Daily Life
Several days had passed since the raid on the Shie Hassaikai’s hideout, so for Aurdel things went back to normal. Or, well, at least whatever could be reasonably considered “normal” now. Most of his time was spent doing what was really expected of him, teaching at UA and patrolling the streets. But because the licensing exams had happened by now, it meant that his role would be slightly changed. While he would also be teaching his own class, he would also become a secondary teacher for physical education. On top of that, he would also be specifically substituting for Present Mic to teach English if he was ever unable to show up. And after hearing what and how he’d been teaching them, he really hoped that would be more often than not. But all that aside his routine was just about the same. He did his maintenance work on his gear and taught his class during the day, then went out at night and patrolling the streets. Of course he would also be trying out something new. He would allow anyone who didn’t currently have a work study, but had their license, to work with him during one of those ‘night shifts.’ He knew that there was one of them that didn’t feel particularly thrilled that his classmates had the chance to get experience before he could, but for him he ultimately had no one to blame except himself for failing the licensing exam. He’d just have to work twice as hard to catch up with the rest of the class. Of course right now it was still early in the day, so he was busy working on his gear. On the nearby table he’d disassembled his MA5B and was working on the receiver and barrel, creating a variable adapter for other rounds so he didn’t have to worry about running out of ammo. Another thing he did was improve the ergonomics of the weapon, as while the MA5B was a reliable rifle in itself it had its share of flaws. However there was one other thing that he was working on, a new weapon for him to use. A powerful one. For it he would be taking inspiration primarily from the M99 Stanchion, while also using the design philosophies and lessons learned from a weapon prototype he knew was in development with Section Three’s materiel group.
The only thing that held him back from making this before was the fact that the materials that he needed to create the weapon weren’t easy to come by, but after his ‘business trip’ to the US he had more than enough to work with. The receiver and barrel of the weapon used design and engineering principles of the UNSC's MAC guns, while also copying and integrating the magnetic plates that formed the shield around his armor into the system so he could fire it while using the power from suit. For the structural components of the weapon he needed to use Titanium-A alloy, something that, while in short supply around here, was the only material strong enough to support such a weapon. If he used something like steel or a lower strength titanium alloy then he was almost guaranteed a catastrophic malfunction, one that would cause the weapon to explode and kill essentially everyone in a two hundred foot radius with hypersonic shrapnel. ...Okay, maybe that was being a little hyperbolic. But regardless of how far it could actually go, the point boiled down to the fact that you needed to be more careful than not when making something like this. Aurdel reached over for the- “Hatsume, I already told you that I need the impact gun. I understand that if you need it for certain bolts, then you can use it. But if I don’t have it exactly when I need it then it could result in this entire warping and misaligning.” He held his hand out, the girl handed him the tool back.
“Sorry about that, I just really needed it!” She said with a grin, “I was putting on the finishing touches for my Powered Suit Mark Two!”
“You called the six previous iterations of it the ‘Mark Two.’” Aurdel put in the bolts that he needed to, getting the gun into a stable state where he could actually turn around and see what she was doing.
“Those don’t count, they were just prototypes. But now, this is the real thing now!” She raised her arms proudly, pointing towards the machine. “I decided to combine some of my old babies into this thing so it would perform well beyond what’s expected of any armor.”
“Like what?”
“Well there’s no fun in just saying it, so I’ll demonstrate!!” She pulled out a remote, Aurdel braced himself for the worst. “Some of these were things that I used in the sports festival. Like this wire cannon!” She pushed a button and a harpoon-like projectile fired out from a wrist on the suit’s right arm, plunging into the wall. He grit his teeth as he realized that the projectile had overpenetrated the wall, just barely avoiding some of the buildings electrical wiring. “With this baby, you can grapple from place to place with any trouble!” She pushed the button again, and as he expected things didn't go as Hatsume planned. Instead of pulling the suit closer, it ended up ripping a large chunk of soundproofing, drywall and wood out of the wall. “Ha, looks like it still needs some work.”
“That’s an understatement,” he shook his head, “Not just for the wire launcher, but for the whole suit itself. The only place you could use it is in an open area with sturdy buildings. This room, of course, isn’t one of them,” he knocked on one of the workshop walls to demonstrate his point. “What else does it have?”
