic in that," Eraserhead muttered. "But I am worried about the injuries they might suffer. They are Villains, after all."

"Oh, I'm aware of that. Rest assured though," and here the ambiguous mammal's tone changed to something darker, "if any of our students are seriously hurt, the League won't enter Tartarus with the same number of limbs."

The rest of the teachers stared at the Principal. Seemingly unaware of the stares, he grinned. "In any case, these matchups should challenge your students' weak spots!"

Shaking himself, Eraserhead nodded. "True enough." He nodded to a monitor, where Yaoyorozu and Jirou had just engaged Inkblot. "Yaoyorozu could stand to build a bit more confidence, but also needs to improve her flexibility in the field, so her fighting an opponent with a similar Quirk will be good for her."

Nedzu grinned as Uraraka delivered a flurry of blows to the Villainess, only for Inkblot to grab her and throw her into the approaching Jirou "And the other two?"

Eraserhead watched as the brown haired girl pushed herself up, Yaoyorozu trying to drive Inkblot back with a staff she had pulled out from her stomach. "Uraraka doesn't have much experience fighting opponents who use weapons like Inkblot, and Jirou doesn't have much experience with friendly fire."

Present Mic winced when he saw Jirou go to jam her Earjacks into her boots, only to hesitate when she saw the other girls in the way. "Yeah, been there, done that."

Eraserhead nodded, then pointed to the screen where Todoroki was leading his teammates to try and find Lady de Winter. "As for them, Kirishima and Sato have limits to how long they can effectively use their Quirks, so we've put them against a Villain who can delay them near indefinitely-"

"-And Todoroki is facing an opponent who can match his ice," Midnight finished. "He's really going to have to try and bloom under pressure. Still, it's only under pressure that their youthful vigour can shine through!"

"Please never say that about students again."

—

Shouto glanced over at the rest of his team as they made their way through the suburban area. "Alright, Kirishima. How much ice do you think you can break at once?"

After the Sports Festival, as well as working on his conspiracy boards he was also trying to talk to people more. That, and trying to get used to using the fire side of his Quirk.

Though it still felt awkward to use after neglecting it for so long, it was feeling more natural to use.

The redhead clenched a fist in a manly way. "Pretty sure I can break a whole bunch - though honestly, I'd want some fire to melt it."

"Same here," Sato nodded. His hand strayed to his utility belt, checking over his different sugars.

Shouto nodded, then stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Kirishima looked at him oddly. "Uh-"

"Fimbulwinter," a female voice rang.

The world chilled. He barely threw his fire up in time to block the worst of the attack, his partners wincing at the steam coiling around them. The ice themed Supervillain strode up to them slowly, an oversized bag slung over her shoulder. Kirishima threw himself forwards with a manly roar, fists turning hard and rocky, only for her hand to twitch.

A wall of ice sprang up from the still frozen ground to block the red haired boy, coming up so quickly he was knocked down. A blast of his fire melted it, only for another wave of her hand to almost instantly repair the damage.

"It's not going to be that easy, Shouto-chan," Lady de Winter chided gently, strolling off.

Shouto stared as she left. "...How did she know my name?" He said dumbly.

Sato gave him an odd look. "It's your Hero name?"

His cheeks coloured. "...Oh. Right."

—

"Kaminari and Ashido are single minded and action orientated, for better or worse. Mineta's a new transfer student with a Quirk greatly suited to immobilising others. So, having them fight a Warper will test all of their capabilities." 

As soon as he spotted the top hatted Villain in the middle of the industrial area, Minoru threw a ball at him, hoping to stick Mr. Warp in place and restrict his movement. Sure, it was a long shot, but if he could just grab that sack-!

Unfortunately, purple smoke sprung from the Villain's hands, enveloping his Quirk. When it cleared, it was gone. Minoru mentally swore - of course the Warper teleported it away before it could touch him! "It won't be that easy, Heroes. Try something more original."

Ashido shot a jet of acid to try and hit him, the Villain barely twisting out of the way. "Darn it!"

More smoke came from his hands, and a baseball sized sphere shot towards the pink girl. Minoru barely tackled her out of the way as it hit the tanker behind him, expanding into a pile of light green foam. Oh man, that was way too close-"

Ashido pushed herself up, and her breast touched the side of his head. He flushed tomato red, then managed to recover.

Heh. Fortunately, I've touched boobs before, so this won't incapacitate me!

…Wow, I feel like a loser.

Meanwhile, Kaminari tried to grab the Warping Villain with an electrically charged hand, only for the Villain to dodge. "My, our future exploits are going to be easy if you keep rushing in without a plan," he chided.

"Yeah, well, uh…" Kaminari tried to think of a good comeback. "Uh… Takes one to know one!"

Minoru slapped a hand to his face. This was going to be tougher than he thought.

—

"Iida's still rather rigid in his approach to fighting Villains, as is Ojiro, so hopefully Sero can help them unwind. As for Koda, truthfully I'm a bit worried about his confidence and that refusal to use insects. Fighting Gentle Criminal and La Brava in the woods should build a different kind of spatial awareness and flexibility." 

"Halt, Villain!"

Gentle Criminal couldn't help but grin at the energetic response from the Iida boy as he shot through the woods. "I'm afraid I cannot do that, young man!"

He couldn't help but smile when the armoured speedster ran into his barrier, trying to overpower its natural stretch. Iida struggled to get free as the sound of rubber stretching filled the air. "You fiend-"

At that point, the barrier snapped back, catapulting the young man back in an undignified way. Gentle winced. "Be more careful, Ingenium! Who knows where more of these barriers-"

"On your left, Gentle!" La Brava cried. A spider-shaped robot chittered next to her, causing the rock headed boy to shriek and run to hide behind a tree like the last three times he had tried to come near.

Gentle managed to block the blonde boy's tail with his cane. "Not bad!"

The boy barely leapt back to avoid being shocked by his cane. Tape sprung from the treetops to grab La Brava's own sack of money, only for the diminutive Villainess to shoot forwards from her jetpack. "Dang it!" The Hero in training shouted.

Gentle's face hardened as he glared the Hero down. "You shouldn't treat a lady so improperly, my boy."

"Indeed!" Iida boomed, before realising he had, technically, agreed with a Villain. While he had a minor existential crisis, Ojiro tried to sweep Gentle's legs from under him.

Bouncing off the ground while tape tried to tag him, Tobita couldn't help but smile with joy. Maybe it hadn't meant to be, but he couldn't help but feel happy to be back in a Hero school - if only on the other side of the law.

—

"Shinsou is quite competent with his Quirk and physical training-"

"You're just saying that cause he's your protege-"

Eraserhead ignored that comment. "-But he still needs more experience with teamwork and different fighters. Tokoyami has some… problems with socialising-"

"He's an edgelord."

