The bus, as it turned out, was from a scrapyard, which was where Black cat had taken them immediately after they had left the train station.
As Mina had gone to change in a public bathroom in a shopping center nearby he and Black cat were alone in the scrapyard, her sitting on the hood of an older car.
"The owner of this place has been kind enough to let us use this place for the week, so let's make the most of it."
Izuku hesitated. Then asked the question that was on his mind.
"Shouldn't we… Wait for Mina?"
"No. Anyhow, we're gonna start with figuring out exactly how strong you are Izuku."
She motioned to an old, large bus, right by them.
"This is an older model, but for our purposes, the important thing is to note the weight. 20 tons."
20 tons. Izuku had never truly put his weight limit to the test before. He hadn't done that before his body was remade, and he hadn't done it afterwards.
"That's roughly half of what I can lift, so let's see how you do.
"Wait, you can lift 40 tons?"
That was… Way more than he had thought she could. Of course, he had always known Black Cat was really damn strong, but he had never actually tried putting her exact brute strength to paper.
"That's about my limit, yes."
"That would make you… About as strong as MCU captain America then."
"...That's... One way to put it. Sure let's go with that analogy. As strong captain America, just with a speed that matches that strength."
Izuku nodded.
Then he swallowed and went over to the bus.
He positioned himself near the middle, bent down, and… Lifted the entire thing over his head without that much difficulty.
Frankly, it took him by complete surprise just how easy it was.
It wasn't like it took no effort, balancing the thing, in particular, wasn't that easy(Especially not as the metal bent under his fingers as he held it), and Izuku felt the ground sink under his feet as all the weight of the bus was focused through his legs.
But he was holding this thing over his head without that much difficulty.
Black cat, still sitting comfortably on the hood of a nearby car just nodded, not seeming particularly impressed.
"Good, now go to…" She looked around, then pointed at a spot maybe some 60 meters away. "Over there, carrying the things as fast as you can without dropping it."
Izuku swallowed but did as she ordered.
Like before, the hard thing was balancing the bus over his head, which was way, way harder than actually carrying it.
It took Izuku a minute before he remembered that, oh yeah, he had his black suit.
One quick thought later and the familiar black liquid coated his hands, and suddenly the bus was literally stuck to his hands, making carrying the thing while balancing so, so much easier.
As he reached the point and was heading back, Mina finally arrived, and had a really impressed look on her face, even whistling as she took in how easily Izuku carried the bus.
He immediately blushed and hurried over to put the bus down.
"Wow! I knew you were strong Midori, but… Damn that's strong."
Izuku of course, just blushed harder, then desperately tried to reign it in, as Black finally stood up to walk over to him.
"Very good. We still have no idea just how strong you are, but from that display, I'd say that in terms of raw, brute strength, you're probably the second strongest hero in Japan after All Might."
Izuku froze completely. Then his brain rebooted as he took in what she had just said.
"...Really?"
"Yes, you are several times stronger than me at least. But don't get too cocky with the strength in mind. There is a VAST gulf between you, and people like All Might."
Izuku swallowed, but the feeling he got from Black Cat's praise did not go away. It burned like a torch in his chest.
"Now then, it's time to get down to business. More specifically, let's see how you use that strength in a fight."
Izuku immediately jolted backwards, his suit immediately covering his entire body, as Black cat fell into a strange stance, but thankfully she did not make a sudden attack on him, instead, she waited for him to come to her.
Mina for her part took the spot on the car hood her mother had just vacated.
Izuku swallowed but fell into his makeshift combat stance, which made Black Cat take on an annoyed look.
"Yeah… We're gonna have to work on that."
The stance she herself was using seemed… Really weird to Izuku. It was obviously very deliberate, and the way she wasn't just standing there, but moving from one foot to another, constantly shifting where she was putting her weight told him that this was a boxing stance of some kind.
But if so, it was not one Izuku had ever seen. Her entire body was turned slightly sideways, and while her right hand was held in a usual stance not too dissimilar to Izuku's own, she was holding and moving her left arm in a V-like pattern kinda hanging down, while moving it from side to side.
"Oh, Hitman style! Neat. Been a while we trained that." Mina piped in from the sides.
-Really? That's the name fo-
The punch hit Izuku faster than a speeding bullet.
He saw it coming, or at least he thought he did, moving his head backwards to dodge. Instead, the punch bizarrely seemed to go further than it should and nailed him straight in the face.
He stumbled back, feeling like he'd been hit by a boulder.
Black Cat did not press, instead remaining exactly where she had been.
She looked at him with that same scrutinous look she'd been giving him since the train station, then motioned with her head.
A challenge.
"Can i-" "By all means. Go all out. There wouldn't be much point to this otherwise."
A black line shot out straight at her face as she was talking, but like a snake, Black Cat moved her head out of the way with no difficulty.
Izuku followed up the line attack by trying to move in for the kill, weary about the strange punch she had thrown at him that seemed to defy reach.
He'd brought his hands up and together to block another face shot, then charged in.
Izuku's stance did indeed protect him from the strange punches as he moved into range.
Instead, with enormous speed, Black Cat surprisingly moved towards him, and hitting from the side, she bypassed his guard completely and nailed him straight in the side of the head with a strong hook.
Izuku's mind swam from the force of the blow and his guard faltered.
In an eye blink, Felicia was back a distance, and hit him again, straight in the face with not one, but four of those strange punches from her left, one after another.
Then she backed away.
Izuku groaned as he shook his head, which was really starting to hurt from the force of the blows.
This time he did not advance in another charge, instead trying to think of another strategy.
"The punches I just hit you with Izuku, are called flicker jabs. From what you've just seen, what would you say it's strengths and weaknesses are?"
Izuku halted for a moment, expecting that maybe Black cat would make a surprise attack as he spoke.
He moved backwards as he began talking, just in case.
"It's… Not as strong as the hook, but… It was way faster, and… has a deceptive range."
"Very good~ and what do you use such an attack for?"
Izuku considered.
"You... Land an early, weaker but faster blow to follow up with a stronger one."
"Also, you can use it to keep your distance while, and keep your enemy from getting too close!" Mina piped in helpfully from the side."
"Yes, that too. But here is the big question, Izuku. How do you get past that defence to land a blow of your own?"
...
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