“Well, I also upgraded it with my hover soles and the jetpack I used!” She pushed one button, the suit slightly floated off the ground. Those must be the hover soles working. She pushed it again, and jets of fire streamed out from its back. The suit flew from its resting position and crashed into the ceiling above, putting another large hole through it as the head section became stuck inside.
“Unless the user is on a suicide run, I doubt that it needs so much immediate power. Still, I’m amazed that you managed to get any of this working. Especially all in one suit of armor.”
“Well I listened to your suggestion and took inspiration from your armor. I figured out that one of the things you could do was reduce the friction on the bottom of your shoes for better mobility, so I integrated the hover soles into the armor’s boots.”
He looked up at the machine, “And if your hover soles work how I think, then it will help in reducing the stress placed on the user from the suit's weight. Of course it’s still an intense and constant tool being used, so that means you need to find a way to supply it with enough-“ Almost as if it heard his words, the hover soles ran out of power and the suit came crashing back down into the ground, “-Power...”
“Of course, but now that you brought back a bunch of materials that I can use from your business trip I should be able to make a battery with a large enough capacity and lifespan to support everything in the armor. Say, where did you get all that stuff from anyways?”
“Oh, most of it was just sort of laying around. Though I did have to haggle with a few people. Ultimately though they were more than willing to let me go back with it.”
“Really? I’m surprised. Some of this stuff is really high quality metals, the kind they would put in rocket ships or jets.”
“Let’s just chalk it up to me having a very charismatic personality,” he went back to his own work, “You should probably start cleaning this mess up before Powerloader gets back.”
“Ah! You’re right!” Hatsume rushed to start cleaning up the mess she made, Aurdel shaking his head in slight amusement.
At the same time the TV in the workshop was playing idly in the background, eventually coming to the news after several advertisements ran out their time. “...And now for your morning news report. Tensions continue to escalate in Asia as Taiwanese troops perform defensive exercises along their coast, likely in an attempt to dissuade an invasion attempt to take over the island nation. Particularly, an invasion by the Chinese. However the People’s Liberation Army did not let this go without a retaliatory response, performing mock landing operations drills just down their own coastline. Many still speculate over whether this may or may not lead to an armed conflict between the two nations, something the world has not seen after a number of years with relative peace. In other news power outages strike Central Asia due to unknown circumstances. Many blame it on the old and outdated Soviet era power grid that is still being used in many of these countries, however recent examinations by electric contractors reveal that the systems were being properly and well maintained prior to the mass failure. In response an alternative explanation put forward the idea that they may have been damaged, either by solar winds or a minor carrington event. No scientists have found proof of either event occurring recently. Some have also claimed it to be the work of saboteurs or secret super weapon experiments, though proof of neither exists.”
The TV switched over to another newscaster. “In Europe, the possibility of an energy crisis is one that a number of governments have begun to prepare for. Much of power within the EU utilizes resources imported from Russia, either via the Nord Stream, Northern Lights and South Stream pipelines or uranium imports to power the nuclear reactors. But with the Russian government citing security concerns in the region, the vital lifeline may be soon cut off. Negotiations are currently taking place between the EU and Russia to continue the importing of fuels. Meanwhile in the United States, US officials continue to refuse further comment on the incident regarding a US Air Force base and missile silo center on the American west coast. Many who live in the area reported the firing of guns and the use of quirks, alongside the deployment and destruction of armed aircraft. An official comment on the matter was finally released this morning by Lieutenant General Edward Scotts, the commanding officer of the base, saying that it had been an experimental live fire readiness exercise that was being undertaken to drill the men stationed there for the possibility of a land conflict on American soil. He also commented on those claiming that people who said that there was an unknown party involved in the drill were ‘out of their minds.’” Aurdel gave a dry cough.
“Say, Mr. Aurdel.”
“Yes, Hatsume?” He turned his head.
“You got a new backup generator for the school, right?”
“Yes, it uses fusion power. It’s deep underground and heavily shielded so there’s no reason to worry about radiation leaking or a possible meltdown occurring.”
“Sure, but aren’t reactors like that super expensive? Especially when they’re so small.”
“It’s not particularly small, the one in the back of my suit is smaller. But I was able to build it as small as I could without significant power loss.”
“Wait, you built it? Where did you even get the resources for that?”
“Now that’s a secret I can’t tell you. If there’s anyone that I don’t want building nuclear devices, it’s going to be you,” he changed the channel without too much attention being drawn to why. “I’d prefer you work on making safe, high capacity batteries before you try strapping a bomb to your back.”