"-So having Tohru there to provide backup and support against a relative unknown will help. While Mastermind said that this… Twice only has Minor Object Duplication, I'm not going to trust the word of a Villain."

From their cover behind a pillar, Fumikage took a deep breath, Dark Shadow coiling around him. "Okay. I am vengeance. I am the night. I am-"

"-Gonna be shot! No he isn't, you can't hit the broad side of a barn." 

Cursing, Fumikage rolled out of the way as a blast of fire hit where he was sitting. The rogue pouted. "I can't believe you warned him!"

He then turned to a window, a frown on his face. "No, you warned him, moron!" 

"Wow, that guy's got issues," Dark Shadow commented while the Villain started yelling at himself. Fumikage had to agree - he seemed to be a bit more stable than he had been the last time he had seen the talkative man, but that wasn't much considering how crazy he had been then.

Shinsou sighed, shaking his head. He had tried to bind Twice earlier and been acquainted with a flamethrower gauntlet the Villain had created on the fly, the durable Capture Tape being scorched and weakened enough for the slippery Villain to break free and start randomly attacking. "This may not work but… Hey, Twice. Your shoe's untied."

"It is?"

Fumikage blinked as the Villain stopped, a glazed look entering his eyes as he fell under Shinsou's hypnotic spell. Tohru shimmered into view behind the Villain, a pair of cuffs in hand. "Okay, that was easy. Now, I just got to-"

BA-BAM!

Twice suddenly twisted around and smacked her in her stomach, sending her flying. Shinsou gaped, and Fumikage had to match him. "What-"

"Man, I've got the body to myself! Great," Twice grunted in his deeper voice, stretching. He then jolted. "Hey! You don't pilot the body, bud! I wear the pants in this relationship!"

Shinsou stared at Twice as he started to argue with himself once more. "...Wait, what?" He then glared at the Villain. "There's no way you could have broken free of my Quirk!"

"Why not?" Twice said, before once again falling under Shinsou's control. Then he jolted again. "Seriously, why can't I? I didn't even answer your question! Yes, you did, you idiot. That was you, jerkface!"

The purple haired boy pitched the bridge of his nose with a frustrated sigh while Tohru got up, holding her ribs with a wince. "Okay, apparently I can only brainwash one personality at a time. That's…"

Fumikage winced. "Pretty aggravating." Seeing one of his teammates' Quirks so easily nullified was unusual, but then that was why Shinsou had built up such fearsome close combat skills. "Truly, this Janus is a more terrifying foe than expected-"

Dark Shadow giggled. "Hehe, you said Janus!"

He glared at his own Quirk. "Oh, grow up!"

—

"Shoji has great sensory abilities and strength but not a lot of speed, while Asui is good anywhere - and they both suffer at range. So fighting a ranged attacker like Golden Grin will be good for their development. Aoyama needs to build his own stamina for ranged attacks as well."

Yuuga yelped as Tsuyu narrowly pulled him away from the scorching golden light of Golden Grin's blast. "Merci, Tsuyu!" He cried.

"That's not a problem, kero. But your spacing out is." The frog girl pointed out bluntly.

He winced, watching Shoji try to get the drop on the VIllain. "I-I know, madame. It's just…"

The gold coloured Villain managed to roll away from Shoji's fists, before locking eyes with Yuuga. And he couldn't help but shiver at that unseen expression. For most of the exercise, the Villain had been focusing on him, though admittedly with some quips thrown in here or there.

…This feels like deja vu. Like I've known him for a long time. But apart from seeing him at the USJ, I've never interacted with him! 

Then he shook himself. He could have an emotional breakdown about betraying his classmates later. "Tsuyu, I'll cover for you!"

As she charged forwards, he fired a blast at the Villain, forcing him to duck behind a wall. No matter what, All for One wanted him at that camp. There was no choice but to beat this Villain. HIs family's lives were at stake.

—

"And, finally, there's Mastermind himself." Eraserhead paused. "...Truthfully, I would have had Kaminari and Ashido face him to really test their brains-" 

"-But Hatsume has a personal reason for wanting to face him, and Bakugou wants nothing less than the best!" Nedzu finished. 

Eraserhead reluctantly nodded. "That's a fair point - in fact, Hatsume's whole reason for wanting to be a Hero is to defeat Mastermind. But with Shield balancing their personalities…"

"...They stand the best chance of defeating Mastermind," Gran Torono nodded. 

Earlier…

Melissa glanced over at her girlfriend and Bakugou as they walked through the industrial area. Her ears were straining for any possible sound that would herald Mastermind's coming. "What's our plan to defeat him?"

Bakugou stopped in place.

Mei nodded seriously, adjusting her costume. "Yeah. Much as I hate to admit it, Mastermind's a genius. I've got a lot of Babies," and she gestured to a couple of new pieces she carried, "but he's probably made some improvements as well. Be prepared for anything."

He scoffed. "Please. There's no gadget that could defeat me-"

KRAKATHOOM! 

From up on top of a high rise, Melissa could see the familiar figure of Mastermind, hilariously oversized sack of money in hand and cloak billowing dramatically. "MWA-HAHAHA! HERE I AM!"

He jumped down into a superhero landing, holding the position for a few seconds before staggering up. "Okay, that's bad for my knees," the Supervillain muttered.

On instinct, Melissa's eyes glanced down to his gauntlets, which had been redesigned. Glowing lines traced up his gauntlets, and lead up to his palms, a pair of green crystalline structures in the palms. "You've upgraded, haven't you?"

Mastermind did a little clap. "You noticed!"

Bakugou's grin turned feral. "Fucking FINALLY! GET READY TO DIE YOU ASSHOLE!"

Melissa's eyes widened. "Wait-"

KABOOM!

With a mighty explosion he flew towards Mastermind, bringing his gauntlet around to strike-!

PWSSH!

—

Call me sentimental… but I really wanted my first successful scanned Quirk in my gear for a long, long time. A Quirk that I've known for most of my life. Maybe it wasn't the strongest Quirk around… but I knew it inside and out. 

Ironically, the imperfect nature of the Quirk Modulator actually made such a weak Quirk stronger - the light that the modulator emitted as waste product helped make it more effective. With a few extra tricks, a changed variable or two and testing to make sure it didn't irradiate anything, I was finally able to use it effectively. And I could make it look good. 

Man. 

Who would have thought that my mother's Object Attraction could become so potent?

—

Melissa stared at the green light that had sprung from Mastermind's gauntlet, locking Bakugou in midair. The blonde struggled, eyes darting as he tried to reach the Supervillain to no avail.