“Whatever you say, personally think I’m ready,” Aurdel turned back to the TV, randomly switch to another channel. But his quick change it somehow ended up on an interview that had taken place the previous day, one with Mt. Lady and Midnight. He could only imagine why those two were specifically chosen. Especially together.
“Mt. Lady, Midnight, it’s great to have you two back. Especially you Mt. Lady, now that you're able to work on the Hero scene proper again,” The host of the interview said. The two women were sitting a distance away from each other on opposite sides of the table, he could only imagine what had happened previously for them to be seated like this. “I’m sure that viewers of the show will recognize these two faces from a previous and smash hit episode, one where we asked them about the necessity of sexiness for Hero work.” They... huh?
“I sure remember that interview, and what she did to my outfit,” Midnight said with a tightened fist and a forced smile.
“What I did to your outfit? What you did to mine was even worse,” Mt. Lady responded, the same gesture coming from her.
“Let’s just cool our heads, I’m sure we can let the past be the past,” the host said, trying to calm the two down. “The reason we wanted to invite you back was so you could answer a question of a different but somewhat similar nature, Heroes that cover up almost everything.”
“What do you mean?” Mt. Lady tilted her head, it seemed like the question was sufficient enough to get their attention.
“Well obviously there are Heroes out there that cover up nearly all of their body. For example, you have the Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha,. Though, even he shows his face. For more extreme examples you can look at Thirteen, Kamui Woods and even the new and upcoming Hero Spartan.”
Midnight picked up the conversation, “Well, like I said last time, some of it may come out of the need for utility. And while some of us relish in the public spotlight,” Midnight glared at Mt. Lady, “Not everyone wants to be put directly in the middle of it all. Often when Heroes are recognized off duty they’ll be quickly surrounded by fans or detractors, trying to get something out of them. I myself can say that I’ve had my fair share of unintended public appearances while I was out shopping.”
“Why, you didn’t have the time to put on your makeup?” Mt. Lady stifled a laugh, Midnight became visibly angry at her. “I can understand why some Heroes want to keep their faces hidden, especially the secretive brooding types. They're tend to be the sexiest.” This woman was supposed to be a Hero? “And I myself can say that I’ve seen some of the faces of those Heroes, and they live up to the expectations.”
“You have?” The host raised an eyebrow, interested. “Would you mind describing them to us?”
“That I can do,” she said with a wink, “I’ll start with the one that everyone is most interested in hearing about. Spartan.” He practically stood up hearing that. What the hell? Mt. Lady hadn't seen his face, no one had even seen so much as an inch of his skin. In fact the two of them had only ever met twice specifically, and neither time did she even have anything close to the opportunity to see his face. “He’s tall, has long blonde flowing hair, green eyes, a clean shave, a strong chin and an untouched mature face. Really, if you saw it then you would think he’s just dreamy.” That was a load of crap. Aside from not even seeing him, half of what she said was blatantly wrong. He had short black hair with an unnatural gray streak that went across, light blue eyes and had a number of scars on his face, with the most prominent being one just below his right eye. The only things she’d had gotten right were the kind of thing you expected from a person that stayed in shape and exercised. “Heck, we even-“
“That’s a load of bull!” Midnight shouted, leaning over the table, “When and why the hell would he take the time to visit some two bit dame like you?!”
“Oh I’m the two bit dame, granny?!” Mt. Lady shouted.
“Now you’ve done it, come here!” Midnight shouted, leaping over the table like she was ready to strangle Mt. Lady. The camera turned away for a moment as the crew and the host ran to duck for cover, the entire studio shaking as the two of them fought and tore at each other’s costumes. Aurdel could only give a blank stare as he witnessed it play out on screen, figuring that this was what happened by the previous time.
Then out of nowhere a piece of metal came flying through the air and smashed into the TV, destroying the screen, ”My bad!”
“Hatsume!” Powerloader shouted as he walked into the room, seeing all of the damage that Hatsume had wrought during her test.
Over the River and Through the Woods
“So, can anyone tell me what you think you’re going to be doing today?”
“Way too much exercise?” Mineta commented, already unhappy.
“You’d be correct if the exercise actually was too much,” he folded his arms, “Alright, which of you have run an obstacle course?”
“An obstacle course?” Ashido commented, surprised, “I thought we were going to do something super hard like before. We all had to do an obstacle course for the school festival tournament, and we all got through.”