"MWAHAHAHA! DO YOU LIKE MY STASIS GRAB?!" With a wave, he flung Bakugou into the side of a building, then put his hands on his hips. "REMEMBER THIS: YOU'RE DEALING WITH A SUPERVILLAIN! ARE YOU GOING TO RISE TO THE CHALLENGE?! ARE YOU GOING TO GO PLUS ULTRA?!"

Without a word, Melissa activated Full Armour, burgundy sparks lighting along her arms. Mei grit her teeth, robot arms curling into fists as she pulled out a plasma cannon. With a battle cry on her lips, she threw a punch, Mastermind meeting her fist.

As the wind from their colliding punches shook the ground, Melissa could swear that the Villain seemed to be smiling. "Excellent answer! Your test starts now!"

And the battle was on.

Chapter 58: Issue 57-Finals part 1: 1-A's Bad Exam!

In U.A's security room, Eraserhead raised an eyebrow as he watched Mastermind unveilanotherridiculous invention. "...That's new," he remarked as Mastermind's beam of green light locked Bakugou in place before he could reach the Villain.

"It is, isn't it?" Nedzu agreed cheerfully as Bakugou got thrown into a building. "I knew this was a good idea."

Next to him, Recovery Girl snorted. "After I talked you into adding some precautions. And just to remind you, Nedzu, if you pull a stunt like this again-"

"-You'll retire, I know," Nedzu hastily reassured her, a bead of sweat dripping down his face. Eraserhead barely kept his face still as the genius sadist attempted to placate Recovery Girl. "Rest assured, I only contemplated it because they were such different Villains than normal. I'm not going to let an actual threat anywhere near my students!"

He laughed nervously, adjusting his shirt collar while Hatsume attempted to grab Mastermind with her robotic arms, said manoeuvre resulting in her being thrown overhead. The senior Heroine raised an eyebrow, frowning at him sternly. "Just so long as you remember that, Nedzu."

Eraserhead sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Though he'd normally enjoy seeing Nedzu being humiliated by Recovery Girl, he couldn't take much pleasure in it - especially as the Principal was, once again, being proven right. They were learning more about Mastermind and the League of Supervillains' capabilities with each fight against the students.

On screen, Mastermind jumped back, dodging another attack from Bakugou before firing his Freeze Ray at Shield, forcing her to back off. Knowing Mastermind's track record, Eraserhead was impressed with the three of them for forcing him to fight like this. So far, they were doing better than most Heroes who weren't named Ms. Joke or Mirko.

Next to him, Present Mic managed a smile. "Well, it looks like they've got Mastermind on the defensive! That's pretty impressive, even if he is holding back."

He grunted, glaring daggers at the screen. Mastermind certainly seemed to be on the defensive, but he was still in control of the fight's pace. "So it seems."

"Man, no words of encouragement for your students, huh?" Shaking his head, Present Mic watched closely as Mastermind barely deflected an attack. "I've gotta say, good choice on picking them to attack him. There's no way Mastermind is enjoying this fight!"

Mastermind was really -claw!-enjoying this exam mock fight. How could he not, when he had his girlfriends and nemesis to fight and drive to be better Heroes? Even as he blocked an attack from Shieldmaiden, Mastermind felt like he was on top of the world. Still, he had a job to do.

Throwing Melissa away to get some breathing room, he capitalised on his new opening by priming his Freeze Ray. "Say, you guys, how about we try some witty Heroic banter with your Future Arch Nemesis? Let's go, this is the perfect time to practice your lines!"

After all, they were going to be fighting and bantering with him as full Heroes eventually. He didn't want a battle of wits if his opponents weren't armed. That wasn't very Supervillainous!

Kacchan glared at him before unleashing another barrage of explosions, tearing up the streets around them even more. "Fuck off and die!"

Mastermind pouted as he casually ducked and weaved around Kacchan's manic assault, then grabbed him by the arm and slammed him into the ground. As Kacchan let out a short gasp of air as he was winded, Mastermind tutted. "Please, that's not what I would call witty banter! Keep trying, my future archnemesis!"

"Don't get too 'tied up' with criticising my teammate, foul fiend!" As if on cue, Mei came swinging in on her mechanical arms, a grin on her face as she fired her net gun.

As Mastermind twisted around the net, he gave his other archnemesis/girlfriend/friend a thumbs up while Bakugou managed to pick himself up, a feral look in his eye. "See, she gets it! As befitting my nemesis!"

Mei's grin widened. "Compliments won't work on me, diabolical - wait, hold on."

Mastermind got a bad feeling when his pink haired girlfriend stopped, a flat look on her face. "Why am I only a nemesis and not an archnemesis? I mean, you called Bakugou an archnemesis."

…Oops.

"Um… well, uh, he did declare enmity to my face personally, and…" Mastermind attempted to play it cool. He even shrugged to make it look off hand!

Melissa took advantage of his distraction to throw a haymaker at the back of his head, which he barely managed to catch with a Stasis Beam. "Clever strategy, Heroes!" He yelled, flinging her away. "Now, how about some fight music?"

Kacchan stopped. HIs face cycled through various emotions, before settling on confusion. "What."

Mastermind cackled. "Indeed, Heroes! For you see, I have always wanted to have my very own fight music going while we fought! Now... BEHOLD!"

With the press of a button, his latest invention trundled over. About the size of a small fridge and coloured the same dark green as his outfit with bright red flame decals, his rivals watched it in apprehension. Dramatically he flourished jazz hands around-

"MY FIGHT MUSIC-INATOR!"

Despite having no visible speakers, thunder boomed from his latest diabolical machine, echoing around the testing grounds.

Mei tilted her head at his genius invention, looking at it critically. "Not really my style," she commented.

While Mastermind pretended that statement didn't hurt, Kacchan just snorted. "Really? That is the-"

"-Dumbest thing I have ever seen," Eraserhead stated drily. "And that's after Kaminari showed me that Skibidi Toilet movie trailer."

Present Mic turned on his friend, affronted. "Dumb?! That is the greatest thing I have EVER seen! Ineedthat!" He fixed the stare of a starving man looking at a buffet on the machine.

Nedzu just laughed, watching as the students came closer only for Mastermind to activate it yet again. "Write it down, Ectoplasm!" One of Ectoplasm's clones nodded, pen scratching on paper as he recorded every detail.

"No, it isn't!"Mastermind stamped his foot with the demeanour of a pouting child."It's VERY evil and cool! For you see, I'm playing copyrighted music... without paying royalties to the original artists!"

The students on screen tilted their heads at that. Meanwhile, Eraserhead just managed to erase his friend's Quirk as he shouted, "WHAT?!" at only normal volumes as opposed to a full blast of his Quirk.

His idiot friend lunged at the screen, before getting restrained by Eraserhead's Capture Weapon. "Just calm down, Hisashi-" Midnight tried to calm Present Mic down.