“Alright, then allow me to change my phrasing. Which of you have run a real obstacle course?”
“What do you mean by a ‘real’ obstacle course?!”
“I mean what I say. The obstacle course you ran through had very minimal risk since you were able to freely use your quirks. You weren’t pushing your bodies to their actual limits. Solely relying on your quirk to do something is a big crutch, and it poses a great deal of risk later down the line..”
“Just what do you mean minimal risk?! We were put up against giant robots, had to cross huge chasms and even run across a minefield!”
“If you’re going to be a Hero you’re not going to be running across minefields or crossing between skyscraper roofs, though fighting giant robots is honestly debatable.” He held up his finger, “Regardless, that is why I’m going to be putting you through a hazardous environment course to prepare you for any situation.”
“Mr. Aurdel, just what kind of environmental hazards are we going to be encountering?” Midoriya said, raising his hand.
“I’ll answer that question, but first I’ll tell you something about this specific course,” he looked around, “This course was something that me and comrades in arms were trained on, it was always changed between our runs of it so we would never be able to fall into the trap of muscle memory and lose the skills they were trying to have us build up. I expect you all do pass this course with flying colors. Because if if you can’t, then it means you will have been outdone by a bunch six year olds.” The class was silent for a moment.
“Are you trying to imply you did this when you were six years old?!” A number of them questioned his words, but he gave them no answer.
“The initial stretch of the course is a sprint to a cargo net suspended from a hanging platform. Once you climb up there will be several rope bridges for you to cross, each one designed so they will flip if too many people walk across it at the same time. Below the rope bridges are a pool of water and rope to climb back up to the course.”
“You’re just ignoring our question?!”
“After that you must swing into a number of other suspended platforms, slide down a number of pales, climb up and walk through a maze suspended in the air that will shift around as you put your weight on it and a part of the course known as the ‘Pillars of Loki’ where you will be face a number of hazards should you take too long to cross them. The last stretch is to ring a bell at the top of a ten meter tall pole, followed by a sprint back to the starting line.”
They all looked disheartened, “Just what kind of six year olds were these…?”
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“Scared ones who had to do a hundred jumping jacks, sit ups, leg lifts, squats, pushups and run two miles beforehand.” He raised the gun filled with blanks and pointed it towards the sky, “You have ten seconds to get to the starting line and be ready. And remember, you can’t use your quirks.” Begrudgingly, all twenty of them went to the starting line. “One more thing, whoever comes last is the one that has to do two rounds of all that exercise I mentioned earlier. But if any of you start a fight, then you’ll end up doing it anyways.” With a little more enthusiasm they prepared themselves. Three… Two… He fired the gun into the air, signaling the start.
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“This is all insane, but I am not doing all that exercise again!” Mineta shouted, somehow managing to get a significant head start. Midoriya ran forward with everyone else. He didn’t want to end up in last place, but he also didn’t feel right about letting someone else take the punishment. Everyone had broken into a full sprint trying to get to the first obstacle, with Bakugo, Ida, Ashido, Tsu and Midoriya were the first five to arrive there. The cargo net was large and was suspended from a hanging wooden platform in the air. The moment they all tried to grab on and climb up, the net and platform began to shake violently from the combined movement
“Careful, you’re going to throw us OFF!” Ashido’s warning turned into a shout as the violent shaking threw her to the ground, a small cloud of dust puffing up as she landed.
“Out of my way extras!” Bakugo had purposefully shaken the platform, throwing the others off so he would be the first to climb up to the top before beginning his sprint across the rope bridge.
“We can’t fight each other, or else none of us are going to get through this thing.”
“You’re right,” Ida said, “One of us needs to get up onto the platform, then begin helping everyone else by pulling them up.”
“I can do that!” Midoriya said, taking the lead. With no one else on the net at the time it was easy to get up, and once he was on top he leaned back over the edge and stretched out his help., “Once I help you up just keep going, I won’t go until everyone else has made it up.”
“Midoriya…” Ida said, grabbing his hand and allowing himself to be pulled up. After him came Ashido and Tsu, finishing the first group. The second group was Ojiro, Shoji, Yaoyorozu, Kirishima and Todoroki. Most of them readily accepted his help, Kirishima even calling his effort ‘manly.’ Todoroki was the only one that showed some initial hesitation, but ultimately accepted the help. The third group was Aoyama, Uraraka, Koda, Hagakure and Tokoyami. Pulling up Uraraka felt a little awkward, and his face had gone completely red so he had to turn away while lifting her. The last ones were Kaminari, Sato, Sero, Jirou and Mineta.