"No! He's truly crossed into ultimate evil," Present Mic growled. "He needs to be stopped!"

Eraserhead sighed as Present Mic tried to claw out of his bindings. He had no idea why he was friends with such an irrational man, but here he was. Now, if Mastermind had said he hated cats, then there might have been due cause for alarm.

The Principal just laughed at the chaos, annoying ambiguous mammal that he was.

Melissa stared at yet another example of Mastermind's thought process. The same person who had created gloves that could lock things in stasis with a projected light beam considered what was essentially a boombox on wheels the invention he was most proud of for creating.

"Playing copyrighted music illegally? Yeah, that is pretty evil. Not funky at all."

"Shut up Banjo," the rest of the Vestiges groaned.

While she shook off the impression that she was hearing voices having an argument in her head, Mastermind laughed maniacally at the three of them, posing dramatically. "MWAHAHAHA! Yes, it's so delightfully Super-villainous, I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner!"

With the tap of a button,Roundtable Rivalstarted playing, the sound echoing around the training grounds. Melissa paused, eyes narrowing behind her helmet as she tried to break down the invention. It didn't have any visible speakers, so how was it making sound? It could have been resonating with the concrete and metal in the simulated environment-

She shook her head; that would have to wait for later. For now, they had to beat Mastermind, take the bag away or escape from him. For that, they were going to need one hell of a plan.

"That is an impressive baby, Mastermind! But in the good name of mad science, I'm going to stop you!" Mei grinned, grabbing another gun from her belt.

Bakugou didn't look impressed. He got in position to fly at Mastermind, face splitting into a savage grin. "I'm gonna shove that fancy invention of yours right up your-"

But before they could move, Mastermind was upon them. "Denied!" He sang as he slugged Bakugou in the stomach with the force of a sledgehammer. As he lost his lunch, Mastermind turned and threw Bakugou right at her. Mei let out an enraged squawk and fired at Mastermind, the Villain rolling away from her attack. His music box skittered away from the fight, the sound not diminishing in quality as it did so.

While the Villain was thus distracted, Melissa managed to catch Bakugou, bracing against the impact. "Still think we can do this without an actual plan?" She grit out.

Bakugou grit his teeth and growled and for a moment she thought he would say yes. But then he sagged, and muttered, "...No," like the words were pulling teeth out of his mouth.

Melissa huffed, looking him directly in the eyes. "Good. Now, we need some distance. Can you distract him?"

He nodded stiffly, a frustrated look on his face. Then he clapped his hands together, a slight orange light building on his palms. "Cover your fucking ears, American."

She recognised that gesture, and nodded, before thrusting Bakugou forwards, quickly flicking on her eye and ear protection. Mastermind turned to see Bakugou coming up on him and readied himself appropriately. "Ah, ready for more-"

Bakugou released his palms, revealing the small ball of yellow light he had formed. Mei managed to turn her own helmet's light and sound protection on just in time as he roared,"STUN GRENADE!"

With a bright flash of light and sound, Mastermind was sufficiently disoriented so they could make their move. In the confusion, she managed to grab Mei and Bakugou, before shooting off into the depths of the training grounds, and kept going until they were out of earshot of the music. That done, she gently put Mei down, before less ceremoniously dropping Bakugou. "Okay, that should be far enough," Melissa noted.

"Thanks for the save babe!" Mei grinned. She then turned to Bakugou with a rather less enthusiastic look on her face. "Oh, and thanks for the flashbang as well, I guess."

"Shut up Goggles," he grit out.

Melissa sighed. "Well, we're safe for now, but Mastermind is going to come for us at some point. We need a plan of attack - and one that isn't just 'beat the shit out of him,' as you put it."

Bakugou growled like a stalled engine, but eventually managed to nod. "Fine."

"Yeah, no argument here Mel!" Mei nodded. When Melissa stared at her, she winced. "My Babies aren't a match for him right now - especially since Power Loader didn't let me take all my best stuff." She pouted, the thought of not taking some of her inventions dampening her mood. "Grenades would have been appropriate..."

Melissa giggled a bit at her girlfriend's face. Mei's pouting when she wasn't allowed to blow things up was too cute. Still, she put her game face on. "Great! Now, I have some ideas..."

Posing dramatically, Mastermind turned his speaker back on as the dust started to clear. "Not bad, Heroes! But now, you need to contend with..." He trailed off as he realised that his friends/enemies weren't there. "Rude," he pouted behind his mask.

Using Kacchan's Stun Grenade and Melissa's speed to catch me off guard so they could escape and form a plan... Exactly what I expect from my rivals!

His helmet beeped, his drones already deploying to try and find the Hero students. He knew that they wouldn't try to run away, but just in case they were...

Mastermind laughed, thunder booming from his speakers as he started his hunt. This was starting to getfun!

"THIS ISN'T FUN! THIS ISN'T FUN!" Mina yelled, running for the safety of an alleyway, Kaminari hot on her heels and screaming in the least heroic way possible.

Cackling, Mr. Warp moved in a cloud of dark purple smoke, nets and oil slicks shooting from his dark, dank clouds to try and hit them. "You do know the exit's the other way, right?"

"Get out of the way then!" Mina yelled back, pulling Kaminari by the collar to avoid a net that appeared from the smoke.

"Please surrender?" Kaminari squeaked.

Mr. Warp threw his head back and laughed. "A-haha, no." Just as he raised his hand, a purple ball came flying out of nowhere to knock his hand to the side.

Panting, Mineta threw more of his balls at the Villain, Mr. Warp being forced to spew more purple smoke to disappear them. Rounding the corner, he practically collapsed. "Man, this would have been so much easier… If Mr. Warp was… a hot babe," he gasped. Then, groaning, he dropped into a pushup.

"Agreed," Kaminari managed to gasp out, mopping up the sweat from his brow. "Why couldn't we have fought Inkblot or de Winter?"

Mina shook her head. "You're both terrible." She looked over their despondent faces, then she slapped a fist to her palm, managing to collect herself. "Alright, we need a plan to beat this guy! Just because it seems impossible doesn't mean I'm gonna give up!"

She cheered internally when she saw them start to perk up. Her confidence started to mount. "I mean, we're Hero students in the best Hero school in Japan, aren't we? So we're gonna go Plus Ultra to beat him!"

"But how?!" Kaminari cried, waving his arms all over the place in a frantic manner. "He just warps whatever we try to throw at him!"

Mina chuckled. "Don't worry, Kami. I've got a plan." From her belt, she pulled out a small plastic case. A sunbeam glinted off it as she held it aloft reverently.

Kaminari looked at her with wide eyes. "You don't mean…"

She grinned back at him. "Oh, I mean."

Mineta looked between them with a confused look on his face as Kaminari fumbled with his jacket pockets. "Uh… what the heck are you guys going on about?"

Mina grinned, carefully opening her secret weapon that had gotten her through their hellish written exams, Kaminari following suit after a near drop. "Isn't it obvious, Mineta?"

He didn't look like he'd realised, instead just staring at her blankly. "We can't beat this guy by just being the same as we were before. No, we need to outsmart him! And for that…"

She whipped out her glasses from their case, Kaminari following suit. The light glinted off the plastic lenses. "...We need the power of glasses!"

Mineta continued staring at her and Kaminari. His eye twitched. "What?"

Grinning, she pulled on her glasses, admiring herself in the darkened shop front window next to them. "Don't you know that wearing glasses makes you smarter?"

Kaminari did the same, pushing his up so they glinted in the light. "Yeah, everybody knows that!"

She turned back to Mineta with a confident smirk, her new 300 IQ brain goingfast, fast as a, well, very fast thing. Mina pushed her glasses up. They glinted in the light like Iida's did when he was being all brainy and class-presidenty. "Now we can outsmart him!"

"Aw yeah!" Kaminari whooped. "I can feel my brain going Plus Ultra! Mr. Warp won't know what's gonna hit him!"

Mineta stared at both of them, before slapping his face. Probably because of the genius of their scheme.

Tenya tried to get his bearings, only to falter as the ground wobbled alarmingly beneath him.Next to him, Ojiro grit his teeth as they glared at La Brava and Gentle Criminal, the latter casually pouring himself a cup of tea. Still, they went forwards together, Tenya's arm chopping the air in righteous fury. "Give up, Villains-"

The ground bounced and flexed under his feet, and once more he tumbled away from the Villains. Ojiro was in a similar boat, his own attempt to punch being deflected by the air suddenly stretching and flexing around him. "Be careful, Heroes," Gentle Criminal taunted, casually strolling and moving in tune with the area even as he dodged a few birds trying to attack him. "Don't lose your footing now!"

From behind, Sero shot some tape to snag La Brava's bag of cash, only for a robot to skitter up and burn the tape with a quick burst of fire from the mouth. Koda flinched away from the robot's scuttling legs, and as had happened the last couple of times this had happened, the birds he had asked for aid broke away from attacking Gentle Criminal to flock around him in a comforting way.

The diminutive Villainess gave them an enthusiastic smile. "You need to try a bit harder than that! Good effort though!"

Tenya grit his teeth. Gentle Criminal's nefarious power prevented them from getting solid footing. Combined with La Brava's skittering robots, their teamwere at a stalemate. Worst of all, they were offering encouragement!

The thought of a certain pink haired inventor and her armaments came into his mind. He shook his head. He wouldn't resort to that, he just wouldn't.

Sero jumped back, clearly frowning behind his mask. "Okay, so attacking them like we are clearly isn't working. Any ideas, Iida?"

Tenya took a deep breath, then let it out. "We may have to escape rather than try to take those bags of loot off of them."

He hated the thought of giving up like this but the fact of the matter was that they simply couldn't get in to grab either of them or the bag. With Gentle Criminal's ability to affect the terrain and the air coupled with the army of robots scaring off Koda's animals, they were fighting an uphill battle.

The others looked at him, before sighing and nodding.I'm sorry I can't keep my friends attacking,Koda signed.They worry about me, and I don't want them getting hurt either.

"No harm done Koda! I would rather you and your animal friends were safe rather than take risks!" Tenya boomed cheerfully. For some reason that just made Koda look away.

"It sucks, though. If we could only just get to them..." Ojiro grunted, glaring at the Villains. They waved cheerily. "We keep getting so close..."

An idea wormed into Tenya's mind and he glanced at his upper arm, where a button was hidden beneath his rebrace. He shoved that thought down without much success as he gestured for them to run. "I believe that this scenario is meant to simulate getting Heroes who are more suited to defeating these miscreants, like Mirko or Miss Joke! If we weave through the trees in this direction," he pointed, "then we should be able to escape!"

"You shouldn't mention your plans in front of the enemy," Gentle Criminal gently rebuked after a seemingly reflexive shudder at the mention of Mirko. "Just a tip!"

The four of them didn't respond, just turning and running. Laughing maniacally, the Villains pursued them, La Brava riding a robot while Gentle bounced through the air and off trees.

As they ran, dodging robot attacks all the while, the button continued to nag in his mind. How could it not, when it represented his failure to be the Hero his friends and family knew he could be?

When his brother had been kidnapped by the League of Supervillains after being injured by Stain, Tenya had been blinded by his natural fraternal instinct to find whoever hurt your sibling and reduce them to a pulp. So blinded, in fact, that he signed Hatsume's infamous Declaration of Eternal Hatred so she would give him her impressive support gear, in exchange for testing out said inventions on an indefinite basis.

Twelve explosions in the first week as well as scrapes and bruises from testing machine after machine had made Tenya really, truly, regret taking her up on her decision. Seeing Tensei's face as he explained exactly what his contract with Hatsume entailed hadn't made him feel any better about his circumstances.

There had a brief window where Hatsume hadn't been able to drag him into testing because she was dating Shield and Midoriya, which he was pathetically grateful for. Then Hatsume had dragged him on one of their date nights.

Hatsume slapped the chest piece she had taken off him, ignoring his fear. "I've still got so many ideas! This bad boy can fit SO MANY Babies inside it!" Her eyes seemed to be glowing bright yellow, the cross haired pupils focusing on him in a distinctly predatory way. It must have been a trick of the light, Tenya mused, trying to shrug off the feeling.

"It would be interesting... I do have some ideas that need testing..." Midoriya started giggling. His own goggles glowed acid green, accompanied by a grin that seemed too big for his face.

Shield sighed at her partners, and Tenya's heart soared as he saw the disapproving look on her face. "I don't think we should put Iida through this - I thought I asked you to take him off that contract."

"First, it's an Eternal Declaration, there's no take-backsies on a declaration like that!" Hatsume objected.

Shield was unmoved. "Not going into that, this was supposed to be a date. I thought we were going to go to your workshop and work on a project."

"I didn't lie about that, Mel! We can test your cool ideas with a contracted test subject! It'll be a new bonding experience!" The she-devil beamed.

Shield paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face and staying there. "...I do want to work some more on my compression technology, and it could work really well with his armour..."

Tenya's heart plummeted as the pink haired demon kept talking. "Plus, his contract doesn't say we can't work on it together!" He knew the contract didn't. Mayumi had worked on it as well, which had been as welcome as possible. At least she had kept the testing to a minimum and kept Hatsume relatively restrained.