“I’m at a complete disadvantage here, how am I even supposed to get through an obstacle course like this and win when I’m so short?!” Mineta shouted, Midoriya leaned far over the edge to grab him. At the same time Midoriya’s attention ended up going elsewhere, as he noticed that Mr. Aurdel had been watching him help up his classmates rather than going further up the course to watch those who were much further ahead than him. With that helmet covering his face, it was hard to tell what he was thinking… “Don’t just leave me hanging here Midoriya!”
“Ah, sorry!” He hoisted Mineta up and onto the platform. The others had already begun making their way across the bridge, sprinting across but timing their turns so they wouldn’t accidentally overturn each other. Once his turn came Midoriya ran across the bridge, preparing himself for the next obstacle.
And that obstacle was rope swings, ones that they had to do onto a series elevated platforms. In total there were about six sets of them. He could already see that many of his classmates had gone ahead and were swinging across, some still at the start while others had already swung their way through by the time he’d reached it. Even so he allowed others to go ahead of him, both out of courtesy and allowing himself the chance to analyze the way they were swinging. After getting a running start and performing a rather impressive jump, he was able to skip the first two ropes in the set and grab onto the third. Knowing that he had trained on this course Midoriya tried to move on it the same way he expected Mr. Aurdel to run through it, using as few movements as possible while preserving his momentum or increasing it when needed by using nearby objects to propel himself. …Wait, that was it! Midoriya swung from the rope, sending himself as far back as possible before letting go at the last possible moment to get as much speed as possible. To everyone else it might have looked like he’d completely overswung, but in reality he wasn’t aiming for the ropes in front of him. He minimized his body frame and tucked his head in as he flew through the air, reaching out to grab the beams that held the actual ropes. After spinning in a circle around the beam he let go and launched himself forward, having enough speed to launch over to the next. A smile grew on his face as he managed to practically fly over the others that were still on the ropes, his classmates staring up in shock as he easily began crossing each set. On the last one he made sure tucked and rolled as he lande. He stood up and looked at the next obstacle in front of him. The maze.
Just as their teacher had said, it was suspended in the air and shifted as people moved around. Though the sheer size of the structure made Midoriya wonder how such a large thing could have been assembled and set up so quickly. Inside he could hear a few of his classmates, though most were behind him now. To get through this he needed a system to remember which paths were dead ends, so he tried to think of what to do. Then, he had an idea. Midoriya ripped the right sleeve off of his PE uniform and tore it up into a number of smaller pieces. After that he began making his way through the maze. There was very little light shining throughout the inside of the maze, with the roof and ceiling being completely sealed while the walls made up of boards had small cracks in between them. Despite that, Midoriya kept going. Another trick he used was the right hand rule, always following the wall to his right rather than picking at random. And every time he hit a dead end he made sure to leave a piece of his sleeve to mark where he’d been. Doing so kept him from becoming turned around and going down the same route multiple times, saving a great deal of time. After only seven minutes he managed to clear the maze and make it out the exit, leaving the correct path for everyone else behind him to follow. What came next was one of the last sections, the so-called ‘Pillars of Loki.’
What the obstacle looked to be was a relative jungle gym, with metal poles dotting the lower part of the landscape but being covered by a huge series of pipes crossing over each other from nearly every possible angle to make moving from pole to pole that much more difficult. He used the same method as before, getting a running start before jumping across and landing on top of one of the poles. Then he leaped over to a set of nearby pipes, swinging off of it to launch himself even further. In moving quickly he cut down the amount of time and steps he had to take, but at the same time it left him vulnerable to whatever surprises might be hidden here “Ah, Uraraka!”
Midoriya swung over and caught Uraraka, who’d slipped and nearly fallen backwards head first into one of the pipes. “D-Deku?!” He put her back down once the two of them had a proper foothold to stand on.
“S-sorry about that,” he said nervously, “I saw that you were going to fall so I just had to do something. Guess I returned the favor, h-huh?” What was he saying?! He quickly turned his head in embarrassment. “I-I think we should get moving!”
“R-right!” After that the two of them moved carefully across the rest of the pipes together, trying to avoid anything that might throw them off of their balance and cause them to fall. “Why do you think they’re called the Pillars of Loki?”
“Maybe there’s some trick behind it..? I think that’s what the name implies, but I’m not sure. Mr. Aurdel said that there would be hazards for us to avoid.” He stopped and crouched down to get a better look, “But I don’t see anything that could cause any problems for us…?”
“Could he have hidden something in the poles?” Uraraka guessed.
“Maybe…” He pondered that thought, looking around the obstacle. “Wait, that’s it!” He pointed at one of the poles off in the distance. “See that pole over there? There’s a really subtle difference near the middle of it, a fracture. If someone stands on it for too long it then it would just collapse under their feet”
“Hey, you’re right!” She pointed at another one, “And that one looks like it’s been covered in something to make it extremely slippery!”
“There’s also one that looks like there’s something in it,” he shook his head, “So that’s why it’s called the Pillars of Loki, its tricks are in the form of traps.”
“But we can’t stop now, right?”
“Right!” He stood up, “Follow my lead!” Midoriya jumped onto the first pole, it was firm and nothing happened. But not entirely sure whether it would stay that way he had to keep moving. So long as he could avoid the ones that would provide the most immediate danger, then they would be safe. He leaped forward again and again, jumping from pole to pole.
“Ashido, watch out!” Midoriya heard Tsu up ahead of them, the two having managed to get far ahead of most of the class. And evidently Ashido had taken too long on one of the poles. Tsu jumped over and grabbed her, taking shelter on a nearby set of pipes before what looked like a grenade with the same power as one of the landmines from the school festival went off. The metal pole completely splintered following the explosion, several others nearby went off in response to the pressure wave given off.
“Is that tear gas? Why would you put that in an obstacle course?!” Midoriya shouted, watching another one of the poles that splintered apart released a cloud of gas. He lifted up his shirt to try and cover his face from the gas, but it wouldn’t do much if they just sat around. “We have to move, quick!” He led the way forward, jumping across the few poles that remained undamaged. He tried to avoid the gas as best as he could, but as he jumped his eyes and skin were becoming irritated. Three more minutes of heart pounding jumping ensued before they were able to make it fully across, he had to catch his breath. Nearly half of the class had made it to this point, the last stretch. The bell.
Just like Mr. Aurdel had said, the bell was hung from the top of a ten meter tall pole. A number of ropes and a basket were hung from the same pole, providing the way up. “How many people have finished already?” Midoriya asked, panting.
“Bakugo, Ida, Sero and Todoroki already made it to the end, I only got here just before you guys did,” Ojiro said. Midoriya nodded in acknowledgement, taking in his surroundings. This was it. He was going to make sure that everyone made it through to the end.
“If you get in the basket,” Midoriya pointed, “And if we work with each other, we should be able to pull each other up. That way we can all get to the bell easily.”
“You’re right, and we can pull up multiple people at a time. I'll help you.”
“Me too!” Kirishima said, just arriving. “It beats climbing after all that swinging and jumping.” The three boys grabbed the rope as three of their classmates entered the basket, then they pulled with all they had. The tremendous amount of combined strength was easily enough to raise the basket to the top, their three classmates ringing the bell soon after. Once those three were down they repeated the process for each group, until they were the last ones to go. Midoriya pulled with enough strength to lift Kirishima and Ojiro, allowing the two to reach the bell.
“Alright Midoriya, it’s your turn now.” Climbing into the basket and reaching the top, he felt a sense of catharsis as he rang the bell and took the sweet tone that filled his ears. It was almost enough to make him want to burst into celebration the moment he touched the ground, but he knew that there was one last thing to do.
“Let’s finish!” He said, and the three of them set off back towards the starting line. He followed close behind them, but made sure to keep himself staggered behind them. Once they finally made it back to the start they could see the rest of their classmates waiting for them, then they crossed the finish line.
Midoriya was panting by the time they made it across, exhausted from everything they’d just done. There was a table set out with water for them to drink and he gladly took up the offer. “All of you, you did great,” Mr. Aurdel said, looking at them. “But there’s one last thing I want you to do before we move on. I’m going to ask all of you a few questions, but I want you to close your eyes. If the answer to the question is yes, then you should raise your hand.” Midoriya and everyone else closed their eyes. “Which of you are willing to put your life on the line to save someone?” Midoriya raised his hand. “Which of you are willing to knowingly disadvantage yourself in order to help others, even if it's not for something important?” Midoriya raised his hand again, he didn’t know how everyone else answered. “Now, how many of you have realized beforehand that, regardless of placement, you were going to be doing the exercise no matter what?”