"W-well, Shield, I-I appreciate your extracurricular activities with Support gear but I really must one going-" Tenya tried to bolt for it, only for Shield to casually grab and lift him by the arm, leaving his legs pumping furiously in midair.

"Sorry, Iida. I think we might need some testing after all."

Swallowing in fear, he saw Shield's glasses seem to gleam ice blue, accompanied by a widening grin that seemed to bare too many teeth. Despite all of them being shorter than him, the trio seemed to loom over him as they readied their tools and gadgets.

Tenya full body flinched at the memory, managing to dodge a net one of the robots fired at him. At least he hadn't been dragged into future date nights. Unfortunately, he hadn't had the time to get a different costume for the exams, and he was carrying a small armoury of inventions.

The point he was making was that, while he knew his armour had been modified with a veritable catalogue of items which had a blanket approval from a long suffering Power Loader, the thought of using them grated on his rule-abiding soul. He ultimately wanted to prove that his skills were what it took, not what Hatsume and her partners had forced onto him.

Heroes were all about facing their fears, true. However, Tenya was a Hero student, not a full one, so he could definitely avoid confronting this for a while yet! This minor rule bending kept him happy as they dashed through the trees, before making it to the final clearing before the exit.

Then Gentle Criminal appeared in front of them, posing dramatically. "A good attempt at escape, Heroes! Unfortunately..."

Tenya was suddenly thrown away as the ground beneath him bounced abruptly under his full speed step. Gentle Criminal smirked. "...I have already touched that ground!"

Fortunately, Tenya was able to adapt to his high speed launch, and managed to brace himself as he hit a tree. He wasn't more than bruised as his armour crumpled properly, absorbing the brunt of the impact. Unfortunately, there was a distinctiveclickas his upper arm hit the tree, followed by an electronic hum.

The Hatsume Button had been pressed.

Tenya barely had time to react as the inside of his helmet lit up with displays. His eyes widened in fear as a targeting reticule swept over Gentle Criminal and La Brava, accompanied by an alert.

"Uh, Iida? You alright? Why are you-" Sero then got a good look at the button that was pressed. "Oh boy."

"You actually signed her Declaration didn't you?" Ojiro asked.

Tenya could only look away in shame. And a bit of fear as more mechanical sounds reverberated from within his armour.

"Onboard AI Activated! Members of the League of Supervillains detected - Gentle Criminal and La Brava!"a synthesised voice chirped to a symphony of metallic clicks and whirs from his armour."Activating Anti League of Supervillains measures, designated: Extreme Prejudice!"

Gentle Criminal and La Brava backed up Tenya's armour started to shake after that announcement. Mechanical limbs unfolded, the direct result of Shield's contributions. Koda whimpered at the spider like limbs now sprouting off of him.

"...That doesn't look so-" Sero cut himself off when a flamethrower lit up on the limb closest to him. His teammates backed up as various buzzsaws, net guns, and other terrifying gadgets manifested.

The Villains themselves paled further. "...That's worrying," Gentle Criminal commented, a bead of sweat rolling down his face.

"I am well aware-" Tenya was cut off when his armour suddenly shot towards the Villains, limbs scything through the air to capture/tear them limb from limb without regards for his teammates. And suddenly everybody was fighting for their lives.

—

"... Should we intervene?" Present Mic asked Power Loader as Iida involuntarily demonstrated Hatsume's inventions and their effects on the hapless Villains.

"That depends," Nedzu said with a slightly dangerous edge to his voice. "Is she within my bounds of acceptable experimentation on humans?"

"Considering the wording of the contract saying that she would refuse him service if he didn't show up or broke contract, thus sparing him future pain, then yes, she's in bounds," Power Loader replied, ignoring Eraserhead choking on coffee at the line 'acceptable experimentation.'

"Ah, good." With that, the Principal started to maniacally cackle at the chaos unfolding. Present Mic patted Eraserhead on the back to try and clear his airways. Hound Dog sighed, already drafting another therapy session for Tenya. Maybe this would be the push needed for him to cut the contract.

While thawing his teammates out from Lady de Winter's attack for the fifth time, Shouto raised an eyebrow. "I think we need to rethink our strategy."

He cast his gaze around the wrecked neighbourhood they had been fighting in. Massive blocks of ice tore up the streets from where Shouto and Lady de Winter had clashed. Piles of slush and puddles decorated other parts of the mock city where he had to thaw his teammates out. On top of that, he had tried to throw some ice at her, only to be disturbed when she apparently merged her ice with his and caused it to break apart.

That had been a big shock, to learn that she could do that. Not a lot of elemental Quirks could extend to elemental effects created by others. On top of that, it wasn't even proportionate to the mass of ice she threw out. He had thrown up an ice wall to hopefully give some semblance of early warning since she would have to break it to launch her own attacks.

"I've got a plan to try and deal with her but if you have any ideas, I'd like to hear them," Shouto continued. Ever since Shinsou had given him some advice on talking and listening to people, Shouto had decided to improve his communication with others to be a better friend and Hero.

Plus, Endeavour would expect him to take charge 'like the next Number One should.' He had been subverting his father's expectations for years now, he wasn't about to stop because of one pep talk from his friends.

Kirishima nodded. His teeth gleamed even as they chattered from the residual chill. "D-don't worry, Todo-broki! I've got a cunning plan!"

Next to him, Sato waited with bated breath and another Red Hot ready to eat. Even so, the sugar he had consumed already was starting to get to him, going by the twitches. "What is it?! Come on, tell us!"

Shouto waited politely for the dramatic reveal. While normally Kirishima's strategies were as straightforward as his Quirk, maybe he would have a better plan than normal. He might have picked up on what Shouto had already observed.

Kirishima slammed his hardened fists together, throwing up sparks. "Let's charge her head-on like we did before, but in an even harder and manlier way!"

"Hell yeah!" Sato roared, eyes bloodshot.

Shouto blinked slowly. "Ah. I see."

Clearly he had expected a bit too much.

"It's genius! She won't expect us to do it a sixth time!" Kirishima said with what Shouto assumed was puppy-like enthusiasm. Mostly because he'd never had a puppy to compare to, since Endeavour had thought that pets would be a distraction.

"I don't think that's a particularly good idea," Lady de Winter pointed out from her vantage point. "You need to keep acoolhead if you want to be a Hero, after all."

They stared at her. She waved at them cheekily, her ice creaking in a fashion both familiar and alien to Shouto. Satou swallowed the Red Hot and turned a similar red as the candy, heat pouring off of him and muscles bulging from the new influx of sugar, while Kirishima went rock hard. With a loud roar, they lunged forwards to attack. Acting on instincts honed by his father's and U.A's training, Shouto's fire ignited, barrelling past his team to meet Lady de Winter.