“Huh?!” Everyone opened their eyes, and a number of his classmates began shouting about being run so ragged. Mr. Aurdel simply folded his arms and let their anger roll off of him. But Midoriya saw Mr. Aurdel look at him again, it was that same look as before. But now he could tell what he was thinking and feeling behind that helmet. Pride.
Patrol Duty
“Ready to go out on patrol, Creati?”
“Yes sir, Spartan!” Yaoyorozu sounded eager to get going. While looking over the internships that his class had done before he’d come here, he’d found out that Yaoyorozu’s experience with her internship had been less than expected. Rather than going out on patrol or doing real Hero work, she’d essentially spent most of her time doing modeling. That was why it was no surprise that she seemed excited to do something proper. That’s not to say it would be an eventful night though, as it was entirely possible that there would be no calls to respond to. Then again it was better off for everyone involved if things stayed quiet and no crimes needed to be responded to. He decided to travel light, or at least as light as his equipment would allow. Most of his lethal gear was safely stored away in his room back at the dorm building, with the only weapons that he kept with him being his combat knife, his beretta with a few magazines and his magnum with its ammo. As soon as the two of them were ready they left the UA campus and began walking down the city streets, keeping eyes and ears open for their surroundings. They were looking for any sign of a crime taking place, but there was nothing.
“Creati.”
“Yes sir?” She responded quickly and attentively.
“What do you think of my methods?” He folded his arms as they walked, waiting for an answer. Yaoyorozu was one of the more intelligent students in the class, and she was able to pick on some things a lot better than others. On top of all that she was known to be rather blunt and straightforward, making her the perfect one to ask this question..
“Well, your methods are rather brutal. Though, not in a bad way. With how you’re training us, you’re preparing us for the absolute worst possible situations that may arise. Even if-” He raised his hand.
“Not as a teacher, as a Hero. I already know how my teaching methods come off because I went through the same kind. What I want to know is what people think about me as a Hero. Being a Hero is one thing, what the media says about you is another, but the most important people to hear from are those that you’re meant to protect.”
“My answer would be the same, though with a different result. Your methods for dealing with Villains are rather brutal. While you are supported by a number of people because of your straightforward nature, you’re also feared. By average people, Villains and even some Heroes.”
“Figures,” he straightened out his back, looking around once more, “I try to be fair with the people I come into contact with, but ultimately I think it may come down to the fact that I have a different idea of justice in my mind.” After scanning the area again, he once more found nothing. They kept moving.
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I know that there are a number of Villains that you took in that surrendered just because you were the one responding to the crime.”
“Some do, not all of them. I looked into it and even while All Might was around, there were still Villains around willing to fight against him even if they knew they’d probably lose. That won’t change with me around. More likely than not, it will put a target on my back.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s almost impossible to have an, in the true sense of the word, awesome figure. There are always those who will not be afraid of you no matter what, whether it be a matter of ego or illness that simply allows them to not be fearful.”
“I suppose you’re right… I don’t think any Hero is really capable of achieving that. Even with the great feats they are capable of.”
“No human is, though I know one figure that could.” He gestured towards the sky with a nod of the head, the intention seemed to elude her. He didn’t feel the need to explain any further though.
They continued walking along on the streets until he began getting something over his comms, having tapped into the police frequencies. He stopped to listen. “Is something wrong?”
There was a robbery in progress at a convenience, with hostages having been taken and the police in a standoff against the Villains involved. It was within jogging distance. “First catch of the night, follow me.” He sprinted forward and led the way, making sure not to terribly outpace Yaoyorozu so she would be able to follow him. After a short five minute run they arrived at the scene, three police cruisers surrounding the small neon lit store.
“Thank goodness, Heroes are here,” one of the officers said before turning to him, “They have three hostages inside the store, everyone else that was inside while it happened managed to get out before they could get tied up.”
“How many Villains are inside?”
“Two, but we think there may be three. We don’t know what their quirks are either or if they have weapons, they cut the wire on the CCTV cameras inside the store before we arrived.” Hm, smarter than the average thug. Aurdel stepped forward in front of the police cruisers, adjusting the volume on his speakers.