Like the last time, it was barely enough.

A wave of ice poured from the Villainess and pressed forwards, his fire melting a small cave in the encroaching ice as it crashed into them. Panting from exertion, he fired another blast so they had an exit. Forming a platform of ice underneath them, they came out to see Lady de Winter watching them with hands on hips.

"Trying again so soon? You really need tochillout." Shouto could feel the grin behind that impassive mask she wore. The light tinkling of ice crystals in the air didn't help either.

"Chilling out isn't manly!" Kirishima roared. He and Sato went to charge, only for her to make a curt gesture. The ice shattered beneath their feet, dropping them. While Shouto did his best to catch his teammates and stop them from breaking something with his ice, Lady de Winter just skipped away with a cheerful wave. It didn't escape his notice that the ice crystals around her tinkled like laughter as well.

Once safely down, Kirishima tried to rub some feeling into his numb arms. Sato was breathing heavily, looking tired from overusing his sugar. Looking at the street filled with broken ice and slush, Kirishima grinned sheepishly at Shouto. "...So, uh... maybe charging in head first isn't working out. Any ideas, Todo-broki?"

Shouto nodded, mind already blurring. If he was right... even if he wasn't, it would be sure to trip her up at least. "I've got a plan. It mostly depends on if Sato can do that move he practised in our last Heroics class."

Kirishima's face lit up in acknowledgement. "Oh, that one! Yeah. that one was super cool!"

Sato winced, a look of dread cutting through the sugar induced mania. "Yeah, but I'm gonna crashso hardafter that, though."

—

Hitoshi sighed from where they were pinned down. "Not the best place to be, really," he commented. Carefully he peeked around the corner, only to duck back when the Villain twitched in his direction.

"Verily, our opponent is a huge pain in the ass," Tokoyami agreed. Shinsou gave Tokoyami an odd look, shaking his head in bemusement. Apparently the chuuni bird had a limit to his dark persona.

Twice was heading to the exit, bag of fake loot in hand and crazy gadget in the other. "Hey, come on kids! Keep trying to escape!Give up. You suck."

While the Villain was arguing with himself again, Tohru tried to sneak up and grab his bag. Unfortunately, just as she got close he whirled around, and she had to hastily run from a chucked foam grenade. "Nice try little Hero!Bad play,"he hissed, one thumb up and the other down.

It was frustrating. Hitoshi was fast, but Twice was faster. Dark Shadow was strong, but kept getting repelled by the light from the flamethrower, and Tohru couldn't risk getting too close due to the weapons he carried. And on top of that, he couldn't brainwash both Twice's at once, since one mind would awaken the other with their constant arguments and fighting for dominance.

A thought struck Hitoshi as he watched Twice argue with himself, remembering the last time something seemed too easy. Then he looked at Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, and the plan solidified. He felt conflicted about it. On the one hand, it seemed too easy, not to mention stupid and potentially outright cruel. On the other hand, stupid plans that worked mostly because nobody else was expecting them was… sort of the best description of the League of Supervillains' general antics. Might as well use those kinds of tactics against them.

He managed a grin. "Never mind. Tokoyami, I have a plan to beat Twice. I'll warn you, though - it's a bad, stupid plan."

Tokoyami looked at him with a frustrated affect. "Even a bad plan is better than getting our shit kicked in by this jerk. Let's hear it, then."

"Yeah, what Fumi said,"Dark Shadow mumbled.

"It's a plan that needs your cooperation. I'm warning you, you won't like it."

Tokoyami glanced over at where Twice was taking potshots. "You have a plan mired in darkness then?"

Hitoshi shrugged. "Technically, yes."

Tokoyami thought about it, before giving him a determined look. "Then lay it on me. I'm ready."

With a deep sigh, Hitoshi told Tokoyami what he had planned. He didn't like it.

Ochako almost swore as she barely ducked under Inkblot's mallet. Gritting her teeth, she tried to tag the black cat Villainess, only for Inkblot to bend her torso back unnaturally far, one hand grabbing Ochako by the arm. Jirou went to put her Earjacks into her boots, only to stop as Inkblot quickly used Ochako as a shield yet again.

Ochako felt conflicted about having to fight the League of Supervillains. On the one hand, the League of Supervillains was a group of criminals who had terrorised Japan for over a year. But on the other, their actions had caused lots of people who really deserved it to go to jail, and they were indirectly responsible for her parents' construction company getting into the black. Plus, one week of Gunhead Martial Arts training coupled with a manual of extra katas wasn't enough to compensate for the Villainess' various creations, mallet or experience.

Apparently she had been a C-rank Villain before Mastermind had recruited her. That seemed difficult to swallow now.

However, Yaoyorozu had a plan - or at least, that was what she had said while hastily creating some items for them to use. She hadn't had the chance to talk more as Inkblot had knocked her away with a giant red boxing glove on a spring. Another example of why fighting the League was an exercise in frustration.

Inkblot took another pull of ink, and then her mallet swung again. Ochako barely managed to block it with her shield, the inch thick steel weightless under her Quirk. The Villainess gave Ochako a sincere smile even as she knocked her over with the follow-through of her swing. "Not bad Gravity Girl! But you need something that'll really hit hard to take me on."

Grunting, Ochako picked herself up. Jirou tried to hit Inkblot with a wave of sound, only for the Villain to leap out of the way, throwing a spherical bomb at her. "Give me something more impressive, why don'tcha!"

Yaoyorozu managed to come back, swinging her staff at the Villainess. Smirking, Inkblot grabbed it and threw it and Yaoyorozu away from her. Yaoyorozu rolled with the throw, coming back to where Ochako and Jirou were standing. "Sorry for making you wait."

"Not a problem," Ochako managed.

"You have a plan, right Yaomomo?" Jirou asked, worry plain on her face. And a slight blush, but Ochako couldn't judge her for that. Yaoyorozu was probably the most attractive person in class in both looks and personality. Her being rich didn't even factor in.

"W-well..." Yaoyorozu hesitated, before having to dodge a mallet swipe. "I do have a plan of sorts. But, well..."

"But?"

Yaoyorozu sighed. "Truthfully, I-I'm worried it won't be enough to beat her. I-I haven't had much luck with my plans so far... And I'm not as good as Todoroki in combat-"

Jirou stared at her, before dodging a mallet swipe from Inkblot. "What are you talking about? You are so good! Not just that, you're the smartest person in class!"

Yaoyorozu looked startled as Jirou continued. "If-if it's one of your plans Yaomomo, we can beat her. Just tell us what we can do to help, okay?"

That got Yaoyorozu to flush almost as bright as her costume. Then a determined look crossed her face, and her midriff sparked with her Quirk's light. "First, we need some room to breathe." Jirou blinked at the earmuffs as they were tossed their way.

Inkblot grinned as she watched. "What're those for? I don't think cutting off my witty banter's gonna help."

"Well, it's for this to start with," Yaoyorozu smiled, and her Quirk sparked. A long, thin shape formed on her arm, and -

What.

Ochako could only stare at the newly created shotgun in Yaoyorozu's hand, the dark haired girl looking at Inkblot with a businesslike smile. "Now, this isn't lethal, but it is going to hurt."

Ochako could only blink at just how casually she said that, as well as thenew gun. Inkblot stared at it as well. "Okay, what-"

Yaoyorozu fired at Inkblot, hitting the Villainess in the stomach and causing her to briefly double over in pain. As Inkblot went to swing at her with her mallet, Yaoyorozu created a flash bang, tossing it at Inkblot. Ochako and Jirou's eyes widened, the latter hastily pulling her earmuffs on.

Before it went off, Yaoyorozu pointed to an alleyway. "Now!"

A blinding light and hugeBANGfollowed..Vaguely audible even after that was a surprisedYOWLfrom Inkblot as the Villainess staggered around, trying to shake the flashbang off.

Still stunned by what had just happened, Ochako hurried after Yaoyorozu, Jirou catching up with a slightly dazed look on her face. A few corners later, and Yaoyorozu nodded in apparent satisfaction. "Alright, she shouldn't be able to hear us from this far out."

"That was... that was so rocking!" Jirou shouted, eyes wide in amazement and admiration.

Ochako had other concerns. "You justshother?!" she half yelled, gesturing. "With a gun! You-you made a gun!"

"Well, it was quicker than making a cannon. Don't worry, I have a firearms license," Yaoyorozu beamed, missing Ochako and Jirou's stares. "And I'm using beanbag rounds, so it would only be life threatening if I'd hit her in the head at that range."

"You have a firearms license," Ochako repeated slowly. Jirou stared at her as well, still flushed deep crimson. Ochako wasn't sure if it was healthy to be that red.

Yaoyorozu nodded half distractedly, looking around the area. "I wouldn't be able to fire cannons without one. Well, not legally."

"...Why haven't you done that in class?" Ochako asked, pointing at the gun.

Yaoyorozu sighed. "Well, truth be told, firearms aren't usually seen as particularly Heroic if you don't have an accuracy Quirk since they can kill or maim. Plus, they aren't exactly reassuring."

Then her smile sharpened. "Still, considering what we're up against, I'll be darned if I don't use everything I have."

"That's... really cool - WHOA, HEY!" Jirou shouted, face practically glowing as Yaoyorozu started pulling her top open. Ochako felt her own face heating up.

Yaoyorozu blinked slightly as she realised what she was doing in front of them. "Oh, right!" Turning to the side to avoid flashing them, her Quirk activated again. "Well, while I'm making some items, let's talk strategy."

Ochako and Jirou exchanged glances, then nodded. As Yaoyorozu started to talk, Ochako only had one main thought.Man, confident Yaoyorozu is something else.

Watching his students get near universally humiliated by professional supervillains (he was going to give Yaoyorozu so much praise for that beanbag shotgun manoeuvre), Eraserhead counted to ten before losing his patience. "Sir, can I just ask why we're even going through with this," he struggled to find a word, settling on, "this farce of an exam?"

"Oh, there's a method in my madness, Shouta!" Nedzu replied flippantly, waving him off. "We'll start to see it soon."

Normally, that would be enough for Eraserhead - after all, the Principal hadn't steered them wrong before. But he wasn't going to let this go so easily. "See what? Pitting our students against actual Villains, even if they are the League of Supervillains, is completely illogical!"

"Gonna have to agree with Eraserhead on this one," Midnight added. "I mean, even for you, this is a crazy stunt."

"This goes wrong, we're all going to be in deep shit." Present Mic concluded. "Considering it'd piss off other Heroes, parents, and it's doubtless pissing off the Commission, if this goes wrong we'd be lucky to get a job in an Amazon Fulfilment Centre."

Nedzu spun around in his chair. "Your objections to this plan have been noted! However, since this is my plan alone, if it goes wrong any negative repercussions will fall squarely on my shoulders and any positives will go to U.A. I must ask you to trust me."

And he gave them all a bright smile.

Eraserhead couldn't help but shudder at the look on the Principal's face, just as the others did. They knew that smile. Present Mic had compared it to the smile a ringmaster wore before animals and performers danced for his and the audiences' amusement. It promised trouble for them and his students.

Yet, somehow, they would do it anyway. Eraserhead knew he was being played, but it didn't stop him from, metaphorically and hopefully not literally, putting on a clown suit and getting pied in the face. Because Nedzu believed in Heroes and the potential of his students, and they knew he would sacrifice himself for a plan if need be.

Still, somebody had to be logical in the room. "Alright, but where's All Might during this 'plan' of yours?" Eraserhead bluntly demanded. "If he was here, it wouldn't matter if they had five minutes to run if All Might could deal with them in that time."

It might have been overkill to have All Might help deal with the League of Super Villains, but Eraserhead didn't want to take chances, not with the lives of his students. After all, no matter their plans or tech, All Might would have been able to take out the League in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

Nedzu's grin widened. Present Mic whimpered in fear, and it took all Eraserhead had not to join. "Oh, he has his own part to play in this Eraserhead! Worry not, it's all being taken care of."

Eraserhead was about to ask what kind of mission would have been so important when an alert on another monitor caused Nedzu to look up. "Oh, it seems as if your students are going Plus Ultra right now!"

Intrigued, Eraserhead turned to look at the monitor. And then promptly sighed in regret.

"This is going to be interesting..."

AN:

I'm back, baby!

Sorry this took so long - life got in the way. Among other things, I acquired a full time job and have started to become a responsible adult. A horrible thing, I know. Work is a bitch and I haven't had time to write since I'm busy with family on the weekend. That and generally being tired, until my shame proved to be too much.

Really wish I didn't take over a year on this though. This chapter has been an albatross around my neck. I want to move onto other, hopefully funnier chapters damnit! Still, at least it's a big'n.

Such a big'n, in fact, that I have had to cave. I didn't want this chapter to take up too much since it is a relatively minor plot point. Well, I am aware of the irony. The latter half of the chapter still needs to be refined.

So, we have mystery plans from the students as they try to take down the nefarious League of Supervillains! Who will pass? Who will fail? Who can say.

Find out, in the next exciting issue of Villain Notebook!

A warm thank you to Banchoking who continues to edit my nonsense. Also, a warm thank you to members of my Discord server who got to read my word diarrhoea early and got to make comments with the hopes of fixing everything. Thank you, I need you guys to help me keep things on track.

Please comment, I hunger for comments. I need them.