“Alright Villains, listen up. This is the pro-Hero Spartan. I know that you have hostages in there. If you release them now and surrender yourselves willingly, then you have the chance to get your sentence reduced. However if harm comes to any of the hostages then I cannot guarantee any of your safety.” Aurdel could roughly see two Villains inside of the store out of the corner of his eye, they’d barricaded most of the windows using the store shelves. He wasn’t able to see any of the hostages though, they were likely being held in the back behind locked doors. He turned his head towards Creati, adjusting his speakers back down to a whisper for a mere moment. He handed her a tool, “Go around the back and find a way in, then locate the hostages. If you can then get them out, I’ll keep them talking over here.” She nodded, then walked off. He returned to the previous volume, “I know you can hear me in there!”
“Of course we can hear you!” One of the men shouted back through a broken window, “But how can we know that you’re not lying to us? That you won’t just gun us down once we have our guard down?!”
“I haven’t reneged on my promise of mercy with any surrendered Villain in the past, and I don’t plan to start breaking those promises any time soon. The only thing you can do to ensure your safety is to do what’s best and surrender now.” He saw the man turn back around, to speak with the other Villain.
With his helmet on it allowed him to look around without turning his head, so he watched as Yaoyorozu went around the back and used the tool he’d given her to get through the locked door in the back. Both of them were doing their part, now they just needed to wait to see what these Villains would do. After watching them discuss amongst themselves for a few moments, it looked like they finally agreed on what to do. “Alright, we’ll surrender. But we’re coming out first!” The man said, turning back. “One of our buddies is in the back watching the hostages, and if you try to do anything to us then he’ll waste them!” After that the two Villains walked towards the door, visibly leaving their weapons on the ground before walking out with their hands up. As they walked out the police officers that formed the cordon around the store walked slowly towards them with their weapons drawn, but they didn’t try anything. The two Villains were arrested without incident and taken into custody, so they expected the third one to come out without any issue.
However Yaoyorozu and the hostages were the only ones to walk out next, bringing them over to the police line. “Where’s your third friend?”
“I don’t know, the chick must have knocked him out. He was supposed to be guarding the hostages.”
“But I didn’t find anyone guarding the hostages,” Yaoyorozu said, concern in her voice. They quickly got their answer to what was going on.
“Evacuate the hostages and restrained Villains out of here!” Aurdel shouted, pushing the others behind him as the roof of the store split wide open to reveal the third Villain. The man took the form of a large alligator, letting out a roar and slamming his large tail through the back of the us. Aurdel raced towards the Villain as he took his first few steps out of the store, crushing a small car that had been parked out front. He tried to do the same to Aurdel as he closed in, but he dove forward and out of the way. Aurdel then grabbed onto one of the Villain's legs, only to nearly fall backwards as the skin and scales were rapidly shed off of the limb to keep him from getting a good grip. He rolled to the side, avoiding a tail swipe. But now that the Villain had shed the skin and scales from his leg it left him exposed, making it the perfect target for an attack. Unfortunately, Aurdel wouldn't the one to get the first blow in.
“Luna Fall!” A female Hero arrived out of nowhere, dropping her heel onto the snout of the Villain and kicking him into the ground. The kick had so much power behind it that it shattered the Villain’s teeth, stunning him and giving Aurdel the chance to act. Moving up Aurdel managed to get a good hold and completely dragged him out from on top of the store, exposing him on the parking lot before using both arm to throw the Villain onto his back. Following up on this, he quickly jumped up onto the exposed stomach area and began to stomp with his boot. Kicking through the much softer exposed skin. The Villain howled in pain and brought up his jaw to try and snap at Aurdel, but the same woman came to kick him again. With one more kick the Villain’s head snapped back and slammed into the asphalt, causing some damage to it but also knocking the Villain out. Within moments additional police units had arrived to subdue and restrain the Villain, preparing to take him into custody.
He jumped off and looked at Yaoyorozu, “Alright Creati, the police can handle it from. We’re-”
“Now hold on,” the woman who’d come to attack the Villain walked over, Aurdel looked at her. She was about two feet shorter than him and he wanted to say that made her short, but that was only because sometimes he forgot just how abnormal his height was. She was also tanned and rather muscular, something that contrasted with her white hair and rabbit ears. “The name’s Mirko, and I’ve been looking for you.”